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jr< DITORIALSCB6 Should Listen To Its ConstituentsThe interests of civic and poiiiicai affairs otten come into conjunction in the modem world. When people who themselves are active in both worlds seek to keep the two separate, they are doing a disservice to the community and to the body politic, as well.We have had an obvious example of this converging of interests building over recent months in the local movement to tie our Park Slope/South Brooklyn neighborhoods into a sister city arrangement with a community in Nicaragua. But the genuine attempts of citizens to get the ear of their appointed Community Board Six members were rudely turned back this past week.We disagree with the position the board took. And we also think its tactics in making its constituents sit for hours to hear they were going to be rebuffed was a cowardly way to deliver the blow.There are plenty of here-and-now examples of the merging of political - even foreign policy %u2014 issues and civic affairs. Commercial rent control is surely one; so is the Homeport. Concern over nuclear arms and nuclear power plants come from the sameroots. Our own Mayor Ed Koch, elected by a huge majority of the citizens of our city, is an extreme example of someone who regularly combines acts and actions of both the civic and political realm. But other good n u h lie o f f ic ia ls do the same all the time In this city, there is such a need for hefp and for course-setting and leadership that Federal Congressmen are as involved in community affairs as much as New York%u2019s own City Councilmembers. The lines between levels of government and what%u2019s political as opposed to what%u2019s %u201c civic%u201d are regularly blurred. Leaders are measured on what they do and say and how they lead %u2014 not on %u201c whether it%u2019s their responsibility%u201d .Community Boards were created more than a decade ago out of a frustration of citizens%u2019 over their distance from functioning units of government. The boards are made up in a way that transcends petty political affiliations and they are free-form enough that they can, at the very least, speak up on any issue they choose.To use as an excuse for refusing a platform for the Sister City supporters that an issue is divisive, particularly after they got to sit through hours of a meeting like the one they witnessed, is ducking the issue, we think. We are disappointed the members of Community Board Six took the action they did %u2014 and particularly in the way they did it. They poorly served their constituents in this instance.%u00a7 o u n d ( y FF FEEDBACK FROM READERSMcDonald%u2019s ThanksThanks for your well-written article which appeared in the Sept. 4th edition of The Phoenix. (%u201c Kids Graduate From Summer Jobs to School,%u201d Fall Education Special.)I enjoyed your title, %u201c These Kids Flipped for Brooklyn Summer Jobs Program.%u201d The article itself was enlightening and educational in the sense that 16 and 17 year old youths now know there is a place for them in the %u201c real world.%u201d %u2014 Bob La Rose, McDonald%u2019s, 395 Flatbush Ave. Ext.It Was HystericalOn behalf of the artists and subscribers of the Coney Island Hysterical Society, please accept my warm appreciation and thanks for the work you did in covering our August event in Coney Island. (Phoenix Section Two, Aug. 28, %u201c New Life In Those Old Boards.%u201d )The notion of what Coney Island is, was, and may become in future, and what we are doing there is often brought to public attention through a thick mist of nostalgia or under a shroud of bitterness. Your article of August 28th was clearly the product of a clear head and a keen view of what makes New York what it is. Richard Eagan, Co-Director, Coney Island Hysterical Society, 299 14th Street, Brooklyn 11215.They Don%u2019t AgreeAs a literate Park Sloper and subscriber of The Phoenix since its inception, I am appalled to see the headline on page 26 in the Fall Education Special, (Phoenix, Sept. 4). I donot know who Mr. Taylor is nor do I wish to publically embarrass him; however, if he does not understand basic grammar, he should seek advice. In addition to the glaring error in the title - should read %u201c A Person%u2019s House is His/Her Castle (and His/Her Classroom%u201d - two of the first three sentences contain basic subject/verb errors: %u201c wide range is available,%u201d and %u201c plethora of classes is taught.%u201d Both subjects are singular and require singular verbs.The Phoenix is not the Home Reporter. People who read it care about well-written articles, about correctly-written articles. Please do not insult your devoted readers.%u2014Betty Evans, Sixth Street.EDITOR%u2019S NOTE: Don%u2019t always blame the reporter; we have editors, too.Disappointed In CB6As a supporter of the Brooklyn Sister City Project, I was very disappointed in the response of Community Board Six to our appeal for a forum. The Brooklyn Sister City Project is building a community-tocommunity bridge of peace between the Board Six Community and a village in Nicaragua by exchanging humanitarian aid and support. We have financed a clean water project and are raising money to support a clinic for the innocent civilian victims of war.All we ask of CB6 is that they consider lending their moral support to the project. Unfortunately, they were unwilling to do more than cursorily dismiss the idea. The project has hundreds of supporters in CB6 who are asking their closest representatives to take time to listen to their concern. This has notbeen done and I am mightily dismayed.I regret that my subscription to your wellwritten, informative newspaper has lapsed and I am enclosing a check for renewal. %u2014 Jacquelyn L. Williams, Wyckoff Street.Oppose Notch BillI am enclosing a letter I received from the Honorable Charles Schumer, Member of Congress, concerning a bill, H.R. 1917, that is still in the committee which needs support. A note to your Member of Congress from all Phoenix readers to support this bill will help. %u2014 Charles Goldberg, West 8th Street.Dear Mr. Goldberg:In the past you have contacted me to express your opposition to the %u201c notch%u201d and I wanted to update you on the status of efforts to repeal this unfair law.As you know, I am adamantly opposed to the %u201c notch%u201d provision and have been actively working to see that this unjust law is changed. The notch law was passed by Congress in 1977 and has resulted in all those bom after 1916 receiving lower Social Security benefits than those born before 1916. Congress originally passed the 1977 law because it believed that older people were being overcompensated in their Social Security benefits.If I had been in Congress in 1977, 1 would have tried to defeat that legislation. In the 98th Congress, I introduced H.R. 1483 which would have repealed the %u201c notch%u201d provision. Unfortunately, H.R. 1483 died in the last Congress. Along with more than 100 of my colleagues, I am a cosponsor of H.R. 1917 in the 99th Congress also aimed at repealing this unfair law.0 x w m m mA t le a s t o n e h o u s e on B e rg e n St. is w e ll-g u a rd e d . (P h o e n ix /K irk P h o to )Although H.R. 1917 is still in committee, I am hopeful that the House will act on this important legislation, especially as the Social Security surplus continues to grow. The House Select Committee on Aging held hearings on the %u201c notch%u201d on May 15th. If it is to pass in the Senate, however, it will need more support.I believe very strongly that Social Security benefits should not be reduced in any way. Senior citizens have earned and very much deserve every penny of the benefits that they receive. You can be sure that I will continue to urge my colleagues in Congress to support legislation which enables senior citizens to receive the benefits they deserve. %u2014 Member of Congress, 10th District of Brooklyn.Support The HomelessFollowing is a letter we have sent to all of Brooklyn%u2019s elected officials. We believe Phoenix readers should see the issues as we have laid them out for these leaders. %u2014 Joe Ferris, ATURA Coalition.Dear Elected Official:The Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area (ATURA) Coalition will hold a rally for homeless children and for jobs at the Brooklyn Arms Hotel (Lafayette Avenue, across from the Brooklyn Academy of Music) on Saturday, September 20th, at 1:30.The coalition is comprised of homeless families, civic, religious and community leaders who seek significant amendments to the proposed plan to build condos, office towers and a regional shopping mall on the Atlantic Terminal land. Rushed through the Land Use process (ULURP) without proper public comment and input, the Atlantic Terminal plan is scheduled for a Board of Estimate vote on Thursday, September 25.The Brooklyn Arms Hotel, an expensive hellhole located yards away from the Atlantic Terminal site, is where 4 young children perished from a fire not less than two months ago.The present plan for Atlantic Terminal calls for not one unit of housing for families with incomes under $25,000. Further, countless families and individuals will be displaced and made homeless by the forces of gentrification taking hold in the communities of Boerum Hill, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Prospect Heights.There has been a tremendous amount of pious rhetoric about helping the homeless. However, with thousands now homeless in Brooklyn, the need to build housing at this site for families with low and moderate income transcends district lines and is of utmost urgency.We look to your leadership, as an elected official, on this critical issue.Won%u2019t you join us at the rally on Saturday, September 20th, and at the Board of Estimate on September 25th, and speak up for the homeless children at the Brooklyn Arms and throughout Brooklyn? If you%u2019d like to testify at the Board and need more information, please call 643-9603 or 237-2585. If not now, when, if not here, where? %u2014 Joe Ferris, For the ATURA Coalition, P.O. BOx 610, Times Plaza Station, Brooklyn 11217.If You \\ e GotSomething to Say A bouiA Local Issue, Sound O ffHere in Our Space.Page 30, THE PHOENIX, S eptem ber 18, 1986