Downtown stadium success shows how light rail can succeed

The writer of the screed against the expansion of light rail made an outrageous statement that the touted economic benefits of light rail concern areas that would have developed economically anyway without it (“Don’t invest in a light-rail boondoggle—buses do the job,” Aug. 11).

I think such a statement would come as a great surprise to the Orioles and Ravens management. Gov. William Donald Schaefer synchronized the Baltimore Orioles’ opening day in 1992 with the opening day of the light rail. I was on the train and at the ballpark that day. Their former home, Memorial Stadium, attracted 2,552,753 fans in 1991. With the light rail stopping right next to the ballpark, attendance increased to 3,545,819 in 1992, and Oriole Park at Camden Yards drew over 3 million fans every year. That changed with the baseball strike in 1994, which was followed by years of subpar team performance.

MARC trains also ran to the OPACY games when the Washington D.C. area had no team until 2005. Buoyed by the success of Oriole Park, the Ravens also moved from Memorial Stadium to the huge M&T Bank Stadium right next to it, which also features excellent light rail and MARC access. To this day, there is no reason not to take the light rail to see the Orioles, Ravens or Artscape. This is so much so that the writer of the commentary argues that light rail trains are not comfortable when they are too crowded. This reminds me of Yogi Berra’s statement that no one went to a certain restaurant anymore because it was too crowded.

This would instead allow us to expand the system, particularly by connecting east-west destinations where people actually clamor to attend. That includes the Social Security Administration, Baltimore County’s biggest employer. It is absurd that the headquarters of SSA (one of the world’s largest bureaucracies) has no access by light rail, MARC, or the Metro subway system.

— Paul R. Schlitz Jr., Baltimore

Behavioral health care is making a difference

It was nice to read a positive commentary about behavioral health care (“Investing in mental health recovery helps everyone in Baltimore,” Aug. 13).

In 1977 when I started a job with the Mental Heath Association of Maryland, 85% of state mental health dollars were spent on state psychiatric institutions. At the same time, a few pioneers were starting programs similar to B’More Clubhouse in counties across the state, often in church basements. They knew that many men and women with serious mental illnesses didn’t need to waste their lives in back wards and deserved a chance to participate in community life like the rest of us. Some went to Fountain House in New York for training in the clubhouse model. Others consulted with Boston University professor Bill Anthony to learn the basics of psychiatric rehabilitation.

Today, community behavioral health programs support 325,000 Maryland children and adults with mental and emotional illnesses every day. Clubhouse and psychiatric rehabilitation agencies with recovery-oriented values exist in every state in the U.S. So do consumer-run wellness and recovery programs such as those operated by On Our Own of Maryland.

Much is written about the failures of our behavioral health systems. While it is certainly true that far too many people with mental illnesses and addictions are on the streets and in jails and prisons, it is also true that many millions more are receiving effective support in housing, employment and other essential components of community living. Success stories are everywhere and more are possible if public budgets invest in them.

— Herb Cromwell, Catonsville

The writer is a retired executive director of the Community Behavioral Health Association of Maryland.

Thanks for writing about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

I want to thank you so much for publishing the commentary, “Democrats should want RFK Jr. on their ticket” (July 29). This is a time where there is a lot of hatred and fear of one candidate or another. It takes courage to print something that is against the establishment.

Real journalism is about the willingness to report and print and not be censored. Additionally, I am proud that the paper covered the submittal of the petitions to the state of Maryland to get Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the ballot. Kennedy is about unity and changing the rhetoric of the country.

— Diane Keller, Huntingtown