I read with great amusement the quote from M. J. "Jay" Brodie, the president of the Baltimore Development Corp., in The Sun's article "JPMorgan operation to close" (April 17).
Mr. Brodie is quoted as saying he is angry that after all the effort to get JPMorgan Chase & Co. to come to the Baltimore facility, the company is closing it prematurely. He says that "not having been given the opportunity to at least try to weigh in on the process was, to put it mildly, frustrating."
Well, welcome to how the small-business owners and plain old ordinary citizens feel, Mr. Brodie, when the BDC acts in an arrogant and overbearing manner in making decisions on city planning.
Dare we hope that we will get more sympathy and openness from the BDC in the future?
Maxine Saunders
Timonium
Oyster partnership produces progress
I am sorry to see that funding for the Oyster Recovery Partnership has come under attack ("Oyster grants to state disputed," April 14).
The earmark system of federal funding does indeed need fixing. But as long as it exists in its current form, it is the job of our elected officials to steer Maryland's share of the money to productive purposes.
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski has done a commendable job of securing about $1 million per year for oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. We would be much worse off without all the work that has been made possible by that money.
Could the program be more effective? No question about it.
I strongly support the expansion of oyster sanctuaries - "no-take zones" - in the bay so that the oyster population can grow as quickly as possible.
I welcome the involvement of the program's critics as we make those improvements while finding more money, not less, to revive Maryland's oyster population.
Brad Heavner
Baltimore
The writer is state director for Environment Maryland.
