WHYY's CEO earned his salary, so stop questioning it | Readers Respond

As a veteran human resources management professional with considerable experience in executive compensation planning, and as a long-time member of the Community Advisory Board of WHYY radio, I am amazed that the compensation of its president and chief executive, William J. Marrazzo, is still an issue for your publication ("WHYY chief paid more than peers in public media," July 8). Without more than just a review of pay in comparable positions, I doubt that a valid examination of the issue is really possible.

Although an organization is managed by multiple people, the overall goals, objectives, and methodology for achievement are the responsibility of the CEO. In just about every organization, the person in charge at the top is held accountable and responsible for making or missing the mark. In your article, you cite the income growth and being profitable almost as asides not related to Marrazzo's management. Frankly, from a historical perspective, maybe the Inquirer should try to hire Marrazzo since his track record is so much better than that of the people who manage your papers.

William J. Blount, Merion Station

Even with a Republican president and a Republican majority in the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) seems unable to shepard a new health care bill to passage.

Oh my, what a dilemma! Perhaps if the GOP majority had not fashioned such a poorly crafted bill that the public overwhelmingly rejects, they would have been able to pass it.

McConnell and the the Republican leadership seem to have confused their own ad nauseum rhetoric about a campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare with the will of the people.

The public doesn't simply want lower insurance premiums, it wants better, more inclusive health care. The Republican bills have fallen woefully short on these dimensions.

Ken Derow, Swarthmore

With most of the media focused on the Senate health care bill, a critical piece of legislation is being underreported.

The Energy and Natural Resources Act of 2017, introduced by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.) and Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska), has an entire sub-section devoted to coal and fossil energy but is glaringly absent of references to solar and wind power.

This bill is in many ways forward thinking, with an eye toward sustainability and reducing our carbon footprint. But now isn't the time for half measures. Contact your senators and tell them to draft amendments that focus on renewable energy.

This bill will set the tone for energy policy for the next five years and more. Let's make sure it moves us in the right direction.

Anthony Borzotta, Philadelphia

During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump publicly expressed hope that Russian hackers would obtain Hillary Clinton's emails.

For anyone who believes Trump wasn't aware that his son and two of the highest-level people in his campaign were meeting with a Russian lawyer in hopes of obtaining dirt on Clinton, I have a shiny new bridge for sale at a bargain price.

Easy payment terms and a free chop-a-matic included.

Sam Goldwasser, Bala-Cynwyd, sam@seas.upenn

I read with interest Martha Woodall's extensive report on the Philadelphia Electrical & Technology Charter High School ("How a Phila. charter school benefits Local 98," July 9).

How happy I am to know my tax dollars are going to pay for faculty memberships in Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union.

How good it is to know the school boasts a 91 percent graduation rate, with a significant number of graduates going on to college, in spite of the fact that the school seems to have no record of fulfilling its original mission to train minority graduates to enter Local 98's apprentice training program, and, thus, eventually diversify the union.

I am also very happy to know that in setting up this school Local 98 leader John Dougherty has been able to provide positions for his daughter and nephew, as well as relatives of other union members, really taking care of the people important to him.

And how lucky the staff is to have benefits that account for nearly 30 percent of the school's budget while most charters spend only 18.5 percent on benefits.

As the grandparent of a student in a Philadelphia public school, I am appalled that the School Reform Commission is considering renewal of the E&T school's charter!

Jean Haskell, Philadelphia, jean.haskell205@gmail.com