Bus depot opposition reeks of elitism

Blatant discrimination, from Bob Pasicznyuk, our library director, and Cedar Rapids City Council member, Chuck Wieneke, on the same issue: not wanting the new city bus depot and library close to each other.

Taxpayers or not, residents ride our buses and are eligible or future voters. People of all socio-economic classes, from students to seniors, ride our buses. I have even read in this paper where our elected officials rode the buses in attempts to increase ridership on public transit.

Now we read the

undesirable classes in our society fill our buses, and we call them “out of towners, transients, and homeless.” The intellectual and economic elitism of the library leadership and one City Council member now want to protect our upcoming library from their contamination.

Why do we discriminate against and look down on these “out of towners, transients, and homeless?” Many over the past 20 months have pitched in to rebuild our city; a high number of homeless lost their jobs in our current recession.

It has more to do with elitism and class discrimination than safety. Safety issues can be addressed in the design of both the new buildings, as well as other safety measures. Cedar Rapids residents deserve a public apology from Pasicznyuk and Wieneke.

Pat Kane

CrossRoads Mission

Cedar Rapids