One need not be a homophobe or a fundamentalist (I am neither) to oppose the fair housing ordinance. The study on which it is supposedly based said that the main housing problem in the region is the lack of affordable housing, but the borough doesn't seem to be doing much about that. Instead, we're to get an ordinance against discrimination on various grounds, including sexual orientation and marital status.

Supposing there's a landlord in town who irrationally discriminates -- how much harm is he doing? He may impose on potential tenants the inconvenience of finding another place to live, but he imposes on himself the inconvenience of finding other tenants. There don't seem to be any homosexuals (or blacks, or whatever) who have plenty of money but can't find any housing.

Furthermore, I believe that the proposed ordinance is an unneeded infringement on landlords' rights to use their property as they see fit, and associate with whom they will.

If the local government really wants to do some good, it can abolish unreasonable zoning rules. For example, let more than three unrelated people live together, and if they make themselves a nuisance to their neighbors, punish or evict them -- but for their actions, not just for being too many.

Also, we should replace the current property tax, which falls mainly on buildings, with a tax that's higher on land. Tax buildings, and you get fewer buildings, which drives rents up. Tax land, and you get more efficient use of land, which drives rents down. I've been trying to familiarize the community and especially the borough government, with these simple principles for years, and I'd appreciate help in lobbying for a reform of the property tax, such as 17 cities in Pennsylvania have already enacted.