To the Editor:

Guy Molde's response (Worthington News, Jan. 6) to my last letter made me even more appreciative of the wisdom of Somerset Maugham: "I can imagine no more comfortable frame of mind for the conduct of life than a humorous resignation."

Molde either did not understand or conveniently forgot that I actually agreed with his proposal for pay and benefits cuts for Worthington teachers. Granted, I think Molde's percentages are excessive, and his letter reinforced my thinking because it was an emotional outburst that lacked logic.

I didn't state that Molde still worked at Huntington Bank. I wrote that his thinking about public employees' pay and benefits cuts was shaped by his experiences as a middle manager at the bank. I wasn't sure where he is currently working, but apparently he was with Huntington from 2006-2008 and it was during that time that the banking industry plunged faster than the gas needle on a Cadillac, and Molde had a front row seat. That had to have shaped the words and tone of his letter.

As to qualifications for public flogging because of mis-management, Molde suggests that the Worthington Board of Education members rank ahead of the directors and managers of his former employer. A statistical analysis is in order.

A $14 million short gap in the annual Worthington school district budget would have been 12 percent of the current year's $114.8 million operating expense. Between the last quarter of 2007 and the last quarter of 2009, Huntington stock value declined 82 percent and its dividends by 96.7 percent. Twelve percent versus 82 percent and 96.7 percent is fifth-grade arithmetic and Huntington loses hands down.

That isn't to make light of Huntington's situation. After all, I own a number of its shares and I'd have been perfectly happy to have to only dealt with a $14 million problem with the local school district.

The most important point, however, is that all public employee unions should make pay and benefits concession, not only for the public good but for that of the unions as well. I expect police and firefighters to be included in those concessions. Does Molde agree?

Dick Graham