To the editor:Lew Perkins gets a $750K bonus or raise while students get mental health budget cuts. Local Hallmark has many job cuts and the homeless want shelters with city funding. What was wrong with the Salvation Army caring for them?

When they made an attempt to build their own shelter why did the city take away their lumber and tools? Our first responsibility is to our children and getting jobs locally in Lawrence, not for building homeless shelters and giving people like Lew Perkins and others like him huge raises. I know the city didn’t give Perkins the raise, but I’m only pointing out the fact that the city is asked to help KU while Perkins gets this kind of money.

How can the city even think about building shelters and supervising them at a time like this? Homeless people can live in Topeka and Kansas City or in abandoned churches as well, with the owner’s permission, of course. I suppose the city has something to say about this as well.

Take the 1 Percent for the Arts and the Sister Cities money and use it for necessary social projects. Trimming the budget is what it’s called. Most of the homeless are homeless by choice. Many are transients.