Letters to the Editors

In meningitis cases, name school

Editor: Re: 6-year-old diagnosed with meningitis, Feb. 22 Times:

I am a little upset that the name of the school was not released. I realize the reason stated by the Health Department was to protect the child and family. The newspaper also stated that Health Department officials said not to panic, and that all of the students who attend the school had been notified.

However, I believe parents will panic about not being 100 percent sure whether it was their child's school. My 6-year-old sister is in kindergarten at J.D. Floyd Elementary. She did not receive any letter about exposure, so now my mom and I are supposed to automatically assume she hasn't been exposed.

You also have to realize she goes to the park and plays with other children, attends birthday parties, etc. I have a 21/2-month-old son who she plays with all the time and if she has been exposed, so has my son.

No matter what has been said about how meningitis is passed from one person to another, little kids pick their noses, suck on their hands and fingers, and put crayons, toys, pencils and other things in their mouths. How many people in the world can remember being in school and knowing that child who ate glue, paste, chalk or paint if he could get his hands on it?

I am not trying to cause problems; I am being a protective parent and older sister. I want to make certain my son will not get sick. It's easier to see symptoms in older children because they can tell you what is wrong. But in a 21/2-month-old, what do I look for? Rashes aren't all that uncommon in babies; nor is occasional fussiness.

I just think the name of the school should have been released for the safety of others.

The last thing I will say is that I do hope the kindergartener recovers quickly and without complications, and I wish the family good luck.
-- Cassandra Gauvin, Spring Hill

Emergency Management director is a chauvinist

Editor: My family and I moved to Spring Hill from Long Island about 21/2 years ago. In the short time we have been here, I have seen a lot of the "good ol' Southern boy" mentality. But what has been going on in the Hernando County Emergency Management Department is shocking and appalling.

I have met Annette Doying (the department's program coordinator) on several occasions. She has always come across as a highly intelligent, articulate and informed woman.

This woman has devoted the past nine years of her life to this community. She has been trained (with our tax dollars) to be the professional that she is.

It seems to me that someone who has worked and lived in Hernando County should be treated with much more respect than she has been over the past five months.

I have been reading about this in the newspapers since the Oct. 11 incident. I was disgusted with (department director) Bill Appleby before he had the nerve to write his letter to the editor (County residents, not two workers, deserve apology, Feb. 19 Times). Now I feel the need to speak out. This man is obviously a chauvinist who is unable to fathom the idea that he was, and still is, wrong.

As a taxpayer, I truly question his $70,000-a-year salary with benefits and a county-leased car. Are we truly getting what we are paying for?

It is now being recommended that outside people come in to train him to be a manager. Doesn't anyone see a problem with this? He was hired to manage; we should not be spending more tax dollars for him to be trained.

Where are our priorities?

I stand behind Annette Doying 100 percent!
-- Dori S. Foster, Spring Hill

Boy in Gatti case deserves a more detailed portrait

Editor: I have followed the story of the young man at the center of the controversy involving teacher Joseph Gatti and the legal battles that have ensued because of the allegations presented. I have read with great anguish the descriptions of a young man, which include the negative aspects of his personality and references to his troubled life.

While these descriptions may be true and a matter of public record, that is not the complete picture of him.

I was one of Coy Burge's teachers when he was in fourth and fifth grades. The young man I remember was kind and empathetic. His smile exuberated warmth, and he had great promise in his eyes. He excelled in math and loved working with his hands. He had a strong drive to learn more about computers and asked lots of questions.

Despite his learning differences, he often persevered at tasks that were especially challenging for him. He also had difficulties at home.

Regardless of these challenges, Coy was nominated for -- and won -- the Turnaround Student of the Year Award in 1993. I recall with great pride his sense of achievement. His teachers and his family cheered him on at the banquet, which honored his accomplishment. He continues to earn a place of honor in my office, where I have photos of students who have had a profound impact on my life, both personally and professionally.

This is an example of the need for more community programs to guide our youth in the right direction. The need is especially strong for our kids with challenges. Our children need positive role models and mentors in their lives. Do we want to educate and support our children or incarcerate them as adults or youth offenders? The only two people who truly know what happened are Coy and Mr. Gatti. I hope that soon, they can both move forward so each can heal.
-- Eileen Walls, Spring Hill

Dedicated commission quartet deliberates

Editor: Re: Rowden has the right to raise questions, Feb. 24 column by Jeff Webb:

A recent commentary more than intimated that four of our five commissioners were looking on the most recent reprisal against the other commissioner with "indifference, conveniently characterizing it as an unresolvable personality conflict."

This letter is not to take "sides" but to defend the professional actions of Commissioners Nancy Robinson, Betty Whitehouse, Chris Kingsley and Mary Aiken. All of us ask our elected legislators to deliberate on issues in a professional, cogent, intelligent and capable manner.

The erudite former president and patriot John Adams, based on a recent biography, believed politicians should strive to compromise and offer well-thought-out solutions to problems that would best serve the people. If the politicians remained divisive and disruptive, then the whole ritual of governing for the people would revert to "theater," or become a "circus."

We see that negative attribute of politics, in spades, during this current maelstrom of misinformation, innuendo, misquotes and misdirected objectives by the adversaries in this circus of the ridiculous.

Deeply involved in politics, I carefully scrutinize how the Democratic commissioners operate to offer the best solutions to problems.

I have found, unequivocally, that Commissioners Robinson, Whitehouse, Kingsley and Aiken operate more deliberately that any past group of commissioners that I watched carefully over the years I have lived in Hernando. Each has a different style and persona.

These commissioners constantly deliberate. I have found none of these fine, intelligent commissioners recklessly turning to a knee-jerk reaction on any problems presented to them. Sometimes we forget there are three sides (not two) to some issues: agreement, disagreement or no action. No action is an action in itself.

No, these four commissioners are not "isolationists," as the column pontificated. They deliberate, and from what I see and hear from many, many residents, including the business community, work together without rancor or innuendo, and with intelligence, forthrightness and dedication.
-- Dom Cabriele, chairman Hernando Democratic Party, Brooksville

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