Letters to the Editors

Give nursing moms a break -- and some respect

Re: Nursing in public is indiscreet, letter, Aug. 22.

As a lactation consultant and former nursing mother, I can assure the letter writer that a child of 3 does drink from a cup and is learning table skills. Nursing beyond one year is about much more than getting milk. It is about attachment parenting and meeting the needs of your child.

Did you know that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends nursing for at least 12 months and thereafter for as long as mutually desired?

In a culture in which token breast-feeding, formula supplementation and early introduction of solid foods is the norm, I applaud these women who go against the grain, often with little or no support, and do what they know is best for their child.

Let's give these moms a break. They have a legal right to breast-feed anywhere they want, and most do so quite discreetly. If it offends you, please look away.
-- Nancy Imperiale, Dunedin

Nursing moms are not exhibitionists

Re: Nursing in public is indiscreet, letter, Aug. 22.

On the point made by letter writer Shelby Sabathe, I agree that infants should be nursed. But animals do not always do it discreetly or in a place away from others. Neither do humans.

Her question about why a mother would choose to nurse in a busy mall is simple to answer. Her child is hungry! Plain and simple. Not an exhibitionist.

I nursed my son till he was ready to wean; and yes, I nursed him in the mall, in restaurants, in stores, etc. My son was hungry, and I fed him. Where would you have us nurse? In the bathroom, behind a closed door? Do you eat your meals in the bathroom? I don't think so; and nursing children shouldn't have to, and nursing mothers shouldn't be made to feel they have to.

There are laws in Florida protecting a mother nursing in public. If you don't like it, look somewhere else. We are not doing it for your viewing.

Older children who nurse do have table skills, drink from a cup and rarely bite their mothers. If mothers want to nurse older children, so be it. Who are you to say they have to stop at one year? I and a lot of other nursing mothers have plenty of class, whether we nurse in private or in public, for less than a year or more than a year. Times have changed. I rest my case.
-- Rachael Howsare, Dunedin

Project isn't right for Safety Harbor

Re: Safety Harbor project applauded, story, Aug. 15.

Your article sounded as though it was written by the downtown real estate interests. It described the Aug. 13 Safety Harbor City Commission workshop as a "pep rally," with all of the residents lining up to speak in favor of the development proposed for the intersection of Main Street and Bayshore Boulevard in downtown Safety Harbor.

Several, including me, spoke against the project, voicing concerns -- including height, the same concern voiced by Mayor Pam Corbino and Commissioner Robin Borland.

Concerns expressed include:

-- Height. Five stories will overshadow the rest of the buildings along Main Street. The precedent set by allowing five stories leaves no basis to deny future applications that will inevitably result in a series of such buildings, further severing connectivity between the downtown and the bay.

-- The brush-off of the issue of traffic as something that can be addressed later. (The turn lanes mentioned by the developer are unrealistic in the space available).

-- The fact that the proposal is inconsistent with the small town nature of Safety Harbor, which makes it a special place to live.

This project will provide no connection or draw of people to the retail area several blocks away and will, in fact, draw away from this effort and serve only to benefit the few who will occupy the proposed condos, with the retail and restaurant thrown in only to mask these condos. The rents that will have to be charged in this retail development will bring nothing but more of the same mix of stores found everywhere else: Gap, Starbucks and the rest of vanilla America.

One has to look only as far as the Corey Avenue shopping district in St. Pete Beach for a good example of a successful downtown retail area with heights no greater than two stories.

In my opinion, the development proposal on the table is a poor choice for the future of Safety Harbor. A far better approach would be for the city to buy the three-acre site, lease out the back and south side of the site for a restaurant and low-rise retail (which would be consistent with the remainder of the city) and develop the balance of the site as open public space in a manner that would provide a worthy entrance to the downtown of the special place we call Safety Harbor.
-- Frank J. DeLuca, Safety Harbor

Seeing red at Pinellas traffic lights

I am weary of the traffic light situation in Pinellas County. I remember my father telling me about the benefits of traffic lights. What he said was they enhance the flow of traffic, and I thought, "What a good idea!"

Unfortunately, though, someone forgot to tell the people here in Pinellas County, or whoever it is who controls such things, of the idea behind this technology. These folks think the lights are not to enhance traffic flow but to inhibit it.

I have been to Tampa on numerous occasions and have seen how the lights work there. They are timed to turn red or green in a series that lets the traffic flow at a maximum rate.

Here in Pinellas, as we sit at one red light, we can see the next light is green; and by the time we reach that light, it is about to turn red -- meaning that, at best, we here in Pinellas can drive a phenomenal one block till the next light (red, of course).

I am sure the administration is aware of this. I have watched them on several occasions as they made sure the flow of traffic would be obstructed. They have turned a five-minute trip by car into an ordeal of 25 minutes.

How many of the residents of our community have cars with no air conditioning and must endure this hardship on a daily basis? Many, I am sure. I am not talking about just U.S. 19, but all of the traffic signals in the county. Have you driven down Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard or Drew Street or Sunset Point Road or Main Street in Dunedin lately? Every light red, one after another, from U.S. 19 to Alt. U.S. 19.

When are we going to get relief from this insanity? And why is this, in the first place? Let's get this issue resolved, people!
-- Anthony Coltogirone, Clearwater

Let's bite the bullet and fix U.S. 19

Re: U.S. 19 proposals will only increase risk of accidents, letter, Aug. 21.

This writer is absolutely correct. All the work on U.S. 19 is just a Band-Aid on a surgical wound. The powers that be need to bite the bullet and make all of U.S. 19 a flyby. The money saved in police, EMS and firefighters having to respond to all of the accidents would be worth it.

Seems like a simple and -- I know -- costly solution, but they keep pouring money into solutions that don't work.
-- T. A. Christensen, Oldsmar

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