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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 7, 2002
Re: Council member's absences draw fire, story, Oct. 1.
I wish to complain about your Oldsmar reporter, Ed Quioco.
I read with mounting anger his article in the North Pinellas Times and I am thinking, "Where does this guy get these stories? Does he make them up? Surely no city council member in Oldsmar would act as Council member Marcelo Caruso is portrayed. Perhaps Ed slithers around, eavesdropping on conversations, tapping phones, digging up whatever mud he can, embellishing them into the . . . the tabloid material they are! Yeah! That's it! Gotcha now, Ed!"
But wait! What if Ed is just reporting the ironic tragic-comedy that goes on around him? No gimmicks, no disguises, just Ed, jotting down the happenings as they unfold before him, dodging the mud being slung around at City Hall and letting the cards fall where they may?
Maybe this quaint little burg I call home is rife with self-serving, self-important, self-indulgent and self-aggrandizing members of the City Council and a mayor who carry in baskets overflowing with dirty laundry and air them for all to see. They willingly expose their petty prejudices, hyper-inflated egos and seedy personal sides to Mr. Quioco and, by extension, the readers of the St. Petersburg Times.
They care not that I, personally, am offended that I have to read over and over about mayors who abuse their office to help their cronies, certain council member's disgusting personal details splashing the front page of the paper, two obviously separate camps at the meetings sniping at each other in the newspaper, and the all-too-public musings of the unholy trinity (Marcelo Caruso, Don Bohr and Jerry Beverland), who reign supreme over the city of Oldsmar and deride all who would dare to dissent.
Why is it too much to ask that Mayor Beverland and Council members Caruso and Bohr do their elected duty without making obscene spectacles of themselves? Are they proud when they read about themselves in the newspaper?
I am grateful that David Tilki and Brian Michaels understand that they are elected officials in office to do a job -- that is, serve the people of Oldsmar. I would have thought that the mayor and his council members/henchmen would wise up and clean up their act, but they still don't get it. Perhaps then Ed Quioco will have to work to get a story, instead of shooting fish in a barrel.
-- Russell Kocurek, Oldsmar
I'm writing about the inefficiency of the Florida Department of Transportation and the fallacy for taxpayers who have dished out millions of dollars for the roadway lighting along U.S. 19 in north county during construction.
I haven't really kept track, but the lighting in this area has been off for at least two months. I have contacted the northern DOT field office in Tarpon Springs several times and have heard the excuses of, "We're working with the contractors" or "They're replacing the conduit for the wiring."
If anyone thinks this stretch of road isn't a "death trap," drive it, with the 55-plus mph traffic (not 45 mph) at 5 a.m. any day.
With the construction of both the right-turn and the new left-turn lanes, the entire road from Tarpon Springs to south of Curlew is dark . . . and I mean black.
Most of the old left-turn lanes under construction have been barricaded and in the dark, it's almost impossible to find one that isn't. There's only one (that's one) left-turn lane from Alderman Road to Highlands Lakes Boulevard (about three-quarters of a mile).
I cannot imagine, in my wildest dreams, why these lights have not been repaired when they've been in the off position for all this time.
What a lousy performance for the millions we taxpayers have spent for this "enhanced roadway lighting safety feature." Come on, you guys! Pick up the phone and let's get some action on relighting U.S. 19 in north county. It surely can't be that difficult to do . . even for you DOT people!
-- Warren Martin, Tarpon Springs
Re: Night life died when Club More pushed out, letter, Sept. 25.
The writer obviously hasn't been in downtown Clearwater recently. Night life is thriving.
-- Ask the owner of the new Greenback's Entertainment Cafe on Cleveland Street. With live music almost every night, the place attracts a good-sized crowd. Incidentally, Greenbacks serves very good food for lunch and dinner.
-- Ask the owner of the new Chiang Mai Thai Restaurant, also on Cleveland Street. I have seen people dining there until 10 in the evening -- again, great food and great service.
-- Ask the owner of Starbucks, again on Cleveland Street and, again, busy until closing time.
These are in addition to the Royalty Theatre, Liquid Blue and the Clearwater Arts Studio, all of which are open or hold programs in the evenings.
All of these establishments provide food, entertainment and refreshment for the community. Upon patronizing these establishments, one will find that the owners and managers are service-oriented, friendly and interested in their customers.
I would encourage the community to take advantage of these restaurants and entertainment venues. There is plenty of free parking downtown in the evenings. The weather is beautiful at night and the downtown area is safe. There are at least three more restaurant/entertainment venues in the planning stages, so in the coming months you will have more and more reason to come downtown.
Downtown's future is getting brighter and brighter.
-- Lisa Mansell, public affairs, Church of Scientology, Clearwater
Re: Eagle couple returns to Clearwater nest, story, Sept. 27.
How thoughtless of the Times to publish the location and a map of the eagles' nest! Remember the last time you did that? Traffic signs and patrols had to be used to protect the birds from curiosity seekers. Let's just hope the birds don't give up and go elsewhere.
-- Margaret Kemmler, Largo
Re: Eagle couple returns to Clearwater nest, story, Sept. 27.
Very much like human beings who are devastated when discovering their home has been ravaged by a national disaster, this bald eagle couple is bound and determined to rebuild their nest in the very same place. And why not?
My guess is that ornithologists will find their own happy haven along Belleair Road.
Perhaps some enterprising individual will even set up a stand and sell T-shirts, with pictures of the eagles and their nest. Who knows? With enough people interested, it could possibly become a profitable business.
-- JoAnn Lee Frank, Clearwater