Letters to the Editors

Make drastic changes for Mahaffey

Re: Mahaffey executive director resigns, Nov. 2.

The declining Mahaffey Theater box office is regrettable and proof that our public just is not interested in the type of programing that David Rowell selected. So what do we do now?

There is no way that we can hire a director with a successful track record unless drastic changes are made. We get what we pay for in a director, so we must raise the pay scale.

Second, we must get more seating for the theater and build an orchestra pit and concealed sound-light boards. We cannot compete with Clearwater and Tampa without the seating capacity to generate the fees for shows.

How can we do this? Use the arena! It is in dire need of repair and brings in very little income. Incorporate part of that space to enlarge the seating capacity of the theater. Use the remainder for small arts education rooms. Look at the development at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. Granted, Clearwater has a benefactor, but it must still raise matching funds. We can do the same in our city!

May I suggest that the mayor and the F.O.U.R. committee shelve their airport plans and concentrate on remodeling the theater? They can always return to the former at a later date.

We need Mahaffey Theater Foundation board members to return. Come back, Ed Cassidy and Steve Dupre, and help Bill Heller and Wanda Hayes-Riddick. Thomas Dunn, you were successful in getting our theater remodeled. You were successful with your $1,000-seat campaign. Come back and help again.

And last, St. Petersburg Times, give us your big bucks as you did for the Times Forum. Perhaps we could call the hall TPAC (Times Performing Arts Center). Doesn't that sound great? I am sure the Mahaffey family would not mind.

And, Mr. Mayor, use your efforts to revitalize our theater. Don't force the downtown condo residents and the rest of us to continue to have to go to Tampa and Clearwater to see performing arts. Help us to keep those dollars in our own city -- and above that, the prestige of having our own performing arts hall and being successful. This is what our citizens want, need and deserve.
-- Dorris C. Kent, Mahaffey Theater Foundation board member emeritus

Mahaffey, area have lost a gem

I am a retired United Methodist pastor with 40 years of service in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. As a pastor I had considerable experience budgeting and programing a nonprofit organization -- the church. I know the struggles faced by a leader who strives for excellence but depends on volunteers to maintain the organization.

Upon retiring, my wife and I moved to Treasure Island in June 2001. In the year I have been here I have become aware of the Mahaffey Theater and its director, David Rowell. I have been greatly impressed with the creative approach Mr. Rowell has had to programing, especially in the area of children's theater. I have had several long talks with Mr. Rowell and could feel his dedication to the theater and to his position. His devotion was expressed in long hours and in a quest for excellence. He lived out his mission with integrity.

Unfortunately for the St. Petersburg area, Mr. Rowell has resigned. David will do well wherever he goes. I feel sorry for St. Petersburg and for the arena of the arts as we have lost a truly dedicated servant.
-- Dr. Ronald E. Dunk, Treasure Island

Florida Birding Festival is great

My husband, Mike, and I recently attended the Florida Birding Festival at Eckerd College. I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to all the sponsors, organizers, workers, volunteers, tour leaders, guest speakers, exhibitors and participants for a great weekend.

We come over for the weekend from Lakeland. This year was our fourth year at the festival, and we still consider ourselves beginning birders. We look forward to getting the brochure and choosing events that interest us. I've never been disappointed, and each trip has offered some new experience. I get educational ideas and activities that I take home to my small group of 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds at our YMCA's "Nature Club."

I'll confess, this year we played hooky, skipped an evening event and had a great dinner instead. The server said to my husband, "Congratulations on eating it all, sir, but most people take a portion of that home in a doggy bag."

And congratulations and thanks to all of Pinellas County for having so many truly great natural attractions from which to choose.
-- Colleen Fearney, Lakeland

Both Largo, hospice can win

Re: Building fund for hospice needs your help, letter, Oct. 13.

I wish to offer a dissenting opinion to the demand that the city of Largo "give" Hospice of the Florida Suncoast the land adjacent to its office near the corner of Seminole Boulevard and East Bay Drive.

As a winter resident in this community for more than 20 years, I have seen the city change from an ill-defined, insignificant town to a small city that has prospects for becoming a real center for business and culture. But the city's future development is limited without the piece of property that it already owns, the property that hospice also needs to expand its facility.

Hospice, too, has grown from a small, nonprofit organization to the most financially successful nonprofit in the entire county. It has done this through its own hard work, supported by volunteers, tax breaks, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements and fundraising efforts, including the bequests of many people it helped at the last hour. In other words, hospice has benefited from the support and gratitude of the entire community. The city has been one of its major supporters.

Hospice's reputation will permit it to function equally well anywhere in Pinellas County. The city of Largo cannot. It needs the property across from the park for tax revenue and, as a nonprofit organization, hospice won't be contributing to the tax base.

The solution is obvious. In exchange for hospice's existing office, the city of Largo should offer a new, larger site. While this search for land is in progress, hospice should protect its own interests by providing input and assistance to the city.

In the end, Largo could have even more downtown property available for development and, of course, the deal should be equally sweet for hospice.
-- Elizabeth Schuele, Clearwater

Flashing lights are necessary

Re: Flashing lights on bus a hazard to all, Nov. 10.

The flashing lights on public buses, school buses, emergency vehicles and service trucks are put there as a safety feature to increase the visibility of these vehicles to other drivers.

The epileptic driver who could be triggered into a seizure by flashing lights encountered on the road much better fits my idea of the word "dangerous."
-- I.B. Meligan, Clearwater

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