Letters to the Editors

Legal action needed to protect water, sewer rights

Editor: Failure to take legal action against Florida Water Services, Gulf Breeze and Milton are irresponsible!

Allete subsidiary Florida Water Services wants to wrest water and sewer rights from 500,000 users in 27 Florida counties and sell those rights to the towns of Gulf Breeze and Milton, even though neither town produces one drop of water for the 500,000 to use.

Now come Crystal River and Brooksville, who want in on the deal, and why not? Florida legislators passed a law that enables an open season on publicly owned utilities in the state.

As a result, the same investment bankers and lawyers who misled investors about Enron and Global Crossing, and "sneaky" elected officials who think nothing of ripping off nonresidents, have organized a "water takeover."

Some citizens have asked why the jilted governments should spend money on legal fees? Using Allete's own numbers and the historic increase in connecting fees and rates, the income after principal and interest payments for the next 30 years will be about $13.5-million per year and, when the bonds are paid off, it will be more than $60-million per year. That's hundreds of millions of dollars that belong to governments of the 500,000 users, and not the "flimflammers" in northwest Florida. That is why spending money on legal fees is the right thing to do.

Why should 500,000 folks pay de facto taxes to Gulf Breeze and Milton for using their own water under their own land? Why should two Panhandle towns be able to cut their taxes when that money should go to the schools and to the police and fire departments serving the 500,000 customers?

Failure to pursue legal action against Allete, Florida Water Services, Gulf Breeze and Milton would be blatantly irresponsible.
-- George Borchers, Homosassa

Want urban area restrictions? Move

Editor: Re: Protect our health: Ban burning in county, Opinion guest column Dec. 30, Citrus Times.

The column written by Leonard Becker concerning burn banning so infuriated me that I had to respond.

First of all, burning yard waste is as natural to the environment as the waste itself. This has been happening for millions of years before man was here. Have you ever heard of natural forest fires and volcanos, Mr. Becker? And what about fireplaces, barbecuing and controlled burns by the state. Do you propose to outlaw these forms of burning as well?

I suggest you target the real polluters: people who pump millions of gallons of pesticides, herbicides and insecticides into the ground in search of that perfect lawn! The same people who buy property and rip the trees out for the manicured look.

Stop trying to deruralize Citrus County and accept the fact this is not a Pinellas, Pasco or Hernando. (Thank God)!

If you want all the restrictions of an urban area, then I suggest you move south.
-- Joe Nicks, Lecanto

Solve the malpractice insurance crisis

Editor: This letter has been sent to eight key officials in state government.

I am writing this letter to express a deep concern about a serious health care problem now being experienced by residents of Citrus County.

For reasons not understandable to me, there exists a "medical malpractice insurance crisis" in our area that is not only reducing the number of physicians available to our residents, but also eliminating many vital services provided by our local hospitals.

This crisis seems to have arisen because there are not enough insurance companies willing to write malpractice insurance policies in our state, and/or insurance premiums have risen in the recent past to such a great extent that the ability of our health care providers to function profitably has been seriously affected.

I respectfully request that the appropriate organization in our government take action not only to stop this crisis, but to take emergency steps to reverse the effects of the crisis.

That means the government should help to immediately return the needed doctors to our area and the needed services to our hospitals.

I understand that placing caps on medical malpractice litigation may be part of the solution, but such action would require years to address our loss of doctors and hospital services.

Although such legislative action related to litigation may be important, other steps must be included to provide the emergency help required.

I'd like to remind you that the functioning, or lack thereof, of our health care system is of greatest importance to that portion of the population (the elderly with declining capabilities and on fixed incomes) that is least capable of handling such a crisis.
-- Richard A. Patz, Hernando

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