Opinion: House's goal is keeping the people informed

In the Florida House, we are seeking the advice and consent of Floridians. Why? Because we realize that our constitutional authority comes, not from lobbyists or our own self-interests, but directly from the people.

We have shifted staff from a House Republican office, in which staff promoted the issues of only that party's members, to a bipartisan House communications office that helps both Democrat and Republican members communicate effectively and directly with constituents back home. We have left the House Democrat office as is, to allow a full minority-party voice to be freely expressed in all matters of policy.

Keeping the people informed is our goal. We trust Floridians to receive our message and determine, for themselves, whether they will embrace or reject what we do in Tallahassee. Moreover, we hope they will take the opportunity to let us know their thoughts of our interactive Web site, e-mails, phone calls and correspondence. Our effort will focus on mail that solicits input, telephoning to inform citizens of members' town hall meetings in their community, as well as television and radio clips to local media regarding newsworthy issues and events.

The reality is that our efforts will bring us in under budget this year. Hopefully, this will set an example for fiscal restraint and our desire to see government live within its means.

Some may criticize our efforts to give citizens unfettered access to their state government. Those who have profited from biased and sordid accounts of the Legislature will surely feel the financial impact when citizens find that the real story is at their fingertips.

I agree with Thomas Jefferson's idea that "whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that, whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them right." I trust the people of Florida to do what's right.
-- Johnnie Byrd, speaker, Florida House of Representatives, Tallahassee

Don't throw away our youth

Re: Cheap talk on at-risk teens.

I'm in complete agreement with your Feb. 12 editorial. You are so right! We must provide youth an alternative to the streets. The state of Florida is in the middle of a teenage population boom and these young people need resources now or we will have another generation of homeless Floridians.

According to a government study in 2000, most homeless individuals begin their "downward spiral" in their youth because of unanswered issues such as physical and sexual abuse, poverty and poor education. Children In Need of Services/Families In Need of Services (CINS/FINS) programs are the answer to those issues for so many.

As the president of the Pinellas County Coalition for the Homeless, I see the cut to these programs as a blow to homelessness prevention. We rely on the runaway shelters and counseling not only to maintain our families, but also to prevent homeless youth from becoming victims of street life -- with no hope, at high risk of exploitation and prone to desperate acts of survival. The CINS/FINS programs have been tremendously successful in helping young people turn their lives around. And they are very cost effective. We must make the Florida legislators and the governor see the important asset they are about to discard.

Thank you for standing up to say what a caring and responsible community should hear. Now it's up to us to act. We must contact our government leaders and let them hear our desires. Don't throw away our assets! Don't throw away our youth! Fully fund our CINS/FINS programs!
-- Beth Eschenfelder, president, Pinellas County Coalition for the Homeless, St. Petersburg

Cuts now will cost us later

Re: Cheap talk on at-risk teens.

As an attorney in the '70s dealing with juveniles, I found that we frequently discussed a Huck Finn type of kid called a status offender. We had many of them in the Juvenile Detention Center, and they took up valuable space that was needed for other hardened kids. Additionally, these status offenders tended to be very vulnerable to suggestion and by being interspersed with the delinquents, some of them became delinquent themselves.

I joined with an organization 25 years ago called Alternative Human Services that was known for its hotline. We were small when I came on the board of directors in 1977, but over the years we have grown. Our name changed several years ago to Family Resources, and we also took on other projects and headed in the direction of youth-oriented diversion programs. Through a lot of hard work and careful funding over many years, we have developed numerous programs and facilities that deal with status offenders. This culminated in the CINS/FINS program, which has had a dramatic effect over the past several years in removing many of this class of status offenders from the streets.

If we go back 25 years to when I was a public defender observing the mess the delinquency/dependency system had become due to lack of funding and foresight, I cannot help but remember what we said back then about the cost to our society of those lost lives of children we couldn't help for lack of facilities. If we now stop the funding for this segment of our society, we need to remember the potential costs. We will most likely have more juvenile delinquents to deal with who will eventually become adults. For the dollar we don't spend on the kid now we will be forced to spend many dollars to deal with the adult criminal, his or her children and the victims of their crimes. We will need more jails, more judges, more baliffs, more clerks, more public defenders, more prosecutors and their support staffs.

Someone once said "penny-wise and pound-foolish." It certainly seems to apply here. Pay me now or pay me later. We said it 25 years ago. I pray that we don't go through that again, but cutting funds to CINS/FINS will certainly propell us in that direction.
-- V. John Brook Jr., St. Petersburg

Train can be a pain

Re: Increase gas tax to finance light rail, letter, Feb. 14.

In reply to the letter writer who thinks we should raise the gas tax an extra 25 cents to construct a light rail system, he should visit St. Louis, Mo. The people of that city spent millions of dollars to construct the system, and they have lost money every day since.

People don't want to get off a train, then walk 10 blocks to work. A train has to follow its track, whereas a bus can go on any street around any corner.

You can't even get people to share a ride today. On your way tomorrow, look at the cars on the road:one person in each. So if the letter writer wants to ride a train, let him visit Disney World.
-- Gene Nelson, Beverly Hills, FL

Let's take another vote

Re: Bullet train.

I'm all for a taking another vote on the bullet train. When I was approached at a petition drive to sign the petition, I declined at first. I changed my mind after the petitioner assured me that the funds were already available. Because of that assurance I voted for the project. If I had known that this was not true, I would have voted against it.
-- Adalbert Krei, Homosassa

Flag shouldn't be a source of divisions

Re: Ga. revisits Confederate symbol, Feb. 13.

The article again brought up the agonizing issue of displaying the Confederate emblem on the official flag of the state of Georgia. A straw poll will take place (being very divisive in and of itself) in order to determine whether the current flag should be changed again.

Two thoughts come to this writer's mind concerning the heated issue. First, the flag of the United States of America is the Stars and Stripes. There is no other allegiance any citizen of this country should have in their hearts other than to our present country and national flag. "One nation, under God, indivisible" is part of our Pledge of Allegiance, and we should live according to that pledge. The very nature of the issue brings about divisiveness, which it should not do, so as far as this observer understands the "Pledge of Allegiance." The Southern states that seceded from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America created division leading to a great war and untold human tragedy. Why would anyone want to fly a flag with the Confederate emblem in an official capacity (over a state capitol) in these modern times? That flag represents rebellion and a cause that should be over. We are Americans and should display unity with one another, and the symbol of that unity should be one flag, the Stars and Stripes, which we now have. The Confederate flag is not just another state flag. Rather, it represents another "country," which has ceased to exist.

The second thought is that the Confederate flag represents (at least to many Americans) the issue of slavery and the racial prejudice accompanying slavery. While all of the United States has been tainted with the curse of slavery and racial prejudice at one time or another, the Confederate flag has a unique way of bringing about the worst remembrance of those bad times. Black Americans as well as most Americans of all racial and ethnic groups find it a disgrace for any American to fondly remember such a flag, the emblem of which represents rebellion, divisiveness and racial prejudice.

The gracious course of action, in this writer's opinion, would be for the citizens of the state of Georgia to return to the flag previously used during the period of 1920-1956 or some other flag that represents oneness of spirit to all Americans. Then we could all stand in unison and proudly "pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America."
-- R.S. Gates, Tarpon Springs

Cafeteria pride

Re: Cut the school cafeteria slop, letter, Feb. 20.

The letter writer apparently has never attended a lunch at a Pinellas County school cafeteria. If she did, she would find that we are trained food service staff. We check all food for doneness. We don't serve runny potatoes, undercooked chicken or brown lettuce. We take pride in our work. So please check the facts next time before you judge.
-- Paul D. Robinson, a proud food service worker, Gulfport

A superb effort

In the My Dream series, the Wrestling with life photo/essay was superb. Kinfay Moroti's photograph was exquisite, evoking memories of paintings by the "great masters." And the young boy's story as told to John Barry almost brought me to tears. A fine series!
-- Nancy Hoppe, Largo

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