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Letters to the EditorsTaxed to death for empire-building© St. Petersburg Times published April 20, 2003 Re: Annexation's cost gives Pinellas Park pause, April 16. This annexation fiasco, along with Largo's botched attempt at annexing Cove Cay Condominiums, should serve as a wakeup call to the citizens of Pinellas County. City leaders are asking existing taxpayers to subsidize expenses for businesses so the empire-building can continue. In addition, they are willing to bend the rules -- unless someone points out that it's illegal. I'm not blaming the business owners. If the city offered to waive some of my legitimate fees and taxes and gave me a big chunk of the taxpayers' cash, I'd make the intelligent business decision and be annexed too. Contrary to what some city leaders have said, the cities have increased expenses by providing services to these businesses. They aren't worried, though. They will raise taxes on existing citizens to cover the costs. But don't fret, new additions: Once the borders all touch, they'll raise your taxes too, to cover the real expense of running the larger cities they have created, all the while ignoring ways to save your money, such as consolidation of services. Wake up, citizens of unincorporated and incorporated Pinellas. Demand the whole story on how your government is spending your money. If you don't ask, they won't tell.
Annexation incentive burdens residents Re: Annexation's cost gives Pinellas Park pause. No sewer charges forever? The people who are served by the Pinellas Park water and sewer system should understand how their water and sewer bill is derived. The county wholesales water and sewer service to Pinellas Park, which then resells it to those it provides water and sewer service to. This is a common practice between the county and its cities. Customers served by Pinellas Park but outside of that city's limits pay a 25 percent surcharge. All water to Pinellas Park is metered at a county trunk line. The county bills Pinellas Park for water and sewerage based on water usage. Sewerage billing is based on water usage since sewerage is not metered. The annexation deal Pinellas Park proposes with Klondike exempts that portion of the sewer bill that goes to make the company's product. When Pinellas Park forgives a sewer charge, as it would with the Klondike annexation, every household and business receiving water from Pinellas Park will pay the sewer bill shortfall. Every person in Pinellas Park's water service area who owns a swimming pool or uses potable water for their lawns, which, like Klondike, uses water that is not returned as sewerage, does not enjoy this same break in his water bill. I may be wrong, but it seems totally inappropriate for any city to use any annexation incentive that causes its populace to become subsidizers of an annexation program. In the Klondike deal, the sewer fee exemption isn't even temporary; it's forever.
Ban fireworks -- with no hearing? Re: Enforce fireworks ban now, letter, April 6. The letter writer states, "We see no justification for further delay by scheduling a public hearing on June 10 ... " I would like to know if he is proposing a form of government wherein elected officials pass statutes and ordinances without any input from their constituents. I'm sure this would save our lawmakers a lot of time and aggravation. (Perhaps this "input" from the voters is the reason the writer is a "former" Dunedin commissioner.) I also notice he starts the above-quoted sentence with "We." Since the letter is signed by an individual, I can only assume that he is using the royal "we." I think I remember a war that our country fought in the 1770s to rid ourselves of people of that mindset. Freedom from tyranny is the very reason that we celebrate the Fourth of July with parades, speeches and, yes, fireworks. On a final note, the writer cites the injurious nature of the infernal devices (some instances of which he has "personally witnessed"). Perhaps our guardians should also ban all other devices that cause thousands of injuries per year, such as automobiles, boats, bicycles and dogs. I'm sure that would make the world a much safer place.
Some U.S. 19 markers will be mere clutter Re: New signs on U.S. 19 a godsend for drivers, by Jean Heller, April 13. I can only partly applaud Pinellas County's effort to improve address marking along U.S. 19. In some areas of the county these signs will add significant value, particularly in north county, where there is no "grid" system of streets and avenues. However, they make no sense in St. Petersburg, where addresses along the entire length of U.S. 19 are already numbered in relationship to the nearest intersecting (sequential) avenue. In fact, all that these signs will do is add to the already overwhelming visual clutter and trashy look along the road. These signs were funded by a federal appropriation through Congressman Bill Young's office. I understand from discussions with his office and with the Metropolitan Planning Commission staff that while these signs were originally planned just for north county, the county's task force later decided to put them along the entire length of U.S. 19 to ensure there was "equity of spending" of the appropriated funds in St. Petersburg. So here come the signs, regardless of whether they are needed or wanted. Hopefully the city of St. Petersburg and responsible task force members will see the folly in these signs and stop the project before they put any more "litter on a stick" within our city limits.
Care for homeless; where doesn't matter Re: St. Vincent's handles most homeless feeding programs, by Carrie Johnson, April 6. It appears that owners of downtown businesses don't want homeless and needy people loitering around their property. So, the St. Petersburg Homeless Task Force has delivered a design to lessen loitering problems: move all of St. Petersburg's outdoor feeding programs into St. Vincent's. To me, as long as these folks are attended to, that's fine. The concept of caring must continue unabated. Shameful spectacles such as urinating in public could all have been avoided by early intervention and taking positive steps to inwardly reinforce troubled souls, hardship cases, etc. To defend ourselves against disgraceful eventualities, we should, as a society, see that serious root problems are nipped in the bud. If but a fraction of the hundreds of billions of dollars that are earmarked for NASA, the Pentagon, foreign aid, etc. were directed toward the poorer levels of our society, homelessness would be nonexistent and the working poor would be elevated into respectability and contentment.
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