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Enough is enough. Now the firefighters have their wives writing letters to the editor to complain about contract negotiations in Clearwater. This is a free economy. Get another job! It's that simple! Get another job!
If the benefits, pay, working hours, camaraderie and environment aren't good enough for you, get another job, just like the rest of us have to do - if you can find another job. Wake up, people! There are millions of unemployed workers who would love to have an income, much less be able to complain about getting only a 2 percent raise. Face it, life is not always fair. If your job isn't, get another job!
This hero worship since 9/11 has started to get out of hand. You sign up for this job, and you know up front what the pay is, what the risks are and you still do it, I am sure for the satisfaction of it to some degree, just like police officers.
So, stop the complaining and be thankful you have a job and one you like. This is a bad time for individuals, businesses, cities and states. Grow up!
And please don't expect us to feel sorry for you because you could always opt to go into teaching. Or how about politics? We're always looking for new city managers.
First of all, I am proud to be a firefighter for the Clearwater Fire Department for the past 22 years. In that time, it has been my privilege to serve the citizens of Clearwater. I, and the numerous crews that I have served with, have answered every call that's been dispatched to us, from minor to serious, morning to night, to help out those in need in any way possible.
Now, it is the firefighters themselves who need help, and it is the citizens of Clearwater who we are appealing to. The Oct. 26 editorial, City must rein in Fire Department, is what spurred me to write. It is just the latest in a string of articles and editorials that have misled the public and conveniently omitted the real reasons behind some of the actions that our fire union members have been taking lately to draw attention to our plight.
The members of Clearwater Fire and Rescue are some of the most dedicated, competent and professional firefighters and paramedics anywhere. All we are asking is to be compensated fairly for the dangerous and necessary job that we do.
The editorial states that "high-ranking city officials are united in the firm belief that Clearwater firefighters are paid well for the work they do." These officials didn't have any problem accepting their raises, in some cases four times what was offered to us. City Manager Bill Horne was "a bit underpaid?" Yeah, right!
Last month, my crew courageously attempted to save an elderly woman's life when her mobile home exploded into flames. Talk about a bit underpaid!
Later, we're called "whiny" by one of those same high-ranking officials. Low morale? Yes, and I know who caused it.
Citizens of Clearwater, you need to know that qualified applicants are already turning down offers from Clearwater to work elsewhere and that many of our best new hires are seriously considering taking their skills to other cities where they are appreciated and compensated more. Do the citizens of Clearwater really want their emergency services to be staffed by whoever's left to take that position, instead of the best candidates available?
The editorial also states that this is "nothing less than a struggle for control of the Fire Department and its future." What a ridiculous statement! City management just fired, for no good reason, two of the most competent chief officers that this city or any other has ever had. Why? Because they were firefighters to the end and they would never be the "yes men" that city management expected of them.
I urge all citizens of Clearwater to find out more about what's really going on in your Fire Department. Stop and ask the firefighters themselves to answer your questions, then ask those same questions of our city officials. The answers will vary greatly. Decide for yourself whose side you believe. And if it's the firefighters, please let your elected officials know.
I have been waiting patiently for the Clearwater city commissioners to do something about this terrible injustice being done to (former assistant fire chiefs) Pete Huffman and Gordon Yaudes. I am having a hard time believing Clearwater can be doing this to two of its finest.
What is wrong with you people? Have you no backbone to sit back and allow this to happen? These men put their lives on the line every day and they deserve so much more. I do believe Clearwater had better do some serious soul searching. Can you please tell us exactly what they have done to deserve this horrible treatment?
I have a nagging question in my head. If these two men were black, would this or could this be done to them? You would have the NAACP on your neck so fast it wouldn't be funny.
Re: County deserves some credit for dealing with airport noise, editorial,
Before breaking out another bottle of champagne to celebrate the Web-based airport monitoring system that County Administrator Steve Spratt and the Pinellas Board of County Commissioners are getting for their constituents for $7,500 in startup costs and another $1,900 a month, I would appreciate it very much if you could obtain the answer to the e-mail and followups that I have been sending to Mr. Spratt since Oct. 7 (which he promised to have the airport staff respond to).
The only additional subject that I raised with Mr. Spratt in my followups was the situation with Cracker Barrel Restaurant.
I would also like to point out that when Air Traffic Control informs pilots of arriving aircraft that the North Bay Visual Approach (over Tampa Bay) is in use, the request for an Instrument Landing System (ILS) or other instrument approach to Runway 17L can be initiated by the pilot in command and such requests will be honored by Air Traffic Control.
If you can get Mr. Spratt to satisfactorily answer the topics raised and satisfy us all that the county is not going to be spending $7,500 in initial startup costs and another $1,900 a month just for a public relations ruse so that he and the commissioners can justify the extension of the runway to 10,000 feet and the quarter-of-a-billion-dollar expansion of the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, I will be the first to purchase and uncork that bottle of champagne.
I went to the recent Largo commission meeting for two public hearings on annexation and objected to the illegal annexation of (properties on) 49th Street at 150th Avenue and Wrens Way and Wild Acres. These are not substantially contiguous and compact, but it doesn't make any difference to the little cities. And why do citizens and everyone else have to follow the state statutes but not these (city) bullies?
Sixty-one percent of the residents in Wrens Way voted to remain unincorporated. Now, the city of Largo says they need to enforce the sewer indentures. (Do we still have slavery to cities in America?)
The county was also at the meeting and objected to the annexations. The School Board had a representative who objected to the sewer indentures at the new high school across from the jail.
I spoke to an assistant county attorney, and he said that I should again find an attorney who would file suit within the 30-day time limit. The attorney who has given me good advice in the past says if I bring the money, he will go forward.
I am so disgusted with our government agencies that say, "You're right, but our hands are tied." The law is the law - same one for all of us, or so I thought! Why do I have to do all the footwork and then be told I'm too late or that I don't live there?
Every time another area or even one parcel is annexed illegally, it affects every person who owns property or lives in the unincorporated area in higher taxes, less control of our freedom and no choices over our own lives.
If I'm wrong or looking at these annexation efforts incorrectly, would someone tell me? I am only interested in living in peace and asking my government (county commissioners) to protect my interests and give me a good value for the property taxes that I pay each year.
We invite readers to write letters for publication. Address them to Letters to the Editor, the Times, 710 Court St., Clearwater, FL 33756. Or you may fax them to 727 445-4119, or e-mail to npletters@sptimes.com E-mail letters must be text only and cannot include attachments.
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