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Re: Board regrets mistaken clearing, April 26 Times:
Editor: I haven't been to Disney World in 20 years, perhaps longer. But I don't feel I am missing anything because I believe I live in the middle of it.
I have lived in places that supported principalities. It would seem Weeki Wachee and the Hernando County School Board are typical examples of principalities. They have their own laws, rules and regulations.
I remember when Len Tria was a county commissioner. He was adamant that trees not be cut down without rhyme or reason. There are rules on the county's books that regulate cutting trees. What happened?
Are the School Board and Weeki Wachee immune to rules set by the County Commission?
A child with her parent driving by the site where the new school is to be placed became upset when she saw that the trees had been taken down. This is not a good example to set for a child who is interested in conservation and solving the planet's pollution problems.
Re: Board regrets mistaken clearing, April 26 Times:
Editor: Three cheers to Hernando County Development Director Grant Tolbert for thoroughly and responsibly doing his job for Hernando County taxpayers, for looking out for residents' property values and for protecting the environment.
I would also like to thank the newspapers for keeping the residents informed through their thorough news articles.
Once again, Hernando County School Board members have wasted our tax dollars when they illegally cleared all trees and brush that was supposed to provide a buffer zone for nearby residents at the future school site on Elgin Boulevard.
First, the School Board votes to proceed with eminent domain near J.D. Floyd Elementary School, which will cost thousands of tax dollars in court costs, attorney fees, etc., all against the residents' wishes and county codes. Now this, not to mention countless other ways they waste our tax dollars.
Too bad this didn't happen before election day; maybe then the School Board's sales tax referendum wouldn't have passed.
Now, Graydon Howe, school facilities director, is talking about building a $200,000 wall around the school site and some fancy trees and bushes, which will require watering (another waste of tax dollars).
First, ugly and expensive prison bar fencing is going up around many school campuses. Now, an ugly cement wall. Whatever happened to chain link fencing, which is considerably less expensive and much more child-friendly?
My question is this: Will spending our tax dollars on court costs, attorney fees, fancy trees and landscaping, prison bar fencing and cement improve the quality of education for our children? I think not.
What would improve the quality of education for our children is to stop pursuing things through costly eminent domain and wasting our tax dollars on all of these ridiculous things. Instead, increase teacher salaries that we need to attract more qualified teachers to our schools and, most important, to keep them here. Let's assure that all students have qualified teachers and new textbooks for each and every student.
Be assured that residents will be watching what happens with this, and many will be praying that the right decisions will be made, for the sake of our property values, the environment, and most important, our children.
Re: Board regrets mistaken clearing, April 26 Times:
Editor: I have always respected Sandy Nicholson, and she truly set an example that needs to be followed by both politicians and everyday folks. That lesson is, people make mistakes.
I teach my students that the only person who does not make mistakes is a person who does nothing. The mark of someone's character is not the mistakes they make, but how they handle themselves after the mistake is made.
Do they take responsibility for their actions and try to do right, or do they run and hide? Bill Clinton, O.J. Simpson, George W. Bush, Michael Jackson and others, are you listening?
I admire that Nicholson stood up as the voice of the school district and said she was sorry and, yes, a mistake was made. I hope we can all learn a valuable lesson from Nicholson. She is not hiding behind lawyers or other rhetoric. She took responsibility, she said she'll make it right, and I believe it.
Thank you for setting the example for us to follow.