What started out as a school writing assignment, ends up providing the nine-year-old with a lesson in the city politics.
By TIM GRANT
Published June 11, 2004
CARROLLWOOD - The handwritten letter that arrived recently in County Commissioner Ken Hagan's mailbox looked as if it had been written by a child.
As Hagan read the letter, he realized a 9-year-old boy had concerns about two faulty sidewalks in his neighborhood.
"I think someone will get hurt by tripping or wrecking their bike," wrote Louis Betz III. "Can you please fix those sidewalks ... ?"
Hagan was impressed.
"He is the youngest person I've ever received a letter from," Hagan said. "He is the youngest person to my knowledge who has initiated an administrative referral."
By "administrative referral," Hagan means that he referred Louis' letter to the county's Public Works Department, which resulted in some action.
A public works manager soon called Louis' mother, Jill Betz. Workers visited the Carrollwood Village subdivision where the Betz family lives. Those workers added the uneven sidewalks at Chestersall Drive and Attley Place to the county's ongoing work schedule.
Craig West, a manager in the Public Works Department, said it's hard to say exactly when the sidewalks will get fixed, but more than likely it'll be before next February. The county will spend $400,000 of next year's budget repairing sidewalks countywide.
"It doesn't stand out as one of the more hazardous locations," West said. "Where we have incidents where people have tripped and been injured, we put those at the highest priority."
The letter-writing assignment was meant to sharpen Louis' writing skills. It turned into a valuable lesson about how government works.
"My mom home-schools me, and she wanted me to write a business letter," Louis said. He thought it would be a good chance to tell someone about the two sidewalks he has to avoid while riding his bike.
One section of the sidewalk on Attley Place is about seven inches off the ground, making it an abrupt bump upward for bicyclers - or pedestrians, for that matter. On Chestersall Drive, the sidewalk has a spot where one section is about 11/2 inches higher than the adjacent section.
Louis says his father, a business consultant, suggested he address the letter to Hagan. Louis used his mother's computer to get Hagan's address at County Center.
Mrs. Betz has home-schooled Louis since March. His 12-year-old sister, Victoria Betz, attends Ben Hill Middle School.
"I think it's really cool the people actually listened to his letter," Victoria said.
The other cool thing is that his mother gave Louis an "A" on the assignment.
