Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

St. Petersburg shouldn't try to infringe on citizens' rights

Re: BayWalk officials seek control of sidewalk, April 14.

After previously failing to pass an unconstitutional ordinance creating a "no protest zone" on the public sidewalk beside BayWalk, certain St. Petersburg City Council members are now asking city administrators to see if these public sidewalks could be given to BayWalk. This would make the sidewalks private property, thus removing constitutional protections from the citizens who use these sidewalks.

It is outrageous that any members of our City Council would ask our city's legal department to find a ruse to deprive St. Petersburg citizens of their rights to free expression on our public streets. Have we become such slaves of major corporations that our City Council would give away public property for the sole purpose of allowing a private company to attack our citizens' constitutional rights?

The arguments of Craig Sher, CEO of Sembler Corp., that protesters have jeopardized public safety are fallacious. We already have very effective laws, which very adequately protect the public and commerce. There have been no injuries due to the organized demonstrations and no one is allowed to impede either foot or vehicular traffic. On weekend evenings cars drive so slowly on Second Avenue at BayWalk, that no one can seriously claim that there is any danger to anyone.

Craig Sher said that this is not a First Amendment rights issue. In fact, it is all about the citizens' freedom of expression and right to assemble. Both Sher and the City Council need to understand that the citizens of St. Petersburg expect their city government to protect all their constitutional rights.

-- Mark S. Kamleiter, Esq., Co-chair, Green Party of Pinellas County, St. Petersburg

Freedom isn't always tidy

Re: BayWalk officials seek control of sidewalk .

BayWalk would like to limit picketing on the nearby public sidewalks. This action is bad enough, but the support of several City Council members is especially sad. Thomas Jefferson must be turning in his grave.

Freedom isn't always good for business, nor should it be. And freedom isn't always neat and tidy and quiet. The actions of BayWalk's officials bring to mind the observation of Frederick Douglass that "Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want rain without thunder and lightning."

-- William Douglas, St. Pete Beach

Zero tolerance for sexual harassment

I am a partner in Holland & Knight's Chicago office. For the past month, I and others in the Chicago office, and other offices of the firm, have read your newspaper's accounts of our managing partner's inexplicable promotion of a recently reprimanded harasser of female subordinates to the position of chief operating partner of the firm.

I will not presume to speak for any other partners in my firm, but I first read these published reports with a mixture of shock and dismay. During the past month, those emotions have evolved into an almost overwhelming sense of disappointment and disgust.

I am not personally acquainted with the women associates and other employees whose complaints about our firm's former chief operating partner were reportedly found to be true by our firm's Fair Employment Practices Committee. However, I believe in treating others with the same consideration and respect I would like to receive, on and off the job. I am also the proud father of a 22-year-old daughter who is about to graduate from college. I hope to God she never experiences sexual harassment in the workplace.

For all these reasons, I want to publicly tell the brave women of our firm's Tampa office that as a man, as a father, and as one of the owners of the firm, I am very sorry for the unprofessional mistreatment they have endured. I am also proud of them for having the sense of responsibility and courage to take action to put a stop to the harassment. They have set an example for my daughter and other women everywhere.

Finally, I want to assure them that I have zero tolerance for sexual harassment of any kind in any office of our firm, and for anyone who would turn a blind eye to such harassment. I am confident that the vast majority of Holland & Knight partners feel exactly the same way.

--Mark A. Stang, Chicago

Catholic bashing

Re: Church is paying the price of papal infallibility, April 6.

The op-ed piece by Thomas Cahill refers to the ranks of Catholic bishops as "filled with mindless sycophants and intellectual incompetents."

One can only imagine the outrage if leaders of Islam, Judaism, Native Americans, and/or men such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton were referred to as "mindless sycophants and intellectual incompetents." Catholic-bashing seems to be the politically correct prejudice.

-- Laurence Veras, Clearwater

Bringing out their nuts

Re: Next pope could let fathers be fathers .

I am not only offended, but also angered by Nicholas D. Kristof's April 12 op-ed. Recently, during the illness and death of our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, the media were very Catholic friendly. Now it seems that all the squirrels are coming out of their holes to retrieve the nuts they had previously buried, i.e., married priests, women priests, birth control, liberal pope, etc.

I would ask Kristof to research the writings of our dear late Holy Father before he puts a spin on the teachings of the Catholic Church. Two short ones I recommend would be Pope John Paul's Apostolic Letter "On Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone" and a homily he gave to the French bishops on Jan. 26, 2004 in which he hailed the "inestimable value of priestly celibacy."

Kristof's article has so much misinformation in it that it made me dizzy just reading it.

P.S.: Also, polls have no effect on the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church; it is not a democracy. Thanks be to God!

-- Mary E. Blum, Largo

The paper gets through

Re: A Times carrier's good deed, letter, April 9.

We would also like to thank our Times carrier. Neither one of us has ever met him or her, but the individual who does our route shows true courage and understanding.

During all four hurricanes last summer, our Times was there every morning - you could always count on it. We are in an evacuation zone A for Hillsborough County and we have to commend the carrier for his or her bravery. During Hurricane Jeanne especially, when the power was out for four long, hot days, our only source of information was the Times.

Our carrier made sure we were informed and our paper was here. There were even days that we did not receive mail delivery and our local postal facility is only three blocks away, which now has been closed down for obvious reasons.

I have lived in the North where if we had any sort of inclement weather, you could forget about receiving your daily newspaper.

-- Steven and Bill Ramsey, Tampa

[Last modified April 18, 2005, 08:44:55]