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Outcry over foster home based on misinformation

Is it possible there was a misunderstanding regarding the type of group home being established on Shore Drive in Oldsmar? From all the news stories and letters, that is what I've gathered.

Mistaking a group foster home for a home for juvenile delinquents, especially if someone has been victimized by residents of a previous delinquent home, is understandable. The degree of fear and the instinct to protect our children is also understood. However, the facts are now on the table.

This situation is not as bad as it seems. As I see it, many of us have learned something from this. Different things, but we have learned something regardless.

It is a difficult thing to admit a misunderstanding and harder to apologize. I know. I once gave a young lady in the pharmacy a difficult time over an antibiotic, in front of my kids. When I later found that I was the one in error, I drove back to the pharmacy, with my children, and apologized to her. My kids learned that it takes strength to do something difficult, and they respect me for cashing in my pride. They learned accountability.

If I saw an Oldsmar resident stand in front of the City Council and say that it was a misunderstanding, or that they learned something from all this, and in turn welcomed the foster children to Oldsmar, I would hold the utmost respect for that person's honesty and accountability. And I believe others will too.

It's not too late to welcome the children.

Understanding needed on group home issue

In reading the series of articles and editorials regarding the group home for children in foster care, I am compelled to reflect back on a favorite locket I wear around my neck every day. The words on the locket read: "If you judge people ... you have no time to love them."

It was written by a kind and selfless woman better known as Mother Theresa.

Let us all remember to invest in acts of kindness and understanding, no matter what side of the fence you are on.

Let us also remember that our children are our future and every child deserves no less than the best chance of achieving success and happiness in life. Those of us who have children know that they are molded and influenced by many different people and circumstances in life. It could have been a favorite teacher, a pastor, a neighbor, a foster parent. Or winning a contest, watching the sunset, a death in the family or other tragic circumstance that may have lead them on a different path.

The bottom line is that we, as adults, must take responsibility and set the right examples. It truly takes a village to raise a child.

If we, as a community, don't rise to the occasion and take the chance to help any child in need, what does that make us? Humane or inhumane?

Retiring manager did much for Dunedin

Re: Dunedin city manager plans to retire, story, Oct. 28.

I read with much sadness the plans for Dunedin's city manager, John Lawrence, to retire. It seems like only yesterday (it was the 1970s) that our families lived directly across the street from one another in Barrington Hills, Dunedin. We were all young then, eager and excited about our wonderful community of Dunedin. John's children were younger than ours, and some of my daughters were enlisted as babysitters for his sons. We watched them grow as a family, chatted on our front lawns and discussed the many topics of transplanted northerners.

John went on to do wonders for our adopted home and we felt proud to know that he was right across the way. Now we have all reached another crossroads in our lives. Things never remain the same, unfortunately, and we lose that small piece of stability we call familiarity. Separation tugs at the heartstrings, but we can rest assured that Dunedin, Pinewood Drive and those happy days of years gone by will live in our hearts forever.

Good luck. We will miss you!

Traffic tickets mean road safety, not speed traps

Re : Officers scribbling tickets at record pace, story, Oct. 25, and Surge in tickets is for safety's sake, editorial, Oct. 28.

I think it's just too bad that some see Largo or Waldo as a speed trap. I drive an 18-wheeler through Waldo four nights a week. I try to be a safe driver always, but I make mistakes too. I have had my share of tickets in Largo, as well as other places in 40 years of driving.

Largo puts out speed detectors to measure speed in certain areas where speeders have been reported. If the detectors record lots of violations, then they set up and write tickets. Is it a trap? No, just enforcement of the law.

Waldo goes from 65 mph to a sign that says "Speed strictly enforced ahead," then a 55 mph sign then a 45 mph sign. These signs are all spaced apart in distance. People never slow down, then get a ticket and scream "Speed trap!"

Be aware. Drive the speed limit and you will not get a ticket, here in Largo or Waldo.

Just remember, the life they save by writing tickets just might be your own. Support your law enforcement. Without them, how would it be?

[Last modified November 21, 2005, 01:06:05]