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Clearwater leaders' reaction to concert deplorable

Re: Same gripes, different bands, story, Dec. 6 .

The near-acquiescently passive attitude the Clearwater mayor and vice mayor have shown toward the Next Big Thing concert is deplorable. It's obvious that they are playing right into the hands of the devil by being so permissive of such vulgar and degrading abuse of the English language and the culture of Clearwater.

How in the world the mayor could listen to that crap for 90 minutes is beyond my understanding. And Vice Mayor Bill Jonson said, "But it wasn't every other word," whereas Coachman Park neighbor Vicki Morgan stated it happened all day long!

Clearwater parks and recreation director Kevin Dunbar thinks this is acceptable for an urban environment. Is he talking about the ghetto or downtown Clearwater?

And I was under the impression that they were trying to bring Clearwater up to a higher and more desirable standard. Ha! It's clear they are trying to be politically correct, and to whom? Give me a break! Take this from Ayn Rand: "In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit."

Fight against Wal-Mart is alive and well

Re: Tarpon Springs' direction depends on its residents, editorial, Dec. 7.

While I commend the recent editorial regarding Tarpon Springs updating its comprehensive plan and the need for community participation in molding our future, I take issue with a glaring omission.

The editorial refers to the movement against Wal-Mart locating on the Anclote River that started 11/2 years ago, "the throngs of opponents" and their dedication through the all-night commission meeting, and the hope that losing the vote "has not embittered them, because their presence ... is needed again."

Allow me to say that the Friends of the Anclote River and our efforts to stop the proposed Wal-Mart are alive and well, and the fight is not over!

During the last year, we have been very actively defending our ongoing lawsuit. We have prevailed at several hearings, including one at which Wal-Mart and the city's motion to dismiss claimed we filed our suit one day too late (they claimed the 30-day clock started the day the meeting began and not when the resolution was signed the next day). Three months and $40,000 later, the court ruled in our favor. We suspect that frivolous motion was simply an effort to run up our legal costs, which it did, and wear us down, which it didn't.

In addition to the legal fight, we have sold T-shirts, waved signs on U.S. 19, organized a soldout benefit auction for 400 people with more than 200 items (including artwork by local artists), sponsored a movie night featuring Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price and continued to attend commission meetings as well as the first of four workshops referred to in the editorial.

Our lawsuit has prevailed over all of the efforts to stop it and is in the final phase in front of a panel of three judges. Our group has requested oral arguments, as has Wal-Mart, and we are expecting to hear from the court any minute regarding a date for the oral arguments or a final decision. We are expecting this to come back before the City Commission for a new hearing.

Let me assure you, Friends of the Anclote River and Concerned Citizens of Tarpon Springs are alive and well, and we invite additional community support. Visit our Web site at www.friendsoftheancloteriver.com

I join you in asking the community to attend these comprehensive plan workshops to share your vision of Tarpon's future!

Minimum photo purchase destroys spirit

I've always said, "If you want to see the real Santa, go to Tyrone Square Mall." The display is beautiful, and Santa is genuine. We've gone there for 10 years.

This year, we are down to one child who wants to visit Santa. We were at the end of a pleasantly short line, and soon it was our 3-year-old's turn.

We were approached by the man operating the camera there. He said, "May we interest you in a picture package?" My husband, wearing a large digital camera around his neck, replied, "No thanks, we brought our own camera." The man said, "We can't let you use your own camera unless you make a minimum purchase. Company policy." My husband retorted, "What? Are you going to beat me up if I take a picture of my own daughter?"

The man had probably been on his feet all day and didn't look up to debating my husband. He just repeated, "Company policy."

Santa called our daughter over, and she had a wonderful visit as my husband clicked away. The cameraman was visibly irritated but didn't intervene.

As we made our way through the mall to the camera shop to develop our prints for 29 cents, my Christmas spirit was deflated. It occurred to me that the Santa line may have been so short because of this minimum purchase policy. There are many parents stretched so financially tight this time of year. No parent should be robbed of the opportunity to capture such a fleeting moment in a small child's life.

This so-called "company policy" is completely devoid of Christmas spirit and reeks of the Christmas commercialism that everyone complains about.

Debate mustn't negate Christ's message

Re: There are many ways to observe the season, letter, Dec. 9.

Does taking Christ out of Christmas by the critics mean that the message he brought to a broken world more than 2,000 years ago has to go, too?

If you can't agree on what he was - be it the Messiah or the son of God, or a rabbi, a prophet or a scholar, or even if he existed at all - what's wrong with his message to the world of loving one another, forgiveness and reconciliation?

Maybe the world is still not prepared to accept his message of loving one another as he loved us, rejecting it once again as too radical of an idea to trust.

Let's at least honor the man and put him back in Christmas for the good news he brought us, even if it is only for this special day. Merry Christmas.

[Last modified December 13, 2005, 01:30:24]