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Developers seem to get all the government's compassion

Re: Residents: Plan favors developer, Dec. 20.

According to this story in the Times by Anne Lindberg, Pinellas County Administrator Steve Spratt said that the "county was justified in consulting with developers before putting new financial burdens on them."

He was attempting to justify the complete disregard shown by the county to the residents of mobile home parks when drafting a new law dealing with rezoning of mobile home parks. He does not seem to have the same compassion for the soon-to-be-displaced residents of those mobile home parks as he shows for the developers.

How can a law drafted with the "help" of the attorney for the developer and without any consideration from anyone representing the residents of the soon-to-be-gone mobile home parks be considered a "fair and beneficial law"? It has so many loopholes for the developer that one could drive a double-wide mobile home through it.

I trust that mobile home owners will organize and bring court challenges to this new attempt to evade the statute which requires that zoning not be changed until "similar and adequate housing is located for those to be dispossessed." The fact is there is no similar and adequate housing for them in Pinellas County and with the help of the commissioners there will soon be even less.

What is that old saying? "With friends like those we don't need enemies."

Homeowners should be compensated

The Pinellas politicos just don't get it.

The mobile home problem is a two-parter.

Part One: Displaced resident must find another place to live that the resident can afford.

Part Two: Displaced resident also suffers a major financial loss of most of his assets. This could range from $5,000 to $20,000.

The reasons for this legalized banditry are that neither the park owner nor the developer is required by law to purchase these homes at fair market value and there is a "mind-over-matter" attitude on the part of the Pinellas County commissioners, who are scared to death of these developers. They don't mind, and these low-income people don't matter. The developers have the money and the middle class "boomers" have the votes.

These homes are not mobile. They can't be moved for various reasons, mostly related to the age of the home.

The solution is simple: The politicians should withhold rezoning until the homes are bought and paid for by the developer and/or park owner, or moved, if possible, by the owner. Show us vacant land, and we allow rezoning.

Or is that solution too simple for these people?

Let old residents move in

Let's run this one past our legislators. It should be required by law that developers absorb any displaced mobile home residents into their proposed development. It would work as follows:

Owners of mobile home parks would get to sell their parks. Developers would get to build their projects. Residents would not lose a place to live. The value of the mobile homes would become equity in their new home. The rent the residents were paying to the park owners would go to the developers. When the residents die or choose to leave their unit, ownership would revert to the developers.

Problem solved. (Don't bet on it!)

Who will be uprooted next?

State law mandates that affordable and suitable housing must be available for displaced residents of mobile home parks. In Pinellas County there is no such housing available. Thus, our county commissioners have assisted developers to do an "end-run" around state law by passing an ordinance that allows developers to cover a displaced resident's rent for two years. Then what? Then where?

The power of numbers may dissuade our elected officials from disregarding a significant number of Pinellas County taxpayers. Mobile home park residents are now beginning to mobilize and seek representation to protect their interests. Our county should not become a home for only a wealthy, imported population that eases the rest of us out from our homes. Pinellas County mobile home residents are now being deemed unwanted and secondary to development.

Who will be uprooted next to make room for the affluent?

Homeless too often are overlooked

Re: Helping Hillsborough's homeless, editorial, Dec. 18.

This is an excellent example of Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms' arrogance and the hypocrisy of her so-called Christian supporters.

There are 11,000 homeless people in Hillsborough County and yet they choose to focus their attention on a bikini bar, library books, the school calendar and Joe Redner, who I am sure has a very nice house to sleep in at night.

Apparently you have to be gay, naked or un-Christian in order to make a blip on their moral radar.

One-sided reporting

Re: Donors underwrite DeLay's life of luxury, Dec. 21.

It's a disappointment that the Times routinely publishes content that is so biased and one sided. Evidence is found on the front page Wednesday.

I realize that Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas is a national figure, but the Associated Press story and headline that you printed is pure election year propaganda.

Do you mean to tell your readers that congressional leaders such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi or Sen. Ted Kennedy live monastic lives? Teddy looks very well fed to me, and I suspect that he's had a few luxurious hotel rooms of his own.

This story could have been balanced by similar reporting on congressional misdeeds if it had simply included examples from both parties. There is no doubt plenty to go around.

As it is, this gross example of editorial bias is unworthy of a great newspaper.

Don't tolerate the corruption

Re: Donors underwrite DeLay's life of luxury.

This is out-and-out graft and corruption and should be prosecuted! Where are our law enforcement people? Where are groups like Public Citizen, Common Cause, ACLU, etc.?

Any civil servant (I presume that's what our politicians are) who receives a gift from anyone should be explaining to a grand jury. Better yet, let a jury of the people decide their guilt.

If this is not a crime, then I was lied to in all my years of civil service. I must have been dreaming when I saw people dismissed and get arrested for doing exactly the same thing!

[Last modified December 23, 2005, 01:13:18]