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Taxes shouldn't force residents from homes

Re: Your neighbor's tax bill: A special report , story, March 26.

If mom and dad had the insight or luck to make their home in a place that others would later come to find desirable, they should not find themselves forced out simply because others with more economic power have now decided they want to live in mom and dad's neighborhood.

The Save Our Homes tax cap was originated to support homesteading, which law defines as "the householder's home and protected from forced sale to meet debts."

The tax cap is about allowing the ability to keep your existing home, not necessarily to maneuver it into more personal wealth. The transferability of the tax cap benefits would take us beyond the intended purpose of allowing a family the affordability of staying in their home.

None of us have control over whether or not those with extreme economic wealth may choose to invest in the neighborhoods where we have established our homes. But we should not be forced to move simply because we do not have the same level of wealth as our newly arriving neighbors. Longstanding perseverance in maintaining a family home should be appreciated.

If we can afford the option to provide a better home for our families, we should have no expectation to retain any of the exceptional tax relief benefits that were graciously offered to allow us the affordability of staying in our homestead.

Homeowners will likely reap profits when leaving a homestead, and that windfall should be viewed differently than the socially admirable goal of allowing elders to live their golden years in the comfort of their own homes and not be forced to sell because of tax burdens resulting from surrounding wealth. It would be wrong to allow a circumstance where that would not be possible.

Stories on Clearwater shooting disservice to business, readers

Re: Clearwater officer shoots man , story, March 13, an d Fatal shooting raises questions , story, March 14.

I take serious issue with the articles written by Jose Cardenas (March 13) and Vanessa De La Torre (March 14). Both of your staff writers made wrongful assumptions when they wrote their articles dealing with a man being killed by a Clearwater uniformed police detective on the Drew Street strip mall Sunday morning, March 12.

Specifically, Cardenas' article contained a quote from a civilian neighbor who implied that our family business, Jose's Mexican Restaurant, should be closed because of a shooting and gang activity. Further, it was wrongfully assumed that was why Detective Steven Corrao was assigned to Jose's.

Please allow me to explain. First, we have never had any gang activity inside our restaurant or nightclub, and the shooting by Detective Corrao took place outside and behind Drew Street Plaza. It was not in or even near the public entrance of our restaurant!

Furthermore, I believe the reading public should be made aware that we have had a longstanding contract with the Clearwater Police Department to furnish two uniformed officers and one police cruiser each weekend. Because of this fact, I am proud to say, we have never had any gang activity either in or close to our building.

Our family has worked very hard to become law-abiding and successful immigrants who contribute to the spirit of the American dream. Your writers did not thoroughly research the facts of this incident and, as a result, the articles are a disservice not only to our business but to your readers as well.

Please take this into consideration in future articles so that others are not harmed in the same manner as we were.

Bujalski's past is irrelevant to her new duties as commissioner

Re: Letters about new Dunedin commissioner Julie Bujalski.

I know that Julie Bujalski will ultimately make a good Dunedin city commissioner. I'm not too shocked that some people have some strong negative opinions of her based on how the St. Petersburg Times reported her background.

Is the law there only to continually punish us for our past? Isn't it there to correct inappropriate behavior and then remove or penalize those who do not respond to it? At what point does society, and the Times, let go of the past? The major offense happened 22 years ago when she was 18. It seems that she learned from her experience with the law and went on to become a proactive member of this community.

Even when faced with the reality that some would make the offense a major campaign issue, she believed so strongly that she can help Dunedin that she continued to work even harder to show the people of this town that she can make a difference.

It concerns me that we are starting to want our candidates to be perfect at all levels. All levels of government would benefit from having more "regular" people get involved, not just the ones that can stomach the intense scrutiny that now comes with the campaigning territory.

If Ms. Bujalski does not perform well as a commissioner, the system will then allow her to be voted out by the people. Until then, she should be allowed to perform her duties for the city. Because I know her personally, I am certain that she will exceed all expectations. I want someone with this determination and perseverance leading my community.

As environment worsens, living at water's edge defies all logic

Living near the shore has its down side, with water access, tides, red tide, storm surge, wind, debris, water spouts, hurricanes, tornadoes and the cost of insurance. A lot of people are investing big money in building solid block construction at the water's edge, and I don't think they really calculate the price of insurance in their investment.

I live in the center of Clearwater in a no evacuation zone in a block construction building and I don't worry each year, except about having enough supplies on hand in case of a power outage.

Watching the news, I see that water is melting at both poles, so why anyone would want to live at a lower sea level evacuation zone is beyond me. Eventually, the water will rise and at least I'll be sitting in a nice dry environment. The Clearwater Airpark is close to me and it's a catastrophe headquarters in case of a Florida natural disaster.

High and dry in Clearwater, thinking about the future.

Instead of complaining, join in the St. Patrick's Day festivities

Re : O'Keefe's St. Patrick's Day party disturbed resident's sleep, letter, March 24.

If a person averages eight hours of sleep per day, in one year they would have slept 2,920 hours. Isn't it sad that letter writer Shirley Campbell losing four hours of sleep once a year on St. Patrick's Day could be such a calamity. (By the way, that sleep loss works out to be .00014 percent of a year's snoozing.)

Perhaps the adage, "If you can't beat them, then hoist a few with 'em," should apply. Ms. Campbell should do a little family tree searching. I bet she would find a little green fellow playing a penny whistle somewhere in her past.

So one day a year, instead of complaining about the music at O'Keefe's, perhaps she should change her name to O'Campbell and join in some old-fashioned, wholesome fun.

[Last modified March 28, 2006, 03:01:29]