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Put people in office who will fix insurance crisis

The last word on the insurance crisis is - politicians. The only way to begin solving this problem is with our votes.

I've lived in Florida since 1977, then a single mom raising kids on a secretary's salary. I always owned a home and could pay my insurance. Today, when things should be easier, they are worse. I've seen 30 years of hurricanes and always could afford my premium.

Pasco County's sinkhole claims went from $162,000 to $42-million in a matter of four years. If all these were legitimate sinkholes, half of Pasco would be underground.

The insurance company run by the state is in dire need of an audit and new, competent management.

No, this crisis is not due to hurricanes and sinkholes. This crisis is a result of legislators who forgot about the middle class, legislators who put insurance companies and their lobbyists above the needs of the people, legislators who have done nothing thus far to alleviate 300 to 400 percent increases, causing hardworking, middle-class Floridians to lose their homes!

This "panel," headed by the lieutenant governor, suggested the following:

A tax-free catastrophe savings account. How well did the health care savings account work?

Higher deductibles! Either pay now or pay later, and the premium does not decrease much, given the exorbitant rate to begin with.

Stronger building codes? Great! Higher housing costs and grants from the government to hurricane-proof your home - most of us affected by the rate increases cannot afford this expense.

Point being, those giving us these solutions are those who contributed to this mess in the first place.

People of Florida, elections are coming and that is the only way this can be fixed, or at least changed, and right now any positive change is welcome. We all must listen carefully to all candidates, especially those running for governor and chief financial officer. Demand to hear their detailed plans to fix this problem and see which of them will put it in writing, so as to be held accountable.

God controls hurricanes, but we can have a voice in who controls our insurance bills. Only consider those who put insurance reform as a top priority, as it should be, and then make informed decisions at the polls.

Carol Howard, Spring Hill

Gambling and Lotto could help insurance

Re: Gamblers could help fund storm insurance, Aug. 11 letter.

I agree that Las Vegas-style gambling in Florida could bring in the necessary revenue to establish a state insurance fund for all catastrophes and hurricanes. Funding for reinsurance, which the insurance industry relies on heavily, is definitely needed to lure private insurance companies back to our state.

I have discussed with state Sen. Mike Fasano using taxes from slot machines now allowed in the southeast part of Florida to be funneled into the fund, but was advised that this money goes toward education. Of course, building new casinos and tapping their revenue would be a long time in coming both through a public referendum and getting them built.

I also suggested to Sen. Fasano having proceeds of one of the Lotto games be used for insurance, but was again advised that this money is for education and would require an amendment to the Constitution.

Without affordable housing, there won't be children and therefore no need for funds for education. Maybe a change in the state's priorities would be in order or at least examined.

Perhaps a percentage of impact fees from counties could be directed to fund the new My Safe Florida Home program, which gives qualified residents $5,000 in matching funds for hurricane mitigation. It will take many years to accomplish as only approximately 50,000 homes per year are expected to be completed and more than 4-million in the state need upgrades.

Ramon L. Albini, New Port Richey

Volunteer who took trip does good work

I was very upset with your article as well as the editorial concerning the Pasco County sheriff's decision to send Wayne O'Brien to Washington to further his training as coordinator of the Citizens Service Unit.

Are you familiar with Safety Town, located at State Road 52 near the Suncoast Parkway? Safety Town is built as a town square to scale to educate and empower our most precious resource, our children. Safety Town educates school-age children about strangers, summoning help, 911, wildlife, traffic safety and even boating safety. Safety Town is made possible through a collaborative partnership between the community and Sheriff's Office and is operated primarily through donations from the community. When Safety Town was in dire need of repairs this year, Wayne O'Brien donated $6,000 to preserve this worthy endeavor for our children.

Where is Wayne O'Brien now? He is attending a 40-hour class at Pasco-Hernando Community College on how to better train new recruits for this unit. He is doing this on his own time, which makes it necessary for him to take time from his business. Before you get too excited, PHCC did not invite our unit to participate until it was determined that class did not fill with paid members and seats were being left empty. It was at this time that PHCC invited us to attend in lieu of having empty seats in the class.

Wayne O'Brien has donated hundreds of hours to this unit. The unit has answered thousands of calls that it would have been necessary to send a regular deputy to if this unit were not available.

I know you find it difficult to leave your word processor, but you should investigate what this unit does for Pasco County. It is made up of volunteers who, without pay or even gas mileage to get to the job, work side by side with regular deputies handling nonemergency calls. During the time we are not dispatched, we enforce illegal parking in fire lanes and handicapped spaces. Two-thirds of all handicapped fines collected go into a special fund to help the disabled of Pasco County. Since this law's inception, the parking specialist unit and the Citizens Service Unit have written tickets against which fines of $381,446 have been paid, and $254,446 has gone into this fund. The county has spent $158,885 to retrofit county facilities at no cost to the taxpayer to better serve the disabled in our community and there is still $95,561 in the fund.

I am a proud member of the Citizens Service Unit and have been a volunteer in the Sheriff's Office since March 1992. I recently received a pin for more than 4,000 hours of volunteer service. Mr. Editor, how many hours have you volunteered to the betterment of your community?

M.L. Phillips, Trinity

Gun opponent's numbers aren't straight

Re: Crime statistics.

Again, letter writer Arthur C. Hayhoe of Wesley Chapel, executive director, Florida Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Inc., has not done his homework on statistics.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement total crime index rate per 100,000 declined from 1996 to 2005 on property and violent crimes.

On July 11, Gov. Jeb Bush and FDLE Commissioner Jerry Bailey released the state's 2005 annual uniform crime report and announced Florida's index crime rate has reached a 35-year low. The index crime rate dropped by 3.7 percent in 2005 compared with 2004.

Through the dedication of law enforcement officers and prosecutors and tough laws against crime, we will continue working to make Florida a safe home for its citizens and a safe destination for visitors. The number of violent crimes committed with guns has decreased by 12.5 percent, while the rate of crimes committed with firearms has gone down 26.7 percent in that same period.

A legal gun owner is highly unlikely to commit a crime. There is no greater deterrent to a criminal than an armed society. If criminals knew that 75 percent of those in the community had a firearm at home, they would think more than once about breaking into a home since they would have a 3 of 4 chance that they'd be facing potential lethal force in their attempt to steal your valuables or harm your family.

The Second Amendment of the Constitution gave us the right of the people to keep and bear arms and that right shall not be infringed.

Nicholas DiGuiseppi, New Port Richey

[Last modified August 22, 2006, 07:00:21]