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If officials don't do their jobs, replace 'em

Re: Oops! Tarpon sells to developer a parcel it had leased to hospital, story, Oct. 9.

It is mind-boggling to me that Tarpon Springs city commissioners could officially approve a sale of 7.2 acres of land that they had no right to sell.

City Attorney John Hubbard was also asleep at the switch. He "assumed" it was city property. Mr. Hubbard should know that the word "assume" means "make an a-- of you and me."

I can see it now. All the finger-pointing is going to start. He said-she said and no one is going to step up and admit it was their mistake.

Charlie Attardo, you are our city's business services specialist. What exactly do you specialize in? And as for you, Mr. Hubbard, what is your job? As a lawyer, you should know you cannot assume.

As a Tarpon Springs resident, I am appalled at the way these gentlemen did not do their job.

I worked for many years before retiring, and if an employee did not do the job they were hired to do, then I would get someone who could.

Barbara Troop, Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs allows developers to override the taxpayers' wishes

Re: Popularity of project doesn't alter process, Oct. 5 letter from John Hubbard responding to New chapter in Wal-Mart saga should have hearing, editorial, Sept. 28.

I read with dismay the Tarpon Springs city attorney's letter to the editor championing the process by which developers and others with influence in Tarpon Springs are able to override the concerns of the ordinary citizens.

His insistence that the process takes precedence over the interests and wishes of the typical taxpayer is characteristic of the arrogance of those who govern Tarpon Springs.

Ignoring the obvious fact that the offending process is a product of the city's administration and can be changed when the city administrators find it in their best interests to do so insults the intelligence of the people of Tarpon Springs. We know all too well how those who control the definition of what the process allows and what is prohibited can use this authority to achieve whatever purposes they desire without consideration of fairness or evenhandedness.

The staff and elected officials of Tarpon Springs do not need defending. The people of Tarpon Springs who wish to have a voice in decisions that affect our quality of life do.

It is particularly ironic that the city administration should choose this moment to disparage the efforts of ordinary citizens wishing to have some input into the decisions affecting their lives. As Tarpon's elected officials campaign for greater autonomy and more local control, are they telling us that county government will be even more dismissive than the present city government?

Jean Jester, Tarpon Springs

District 9 map is an unpleasant reminder of gerrymandering

Please do all the voters, both Democratic and Republican, a huge favor and stop printing the U.S. House District 9 boundary map.

As we are bombarded with the lies and innuendoes of yet another election, must we also be reminded that our elected politicians long ago gerrymandered "representative" democracy out of the electoral process? Could District 9 possibly be any more botched up than it is?

John J. Davis, Clearwater

When churches help Boy Scouts, they also help the community

Hello, my name is Alex Annis and I am in seventh grade at Carwise Middle School. I play football for the Countryside Cougars. I am in the Pee Wee division.

My head coach, Dean Walters, has required our team members to serve seven hours of community service. I cannot believe how hard it is for a 13-year-old boy to find somewhere to do some community service. You would think it was easy, but no, it is not.

First, we tried our church, then we tried the YMCA, and finally I called the Oldsmar Library. None of the three had anything a 13-year-old boy could do. My mom called two food banks that would have loved to help me, but the problem was that they were only open Monday through Friday mornings and I am in school during that time.

At last we found a place where I could do some community service. Unbelievably, the place that I found is the same church that sponsors my Boy Scout Troop 475. I guess churches that help Boy Scouts help everybody.

Alex Annis, Oldsmar

Reinvesting A+ money makes Coachman Fundamental great

On behalf of the School Advisory Council, the Parent-Teacher Association and all parents of Coachman Fundamental Middle School, we thank all of the faculty and staff of this school for voting to reinvest all of the A+ money that was awarded back to the school based on the 2005/2006 FCAT scores.

Why is this so impressive to us? Each member of the faculty and staff could have voted to have the money divided into individual bonuses. However, they chose - not just this year, but for the last 10 consecutive years - to reinvest all of the money in the school to benefit the students. For several members of this faculty and staff, this could have resulted in $12,000 in bonus money each for those 10 years. Instead, it became funds to continue to improve services for the students.

Could this be part of the reason why Coachman Fundamental Middle School is ranked 26th out of 531 middle schools in the state of Florida?

We thank all of you at Coachman Fundamental Middle School!

Judy Deeley, School Advisory Council chairwoman, and Tracy Eads, PTA president

YOUR VOICE COUNTS

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[Last modified October 12, 2006, 06:53:23]