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Someone left out of the jail hoopla

Shortly, the new expansion of the Citrus County jail will open in a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The total cost of this expansion is $18.5-million. All of the dignitaries will be there to congratulate each other on its success. They will act as if this wonderful idea to privatize the Citrus County jail was their's.

Everyone will smile and pat each other on the back. Someone from Corrections Corporation of America will speak about how successful they have been in Citrus County with the private jail they have run since 1995. A local government official, probably a county commissioner, will speak about how having the jail run by a private company has saved the county millions of dollars over the years. They will mention the fact that the jail addition was built and paid for by Corrections Corporation of America, saving Citrus County taxpayers the cost of building yet one more new building in the county.

Do you know who won't be there? The organization that came up with the idea. It was not invited.

That organization spent more than four years promoting privatizing the jail. Its members spent hours and hours on the phone with different private companies discussing the Citrus County jail, seeking information of all kinds to help point out the benefits of running the jail by a private company, often times making enemies with the power brokers of the county.

Hundreds of hours of work were put into promoting privatizing that jail by the organization over that four-year span often working well into the early morning hours, writing letters to both the St. Petersburg Times and Citrus County Chronicle. In that four-year span, almost two dozen letters to the editor were written. Seven presentations were made before the County Commission, close to two dozen presentations were made before different organizations and civic clubs throughout the county.

The organization I am talking about is the former Citrus County Taxpayers Association. As president of that organization, I know how much was put into that project, in both time and money. We never asked for money nor ever received any from the county or Corrections Corporation of America. We did it because we believed it was a beneficial thing for the taxpayers.

Only one county commissioner thanked us, although that was a day after the final vote to privatize the jail. Corrections Corporation of America representatives never called us, although they did give me a coaster with their insignia on it as well as a shirt promoting their company.

From me and the former Citrus County Taxpayers Association, we hope the dedication goes well.

Carmine L. Petrangelo, Inverness

Questions galore for Sheriff's Office

Upon review of the most recent accounts of actions and behaviors by members of the Citrus County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) one can only question: "What is going on in this law enforcement agency?" My knowledge base of the actions and behaviors of the CCSO has been derived from the various articles and accounts as provided by our local media, the St. Petersburg Times and Citrus County Chronicle.

We read of questionable activities of the CCSO in respect to the Jessica Lunsford case. It is apparent that final outcome and disposition will be highly impacted by the activities and/or lack of procedure and protocol compliance by this law enforcement agency. It will truly be a sad day for the family involved, as well as Citrus County and the state of Florida, if the alleged perpetrator escapes the "ultimate" sentence due to the "inept" actions of a few employees of the CCSO. Sheriff Jeff Dawsy has lauded the actions of these individuals in interviews with local media.

Now, with the most recent actions involving a traffic stop on Jan. 13, of James Martone (who at the time was a sworn officer with the CCSO in his private vehicle) by Deputy Richard Briggs. By news accounts, it appears that Deputy Briggs followed standard protocol. As a law enforcement officer witness to "unsafe driving of an individual," this officer conducted a traffic stop of the "driver" and then observed behaviors of an individual indicative of an "impaired driver" ("speech was slurred, his eyes were glassy, and he reeked of alcohol" quote from page 1, of the Citrus Times on Jan. 31).

Questions immediately arise. These include, but are definitely not limited to:

1. Why did Deputy Briggs call Cpl. Kenneth Amsler?

2. Is it procedure for CCSO to always call shift supervisor to the scene when he/she encounters an apparent "impaired" driver?

3. Was Dawsy also called from the scene by Cpl. Amsler or Deputy Briggs?

4. Did Deputy Briggs and/or Cpl. Amsler act on their own judgment or by direction from Dawsy?

5. Why no field sobriety test?

6. One media account shared that James Martone's wife and 15-year-old son appeared at the scene after being called. Mr. Martone apparently was driven home by one of them. The 15- year-old son drove Mr. Martone home, with Mr. Martone as the "responsible licensed adult driver" who by state statute is responsible for supervising the restricted licensed driver.

The list of questions regarding the activities and actions of the CCSO is just beginning. However, one must consider the statement made by the sheriff as quoted in the Citrus Times edition of the St. Petersburg Times on Feb. 2, with his self description as "the most ethical person in the profession." As this article notes, the office of the sheriff will be on the 2008 election ballot. The voters of Citrus County will then have an opportunity to assess Dawsy's level of ethics.

In the past, it was once said of team/game activities "one-two-three strikes you are out at the ol' ball game!" Unless, it seems, that your team is the CCSO, then you just sit out an inning or two.

Debbie Ressler, Inverness

Jeb and Co. left us bamboozled

Recently, a few concerned citizens of sound reasoning spoke out regarding the inequities of property taxes. Discounting the usual political posturing and endless self-serving rhetoric, a picture has emerged of how we have been bamboozled by the previous administration of Gov. Jeb Bush, and his Republican-led Legislature. My fellow taxpayers, we have been had!

Back during 1980, we were led to believe that a vote for the Lotto meant that money for the schools would be plentiful. Instead, the Lotto money was put into the general fund, and the usual expenditures for schools were cut. The unfunded mandates sent to the counties replaced the money promised from the Lottery.

Quoting Citrus Times article of Jan. 25 regarding the Citrus County Commission budget hearing, the headline County says spending cuts coming does not fit the reality.

William K. Whitfield, in a letter in the St. Petersburg Times published on Jan. 27, was on the mark. The gentleman, who is from Tallahassee, stated the following: "One chief cause of the property tax increases is the state's $19-billion to $20-billion tax reductions (since 2000) that resulted in the reduction of the state's public school education contribution to the counties from 62 percent to around 40 percent. The costs to run the public schools have increased, not decreased, and the huge percentage decrease from the state has forced the counties to greatly increase property taxes to get the funds to run the schools."

Cheryl Phillips, guest columnist in the Citrus Times, on Jan. 25, "Vision Check 2007 to help bring Citrus 20/20 into focus", should have given the Board of County Commissioners a reality pause when Miss Phillips wrote the following: "Today the controversial issue in Citrus County is impact fees. But that is not the only issue. We have the gamut of education issues (you do realize that the School Board's budget is almost twice that of the Board of County Commissioners)."

One must ask, why is that so? And the answer is the irresponsible handling of school funds by the past governor, Jeb Bush, and his Republican-run Legislature who had plenty of money to give to their business benefactors at the expense of Florida children.

My family have been Florida residents for more than 30 years, working and paying local taxes. As a two-time great-grandfather, I wonder why the bigger part of my current property tax bill is for schools? I have no children attending school.

Which brings up a further question, why did the BOCC vote for only a partial impact fee for schools? Is Tallahassee going to bail you out?

Remember, the unfunded mandates, which by the way, are unconstitutional, have been pushed upon us. Are our local legislative representatives paying attention? Unfortunately, the same crowd who gave us bigger telephone bills, and the insurance mess is still in office. Shame on us Floridians!

If you agree with me, then please, during the next election cycle, do become an informed voter and above all, please vote for a better future for us all.

Karel Vojanec, Floral City

Helping lobbyists is as easy as 1-2-3

We have read how every branch of government wants to "help" the homeowner with insurance relief, but they cannot come up with a way that will be acceptable to the lobbyists that fund their campaigns. Since this apparently leaves our representatives in a quagmire, I would like to offer some options they could explore.

First, if our laws allow mortgage companies and banks to require us to have homeowners insurance to secure a loan, why shouldn't it be tax deductible from federal income tax? This would at least provide a small measure of financial relief to homeowners.

Second, why aren't all medical expenses tax deductible on the federal return, regardless of the person's income? A change in this tax bite also would allow more cash to be directly used by individuals and families, thus infusing more cash into the economy.

Third, a huge portion of the price of gasoline goes to federal taxes and the money used to buy this gasoline has already been subjected to federal income tax, I fail to understand why all taxes from gasoline purchases are not tax-deductible on the federal return. I realize the actual taxes we are subjected to have to be made public for this to happen, but it should not be a problem.

I don't think any of these suggestions would interfere with any lobbyists' concerns, thus allowing our efficient method of cash-purchased government to keep on clipping along as usual, and everyone should be a little happier.

Walter S. Brown, Spring Hill

Your voice counts

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[Last modified February 8, 2007, 06:17:19]