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Penny for Pinellas evasion is insulting, 2/17

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published February 17, 2007

Once more Howard Troxler got it right. There is no excuse for the dawdling from the Pinellas County commissioners on the issue of violations to preservation of Brooker Creek Preserve. What have they been waiting for? There is a clear set of decisions to be made, having to do with policy but hiding behind the word science (Science? What science? This is not theoretical physics. This is an issue of land use).

And then to schedule their long-awaited hearing just after the vote on the Penny for Pinellas is like thumbing their noses at the community of county citizens who are trying to keep just one small corner of this county undeveloped. It is insulting to be treated like this. We, those who care, are being mocked.

The commission has to know that they are in trouble with their constituents for promises made by former commissioners that are not being upheld in this administration. So they conveniently delay until the Penny is in their pocket (so to speak) before addressing the issue.

Be sure that this little piece of tomfoolery was not engineered by the commissioners themselves. Their agenda is set by county Administrator Steve Spratt. It is Spratt who wants the Penny in his pocket before the fireball that is Brooker Creek preservation is lit up.

I was so proud of this county when I first moved here in the '70s. I was so proud of our parks and I about bust a button with pride when my county put away 8,500 acres in its northeastern corner as preserved lands.

I was astounded that county government was trusted by the citizens to handle the extra funds allocated by the first Penny for Pinellas, and the second Penny. Every person making a purchase in this county gives a penny of every dollar spent to its government, saying, in essence, "Here is a little gift. I work hard for my money, but here, have just a penny more from this dollar and spend it wisely. I trust you to spend it wisely".

I am not proud of my county anymore. And I am so sad to have to say so.

Jane Williams, Clearwater

Protect the preserve

I agree with Howard Troxler's Feb. 11 column and I am thankful that he is holding the Pinellas County commissioners responsible for their broken promise to protect and preserve Brooker Creek Preserve.

I started hiking in the Brooker Creek Preserve when I was about 8 years old. My experiences in Pinellas County's last wilderness have taught me much more than I could have ever learned from any textbook or teacher. To me, this preserve is far more than just a piece of vacant, idle land. It is a piece of my childhood that holds hundreds of priceless memories, from leading hikes through the palmettos and pine woods to watching deer graze alongside the trails.

I believe that the county commissioners made a commitment to every past, current and future citizen of Pinellas County when they created the preserve 14 years ago. It was a commitment to protect and preserve all 8,500 acres of this small piece of natural Florida for future generations. It included nothing about using the preserve as a land bank for "future needs."

The commissioners have a simple decision to make. They can either honor the county's promise to forever protect and preserve all of Brooker Creek Preserve or they can continue to develop it acre by acre as other needs arise. They should not be playing politics with the environment, and they can't postpone their decision any longer. There is only one correct choice, and for the sake of my generation and future generations to come, I hope they choose the right one.

Mathew Poling, Palm Harbor

Pennies and promises

To all the Pinellas County commissioners:

As a registered voter and citizen of Pinellas county for 15 years, I feel compelled to write regarding Brooker Creek Preserve and the Penny for Pinellas. As these two items are very much linked, and in light of recent events, I'm at odds as to whether or not to vote in favor this time for the Penny. Brooker Creek is and should forever remain a preserve. To pump it, build on it, change its zoning or otherwise compromise its integrity as a preserve is to violate the trust we citizens have put in you. And that trust is on very thin ice right now.

I wholeheartedly agree with Howard Troxler's article in Sunday's paper that you should move the public workshop on Brooker Creek to February, as originally promised, and request that you answer his four questions publicly and before the Penny vote.

Mauri Peterson, president, St. Petersburg Audubon Society, St. Petersburg

Bush accuses Iran, denies push for war Feb. 15, story

U.S. has created a volatile situation

The president's charge Wednesday that Iran is sending sophisticated weapons to Iraq for the purpose of killing American soldiers should be seen in the context of the consistent hostility he has shown toward Iran for years.

The aircraft carriers he recently ordered to the Persian Gulf must be viewed in Iran as provocative. From the start of his administration, he has stubbornly resisted Iranian offers to discuss issues that divide our governments. The atmosphere is becoming volatile. The danger is growing that some "accident" may set off hostilities.

Archer C. Bush, Sun City Center

A provocative presence

I hear that there are two aircraft carrier groups off the coast of Iran. The Persian Gulf appears to be not much more than 100 miles wide. How close are the carriers to the coast? I wonder what would happen if China sent the equivalent armada patrolling our West Coast 50 to 100 miles offshore?

John Culkin, St. Petersburg

"Made in Iran" isn't proof of complicity Feb. 15, story

Stop this man

Claims of weapons that must be stopped in a country that sits on huge oil reserves seem like deja vu. Susan Taylor Martin stole much of my thunder in her article saying how many weapons the United States provides to the rest of the world. She mentions that we provided Stinger missiles to Islamic fighters in the Soviets' Afghanistan war. I would go further in that we also trained and helped them with many logistics which in turn helped spawn Osama bin Laden and, some will argue, even al-Qaida .

Many may say that we can't let Iran have nuclear weapons. Iran knows that we negotiate with countries that have nuclear arsenals (North Korea) and we invade countries that do not.

Right now we have two aircraft carrier groups off the coast of Iran, more than 21,000 troops are headed to Iraq and Congress is trying to vote on a nonbinding resolution about the new "surge" in Iraq.

Congress must find a backbone and start an impeachment process of the president now before this reckless administration drags us into another ill-conceived, ill-planned, ill-run war that will haunt us for decades to come!

Scott McKown, Palm Harbor

Democrats are dithering

The Democrats in Congress should put up or shut up. They constantly harp on the fact that the American people "spoke" in the recent mid-term elections and that a new course has been demanded by the electorate. The response from the Democrats has been somewhat underwhelming, to say the least. The far left will never garner enough votes to defund the war effort for one reason: fear.

If the Times and its readers believe that the war is a disaster now, just wait. To pull troops out of Iraq before the Iraqis can fend for themselves will set off a genocide not seen in the Middle East in the modern era. Iran would eventually dominate Iraq, giving the Iranians enormous prestige in the Islamic world. In short, jihadis everywhere gain a huge victory.

Democrats know these things to be true, though they will never admit to them. It doesn't fit their antiwar game plan. So they go on playing the dangerous political game of "hide the truth," playing to the antiwar left yet not having the guts to pull the plug because of the awful consequences. They never will until they can put the blame on the president.

Bin Laden once said that America didn't have the stomach to fight a protracted war. It seems that he was right about some of us.

Jay Johnson, St. Petersburg

Obama's campaign off to a stirring start Feb. 13, editorial

Obama's astute reply

The Times views it right in its editorial. Those who may still think Barack Obama is "comparatively short on political experience" should now take notice that Obama is long on political astuteness and fortitude! Obama had one of his first opportunities to respond to criticism of his announced presidential bid and it was a gem. Australian Prime Minister John Howard, referring to Obama's call to remove U.S. troops from Iraq by March of next year, said, no less, "If I were running al-Qaida in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory not only for Obama but also for the Democrats."

Obama replied: "We have close to 140,000 troops on the ground now, and my understanding is Mr. Howard has deployed 1,400, so if he is ginned to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq, otherwise its just a bunch of empty rhetoric."

If Bush and his "allies" think they will bully Obama, they should know it is not going to work on him this time around! Hopefully, "his repeated call to a new generation" as expressed by the Times, will be exciting and inspirational to many who have experienced a Washington with ears deaf to their hopes and dreams for a better life in America.

Russell Lee Johnson, St. Petersburg

Obama's campaign off to a stirring start Feb. 13, editorial

A slip at the outset

While I admit Barack Obama is a fresh face with perhaps some new ideas, your editorial (as well as most other liberal media outlets) failed to mention one part of his "stirring start."

As viewed on Fox, Obama's speech last Saturday included his statement that more than 3,000 soldiers had "wasted" their lives in Iraq!

I am sure the military families, as well as most Americans, fail to see his point. These "wasted" soldiers died fighting for America. This was one of Obama's first speeches. Let's see how many more slips he makes on his way to the White House.

Bill Byrd, Largo

U.S. needs disaster fund Feb. 10, commentary

A national answer needed

This was one of the most cogent, persuasive articles I have read in your paper in my 16 years in Florida and was written by the former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. His pleading was to establish a national catastrophe fund. He stated, "The time is now, the stars are aligned and the need is urgent."

I think it is pure negligence for the president, the states, the counties and your newspaper not to actively promote this cause. Every part of the United States has its national catastrophes, and they lack the adequate resources individually to deal with them.

The latest tornado in Florida is a prime example wherein the first parties to be called by the governor were the president, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Red Cross and other agencies of the federal government. Guess what? If we have another Katrina-type catastrophe, or even lesser disasters, the federal government is the only entity with the resources to meet it. The time for this action is now!

Horace L. Layton, Clearwater

Can Crist be sold on huge toll road plan? Feb. 11, story

What about Pinellas?

The most interesting part of this article is that Pinellas County is not included in the plans for this "Future Corridors" project. We have 928,000 people, which is about 5 percent of the total population of the state, and "improve evacuation" is mentioned in maps of every corridor on this article.

Every hurricane warning for Pinellas County includes "evacuation" in the message and the need to plan ahead. Other things that are mentioned as reasons for these corridors include "relieve congestion" and "reduce travel time." Doesn't this sound like some solutions to problems in Pinellas County? How about it, "planners"?

Ron Bowman, Dunedin

It's even worse Feb. 10, letter

PSTA does a credible job

If I may take a line from Ronald Reagan in regard to this letter writer: There you go again.

If you take any bus service in any city in the United States, you are going to find that it takes a given amount of hours to get to any destination. The Tampa-St. Petersburg area is not small.

The letter writer is picking on one destination. If you check with "Limo" you will find it could take two hours or more from certain locations in and around the city. Does Greyhound go directly to Tampa Airport. No it does not. In Miami yes, but not here.

PSTA does a very credible job with its bus service. No, we can't make every connection that everyone wants, but we come close.

John Dunson, PSTA bus driver, St. Petersburg

Pay for life Feb. 14, letter

Tenure isn't a free ride

There seems to be a widespread misunderstanding of academic tenure. The headline on this letter is misleading. Tenure in schools and colleges is not simply "a guaranteed job and salary for life." Each faculty member is evaluated at least every year. If the work is judged to be less than satisfactory, the faculty member is terminated, whether tenured or not.

Tenure gives a teacher the freedom to express his or her views, even if they might be considered by some to be controversial. Great teachers and scholars are often controversial. History teaches us that progress often is made by those who are the most controversial.

Academic tenure is awarded after a probationary number of years with the assumption that, if the person being evaluated has been doing a good job during the probationary years, she or he will continue to be productive. But, after tenure is awarded, regular job evaluations continue - for life. So it's not a free ride as many think. To be more accurate, it's "Pay for good work for life."

Jack Heller, professor emeritus, USF, Tampa

The problem with Reagan Feb. 12, George Will column

Reagan's courage

George Will makes an interesting point concerning a kind of feel-good conservatism. True conservatism, he argues, is tough medicine, requiring self-discipline and sacrifice, although I'm not sure Reagan wouldn't agree. Reagan's saying, "You're all heroes" was more boosterism than true characterization, a statement of who we could be (if we act properly through self-discipline and sacrifice), not necessarily who we are.

Will writes about a City University of New York author who says: "Reganism tells people comforting and flattering things they want to hear; the Madisonian persuasion tells them sobering truths that they need to know."

This is clever and insightful, but has he forgotten one of the great contributions of "Reaganism": the destruction of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War? For years we heard the "comforting truth" of rapprochement, compromise, conciliation, cooperation with the U.S.S.R. Reagan got up and spoke in no uncertain terms the rather "sobering truth we needed to know": The empire was evil and the Cold War could be won. And it was Reagan's faith in the essential goodness of man (somewhat cynically dismissed as self-indulgence by Will) that enabled him both to say that and to envision the successful outcome of saying it.

Speaking the truth to error takes strength, courage and conviction, and Reagan had them all. We shouldn't forget this even if we need to avoid idealizing or idolizing him.

Thomas P. Boyer, St. Petersburg

The problem with Reagan Feb. 12, George Will column

Emerson's real faith

In George Will's op-ed piece on John Patrick Diggins' new book, Ronald Reagan: Faith, Freedom, and the Making of American History, he explains Diggins' thesis that Reagan's thinking derives from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Will's book report reflects scant knowledge of Emerson. Nowhere does Emerson, a 19th century Unitarian minister, support the notion that "we please God by pleasing ourselves." Emerson advocated an unmediated, direct experience of God, of the sacred within and among us, but he also demanded tremendous responsibility in pursuing that path. We only understand the divinity in and around us when we put our experience through "the fire of thought," the fire of scrutiny, he wrote.

Unmitigated individualism combined with religious fervor can, indeed, lead to righteous selfishness, but such was much more characteristic of Reagan than of Emerson.

The Rev. Manish K. Mishra, minister, Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg

A true hazard on No. 5 Feb. 15, story

Destroying a bit of nature

I am sorry that Vernon Messier received injuries from our now-deceased gator, but who in their right mind goes wading around in Florida ponds? As soon as Messier stepped into that pond on the fifth hole he was taking his life in is hands. That gator did not know him from a turtle or heron.

On most sunny days the gator would be on the bank of the fifth hole not bothering a soul. Part of playing golf for some of us is enjoying the beauty of nature, and part of that beauty has now been destroyed.

Maybe we should but up signs that say: "Beware of humans."

M. Susan Clifford, New Port Richey

[Last modified February 16, 2007, 23:03:10]