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State rethinks privatization Feb. 22

Going private was bad move for state

A big, fat "thank you" to Gov. Crist for working with Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and finding out just how much former Gov. Bush's program of privatization cost the taxpayers of Florida. First of all, we lost the wonderful civil service program with many years of service to employees without any experience at all, and the worst of all kinds: political appointees. The state of Florida had to bail out the private agency that took over children's welfare to the tune of more than $50-million. All the way down to the agency that provides protection for such things as elevators turned out to be poor under privatization. Of course, it is too late to get back all the superior state employees who lost their jobs, but I hope you will be able to tell the taxpayers just how much it costs us for Gov. Bush's "boondoggle." This probably costs the taxpayers as much as his tax cuts for corporations.

Margaret Hyde, Clearwater

Rate rollback skips condos Feb. 21

Condo owners need relief, too

As an owner of a condo unit in a 55+ building, we also are facing a new law, FS 553-509, which requires the installation of a generator and fuel source by Dec. 31 for every building more than 75 feet tall. Estimated cost: $100,000-plus. The purpose is to operate one elevator for two hours each day for five days after a disaster. Can you just picture these people standing in line to use one elevator to reach their condo, get some of their possessions out and returning to it safely within two hours? We will need armed police to keep order at every condo building in Florida.

There are also requirements to retrofit all elevators at an estimated cost of $50,000 and install fire sprinklers in all common areas for another $50,000, minimum. These costs are in addition to increased maintenance fees, taxes and homeowners insurance. And now we find out that any insurance relief that the legislators may have secured will not apply to condos.

Not everyone who lives in a condo is rich. Many are living on Social Security and a small pension. They purchased these units years ago, before the ridiculous recent increases in price and evaluation. Now they cannot afford to sell because of the loss of the homestead exemption and the Save Our Homes tax cap.

We only hope that the Legislature will pass laws for all citizens and not abandon condo owners.

Lois Herron, St. Petersburg

Taking 'Action!' Feb. 15

Indie filmmakers get short shrift

I'm an independent filmmaker here in the St. Petersburg area, and I wanted to make a few comments on your article. First, Gov. Crist's proposal to simply up the incentives for filmmakers to $75-million is an unfunny joke and a slap in the face to the struggling indie filmmaker who is purposely ignored in this state. Florida has so much potential to attract a new type of film industry here, but no one in Tallahassee is familiar with the inner workings of the industry to understand what is truly needed to fix what I call "broken" Florida.

Florida must join the other 49 states to offer incentives to independent and microbudget films. Right now, if a film's budget falls below $850,000 in Florida, then the state wants nothing to do with you. How is Florida supposed to foster growth when it purposely suppresses and ignores it for established production houses?

If that wasn't bad enough, dealing with Jennifer Parramore, the Pinellas County film commissioner, is no picnic. She wouldn't give me the time of day when I called her asking about getting a permit to shoot locally, specifically because I wasn't a multimillion-dollar production house. I'm what you call a "man with a camera."

Right now, if I want to advance my career in film, I literally have to leave Florida to do so. This state's rules on film production are so horrifically restrictive, there's no chance that any independent filmmaker will ever even have a chance to shoot here. I certainly can't.

Until Tallahassee gets some seasoned film vets on their payroll who understand the industry and the rules change to reflect it, the answer of blindly throwing money at an industry will be another fruitless, taxpayer-funded abuse.

Robert M. Yannetta, St. Petersburg

University of Phoenix not making the grade? Feb. 19

School succeeds within its niche

After reading this article, I realized how telling only partial truths can easily alter the entire truth. I would like to tell the other side of the story. As a former graduate of the University of Phoenix (UOP), St. Petersburg College (SPC) and Eckerd College, I have been exposed to both the private and public college education systems. Controversy is nothing new to UOP. After all, UOP turned traditional education upside down by offering evening and weekend classes to adult working professionals. Many working adults have started out in entry-level positions and worked their way up to mid-level management positions only to find that they cannot continue advancing in their careers without a degree. These adults are often in their 30s, 40s or even 50s and have family obligations and expenses. Traditional colleges offered few options. Military personnel also find it difficult to earn a degree, due to the fact that they would take a few courses at one college and a few courses at another college and try to piece together a degree, only to find that not all their credits would transfer, so they would lose time and money. UOP offers enough flexibility where they can finish their degree without losing credits.

Yes, UOP is the largest recipient of financial aid; however, the reason is that UOP is the largest private college and the fact that most adult students do not have their parents paying for college and must utilize financial aid so that they can go to school while working, feeding their children and paying their bills. This demographic reasoning was ignored in the article. As for UOP's academic accreditation, well, it is the same as SPC, University of South Florida (USF), Eckerd College and any other State university or college. Yes, most of UOP's faculty are part-time instructors. The reason is that UOP does not want full-time, tenured instructors who rest on their past laurels with little fear of student complaints unseating them. UOP requires that all teachers work in the fields that they teach. Yes, UOP has a high attrition rate (about 40 percent), which is due to the intense course work and the fact that many adult students have difficulty adjusting to the classroom environment.

As for academic quality, UOP was good enough for four of Bush's Cabinet members and many other corporate leaders. I know that I worked long hours for my degree and that I earned the degree and did not buy the degree from a diploma mill.

Theresa Hadi, St. Petersburg

A shortcut to showroom equality Feb. 16

Women: Buy your cars from women

I read with amusement your article about AskPatty.com, which, as it turns out, has a male CEO. My suggestion for women buying automobiles is to seek out dealerships where women are selling automobiles. There are plenty of us out here in the trenches, and I am fairly confident in saying that we don't need the sensitivity training to learn how to deal with female buyers.

My suggestion to dealerships is to save your money on the AskPatty training and just hire more female sales associates.

Jennifer Collins, Clearwater sales associate, Rolls-Royce/Bentley Tampa Bay

Rename the Tampa Bay Devil Rays letter, Feb. 18

Another vote for the Pelicans

I agree with Robert B. Fleming that the Devil Rays (often mislocated in the city of Tampa by the broadcast media) should be renamed the St. Pete Pelicans. It's a perfect title for a Major League Baseball team playing in Tropicana Field on the Pinellas peninsula.

As an added bonus, his suggestion to name the mascot "Pelican Pete" is a cogent idea that should please kids and adults alike. After all, we are entertained by this large bird year-round, and in time it would give lasting identity to "our team," baseball, and St. Petersburg. John Stafford, Largo

JetBlue issues fliers' bill of rights Feb. 21

Airline to blame, but within limits

JetBlue Airways has just recovered from probably the worst week in it's relatively brief seven-year history. The airline and its employees are doing everything possible to win back the trust and loyalty of its customers. The media has had a field day kicking the company while it's down, but I expected nothing less. I do, however, take great exception to page 2D in the Feb. 21 issue of your Business section, specifically the banner at the top of the page that quotes a passenger from a "US Airways" (!!) flight with a lost-luggage problem. For some unknown and irresponsible reason, you decided to plaster a large picture of a JetBlue Airways Airbus 320 next to it. Can you please explain this? I think an apology should be forthcoming at the least.

Chip Toland, Palm Harbor

Captain, JetBlue Airways

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[Last modified February 23, 2007, 21:03:48]