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Letter to the editor

Today's Letters: Good works are Long Center's job

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published July 13, 2007

Good works are Long Center's job

We understand and appreciate that your July 1 editorial, Outsourcing is creative, but risky, budget idea, was a constructive effort to add your opinion to the debate. While we do not disagree with your opinion about outsourcing, we would be grateful for an opportunity to visit with you to discuss and perhaps change several of your statements about the Long Center in Clearwater.

In the meantime, a few of our many good works at the Long Center:

• The Long Center Foundation provides $200,000 per year contractually, and $40,000 to $50,000 per year voluntarily, from private funds as a direct subsidy to maintain the historically low user fees at the Long Center. The Long Center Foundation is in its 20th year.
   
  
• Clearwater for Youth, the founder organization, provides well in excess of $200,000 from private funds each year to subsidize sports activities for thousands of children at the Long Center and in our community. CFY is in its 40th year.
   
  
• The Long Center has provided almost 1-million user hours annually for 16 years of recreational sports and educational activities to the citizens of our community, including the Upper Pinellas Association for Retarded Citizens, the Homeless Emergency Project and more than 100 other local organizations. It provides a very interesting and competitive citizen cost per user.
   
  
• In 1990 the city's comprehensive plan required a recreational facility in the Belcher Road/Sunset Point area, and several thousand dedicated private citizens provided almost $20-million to construct and endow the Long Center.
   
  
• The unique Long Center was created with its principal mission to exercise our children during the day so they sleep well at night and stay out of trouble. We found that this works for adults, too!

Frederick E. Fisher, chairman emeritus, Long Center Foundation Inc., Clearwater

Re: Planned increase in Clearwater utility fees

City keeps taking, we keep giving

Did I miss something? Seems our local Clearwater officials and government have an insatiable desire for our tax dollars and ways to spend them.

The state Legislature just passed a law forcing local governments to cut back on their budgets from property taxes. The city of Clearwater cries and says watch out, because we are going to have to cut services.

But wait. They found another solution. Let's just raise the utility taxes and user fees to help make up the difference.

What is wrong with this picture? Oh, and don't forget as the price of oil goes up so does our electric bill and so does the revenue to the city. The utility tax and franchise fees on our electric bill are already at about 13 percent.

When is enough enough?

John Blechschmidt, Clearwater

Re: "Can manager handle it all?" July 8 story

Beckett issue needs attention

It is unfortunate that newly hired Safety Harbor City Manager Billy Beckett seems to already be under the microscope for something that should have long been resolved even before he was hired. It seems like all parties involved thought that was the case.

Taking a full-time position as Beckett did when you are heavily involved with another job is tricky under the best of circumstances. It is downright suicidal when you work in the political arena.

Beckett obviously is confident that he was up-front with the commission prior to his employment, but it seems that some of the commission members aren't so confident.

It is too bad that this issue had to come up at a public meeting while Beckett was out of town and unavailable to defend himself. That smells like a political rat. It does sound like all parties agree that they need to sit down for a real heart-to-heart discussion as soon as possible. Don't let this issue linger.

J. Larry McElveen, Safety Harbor

[Last modified July 13, 2007, 07:49:47]