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Re: Dunedin officials share in cutback pain editorial, July 13

Clearwater fills its own pockets

Good editorial, but I'm just wondering: You do see the elephant in the room, don't you?

You talk about local governments needing to send a "we share your pain" message to the public, mentioning Dunedin's elimination of a travel perk and the state Legislature's failure to follow that lead, but you avoid an even more egregious act by another local municipality.

I'm far more offended by the city of Clearwater's budget proposal, which, according to City Manager Bill Horne, cuts "deeply into the muscle of ... city services," while providing a 3 to 5 percent salary increase for city employees.

A trip to a governing convention can at least be defended - albeit weakly - as an effort to find ways to improve city services, but Clearwater's proposed pay raise cannot be defended at all.

You talk about the importance of government officials demonstrating a sensitivity to the budget issue, but nothing is more insensitive than adding to the pain of taxpayers by forcing them to fund yet another increase in compensation for city employees.

Clearwater's budget proposal: "Raise our pay, cut your services."

Ouch.

David Spath, Clearwater

Re: Dunedin officials share in cutback pain editorial, July 13

Kudos to Dunedin for budget solution

The editorial applause for the Dunedin City Commission is well taken.

Also deserving high praise are city staff members whose presentations of various parts of the proposed budget demonstrated their highly professional qualifications. City Manager Rob DiSpirito merits credit for his leadership.

Volunteer members of the Board of Finance have worked throughout the year to help in budget preparation. All in all, the combination of elected officials, professional staff and volunteers achieved a budget reflecting the mandate for tax-rate reductions without materially decreasing high levels of service.

Icing on the cake is represented by the excellent reporting of budget deliberations by St. Petersburg Times staff writer Tamara El-Khoury.

F. L. Gus Cooper, Dunedin

Will Largo leader just be a 'yes man'?

The recent action of the Largo City Commission to select Norton "Mac" Craig as the new city manager may be one to regret later. From my view, this is a bad business choice.

This person is of retirement age (70). This man has more than enough years to attain military retirement and Social Security retirement. The labor movement negotiated retiring procedures to aid others when jobs are in limited numbers. To pass over others for this type of choice makes no future benefit for any other Largo employees in advancement, regardless of the qualifications.

For my money, this man will do nothing for the overall operation other than comply with the forces imposed from within. A good yes man!

Donald Kreis, Largo

Care for your pets; microchip them

Shortly after I sent my recent letter concerning pets and fireworks, I was called to assist in retrieving a large dog from the Anclote River in Tarpon Springs. The dog, Moce, did have a collar and tags. However, the name tag had a disconnected phone number and the rabies tag was so worn that you could not read the six-digit number necessary to identify the pet through Animal Services.

I scanned him for a microchip. Yeah! He was microchipped. I contacted Avid and was told that the dog's owner had never registered him and he was only registered under a corporation that sold the chip (a distributor, not Avid) in Kansas.

Through more phone calls, we located his owner. He had gone out of town and left Moce at home to be cared for by friends and family. The dog had been missing since Thursday morning, right after the fireworks. He probably ran from the noise and ended up in the Anclote River.

Readers, this is just a wake-up call. We are coming into the height of hurricane season and now is the time to check your pets to ensure that their contact info is accurate. Moce's story had a happy ending; however, not all pets will be as fortunate.

Do you have 15 minutes to give to your pet to ensure their safety? While my pets are microchipped, I spent my 15 minutes making sure that their info was correct and purchased new, more legible name tags with my address and phone number.

Nancy Dively, Tarpon Springs

[Last modified July 16, 2007, 20:01:35]