Today's Letters: Budget cut would hurt rape victims

Budget cut would hurt rape victims

Sunrise of Pasco County Rape Crisis Center is in grave danger of losing vital services for rape victims. The Department of Health has included the elimination of the Rape Crisis Program Trust Fund (RCPTF), the state's main source of funding for rape crisis centers, as part of proposed reductions to deal with the state's budget shortfall.

This $1.2-million cut would destroy essential services for almost 6,000 Florida rape victims per year but does nothing to improve the state's budget outlook because all funds in the trust fund are derived from fines on offenders. None of these funds come from general revenue. Sunrise Rape Crisis Center would have to eliminate a counseling position and we have only three for the entire county. Rape crisis centers already sustained a $700,000 cut during the 2007 session and many are also facing devastating cuts to county and city funding.

We cannot ask those traumatized by crime to get by with no help. We cannot stand by as rape crisis centers close their doors. Our legislators must oppose this cut.

Penny Morrill, Dade City

911 response looks excessive Aug. 29, letter

Let's be thankful for EMS we have

This is in response to letter writer who thinks too many people showed up on a 911 call recently. If he had a heart attack and was in cardiac arrest, how many people do you think it would take to keep him alive and to get him into the ambulance and continue to treat him all the way to a hospital?

One person is preforming CPR, one is handling the airway, one is inserting an IV tube and one is getting the necessary medicine to keep him alive, and someone has to drive the ambulance. I know, I was a paramedic for 15 years in another county.

If you are having a medical problem, be very thankful you have he great men and women in this county who are so highly trained to save your life. They work very hard and under extremely difficult conditions for so very little money, only to be judged by people who criticize without any knowledge of the subject.

To answer the writer's last question: "Can Pasco County residents afford this type of response?" You better hope we can, or else we will lose many highly trained professionals to other counties that show their appreciation in the wages they pay!

Sharon Moulton,New Port Richey

911 response looks excessive Aug. 29, letter

What if it were his loved one hurt?

In response to the complaint about too many EMS personnel responding, clearly it wasn't the writer or one of his loved ones to whom they were responding.

That aside, perhaps some of those personnel were training and/or observing to further their education among other reasons.

Stop complaining and be glad that they do respond.

Judy Comis, New Port Richey

Road's speeding requires action

I reside off Moon Lake Road in New Port Richey directly across the street from the entrance to Moon Lake Elementary. Since moving here in 1996 I have made contact with Pasco County and with the Florida Department of Transportation as I had concern about the bus stop outside and the excessive speeding. They did nothing other than put up a sign "hidden driveway" and said they could do nothing about it as the road was designed for traffic at 55 mph.

I expressed the importance of the children and buses. Furthermore, I had learned that there had been a couple of fatalities here in the past exactly in this same location. I pleaded with the DOT to at least put lights out in front of the school zone. The turning lane for the school is also my only entrance into my home, so it has almost caused many collisions.

Within the last two months we have had two speeding cars lose control and roll over. In the first incident, my two children were standing in my driveway and a car lost control and just missed them, then spun around and flew and landed in my son's driveway upside down, exactly where my son parks his vehicle. It was a miracle that my son had not left 10 minutes prior as he intended. This was the night before Mother's Day. I was so very blessed that my son and daughter were not hit by the vehicle.

A couple weeks later, same thing. Another car lost control as there is a curve in the road immediately before the school entrance. Once again another rolled over landing maybe 50 feet upside down off Moon Lake Road and within approximately 100 feet of my son's driveway. Then, a week later a truck, driving a boat on a trailer, lost control and the boat slid off the trailer and landed in the woods. I have photos of all of this. You can still see the areas where the vehicles were.

Most importantly, my home is in front of the entrance of Moon Lake Elementary. This must be acknowledged before someone or a school bus is struck due to the excessive speeding. This week, I was in my garage and another vehicle lost control. I called the Sheriff's Office and they only asked that I would call back the next day and speak to a desk officer, and request the road to be monitored more frequently.

Sheryl Naegele, New Port Richey

Leaders came late and unprepared

As a concerned citizen of Dade City who lives less then a mile away from the proposed landfill site, it was important to me to attend the Dade City Commission landfill workshop this week.

When I arrived promptly at the designated time, I saw that the commission meeting room was packed with other concerned citizens. When I made it inside to a standing-room-only crowd, I was surprised to see that several of the commissioners were not in attendance. As time went by, the missing commissioners trickled in, one 20 minutes late for the half hour workshop.

During the course of the workshop, it was apparent that only Mayor P. Hutchison Brock, II had done his homework and knows what the issues are. While Mayor Brock presented many important questions to both speakers, the rest of the board had the look of deer in headlights. They were clearly unprepared and possibly unconcerned about an issue that has evoked strong emotions from a large body of their constituents. As Mayor Brock asked the rest of the board if they had any questions, the only other commissioner that managed to sputter out a few meager questions in an attempt to understand the statements of John Arnold, Angelo's Aggregate Materials project manager, was Scott Black.

Dade City commissioners are elected for staggered four-year terms of office with three terms expiring in 2008.

Mayor Brock, Mayor Pro tem Steve Van Gorden and Commissioner Eunice M. Penix all will have to be re-elected next year to continue to serve. I plan to vote only for Mayor Brock.

Ed Bank, Dade City

Give the sheriff money he needs

Sheriff Bob White and his staff are doing a great job with all the extra people in the county and the high crime. Why can't Bob White get the budget raise he asked for?

Come on, commissioners of Pasco, wake up. What's wrong? The Sheriff's Office needs more money to keep fighting crime.

Keep Pasco County the best place to live in Florida.

Bob West, New Port Richey

Little girls should look their age Aug. 24, letter

Dance studio breeds success

This is regarding the letter about the picture of Sell's Broadway Dance team "Mini dancers, major talent." The next line was "I Wanna Be A Rockette."

The writer stated "the parents should be ashamed" and that this "leads to nothing but trouble," so I am responding to these hurtful and unjustified allegations. My daughter began dancing at the age of 6 and is also proud to have danced at Sell's studio. The dance techniques taught at Sell's studio are very professional and prepare the dancers to execute a dance properly and rhythmically. Dancers do use makeup and lively, stylish costumes to complete any professional performance.

My daughter has grown to be a wonderful, well-balanced, educated and God-fearing young lady. Dance taught her teamwork, discipline, commitment and most of all, tolerance. Now, alongside her career in radiology, she performs in professional events and is honored to be a cast member at Walt Disney World.

To aspire to be a Rockette is a positive goal. The Rockettes, too, began just like these cute, happy, innocent, little girls dressed up in their dance costumes. I am concerned that the writer could interpret this innocent group picture of young dancers in such a way. But rest assured, Mr. and Mrs. Sell and the parents at Sell's Broadway Dance Company love their children, and I know for a fact, that my daughter is not the only success story.

Elisa DeWolf, New Port Richey

VFW didn't step up for widow Aug. 24, letter

Widow's criticism of VFW is wrong

I am so ashamed of the letter writer. She condemns an entire veterans organization, the VFW, for what she perceives as a slight to her when her husband passed away

There are six VFW posts in west Pasco. Which one ignored her? Four of those posts, of which I am very familiar, I'm sure would never knowingly ignore her in her time of need. Three of those posts have a service officer, who, if notified would knock themselves out trying to help.

Commander Steve Ward of VFW Post 7987 would never let service officer Bud Saxton treat her harshly. Bud, himself, would take care of the situation if possible.

Commander Harvey Wilcox of VFW Post 10167 would probably have a funeral ceremony and make sure service officer Jim Stewart did the right thing. Jim is too caring to ignore a problem such as this. Jim also is service officer for AMVETS 98.

I know Commander Jack Kenney of VFW 7845 who led this post to "All American Post" status and did that being involved in veterans and community activities. I know he would hold a funeral because we just had a proper funeral ceremony at our last meeting for another member of the post.

How do I know this? I am the service officer for VFW 7845 and Jack would be sure that I would help if possible. I also am service officer for American Legion Post 343, the American Legion service officer at the New Port Richey VA outpatient clinic and am commander of American Legion Post 343.

I can't vouch for Saxton and Stewart, but I know I was never notified that the letter writer needed help of any kind.

Since she wrote to the newspaper instead of to the state VFW commander to find corrections to the problem leads me to believe she wanted publicity rather than appropriate action.

Had she written to the state commander, he would personally have taken steps to see that this would never happen again.

Kathryn L. Robinson, New Port Richey

[Last modified August 30, 2007, 21:46:16]