Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Todays Letters: Religious leaders should be helping

By Letter to the Editor
Published December 2, 2007

A recent St. Petersburg Times article described concerns by local faith leaders concerning Pinellas Hope, Pinellas County's latest effort to address the homeless problem.

Pinellas Hope will combine the efforts of government, faith groups, civic groups, businesses and individuals to provide housing, bathroom facilities, laundry facilities and other services for the homeless in Pinellas County. Local faith groups and civic organizations are being asked to provide hot meals from December to April.

As a Christian, I would remind these faith leaders who are critical of this project that the Bible says when Jesus saw a need, he acted. It was the religious leaders at the time who criticized Jesus for healing on the wrong day in the wrong place.

Instead of criticizing this effort, these faith leaders should help provide the hot meals and other volunteer services that will be needed.

Then, hopefully, by their active involvement in this project, the concerns of these faith leaders will be addressed to assure that the homeless problem is addressed in the best possible way.

Richard Feigel,Clearwater

Simple thinking has hurt the city

The City of Clearwater recently approved a plan to increase boat slip rental rates and fuel prices at the beach marina. Despite constant criticism from the public to improve its methods of planning and research, the City Council reverted to its old form of basing decisions on insufficient information. But this time, they may have set a new standard in abdicating responsibility.

They didn't just forget to take all issues into account, nor did they choose to ignore available data. No, they made a conscious decision to not do any research whatsoever. They simply pulled an answer out of thin air.

Council member John Doran said, "I would make a suggestion before we send them (staff) off to do hours and hours of calculations, and that is we simply take the cost, add 20 percent as the pump price, and if they're a commercial operator, they get a 10 percent discount. It's very simple math."

Unbelievable as it may sound, the rest of the council agreed with this knee-jerk, quick-fix, duck-the-issue, let's-get-this-over-with-as-soon-as-possible copout.

No analysis of the suitability of this pricing model for the situation. No break-even analysis. No comparisons with other marina pricing models. No attempt to incorporate other marina issues into a forward-thinking solution. No discussion of possible future contingencies.

This kind of "very simple" thinking is exactly what has gotten Clearwater in trouble in the past. It's the reason every project in this city has to be revisited with a "Plan B" fix. Worst of all, it's a habit so ingrained in the culture of Clearwater city leadership that nobody sees it happening, even when the big egg is being laid right in front of them.

And folks, this marina decision is a big egg.

Dave Spath, Clearwater

Re: Hurricane season ends in "Whew!" but why? story, Nov. 29

Florida still must be prepared

Since the time of Nostradamus, people have pondered what the next season's weather would be like. They started almanacs to try and help people get ready for the next year's growing season.

Why? So they could try to anticipate what crops would be best to plant and be prepared.

Jeff Masters is right about one thing: Our present-day forecasts are not very good yet. How ignorant of him, however, to say that too much attention is given to them. What? No one really expects the forecasts to be perfect, but I thought the whole idea was to get the public's attention so they could be prepared.

I, for one, do not wish to see the residents of Florida living with their heads in the sand. We do live in a state that has a long history of life-changing devastation caused by these storms. We should not live and die by the forecasts. However, if we wish to live, we need to be prepared. And the forecasts, no matter how accurate, are an excellent tool to get people's attention.

I can't believe that the Times would even give this kind of ignorant ranting a place in the paper. And for the record, if we are so wrong about forecasting weather, why should we believe that global warming is a man-made phenomenon?

Ed Curry, Dunedin

No excuse for bus stop violators letter, Nov. 18

People need to pay attention near buses

Thank you, Nanette Angelone, for your letter about bus stop violators. As a bus driver I see this every day. It doesn't matter if it is a road like Keene or a two-lane road.

As for the violators, there is no particular age group, just people on cell phones, eating, reading (yes, reading) a newspaper or book or map, just in general not paying attention. Or they just do not care about anyone but themselves. I blow my horn and wave my arm out the window trying to get their attention but they just keep going. Some people just do not see us. I have a stop on a two-lane road, and when someone starts to pass, nothing I do will get their attention. Parents with children in your car, pay attention and stop, set a good example for them.

Regarding the letter writer's comment about bus stops on U.S. 19, a lot of those have been moved. There are apartments, however, where children live and since it is private property, we are not allowed in or there is not enough room to get the bus in and back out.

I agree that the fine for passing a stopped school bus should be more, with assessed points on the driving record.

Since an officer has to witness the violation, I urge all concerned citizens to start calling the local police departments and report the times and locations and urge them to send someone out to monitor the stops. As bus drivers, we fill out forms and turn them in, but we can only do so much.

Okay, everyone, start paying attention, and when you see the yellow lights start flashing, prepare to stop.

S.K. Hodges, Clearwater

New Largo section misses local news

I looked forward with great anticipation to the new format of the Largo section of the St. Petersburg Times. This section has been published for a few weeks now and I say that it has not lived up to its promise of being all about Largo. The city of Largo has four major facilities that have a multitude of programs. There is very little that this paper has to say about them.

The Veterans Day ceremony in Largo Central Park was completely ignored on Nov. 11 in the "Today" column. The only mention of this event was in an advertisement paid for by the city. Also, the Day of Good Deeds the day before received no publicity.

In speaking with others, they too feel this section is not worth the paper it is printed on. It would be better if you would remove the name of Largo from this portion of the newspaper, as it is a discredit to the city, or report pertinent information to the readers about all the city does for its citizens and surrounding communities.

Dolores Ruskin,Largo

[Last modified December 1, 2007, 22:27:35]