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By WES PLATT
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 15, 2001
We don't really talk anymore.
Oh, sure, we say "hi" to each other as we pass. Wave as we drive to work or mow the lawn. Nod as we sort through each other's belongings at garage sales. Make small talk at the grocery store.
But we rarely talk. How often do we get to discuss at length issues that are important to us? Not often enough. It's been way too long. It's time we started talking again.
To that end, I'm putting my geeky Internet savvy to use and moderating the new Pasco County discussion forum on the St. Petersburg Times Web site. Cut and paste this into your Web address book: www.sptimes.com/pascoforum. You can also link to the discussion forum from the Pasco Times Web site at www.sptimes.com/Pasco.shtml
In this forum, I hope that residents from New Port Richey to Odessa to Land O'Lakes to Meadow Pointe to Zephyrhills to Dade City will share their thoughts on local issues, discuss what's good about their communities and what needs work, or just tell us about interesting people they think deserve attention.
Just talk. Interact. Share. Clear the air. Get stuff off your chest.
Have a conversation.
It'll be my job to help out, offer discussion topics and respond. You are also invited to kick in with discussion topics of your own. After all, the point of this forum is to hear what you have to say, what matters to you.
It will be sort of like letters to the editor, but different. Conversations with the editor. More important, conversations with each other.
This doesn't mean I'll be taking sides. But I'll make sure you know your voice has been heard, and I'll let you know when issues are being followed up. My primary goal is to facilitate discussions among neighbors throughout our readership area.
The forum doesn't care whether you're a kid, or a housewife, or a retiree. It's a place where boundaries fall, and what you think -- rather than who you are -- takes center stage.
I've been in central Pasco, living in Land O'Lakes, for more than six years. In that time, I've learned just how divided Pasco seems when you make the journey from west to east, from the concrete commercial strips of U.S. 19 to the neighborhoods popping up like mushrooms in central Pasco to the rolling hills of Dade City to the retiree mobile home parks in Zephyrhills.
The differences aren't just geographic.
A penny sales tax that seemed amenable to central Pasco residents whose kids were filling our schools fell flat a few years ago because of the dominant voting voice of retirees on the west side.
It might have worked out differently if folks had the chance to talk to each other.
With our forum, perhaps in some small way, we can bridge the gap.
What kind of things might we talk about in the forum?
No real limits. But some immediate issues come to mind:
A proposed school impact fee to build new schools in Pasco County.
Traffic problems.
Onerous deed restrictions.
The dangers of explosive growth.
What you say on the Web site won't just be scribbling on water -- not that there's much water to scribble on in central and east Pasco.
Okay, so it won't be scribbling on sand. Wait, not much sand left around here, either. Okay, it won't be scribbling on pavement.
Whatever.
Our discussions on the Web site may lead to stories in the Pasco Times. They also promise to provide me with fodder for future columns, which should appease the newsprint gods that require sacrifices from time to time.
The forum is already online and prepared for its first visitors. All you need is Internet access, a Web browser and a willingness to speak your mind.
Time for the conversation to begin.
Let's talk.
- Wes Platt is the Times' central and east Pasco bureau chief. He can be reached at (813) 226-3454. Send email to platt@sptimes.com. Send faxes to (813) 226-3455. Or just drop him a note on the Pasco County discussion forum at www.sptimes.com/pascoforum.