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© St. Petersburg Times, published February 20, 2001
Editor: Some three years ago while president of the Lakes in Regency Park Civic Association, I and many of our members expressed a dire concern about the building of the Park Richey Apartments and protested against it. We attended meetings of the commissioners and were told that the changing of the zoning from commercial to residential was a done deal and that we could not stop. Then when the planning state began, we went to meetings with then-Commissioner Collins and were told that this was going to be an upscale community with guards at the gates. Obviously, this was a lie.
Today, this apartment complex has police there every night, and very recently, a drug-related murder took place.
Commissioners rejected the proposal for the River Crossing Apartments; in fact, it was vigorously opposed by Commissioner Simon, whose district includes River Crossing. However, commissioners are still reviewing proposals for three more projects: Jordan Lakes at Little Road and Ross Lane, and Lake Lisa on Regency Park Boulevard south of Embassy Boulevard, both of which abut our subdivision, as well as another project to be located in Zephyrhills.
George Romagnolio of the county's community development division said in the Times Feb. 15, "You really don't want to segregate incomes for the sake of diversity in the community."
Whose incomes? Whose diversity? We already have one low-income project that has turned out to be as bad as any project in the big-city areas. When are you politicians going to realize that putting up these kinds of projects doesn't work? In fact, cities are tearing them down.
It is my opinion that the only people who benefit from these developments are the property owners, the connected mega real estate agents, and the construction contractors. The losers are we senior citizens who put our money in the area banks and who spend our money in the county. We are being crowded out and our safety is being put in jeopardy. Also, another loser will be the government, who will have a slum on its hands in five years or less.
I really believe the welfare of senior citizens should be uppermost in your deliberations concerning projects of this nature. If you really want to help those who need it, put up small homes with no down payments and give them some pride in home ownership.
-- Frank Apollo, vice president, Lakes in Regency Civic Association
Re: Ex-male stripper to run for Congress, Feb. 16
Editor: The remarks made by Michael Cox on Chuck Kalogianis' bid to run for Congress are unfair and misinforming.
I have had the pleasure of working with Mr. Kalogianis both in business and during his bid for state representative in 1998. One of the reasons Mr. Kalogianis lost was following the ill advice of then-Democratic Party Chairman Michael Cox.
As I recall, Mr. Cox was full of promises for financial and political support from the Democratic Party that he was unable to deliver. He also felt that a slander campaign was the only way to unseat Mike Fasano. At the time, Mr. Kalogianis was green to the political arena and felt Mr. Cox was well-seasoned and would not steer him in the wrong direction. Now Mr. Cox is the former party chairman and he is making disparaging remarks about a candidate who is well-qualified and informed.
It sounds like he is still running the party in Pasco County and he alone is making the decision on who should be running for a political office.
Now with regards to the chicken suit that Mr. Kalogianis was supposed to have danced in at the fundraiser in 1998, it wasn't Mr. Kalogianis who danced in the chicken suit; it was I, Malcom Tate.
-- Malcom D. Tate, New Port Richey