Letters to the Editors

Sheriff's candidate says history counts

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 7, 2000

Re: Gillum sinks to mudslinging, June 30 letter

Editor: Wow! I knew that Jim Hollingsworth blamed me for at least one of his four election losses, but I did not know that he still harbored such bitter feelings.

It looks like he is writing political ads for my opponent. I did not know that your child's job could qualify you to run the Sheriff's Office. I guess I could learn that from professor Hollingsworth, if I took one of his classes at PHCC. He has overlooked the fact that I was sheriff of this county for over eight years and will put my record up against any candidate. He might treat me nicer if he knew that I was an instructor, part time, at Hillsborough Community College, or that I was a substitute instructor at the University of Tampa and the University of South Florida. I taught law enforcement courses.

He also overlooked that my opponent has spent most of his career sitting behind a desk. My career has been spent focusing on the enforcement of criminal laws. Even as sheriff, I arrested drunk drivers, made traffic stops, wrote some tickets and assisted in most homicide investigations. I was also active with the narcotics unit during its numerous raids and sweeps. In fact, one of the unit commanders used his budget funds and bought a ballistic jacket for me to wear. Even the Highway Patrol will tell you I was known for backing up its one-officer units on traffic stops.

And Mr. Hollingsworth, when your candidate whispers about the dark moments in my personal life, which have nothing to do with running the Sheriff's Office, that's not mudslinging?

Yet, when I ask your candidate to explain how these immoral, illegal and unconstitutional investigations can proceed by the units under his command, you ask us to believe he did not know anything about any of them. Then, after seven years, he suddenly discovered that everything was bad, so he resigned to run as a Democrat. That is a part of his history, he has to live with it and the public has a right to know that and more.

My, my, maybe his story should start, "Once upon a time . . ."
Jim Gillum, New Port Richey

Next sheriff should focus on unity among employees

Re: Gillum sinks to mudslinging, June 30 letter

Editor: Mr. Hollingsworth's recent comments concerning the petty campaign currently being run by Jim Gillum are right on target. Having worked at the Sheriff's Office for over 20 years, I was one of Gillum's staunchest supporters, mostly because he displayed a genuine interest in each and every one of his employees. As a result of his recent behavior, however, I find it very difficult to support this type of activity and the fact that he has resorted to such infantile tactics.

As anyone who has worked in the field of law enforcement can tell you, the position of sheriff is fraught with stress, frustration and, at times, a total lack of appreciation by employees and the public alike. It is my feeling that many of these situations can be substantially reduced if the individual who commands the helm remains secure in the fact that his main goal is to ensure a cohesively structured agency, with the unity and satisfaction of his employees and the public foremost in mind.
-- Barb Capodanno, New Port Richey

The Times should have waited for all facts before writing story

Re: Acting mayor faces inquiry, July 4

Editor: All too often journalists impose a preconceived spin upon a story instead of carefully examining and reporting the facts based on a sound investigation. This appears to be the case when it comes to reporting the news for the city of Port Richey. It is a shame that the truth is not reported at length and in depth, but is interfered with by reporters and editors who are more interested in getting something fast than in getting it correct!

The story was published to create a false impression of what is actually happening within Port Richey's city government. The uncorroborated rendition of the resigning building official represents his perception of any alleged interference and was unfortunately used as the basis of the entire story. Obviously there is much more to this story than was reported. The general public was mislead because of the media's intent to present a staged conflict, rather than ensure that both sides of a story were equally represented.

The commentary clearly stated that the acting mayor was unable to be reached for comment. The reporter gave a litany of detail about his attempt to contact the acting mayor. This happened to be on the day before a holiday, when his business was closed, and he was out of his house all day and could not return the calls before the Times office closed for the holiday. Clearly there was no time to quell the rumors that were bound to erupt from the story to be printed on the following day, nor was there time to attempt to reveal the creditable facts. But that did not matter, the one-sided story had to be published. Why? This was not a major story that the competition was chasing. There is no justification for publishing it before creating a well-balanced article.

Simply put, the premature article now holds Mr. Leggiere up to public ridicule and contempt. If what the Times reported is wrong, how will the error and the damage done to his reputation be corrected? Mr. Leggiere is known for putting his heart and soul into the city that he represents. Many of the successful projects recently completed in the city are directly attributed to his personal contribution of time and talent, which have significantly reduced cost to the taxpayers.

It seems that before a story is published both sides should be given equal time -- all facts should be collected, not just those intent on manufacturing controversy! It is difficult to imagine that given all the talent that the St. Petersburg Times has on call, pertinent facts continually go unreported and sometimes nothing even close to the truth gets told.
-- Laura Ludy, New Port Richey

Pasco schools could boost teachers' pay to compete

Re: Pasco teachers' raise pending, July 1

Editor: Teachers are well-deserving of the pay raise being discussed but I feel the St. Petersburg Times has misinformed its readers by stating "the average Pasco teacher makes about $32,500."

A teacher who has been employed with the system for six years is earning $26,700. A six-year veteran with the system should not be earning the same as a beginning teacher. I am referring to wages before any raise. Because the degree you hold affects your earnings, the average for all teachers is skewed by those who have master's and doctorate diplomas. The fact is: Pasco can improve teacher wages significantly and they must in order to compete with neighboring systems.
-- Alberta Beversdorf, Port Richey

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