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Letters to the EditorsDon't let referendum polarize city
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 16, 2000 After reading the Clearwater Times opinion page the first day after the downtown referendum, our downtown's future remains unclear. Members of both sides remain polarized. Save the Bayfront was a name that implied that the latest downtown proposal was going to destroy our public and open waterfront space. While there was a strong philosophical disagreement as to how this should happen, we do not believe that the proposal was ever going to destroy our beautiful public waterfront. Citizens for a Better Clearwater was a name that offended those who have served our city so well in the past by implying that our city was not good enough or not developed well enough. We do not believe that was the case. Our downtown has just suffered due to many factors, including age. Where will our downtown be in 20 years? We do hope that all residents will work in unison to improve our aged and very under-utilized downtown. We must ensure that our city will continue to be a place for families, retirees and tourists -- most of all a place our youth will want to come back to after their early years of college or travel to start and raise their own families. A place of permanence. Let's not give up on an improved downtown.
Letters to editor were disgrace to community-- After reading the negative letters to the editor on July 13, I felt sad and ashamed. Why are those opposed to progress and redevelopment so venomous, angry and unkind? I read words like "carpetbaggers," "bums" and the "ramming" of things "down people's throats." How shameful. What a graceless age. It is not a perfect world, but there is a growing number of us out here who refuse to condemn our city to ruin and stagnation because of real, perceived or invented mistakes of the past. We will press on with integrity, honor and enthusiasm. We are Citizens for a Better Clearwater and we are not going away. Join us and be part of the solution. Call (727) 799-1955. Pamela A. Marks, Clearwater For city officials to succeed, they must start being honest-- The leadership of Clearwater city government says they are going to find out what the people want so they can salvage the plan to revitalize the downtown area. Look no further. Just start being honest with the residents. This crew has proven they can't be trusted. It seems as though they have the welfare of some group of individuals in mind other than the citizens of Clearwater. I, for one, don't give a rat's snoot about how wealthy some guy in Miami is when he is making that money on a hare-brained scheme involving my community at my expense. The city can stand being revitalized, the young people need a place to go, but give us an honest shake. Don't sell us down the river so a few individuals can reap a harvest at the expense of the rest of us. J. Sanders, Clearwater Narrow-minded people defeated progress-- Lack of real understanding is what was behind the defeat of the referendum on Tuesday. These people look upon progress as a Walgreens and a storage facility, something you can find on almost any major corner in the area. They are the same people who find the beautification of a former congested area as a boondoggle. Why? Because to traverse a roundabout you must possess courtesy and thoughtfulness, something narrow-minded people do not possess. They are the same who drive that ersatz freeway, U.S. 19, at 30 mph in the fast lane and wonder why the other bad drivers are causing accidents. It is a shame that a plan like this was defeated by people who drive our city with blinders on and come out in summer only to defeat progress. When they must pay more taxes or lose services they will be the first to complain and they will only have themselves to blame. I am waiting for the next sign of progress: a Just Brakes or Jiffy Lube to be built. John Swinerton, Clearwater Negative leaders keep city from moving forward-- Congratulations, Save the Bayfront, you won -- you, the people, like Lillian Trickel, Fred Thomas and Lee Regulski. Please tell me what is your platform to rebuild downtown Clearwater now? You voiced all your negatives and untruths, but I never once heard or read what any of you thought was a better plan for this city. When are all of you going to wake up, get out of the box, and move this city forward? I have lived here for 16 years, and I cannot believe how negative most of the leaders have been. We have one of the most beautiful beaches on the west coast, but we don't want to change anything or have anyone come to it after 5 o'clock and make any noise. This city has nothing going for it, but yet you feel doing nothing is more of a plus. However, communities such as Safety Harbor, Dunedin, St. Petersburg and Ybor City have surpassed us by a long shot and we must go to these cities for the night life and weekend activities instead of our own city and you think this is just fine. When I hear Anne Garris make comments like, "Movies are not big today. What will we do when no one is going in five years?" it tells me she has not been to a movie in the last year. I am a moviegoer and I now choose to go to Oldsmar to the new stadium-seating theater instead of Clearwater Mall or Countryside with their old-style theater. And Anne, I'm definitely not alone. We complain that the roundabout is such a terrible thing, but when I drive over the Memorial Causeway and come upon it, I think where else in this area do we have such an impressive beginning to the beaches. This is the year 2000, Clearwater needs to move forward today, not in five or 10 years. Judy Markowski, Clearwater
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