Letters to the Editors

Dunedin won't suffer if Blue Jays decide to leave

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 17, 2000

Re: Blue Jays' list of requests for Dunedin arises, July 1 story.

As a 13-year resident of Dunedin I have finally reached the end of my patience with the audacity and greediness of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The fact that Dunedin City Commissioner Cecil Englebert is allowed to be involved in negotiations with the team whose complex has his name is sheer lunacy on the part of the City Commission.

How can a man whose name and life is so intertwined with the Blue Jays be expected to be unbiased? His failure to be forthcoming with this proposal only proves that he is not concerned with the welfare of the residents of Dunedin, but is and always has been only concerned for his own ego and that of his team, the Blue Jays.

The fact that Mr. Englebert said, "We agreed the list should have been destroyed," is so frightening. Who is we? He and the Blue Jays? I call for a complete and impartial investigation into Mr. Englebert's dealings with this team. What else has been destroyed that the city should have been made aware of? Anyone in this city who voted for him should be hanging his or her head in shame.

The Toronto Blue Jays must remember that spring training is the cost of preparing their team for the season in which they make all their big money, none of which they share with us. As a tax-paying American citizen, I am tired of giving breaks to this billion-dollar Canadian corporation that funnels all of its money into the Canadian economy.

The city of Dunedin is a business, the business of doing what is best for its residents. We are the city, and those we elect have a moral responsibility to do what is best for all of us who live here 12 months a year and pay taxes here.

Stu Hutcheson (Blue Jays' senior vice president of finance and operations) said it is not important how he improves the economics of his situation, just that it improves. Back at you, Mr. Hutcheson. I do not care how Dunedin improves its economic situation, just that it improves, and if that means driving over to Interstate 75 and waving goodbye as you head north, then so be it. We will survive without you. Our self-esteem does not come from being the spring training home of the Blue Jays.
-- Mary E. Horrell, Dunedin

Voters correct to say no on bayfront giveaway

Editor's note: The next four letters concern Tuesday's Clearwater referendum on a massive downtown redevelopment proposal.

I commend the residents of Clearwater for not having succumbed to the carrot-on-the-end-of-the-stick routine the developers and their city fathers tried to saddle them with. You saw through the foolhardiness of the giveaway of the bayfront.

Now remember those on your City Commission who were for this project when March 2001 comes around and they stand for re-election. Blame has already started, the young against the older, lies being spread by the Save the Bayfront and on and on. No one wants to admit that to give away your most precious asset was a bad idea from the start.

Now it behooves both sides to sit down side by side and come up with a workable solution for that precious piece of land once the dust settles.
-- Tom Vourlos, Belleair

99-year lease was detail voter couldn't stomach

I would like to take exception to the comments made by the mayor of Clearwater and others who supported the recently defeated Question 1 on Tuesday's referendum when they stated that it was defeated by those over 65, who were opposed to change.

I'm under 65 and not opposed to change and voted against it. I did not have sufficient information to feel comfortable allowing the leasing of public land and buildings for 99 years. I felt I was being forced into an all-or-nothing proposition by a developer who stood to make a lot of money from the apartments, condos, hotel and parking garages he would build. I never understood why he needed a 99-year lease on the public land portions to make the project viable.

For the third time, the residents of Clearwater have made it clear that 99-year leases are unacceptable. This should come as no surprise to the city administration. They should never have agreed to it as the deal breaker in the first place. Surely, there will be other developers with less grandiose plans who will see a way to make enough money to satisfy their needs without Clearwater having to give away public land.

As for the other two questions that passed, the city now has the authority to bond for a new library and to swap land with Calvary Baptist Church. If it chooses not to, it is not the citizens who should be blamed but the administration and the commissioners, who need to broaden their vision beyond one developer's ideas.
-- Barbara Smith, Clearwater

A positive approach will make downtown better

After much soul searching, I voted yes on all three issues in the Clearwater referendum Tuesday. This was not because I was totally in favor of the proposed plans but because no one had any better plan.

I also put my trust in the Clearwater City Commission I had elected to act in our best interests. If they act imprudently, then we will not re-elect them when their terms expire.

I'm an advocate who believes that if I work to stop something, then I have the responsibility to start something that is more suitable. Two out of the three issues passed, so let's use this as a base to start action.

Would we rather have the library on Cleveland Street where Casebar's Furniture store was located and have plenty of free parking? Is it vital to have the cinema on the bluff? Check out the new one in Sarasota for ideas.

I have always advocated for more condos and townhouses downtown. Check out what is happening in St. Petersburg and at the former Sunshine Mall.

If we ease up and have a positive approach, we can revitalize our downtown.
-- Walt Schoenig, Clearwater

Let Scientology and IRS pay for waterfront park

Since they've both created a monster, perhaps the Church of Scientology and the Internal Revenue Service should join forces as a gesture of goodwill to the tax-paying residents of Clearwater and fund a park on the city's waterfront. Maybe a palm tree garden with ponds and foot paths and even a Clearwater history museum.

Would this replace the forever lost real estate tax revenue from such a large "non-profit" entity buying up the city? No, but it might make residents feel a little bit better about it.
-- Jan Fowler, Odessa

People must share the earth with all God's creatures

Re: Bird feeding sparks neighborhood feud, June 29 story.

When I first read the article about Mr. DuBois, who objects to his neighbor feeding wild birds and is "fed up with living with these things,"' I was very angry. He states that Florida is a "jungle."

Florida is no jungle, sir. Not with our lovely ribbons of concrete, strip malls, blacktop and subdivisions. How much wildlife habitat has been lost to all this building and development? Where are the poor birds and animals supposed to go? It is a wonder that any of them still survive, because we have done our best to uproot them, torture them, starve them and pollute their environment.

I am a state and federally licensed wildlife rehabilitator. In seven years I have taken in more than 10,000 wild birds and animals, and 85 percent of them owe their injury or illness to human beings.

God made the birds of the air, creatures of the sea and animals of the earth before he made man. He knew what he was doing. They live here too, and share the earth with us. It would be a sad, silent, lonely and infested world without wild birds and animals.

You, Mr. Dubois, need to get a life. Instead of fixing up scarecrows, try reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. Leave the birds alone. If they had their druthers, they would be fed up with living with people like you.
-- Carol Tallman, Tarpon Springs

Please don't forget those who died in Korean War

Re: Too few U.S. flags flown in a likely spot for them, July 12 letter.

The writer expresses his disdain over the lack of flags displayed on the Fourth of July. He emphasizes his dissatisfaction by asking if we have forgotten the American blood that was shed at Pearl Harbor, Tarawa, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Normandy and Vietnam.

While I agree completely with the author's sentiments, I hope that the omission of Korea was merely an oversight and that he has not, like so many of our fellow Americans, chosen to forget that the Korean War ever occurred.
-- Donald B. Barnes, Tarpon Springs

Clearwater should learn from Fourth of July circus

Turning the Fourth of July fireworks into a circus event ranks right up there on the list of stupid things that this Clearwater City Commission has done. Next year forget the rides and put the vendors in Stein Mart's parking lot. Keep the grass for people to sit.
-- Patti Rooks, Clearwater

Add earlier alcohol sales to helmet, emission law changes

Now that Gov. Jeb Bush has signed off on all these new laws, I would like to add another one to his list of "bad-idea laws." No helmets for motorcycle riders is really a bad idea. I wonder why he didn't include getting rid of helmets for kids on bicycles, too? Maybe because the kids can't afford the extra medical insurance that adult bikers can afford?

Next bad-idea law was the end of emission inspection stations. Not only do we have dangerous cars out there with no brakes or working turn signals, we now get more pollution, too!

So that leads me to ask for just one more: People should be allowed to buy alcohol before 1 p.m. on Sundays, hop on their motorcycle without a helmet and pollute our air.
-- Rick Whitelaw, Dunedin

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