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Letters to the EditorsPeople pay a high price for economic development
© St. Petersburg Times, Re: Slow road construction hurts county's growth, Oct. 14 C.T. Bowen column Editor: The column by C.T. Bowen lamenting the impact of delayed road construction in Pasco and the fact that Florida "has grown, but not wisely," exemplifies the muddy thinking that is in large part responsible for the choked roads, overcrowded schools and sprawled-over countryside that Mr. Bowen complains about. Mr. Bowen is upset that plans for widening State Road 54 have been delayed. Nobody has bothered to tell Mr. Bowen that you cannot build your way out of gridlock. According to a story by Times reporter Susan Thurston on the proposed widening of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard: "A recent analysis by the Surface Transportation Policy Project in Washington, D.C., found that metro areas that added the most roads had little success in breaking up bottlenecks. It's like trying to cure obesity by loosening your belt." Accordingly, you can expect traffic on state roads 52 and 54 to get worse and worse as you add traffic lanes. Think Los Angeles. Think Orlando. Think Tampa. The future Pasco has selected for itself isn't pretty. Mr. Bowen also laments: "The inadequate east-west network segregates population centers, stymies economic development, and keeps the county as little more than a massive bedroom community for Tampa and Pinellas County." Mr. Bowen never bothers to define what he means by "economic development." Does he mean more residents? More jobs? More retirees? Worshiping the god of growth for growth's sake. Mr. Bowen would have us believe there is no downside to more people, more jobs, more tax base, more. More more. But has Mr. Bowen bothered to talk to the average Pasco resident about "economic development?" I bet the average Pasco resident would like to know the answers to the following questions: How does the average Pasco resident benefit from "economic development?" What are the benefits? What are the detriments? Are the benefits spread evenly throughout the community? Who are the big winners? Who are the big losers? The average Pasco resident would also like to know some of the costs of economic development: unrelenting population growth. Jam packed schools. Gridlocked roads. Rising property taxes. Endless sprawl. Unending demand for basic municipal services like police, garbage, hospital, sewage, etc. Tapped-out water supply. Ecological ruin. The nasty little secret is that the current regime of economic development also known as growth doesn't pay its way, and the power elite in Pasco County and the rest of Florida simply doesn't care. The fact is that crowded counties have higher local tax burdens, not to mention lower quality of life. That is the sad future Pasco has embraced. That is what Mr. Bowen should be lamenting.
Why a fire department remains a revolving doorEditor: I am employed as a professional firefighter with Pasco County Fire Rescue. I consider myself to be a very proud firefighter who has concerns about the Pasco County Commission's stance on issues concerning the fire service. I feel it is time the taxpayers of Pasco County understand my concerns in light of the recent tragedy we have all felt. I have been a firefighter in Pasco for 91/2 years. We have a good fire administration that is understanding. For years, the fire rescue service has wanted to be separate from the rest of the county for insurance and benefit reasons. Our county administration takes the stance that each department is the same. Since the recent tragedy, I feel people see that we are not the same as the other departments in the county. Unfortunately, our department remains a revolving door as we continue to lose good personnel due to salaries and benefits. Although the pay has gotten better over the years, it is still below that of other surrounding departments our size. We have little or no disability and the health insurance for family coverage costs employees $408 per month, compared to surrounding departments costing zero to $50 per employee each month. Because the county refuses to separate us from the other department within Pasco, our rates are much higher, and insurance cannot be factored into our benefits. I have exercised my right to talk to Assistant County Administrator Dan Johnson in mid July about this problem, but feel it has fallen on deaf ears. Maybe it is time the taxpayers of Pasco County are enlightened as to how the Pasco County Commission feels about the firefighters and treats us as equal to other county employees.
Public service should be adequately compensatedRe: It is time to get our priorities straight, Oct. 16 Jan Glidewell column Editor: Most of the time, I glance at Mr. Glidewell's column and pass it by as another space-filling piece of fluff. This time he was really on the mark regarding the values Americans have about sports and entertainment. Our priorities are really sick when we pay sports figures millions but pennies to the people who have the most impact on our society. I believe it was Marx who said, "Religion is the opium of the people." In America it should read, "Sport is the opium of Americans." Let's get real. Our teachers, firefighters, police, etc. should be paid a salary commensurate with their impact on our lives. We really could survive without sport but not teachers et al.
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