Letters to the Editors

Ulmerton too big an obstacle for school children

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 23, 2000

Making small children walk across Ulmerton Road to get to Ridgecrest Elementary School is insane.

Suggesting that they walk to an existing elevated crosswalk five blocks away overlooks the fact that the children must walk the five extra blocks to get to it, and then another five blocks back to get to the school. That adds a mile to the walk to school and to the walk home. If you are only 31/2 feet tall like many kindergarteners and first-graders, that's an awful long way.

If you are under 10, your impulse control and ability to predict the consequences of your actions are not well developed. When added to the fact the children generally cannot grasp the permanence of death until at least the age of 7, many children will decide to take the shorter route, dashing across Ulmerton Road, where tragedy is waiting.

The issue that makes me the angriest about this situation is that these are little brown children faced with crossing Ulmerton Road. If this were a wealthy white neighborhood, do any of the readers of this paper believe that this crisis state would have been reached?

Can the additional mile to be walked to go back and forth to the overpass be used to increase the stated distances to school, making the children eligible for regular school bus service? If not, and if state funds are not eligible to be used for busing under the 2-mile limit, could local funds be used? Could the school system contract with a private carrier?

The life of each and every one of these children is just as precious as that of those with lighter skin. Swift action must be taken immediately to protect these children.
-- Ann Luce, Clearwater

Rules for Jazz Holiday taking away the fun

Once again the Clearwater Jazz Holiday organizers have stifled what promised to be a good time.

Not happy with bringing out the Gestapo to search us as we entered the fence (a fence to a FREE concert -- why?), this year they decided not to allow coolers or picnic baskets of any kind.

It was bad enough that we had to wait in line for the search dogs to check and make sure that we didn't bring in a bottle of wine. Now they are not allowing anything. This policy, and the fences that surround the event, are not to keep anyone out or to keep out alcohol, but to make sure that you purchase only their approved brand of overpriced alcoholic beverage (read: Budweiser).

This must have been what a festival in Red Square in Moscow was like 10 years ago. Soon we will be strip-searched and forced to stand in an assigned spot of grass. The concert will be free, but only if we spend a certain amount of money on approved products before standing on our numbered spot.

Not happy with supplying mediocre jazz groups and New Age artists, they have banned the last refuge of the American family: a picnic under the stars.
-- Shane Sokol, Palm Harbor

City officials need to look toward the future

Re: Clearwater needs better management, Oct. 17 letter.

In reply to some of the facts mentioned by letter writer N. Lupo and some recent stories on the downtown plan, Phillies and management of our city:

The citizens of Clearwater made clear in the July referendum that they did not approve of redevelopment of public lands by a private developer, so an alternative plan -- one that requires public investment -- was developed.

Ad valorem taxes estimated to finance this plan would amount to 0.129 mills per thousand dollars of assessed value, or approximately $12.84 annually for an average assessed home value of $100,000, not $1.90 per assessed $1,000 of property value or approximately $190 annually for an average assessed home value of $100,000, as previously reported by the Times.

The Phillies stadium will require $5-million in city investment from Penny for Pinellas dollars and another city fund, not ad valorem taxes as suggested by Mr. Lupo.

I am not an advocate of perks for city employees, and do not take lightly our responsibility toward public tax dollars. We are working diligently to correct past mistakes.

I believe it is our responsibility to present our citizens with opportunities for redevelopment in order to stabilize our tax base and generate growth.

Where possible, we have encouraged public-private partnerships and have sought alternative funding and favorable legislation.

However, when the referendum failed in July, it left us with little alternative other than to pursue new ways to revitalize downtown and our beach area. To ignore the deterioration in these areas may put us in a situation where our tourism bed tax base erodes. We also must allocate more resources and funding to blighted areas in the downtown.

Our approach is to plan for the future responsibly, for without that, we are not stewards for the generations to come. As good leaders, it's our duty to balance the needs of our citizens today with those of tomorrow.
-- Bill Horne, Clearwater interim city manager

Helen Ellis emergency staff was courteous and efficient

Re: Helen Ellis emergency room fosters frustrations, Oct. 9 letter.

The referenced letter sheds very negative light upon Helen Ellis Memorial as our hospital, its emergency room and staff. It is unfortunate this family had such a bad experience; however as in every situation or story, there are always two sides.

On a recent Friday afternoon I cut my finger. Dreading what I anticipated would be a long, wasted evening waiting in the emergency room (I had read the referenced letter), there was no other choice. When my husband and I arrived, among other patients, we were courteously greeted, triaged and taken care of (five stitches) in a very timely manner. We were in and out in exactly one hour.

I urge that anyone's consideration of driving to Dunedin or Clearwater be reconsidered.
-- Debbie Stott, Tarpon Springs

Pet owners need to back suggestion for dog park

Re: Proposal for city dog park in Tarpon Springs.

Nancy Dively's proposal for a dog park in Tarpon Springs is a brilliant idea. She has the backing of the silent majority of dog owners who believe in her cause but are not aware that they can indeed voice their opinion by either writing or calling to get their voices heard.

Come on, dog lovers, let's make this a successful action for our pets. I meet quite a few dog walkers while out with my greyhound, Peaches, and boxer, Winnie, and I am sure that almost everyone wishes there were a safe, fenced-in area to let the dogs run wild and carefree for a short time. It is such a pleasure to see the graceful movements of our pets in action.

Spread the word that Tarpon Springs is a modern city and it would be a great pleasure for us if our city government could look into this matter and give us a helping hand in our movement to establish a dog park. Get off that couch and on the phone and let's get the ball rolling.
-- Fran Myzel, Tarpon Springs

Neighbors, strangers band together to help save cat

We always hear about how people don't care anymore and how neighbors don't help out, but what happened on a recent Friday proved to me that there are still good people in this world.

I just moved back here after six months in New York and my two cats and I have been staying with my friends, Bob and Nancy Metzger, in the East Lake area.

There was an accident involving my cat, Lucy. She was out by the pool with her sister when the lawn service, Rollin' Greens Landscaping, showed up to mow the grass. As near as we can tell, the sound startled Lucy and she fell into the pool. She panicked, and that caused her paw to get caught in her collar.

The lawn guy saw her and called for a neighbor, Brian Dilenge, to come help. The two of them pulled Lucy out of the water just as she was going down for the last time. She was not breathing and seemed to be unconscious, so the two men gave her CPR and mouth to mouth until she sputtered water and started to breathe.

Another neighbor, Sue Gimeno, rushed Lucy to the My Pet Animal Hospital in the Boot Ranch Shopping Center. Yet another neighbor located and called Nancy, who contacted me at work. The vet gave Lucy oxygen and warmed her up until she was dry and breathing well again.

Thanks to several people I had never met, my cat has survived her ordeal and is healing nicely. The irony of all this is that she is a black cat and it was Friday the 13th.

I just thought these very special people deserved some recognition as the Good Samaritans they are. There are still angels in this world, and some are our next-door neighbors.
-- Leisa Clark, Palm Harbor

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