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© St. Petersburg Times, published December 1, 2000
Re: Thomas offers to sell downtown land, Nov. 22 story.
May we please take a very close look at former City Commissioner Fred Thomas' activities?
He is quoted in your article as saying, "The church is the downtown player, and 10 years from now that's the only player you'll see." He also is quoted as saying, "Downtown belongs to the Scientologists in my opinion, and it would be a waste of taxpayers' money to fund any kind of redevelopment."
Let's have a little history lesson. Last summer's referendum -- an opportunity to bring other businesses and retail, etc., into our downtown -- failed in large part because of an organized campaign of lies and fear tactics funded by the group Save The Bayfront. As reported by the Times, that group was funded almost completely by Fred Thomas -- $33,262, according to public records.
Very interesting.
-- Hugh Swift, Palm Harbor
Re: Thomas offers to sell downtown land, Nov. 22 story.
Before the downtown redevelopment vote we in Clearwater went through, a letter to the editor I wrote was printed questioning the hypocrisy of Fred Thomas and his positions over the years.
After reading this story, I laughed after I thought of all Fred's supporters running out in this cold weather to replace their Save the Bayfront signs with Fred's new "Sell the Bayfront."
-- Scott Armstrong, Clearwater
Maybe we don't need a theater where the Clearwater Harborview Center is, but we do need a movie theater somewhere within a 1-mile radius.
I am an avid moviegoer and so are a lot of my friends from Island Estates, Clearwater Beach, Sand Key and Belleair. I live in downtown Clearwater and have to drive to Tri-City, Oldsmar or Palm Harbor to find an AMC theater. Clearwater Mall wasn't too far to travel, but the rundown condition the theaters were in turned me off.
Please, please build a nice stadium-style theater somewhere downtown.
I recently attended the opening of the new BayWalk 20 theater in downtown St. Petersburg and was very impressed with the theater and the surrounding two-story space with restaurants and shops. It was beautiful, and you should have seen the number of people there. I had to stand in line for at least 30 minutes just to get a bag of popcorn and a Coke.
Please, mayor and commissioners, do something soon!
-- Cleita Karns, Clearwater
As one of the silent majority, I think it's time for the news media to return to reporting the news that matters and cease pontificating as to how to improve Belleair.
It is truly amazing that so many non-resident journalists think they can make Belleair a better place to live -- read "like any other community." Perhaps Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park or wherever is a better place to live. Then that's where you should -- and probably do -- live.
Those of us who live in Belleair live here by choice. We live here because we like having our own police department and not the sheriff, not some other water department, garbage service or fire department.
Our town is our town and not some place that should be made better in the eyes of some journalists.
Yes, we have challenges in our town, even a rogue town commissioner, Tom Murrin, but that's no different than anywhere else. I'm sure, as a community, we will meet our challenges and remedy our own problem at the polls.
It is a free choice to live in Belleair and even a journalist could live here. Each community represents its individual population's desires and not a journalist's perception. Perhaps you folks should focus your advice in your own community.
-- Roger S. Tucker, Belleair
Re: Expansion of airpark to bring unwanted volume, Nov. 22 letter.
I really have no interest in the flight plan mentioned in Lauren Hallahan's letter, except that the nursing home where my mother is living is just east of Hercules Avenue.
But Ms. Hallahan wouldn't care about that, because old people, like renters, come and go. The noise would be only a minor inconvenience as they are old and can't hear well anyway, so let's make it nice for the people like Ms. Hallahan who "pay some of the highest taxes."
-- Jewel M. Bunch, Clearwater
As a very concerned resident, I ask the city of Largo to place a no-right-turn-on-red sign on northbound Starkey Road at its intersection with East Bay Drive.
I have had several close calls trying to make a U-turn from East Bay at Starkey. Drivers seem to think that they have the right of way when turning right on a red light over a car making a legal U-turn protected by the left-turn arrow.
Readers should know that they do not have the right of way when turning right on red. Left-turners and U-turners who are westbound on East Bay have the right of way when they have the left-turn arrow.
There is a sign on northbound Starkey Road telling drivers to give the right of way to U-turns, but this sign is usually ignored. I literally have to drive through piles of broken glass and debris left from accidents at this intersection.
-- James L. Michael, Largo
How can citizens of unincorporated Pinellas County get the Times to write an article or two on longtime residents and why we do not want to be part of Seminole, Largo or Pinellas Park?
We have a group of citizens who meet twice a month to further the cause of unincorporated Pinellas and have spoken to several reporters, but still have a problem getting to these residents except door to door and trying to get petitions signed to give to the county commissioners.
Seminole's roadshow has even gone so far as to ask unincorporated citizens who are opposed to annexation to not attend their meetings to further annexation. If they are being truthful, why wouldn't they want everyone to be there who is affected by annexation? Who knows, somewhere along the way they may be able to show us the good points of being in a city. At least we are open-minded enough to listen.
Now that the Pinellas County Planning Council has been able to pass its map to make annexation easier for cities, residents of unincorporated Pinellas need to be even more informed on the effect of property taxes, utility taxes and regulations when annexed into cities.
Please, please come and talk to some citizens of unincorporated Pinellas for more than 40 years and listen to our side.
-- Dorothy Book, resident of Pinellas near Largo