Letters to the editor: Nov. 18, 2003

Letter of the Day: Follow the money

Editor, Naples Daily News:

I am writing to you about the headline on the front page of the Nov. 14 edition of the Naples Daily News.

It read: "President pays SW Fla. a visit."

A more appropriate title would have been: "SW Fla. pays the President for a visit."

Recipe for success

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Thanks for your editorial on the Scouting for Food drive. With the holiday season upon us it's important for us to think of those less fortunate. The Scouts have been doing the food drive for many years and as anyone who has been to the sorting station knows, they collect a ton of food.

What you failed to mention was that Scouting for Food is a nationwide drive and the Scouts collect more food in one day than any other organization.

Scouts are challenged to "do a good turn daily" and "help other people at all times" which are very lofty goals. The food drive is a perfect example of their commitment to service to their community.

So when that bag shows up on your door step, remember the message and the messengers. I don't want to hear the food banks complaining this year that the cupboard is bare! Pitch in, Naples.

The glorious past

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Re: Marines on the front page of history.

Don't despair, letter-writer Michael Coe, retired lieutenant colonel, U.S. Marine Corps.

The record shows the glorious past of the Corps.

Marines have been warriors in man's most furious battles. Our government knows. Our loved ones know and the general public knows.

I have heard remarks over the years that "Marines get too much praise and glory."

Guess what? They deserve it and more.

Maybe the Naples Daily News is of that ilk. Jealousy is a terrible thing.

It happened at God's house

Editor, Naples Daily News:

On Nov. 12 my husband and I attended a wonderful benefit concert given by Fr. Jerry Kaywell at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church celebrating his 50th birthday.

As much as we enjoyed the evening, it was almost spoiled by those sitting near us.

We arrived 70 minutes early to secure a seat. The policy, which was announced at Mass, was "no saving seats."

The woman sitting next to me told the usher her group was in the bathroom and she was "not" giving up the seats. The people in front announced that their guests were elderly and one was on oxygen (he never showed up).

The usher (I will refer to her as Saint Mary as she took so much abuse by these people and others) advised them that handicapped people may sit in the first rows.

At one point Mary was told, "I don't want to see you again," by a man who insisted on saving seats.

Mary, by the way, was a volunteer.

The subconscious guilt for lying and disobeying rules in church manifested itself by behaviors that insulted and bad-mouthed disapproving attendees. Yes, we were in the house of God to witness a concert given, with much enthusiasm, by a very holy, gifted man, who stressed love and forgiveness.

I am trying ...

With a wink -- and gratitude

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Your Veterans Day edition was a delight to read. The four stories concerning the three men and one woman who served in the armed services would make every reader feel a sense of pride in what they accomplished for all of us, plus a sense of patriotism for the way this country has tried to bring freedom to peoples everywhere.

I once asked my wife's uncle, who served in France in 1918, what he remembered at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918. He said that for the first time in the three months he had been in France, it was quiet -- an almost eerie silence, when all the men in trenches just looked at each other.

Then, he and several other soldiers walked to a farmhouse and in poor French asked if they could pay for a private room in a barn or shed and several tubs of hot water. Then, he said, "I took off my uniform for the first time in three months and got a bath."

If you ever asked him what he learned in the Army, with a twinkle in his eye he would say, "I learned you can go three months without bathing and not die."

All of us owe a debt to those who served and are still serving.

What nonsense

Editor, Naples Daily News:

In his column of Nov. 11, Brent Batten quotes Dr. Jim Lawson, a member of Collier County School Board Chairman Linda Abbott's personal budget committee, as indicating the budget presentation format of the school district is somehow related to test scores and per-student expenditures.

Such a proposition is at best erroneous and at worst silly. If such thinking is representative of the committee, we can dismiss the group in its totality.

A mistake -- or retirement?

Editor, Naples Daily News:

I've been in business in Naples for 20 some years and after reading about the big bonus mistakes in the city of Naples, I've become very depressed.

I've never had anyone make an $80,000 mistake when writing me a check! I wish a few political officials would stop by and do business with me.

But I'd be more honest and say, "You must have made an error" or "I really appreciate the gratitude, but don't you think that's a little excessive?"

One more zero and I'd retire, thank you very much.

Let it grow

Editor, Naples Daily News:

S.C. Ritas' letter regarding the Waterside Shops expansion reflects a strange naivet. Waterside cannot continue to provide a vibrant retail experience without another anchor store. No other anchor wants to replace Jacobson's without an expansion of the space and more parking.

No replacement anchor would mean the death of Waterside and the ruin of the entire neighborhood.

Those who oppose the Waterside expansion have no idea what they are asking for: an abandoned shopping center, more crime and an eyesore at the northern entrance to Naples proper.

Yes, Waterside was wonderfully vibrant when Jacobson's was there. But Jacobson's is gone. We need a vibrant Waterside. Everyone in Collier needs it. And everyone should support the expansion plans.

He got involved

Editor, Naples Daily News,

I would like to applaud and thank letter-writer Jack Barry of Clearwater for getting involved when he saw the hit-and-run of an innocent dog.

It would be so easy to just forget about it, but you took the time and risk to see if justice can be done.

I wish you success in matching part numbers to the car and driver. I hope the person in the Mercedes (possibly a Vineyards resident) reads your letter and is shamed by it.

Money on the table

Editor, Naples Daily News:

The Collier County Public Schools Support Personnel will be making a last appeal before the School Board for the contract year 2002-2003 on Tuesday (today).

The hearing on Oct. 17 resulted in the parties going back to the table to resolve several issues as directed by the School Board.

This was done and all language is completed. However, the "board team" would not offer a reasonable amount for the long-overdue pay raise. When the employees offered to accept the offer of 1.075 percent with the addition of a 1 percent step at the 13th year of employment, the School Board's administrators refused to accept.

We are going back to the School Board, meeting as a legislative body, to request a raise of 3.55 percent.

The public is welcome to attend the hearing that will begin on Tuesday (today) at 5 p.m. Please come to the new Martin Luther King Jr. Administration Building on Osceola Drive behind Barron Collier High School and give the 850 support workers some help in convincing the board to be respectful and kind.

There will be a time for the public to speak to the board on the issue of a raise for 2002-2003. Negotiations for the 2003-2004 contract began on Monday, Nov. 10.

Open -- and shut

Editor, Naples Daily News:

We have been informed that on Thursday, not only will WCI go before the Collier County Planning Commission to request a "density exchange" in the Pelican Bay planned unit development, but the county Department of Transportation will recommend at the same time that Crayton Road (in Pelican Bay) be opened into Seagate Drive.

The total plan of increasing density and opening roads is unacceptable to the Crayton Road Homeowners Association. We are an entire residential road of 3.3 miles. The opening of Crayton Road would destroy the ambiance and tranquillity of our homes, increase traffic to an unacceptable rate -- a rate the road is not built for -- and, in general, turn our community into a semi-highway area.

We are also very concerned about our neighboring West Boulevard property owners having to accept the traffic from the request WCI is making. And what about the children that pour out of Sea Gate Elementary School? The proposed plan will be a danger to all.

Do the residents of Pelican Bay want this? We know that the residents of West Boulevard, Crayton Road and, most especially, the parents of the children of Sea Gate Elementary School don't want this.

Let yourself be heard on Thursday at the Collier County Planning Commission, County Government Complex, Building F, at 8:30 a.m., or notify your neighbors and write letters. Don't allow the flood gates of traffic to be opened.

Once and for all

Editor, Naples Daily News:

As a longtime resident (since 1996) of Avalon at Pelican Bay, please note my disapproval of the revised Cap D'Antibes site development plan.

I hope the Pelican Bay Services Division and the Collier County planning staff will act in the best interests of the current, established residents of our community and put a stop, once and for all, to this atrocity.

The reality is, Naples is so beautiful and desirable because it doesn't now and never wants to look like Miami.

Let's get more serious

Editor, Naples Daily News:

This is in reply to James Tuzzolo's cute letter printed Nov. 10. I have a few stories too.

A lovely, clean, fat, calico cat resides at one of our beachfront restaurants. Once feral, she had several litters of kittens. Caught, spayed and released back at this place, the kitchen staff provides her with food and affection. She is still wild but well cared for and unable to reproduce.

A striped, tabby female resides at the Pine Ridge Home Depot. Her nutrition comes mainly from what she hunts. Past litters of kittens were carried up to the rafters to keep them away from humans. They fell from that height and were seriously injured or killed. Her last litter was taken away at birth and hand-raised by a Friends of Gummi volunteer. Recently they were adopted into loving homes and will be neutered when old enough. An effort is being made to trap, spay and release this mom-cat to end her reproductive cycle.

Mr. P was born in the wilds of Golden Gate and turned over to Friends of Gummi. When adopted his contract provides for his neutering when older.

Mr. Tuzzulo, Naples is full of homeless cats. Yours is feral, female and fertile, who could soon bring a litter of kittens to your feeding station. Your joke about a second job to feed your growing brood is not funny.

Please trap this animal, have her spayed, release her back into her familiar environment and continue to feed and enjoy her -- without increasing the feline population. Visit the Friends of Gummi Web site www.friendsofgummi.org or write JRudolph@aol.com

We desperately need a countywide spay/neuter program!

This is just wrong

Editor, Naples Daily News:

The state of Florida has made Jesse James Hardy an offer he can't refuse -- literally. The state wants to pay Mr. Hardy $1.5 million to violate his rights -- the very rights the state exists to protect.

The governor will use eminent domain, an archaic policy followed by despots everywhere that claims all property is ultimately government property, to take Mr. Hardy's Golden Gate Estates land by force. This is wrong. The first tenet of the Communist Manifesto is to abolish all private property, and eminent domain is, in practice, a means to this end. In fact, it effectively renders all real property to the government; we citizens merely hold the land in stewardship until some politician decides to take it.

In this case, the taking does not even enhance the tax base, but represents the spending of millions of taxpayer dollars to modify the effects of previous millions of taxpayer dollars spent on other projects. But the governor might get a few votes out of it, so he considers it right to take Mr. Hardy's land.

Eminent domain is morally wrong. In this case, and in many cases before it, the "public use" clause of the Fifth Amendment has been abused and eroded. Mr. Hardy wishes only to be left alone. It doesn't matter whether the state wishes to pay Mr. Hardy 10 times the amount offered -- in taxpayer dollars -- if he does not want to sell, it is extortion.

What is the problem?

Editor, Naples Daily News:

This is in reply to a letter by Georgine Mendillo. In her letter she asks, "Where is the national outcry?" regarding the ACLU trying to change Christmas vacation to winter vacation.

What is the problem? Many churches seem to have no difficulty at all with changing Halloween celebrations to "fall festivals." What's good for the goose is good for the gander!

As far as I know, no one knows what month Christ was really born. Christmas falls within a day or two of the winter solstice, which historically was known to be a pagan holiday, so why should there be a problem referring to it as winter vacation? So much for "political correctness."

Regarding children wearing the symbols of their religions (crosses, the star of David, pentacles, etc.), I believe they should have the right to express their personal beliefs in their own deities.

Is this country not world-renowned for the liberty of freedom of religion? Sometimes I wonder.

That cash isn't free

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Reading the Daily News recently I saw that the U.S. Treasury department just put up for sale $50.7 billion in Treasury notes. Although I am not personally interested in buying them, it did bring back some good memories.

It was only a few long years ago the Clinton administration, along with the help of some fiscally conservatives in the Republican Congress, was balancing the federal budget and paying off the federal debt as fast as they could with the federal money surpluses.

What has changed in the last five years? The spending of the trillions of dollars in projected surpluses in the form of tax cuts to the super wealthy who didn't need it or even request it. The expansion of our federal government employees of about 10 percent, and the change of good policies to voodoo economics bringing down our economy.

FYI, the federal debt is created by spending more money than we have and borrowing (selling treasury notes). It will all have to be paid back with interest, just like your credit card.

No comparison

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Re: letter by John Townsend.

Please do not malign my beloved Red Sox team by placing their name in the same category as Ted Kennedy.

The Red Sox have much more class.