Letters to the Eagle Editor: June 28, 2006

POP still hoping to amend City Charter

Many recent phone calls have asked for an update on Preserve Our Paradise (POP) status. As POP's chairman, I thought it appropriate to respond via this media.

POP is alive and well, thank you. We are making steady progress toward our goal. That goal is amending the City Charter to allow the Marco Island citizens a vote on a hired city manager's job performance. If voters approve that performance, nothing happens. If the majority of voters disapprove, the Council must hire a replacement. It's that simple. At present, a hired City Manager can only be fired by four members of the City Council, regardless of how poorly he or she may be impacting Marco Island residents. This is a "sweetheart contract" concept for that C.M. It could take many years before some newly elected council agrees to terminate an undesirable individual. This system, then, amounts to little more than a crap shoot for the voters.

POP seeks a more direct, effective safeguard for Marco Island voters and is circulating petitions toward that end. POP expects the petitions to be certified well before fall. Please remember to sign your petition only if you are a Marco registered voter. Also, be sure to print your name legibly where indicated. If your name cannot be read, your petition is trashed. If you haven't received a petition, or want extras, call 642-6845 or visit POP's Web site at PreserveOurParadise.com. Print as many as needed.

Thanks much for your help, interest and encouragement.

— Russ Colombo, chairman / Marco Island

Animal abuse case difficult to stomach

Once again, I was both shocked and dismayed to learn of another case of animal abuse. This one was perpetrated by Emas Lansiquot when he threw a defenseless orange and white kitten against a wall, causing a painful death.

If we are serious about curbing animal abuse, we must make Lansiquot's case an example and prosecute him (and all future felons of this type) to the fullest extent of the law. Let's hope that the imposition of maximum jail time will strongly encourage others to control their temper rather than harming innocent children or animals.

Finally, it is my firm belief that anyone who could live with himself after witnessing/participating in this type of violence has earned and deserves a similar fate.

— Yale Kellman / Marco Island

Major blow to septic tank replacement program

Governor Jeb Bush has signed HB 749 into law. It provides that the city has to file with the Clerk of Court a comparison of the projected cost of the proposed sewerage system with that of onsite wastewater treatment systems if petitioned by 25 voters. They also have to file a report giving the Department of Health's history of onsite sewage treatment in use in the district to demonstrate there is a problem with the septic systems. Legally, the provisions of this bill will terminate the Septic Tank Replacement Program (STRP) on Marco Island. Mr. Moss and Mr. Tucker have acknowledged that there isn't any pollution or any data to support the need for this $140 million project.

At the last council meeting the city acknowledged that we were funding the multimillion dollar replacement projects on South Barfield and Tigertail with city funds because they didn't have a marketable bond issue. The council, in a split vote, then went on to approve an additional $750,000 for the design for the next three districts (no money for parks and recreation however).

With the subsequent passage of AB 749, I urge the council to reverse that approval. I urge the council to take control of the city management and direct it to stop expenditures and commitments to the STRP until the application of HB749 is sorted out. The only urgency to moving it forward is to impose the will of the four council member majority on the people before they lose control at the next election. It's wrong! There isn't any urgency to rush ahead.

Common sense, the data, the will of the people and the law are all against the STRP. The council needs to step back, as Mr. Popoff campaigned to do, and let the facts sort themselves out before proceeding. To do otherwise will only ignite another round of expensive and divisive lawsuits with its citizens.

— Roger Hall / Marco Island