Letters to the Editor, July 5

A warm welcome to Tracy Frazzano

It is with great pleasure I welcome the first female police chief of Marco Island. I was personally shocked by the announcement but Frazzano was also surprised. She came in first over 80 other applicants for the position.

This was a good decision by the acting City Manager David Harden. I am sure that city staff, police and fire department personal will give her a supportive and warm welcome. Frazzano’s prior achievements, training and skills are a welcome addition to the professional staff of Marco Island.

The Island needs professional staff that adhere to the policy of civic virtue civility, moral excellence which is necessary to build community cohesion. Marco Island is sorely in need of such professional standards and I see this in Tracy Frazzano. Welcome!

Litha Berger, founder, Caxambas Republican Club

‘World class’ museum

If you have not visited the Marco Island Museum recently, please do. Starting as your grandmother’s attic, under curator Austin Bell it has evolved into a modern, extravagant, and stunning visual explosion of accessible information.

You may plan 15 minutes to view the incredible “Marco Cat” and discover you have spent 45 minutes getting started. I guarantee you will bring all your free loading winter visitors to share with them this jewel of a museum.

We have traveled the world and can attest Mr. Bell’s expertise has provided us with a truly “world class” museum. Thanks Austin.

Michael Gaynor, Marco Island

Golden Gate golf course

Friday morning, I read an article about East Naples Community Park. They are about to receive $23.4 million in upgrades. That is fine with me. As a matter of fact, I enjoy playing pickleball.

This is one of many projects that we can enjoy. Why can't a public golf course be included? Our tax dollars pay for these facilities. Many golfers are taxpayers. The county commissioners should keep this in mind when voting for what to do with the Golden Gate golf property.

Beverly Martin, Naples

Working with refugees

I worked several years in Southeast Asia in the 1970s and 1980s in refugee protection and resettlement. I visited or worked in refugee camps inhabited by hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers.

I dealt with local officials from the national cabinet level down, representing and speaking for the U.S. government. Advocating for the humane treatment of refugees was consistently on my agenda.  Specifics ranged from not endangering lives by pushing off “boat people” attempting to land in Malaysia to urging better access to medical treatment and clean drinking water in often overcrowded Thai camps.

Minors traveling without their parents were among the categories in which we had a special interest. Despite occasional problems of identity fraud, we found by far the best solution for children’s camp stay was to allow more distant relatives to care for them. Even at the most difficult times, we did not separate children from parents or other adult relatives.

That which I and many others stood for is very obviously not being followed on our Southwest border. Why have we changed?  Have we as a nation abandoned values that largely guided us throughout my lifetime?  How is it possible that a nation once looked up to as basically good is increasingly seen as a cruel human rights violator.

Who are we?

Bruce A. Beardsley, Naples

Listen to constituents

Hey, Tallahassee legislators, this is how genuine government service is supposed to work.

In March at a Collier County Commission meeting, the commissioners decided to de-fund the Youth Relations Bureau, which provides sheriff's deputies on our public school campuses for students’ safety.

This vote was in response to SB 7026, which you passed. As you know, SB 7026 does not require any funding from local government for the safety of students and instead places the burden of school safety fully on public schools, which you already grossly underfund.

As is their right in a democracy, the commissioners’ constituents voiced their dismay through emails and letters to the editor regarding the commission’s decision to cut this funding.

And then something truly rare and remarkable happened. At a June 20 meeting, all the Collier County commissioners reversed their earlier decision and decided to fully fund the Youth Relations Bureau to keep our students safe. Our commissioners listened to the people who elected them to serve and did what the people wanted them to do. (Thank you to each one of our laudable commissioners, too.)

It is my sincere hope you all will follow the Collier County Commission’s example and practice this skill yourselves by listening to and carrying out the will of the people you serve when you convene again in January.

You do not serve a particular party, lobbyist, special interest group or campaign contributor. You serve the people who go to the polls and elect you.

Annette Hall, Golden Gate