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Hernando Today

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 15, 2008

Sunshine Law Violation

A letter to fire commissioners suggesting how they should vote, who they should vote for and asking them to expedite the selection process seems to me to violate the very concept of the "Government in the Sunshine" laws.

The sense of urgency to fill the fire chief's position is something that should not be taken lightly. How can the taxpayers in the Spring Hill Fire District know for certain that the best possible person was selected to fill the position when the position was not advertised?

The outgoing fire chief was selected after a brief selection process. That, too, was hurried. The motion to suspend the search was made at a meeting, a motion to promote from within was made, the terms of the contract were hastily assembled and mistakes were made.

The chief never honored his verbal agreement to complete his college education and, because it was not in his contract, the board could not enforce that stipulation.

Furthermore, the long-range plan for the district was never assembled either (his predecessor was terminated for not having a plan). The waivers granted to the outgoing chief should have allowed all applicants to apply instead of being told that they had to meet all prerequisites before applying.

Nick Morana

Spring Hill

Independence

Has High Price Tag

The writer makes a case for granting Puerto Rico independence from the United States. But I am afraid he overlooks the practicality of such independence. He cites a figure of $30 million a day in subsidies from the U.S. government. How is this $30 million to be found if Puerto Rico becomes independent?

The island currently pays no U.S. income tax, the tax collected on Puerto Rican alcoholic beverages is rebated to the island government. The island residents are eligible for Social Security. How is this going to be supported by the Puerto Rican government after independence?

Also the residents of Puerto Rico need no passport or visa to enter the U.S. This would likely change after independence. If Puerto Rico was to be granted independence, its population, with no opportunities for unlimited travel to the U.S., would increase and soon overtax the Island's ability to support it.

Under current U.S. law, corporations based in the U.S. are encouraged by favorable tax legislation to operate manufacturing plants in Puerto Rico. Many of the major pharmaceutical corporations have facilities. These bring jobs to the residents and are, for the most part, nonpolluting industries.

Without the tax break that allows them to repatriate their profits back into the U.S. on favorable terms, these facilities would quickly relocate. This enables Puerto Rico to enjoy a standard of living that exceeds most, if not all, of the Caribbean basin island nations.

I would remind the writer that along with Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Philippines came Guam and American Samoa. Cuba we freed in 1904, the Philippines in 1946; thus Puerto Rico remains along with Guam and American Samoa as territories of the U.S. I have been to both Puerto Rico and Guam and there was one striking difference between the two. In Puerto Rico, aside from post offices and federal buildings, it was hard to find an American Flag flying. On Guam, the first sight that greets new arrivals is a large American Flag on the wall with the writing in large letters "Welcome to Guam, U.S.A."!

The Puerto Rican residents should decide on their independence. So far, they have voted it down on three separate occasions, the major debate being between statehood and retaining the commonwealth status with independence usually in the single digits. Independence is nice, having your own flag, head of state, seat at the U.N. and ambassadors around the world. But deciding on how to pay for it will rear its ugly head very soon.

Like many African countries that became independent from 1960 onward, their standard of living went downhill very soon after independence when the bills came due. Independence comes with a price and only the residents of the island can decide if it is worth paying.

Harry E. Chamberlain

Spring Hill

Administrator's Pay

May Hike Mean Income

Economic hard times are surely upon many homeowners and wage earners; people are losing jobs as businesses are either downsizing or closing their doors permanently. The trend is easily seen in some Hernando County statistics.

While attending classes for the County Connection program a year ago, the figure of $28,000 was the average annual income in Hernando County. Recently, a view of the official county Web site has an updated figure of somewhat less than $26,000. A multitude of questions popped into my mind as to the causes; the effects are obvious.

It may not quite hit the mark, but it's easy to assume that, as Hernando appears to be the retail capital of the world, there was a sizable increase in the number of jobs paying little more than minimum wage; people were already taking steps to buy "cheap." There is also the possibility that, as people declared bankruptcy, they gave up their homes and moved elsewhere, taking their higher salaries out of the county, or the state, to somewhat more promising economic environments. I make another assumption that over-burdensome tax and insurance bills helped to determine their fates.

Another thought came to mind that just a few months ago the Hernando County Commission authorized a 3 percent pay increase for our public servants, in which case a good number of local workers gained temporary prosperity. How many of those workers were let go because of budget cuts and consolidation of job functions? Taking this thought a bit further, how many professional positions have been eliminated, such as in the growth and development department? Grant Tolbert has certainly had to do his fair share of staff reductions. Those employees may have the education and experience to seek other avenues of employment, but not in Hernando County. The loss of those higher paying salaries have had a lot to do with the overall decline in the average pay.

To the benefit of the county's need to reduce expenses, as government payrolls further decline, the overall result may help them achieve parity with the Amendment 1 induced limited budget.

The future may see a turnaround and the average income in the county may soon reach the previous $28,000. There may be a minimal surge in consumer spending once the federal government processes those stimulating enticement checks in May, but soon afterward Hernando can expect to become a relative retail wasteland. With curtailed spending, families will have to choose the basics, such as food, over the slightest of feel-good purchases. Thus, fewer low-paying jobs.

Therefore, fewer minimum-paying jobs coupled with the exorbitant pay of the new county administrator, the average income may actually increase. Then again, to the benefit of taxpayers, perhaps the commissioners can make the contract null and void and make a final attempt to entice Larry Jennings to become the sole county administrator by doubling his salary. It would save the county nearly $100,000 a year! Besides, with the current outlook, how much administrating will have to been done in the foreseeable future?

Ron Rae

Spring Hill

Shining The Spotlight

Why is this even an issue? To me, it is a no-brainer. Leave the Eagle Nest Drive site unspoiled and use the Petit Lane site instead.

If the spoil can be put somewhere that will not harm our already fragile ecosystem, then why not do it regardless of the cost? Of course, that would be if our wonderful county had actually gone ahead and conducted a formal cost analysis on their dredge options.

I applaud the Bambauers for bringing much-needed attention to an issue that really does affect us all.

Karen Whitton

Spring Hill

Where Have All

The Protesters Gone?

Where have the Hickory Hill protestors gone?

For months we were subjected to their rhetoric that the commissioners should be against that project for the good of the county. They told us a development of this size would use up all of our scarce water, increase our school population, burden our roads with more traffic, drain our county resources by requiring more services and hurt our rural atmosphere.

Commissioner Rowden was absolutely against it.

This group of concerned citizens packed planning and zoning, as well as commissioner meetings, to protect the county from a development of this size.

Now here comes Lake Hideaway, another development of regional impact that rivals the size of Hickory Hill and we don't hear a peep out of this group. I thought they were representing the county interests? Apparently they were only NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard) minded folks and Commissioner Rowden wanted to cater to a vocal minority of citizens.

I am interested to see how she votes on Lake Hideaway without a group of protestors against it.

Christopher Miles

Brooksville

Editor's note: As you read in Thursday's Hernando Today, Commissioner Rowden voted against the massive housing project. However, the vote to approve it passed 4-1.

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