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Letter to the Editor,
I am getting sick & tired of the amount of free space provided by
the Times (especially the North Pinellas section) to the perpetually
unsatisfied spokesmen for EastLake's unofficial griping club: The
Citizens Action League. They take me back to my childhood where
everybody provided courtesy to an aged nutty aunt, allowing her to
tell each of us, again and again and again, what was wrong with the
world. Please quit providing these folks that courtesy, or balance it
with somebody that is living in the present and looking toward the future.
So what do I learn from April 27th "Paradise Packed"? That
there is too much development in the East Lake corridor! Golly! If
only we could turn back the clock. Maybe we could buy 10 cent
hamburgers and 30 cent gasoline. Northern Pinellas growth is more
dense and occurred quicker than Buffalo New York's? WOW! What an insight.
I travel this country on business and have visited every major
metropolitan area. Yes, East Lake has had phenomenal growth (I caused
a little part of it), but it is, truly, the jewel of both Pinellas
county and, I feel, of the entire country! You need look no further
than Downers Grove (suburban Chicago), Novi (suburban Detroit) or
practically the entire Los Angeles basin to see the natural outgrowth
of development caused by urban population shifts. I can't speak to
Buffalo, a town of ebbing industry and minimal retirement value; but
you can bet your socks that the city council of Buffalo would give
anything to have the same growth problems we are suffering in East Lake.
I am tired of listening to the so-called "Citizens Action
League", a group whose charter is the very opposite of its name!
They have opposed every issue to improve the life of East Lake
residents. Their outlook on progress is shared by the "America
First"ers and the "Know-Nothings" of distance past.
Get a clue C.A.L. -- you can't turn back the clock! You can't crawl
into the television set and live with Ozzie & Harriett or in a
Jimmy Stewart movie. Quit complaining and do your part to make things
better around here!
The so-called "Action League" has dug in its heels and
opposed every attempt at civic improvement provided in MY HOME TOWN.
Sadly they helped to defeat an effort to provide quality-of-life
services to our youth and seniors (there are no delinquents or gangs
where Ozzie & Harriet live). Luckily they lost their efforts to
defeat the Penny for Pinellas. Correct me if I'm wrong but the
opposition to the Penny was two pronged: Widened streets will cause
increased traffic and public office holders are crooks (don't give
THEM any of OUR money).
Well, Inaction League, get you heads out of the sand. If roads are
not widened, people will still travel them. Look no further than LA
for round the clock traffic jams. And if you think elected civic
leaders are crooks then RUN FOR OFFICE. Quit complaining and do
something. Sit on the planning board, sit on county commission. Then
you will get the lesson in civics you are so obviously lacking.
Anyone can complain (it is a free country) but every time your group
opens its mouth, you prove what you don't know.
If you want to slow or stop sprawl that is impacting East Lake, then
move forward on plans that have been know for years. "Brown
fields" legislation is a great first step. So is mass-transit
and green-belt reserves. This isn't just an issue here (or in Pasco
county), but in every city in our United States. In northern Pinellas
county, we just got hit a little quicker then elsewhere. But the
griping from C.A.L. will do nothing to fix the situation.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way! Run for office or move! But quit
complaining and quit opposing the solutions to daily problems that
arise in our city. Government is not a distant independent body. IT
IS US! Government (especially at the local level) needs to provide
for civic planning, transportation, education, recreation, and
safety. Look no further than Houston to see what the logical
outgrowth of little or no planning. And remember that, without major
fundamental changes to the American Constitution, private property
rights will take precedence.
I wish "the jewel" of Pinellas was a little less densely
populated, less traveled, less developed; but I thank God for the
wisdom and foresight from years ago to purchase the Brooker creek
reserve and zone for low-density commercial development. I've seen
how bad it gets -- and we've got it very very very good here in
EastLake. I am proud to call EastLake my home (I could have lived
literally anywhere in the USA), and I am doing my part to make
EastLake a better place to live. You can't turn back the clock, and
the genie wont go back into the bottle. Lets quit griping about
telephone poles and make things better for the people that WANT to
live HERE. I hope VELCRO tries again. |
