- April 24, 2024
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Dear Editor:
Just read the article "A Special Friendship.” This community and the parents of Daniel Dillard should be very proud of this young man.
We often read about young people being arrested, in gangs and causing all kinds of problems in the community. We read about college and professional athletes in trouble with the law. We watch on TV how pro football players fight and put on a show, acting like thugs, but we don't hear too much about the young men and women out there making a real difference to the community and to someone’s life.
Sometimes, we say to ourselves, “What's going on with our people and this country? Why is there so much violence and so many crimes being committed by our young people?” Then we get a story like this, and we realize that it’s only a few bad apples, and that there are many young men and women out there doing great things for one another.
Daniel Dillard should be proud of what he is doing. He has shown that this country still has many young people who can and will make a difference for us and others. This is the kind of young man who others should be looking up to, not the gangs, overpaid athletes or college players who are at the school for football and not education.
We need to read more about our young people out there that are doing the right thing.
Mr. Dillard, you are a credit to your school, your family, your community — but more important, you are a credit to yourself. I wish you much success now and in the future. You have shown that we do have a future because we have young men and women like you coming up.
Ray Thomann
Palm Coast
Dear Editor:
Why do people assume (and you know what they say about assuming) that making changes to the landscape barriers and other codes means they will be gutted? Easing of some of the rules does not mean that businesses and residents will be allowed to run wild defoliating Palm Coast.
How is being business friendly against anyone's “religious beliefs”? Just because people would like reasonable progress does not mean they have a “reverence for mammon.”
Some writers have questioned my reasons for moving to Palm Coast. To be perfectly honest, Palm Coast was not my first choice. Unfortunately, home values were much higher in Port Orange, and I was forced to expand my search to Palm Coast. So, the theory put forth in a recent letter that changing the landscape barrier codes will bring property values down is pure balderdash.
Business can coexist and still maintain the quality of life that everyone here in Palm Coast has come to love, including myself. This is a lovely city, but there is always room for improvement.
It would be nice to have a Sam’s Club, Big Lots and businesses that would employ city residents. Not everyone who lives here is retired. There are children here who will need jobs when they graduate from school.
To suggest that I, and others who think there is room for improvement “do not like Palm Coast” is ridiculous.
As far as “moving to greener grass” why didn’t you move to a gated community where you can control everything and everyone?
If Palm Coast wants to act like a gated community, then anyone who sells a home here should disclose the lengthy list of rules and regulations to potential buyers so that they can make an educated choice before they buy here. It would save everyone a lot of headaches.
If a charter review is such a bad thing then why do the majorities of cities and towns have one on a regular basis? Why don’t we put it to a vote and see if it is just a “few vocal ones who do not like Palm Coast” who want one? That would be fair, wouldn’t it? Then we would know what the majority of the voters in Palm Coast really want. That is the way a representative government is supposed to work, not a small body of people making decisions without input from their constituents.
I guess that’s the trouble with some people: They want to control everyone else and fear anyone who is different. They fear change and live in the past while the world passes them by. They talk about religious beliefs while they make personal attacks on others. Shame on you for passing judgment on anyone who thinks differently than you do.
Alice Losasso
Palm Coast
Dear Editor:
Mr. Branin is way off base. Councilman Nobile is an elected official and as such he and all other council members have a fiduciary obligation to properly perform their duties.
Unfortunately, things do not always work that way.
The City Council follows our city manager around like a bunch of lemmings. They permit him to conduct city business with impunity. They seem to take a hands-off position.
They have given far too much authority to our overpaid manager. Why do they permit him to do whatever he wants? They do not seem to supervise him. He is an employee, and the council would do well to recognize him as such. It looks to me that the tail is wagging the dog.
If a councilman is rebuffed because he suggests a review of the Charter, it is obvious that the City Council is not really interested in knowing what is going on. The City Council works for the citizens of Palm Coast, and the city manager works under their direction. That being said, I believe that a council member has a perfect right and obligation to make reasonable requests for information. The question I ask is why is the City Council is reluctant to pursue a review?
Cost was one reason given for refusal to review the Charter. That is nonsense. A review of a city Charter that is 16 years old could certainly merit a review.
This action is exercise of good management. There have been many changes in the city since incorporation. Things are not the same as they were at the beginning and a Charter review is most definitely in order.
Gene Holland
Palm Coast
