- April 24, 2024
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+ More Medicaid recipients lead to weaker economy in Flagler
Dear Editor:
I saw, in last week’s Observer, that the U.S. Census reported Flagler County’s unemployment rate went up from 3.6% to 15.5% in 10 years. Flagler County’s recipients of Medicaid went up from 548 to 1,488.
I also read, in last week’s Observer, that Flagler County usually pays the state $260,000 a year for Flagler’s Medicaid recipients. This year, we could be charged $560,000. The state also sent a bill stating Flagler owes unpaid charges as far back as 2007. The article reported that these extra payments could be made up through our contingency reserves.
What a great economic plan our leaders and the Chamber of Commerce have to bring more unemployed people into Flagler County. They say all that food stamp, unemployment, Medicaid, low-income housing and welfare money “will bring millions of dollars into our county because it will be spent here.”
They are so convinced it is such a good economic plan, they even started the Mobile Benefits Program. We should be rich by now. Instead, we just got a large, stealth tax-rate increase. Most people don’t notice it because our property values are down now.
Does anyone else see where we are going?
Jean Sbertoli
Flagler Beach
+ Long Landing park will be too costly; ‘enough already!’
Dear Editor:
Long Landing has been in this swamp since the early 1800s; now, all of a sudden, it’s in peril, and the city says we must save it.
The powers that be bought nine acres of land in the swamp in 2008.
Before I go any further, let me explain something. This is the South. We don’t have wetlands; we have swamps, and you can’t touch them. It’s against the law to drain them; you can’t fix them; you can’t grow taters or cabbage or pine trees in them. If you own a swamp, you are forever stuck with a piece of land you can’t use.
What I’m saying is a swamp is worthless.
But the people we elected paid $4.5 million for nine acres of land in a swamp! They bought this swamp for one or more of the following reasons: It was political payback; it belongs to a relative of one of the politicians; they were coerced by the environmentalists; or they are really stupid.
They are going to spend about $4 million more to turn this $4.5-million, nine-acre landing into a park. We already have about 20 parks. Enough already!
This whole deal smells worse than swamp gas. We are in a depression, and our local politicians are taking lessons in fiscal responsibility from Professor Obama.
Douglas R. Glover
Palm Coast
Editor’s Note: The land was purchased with $2,255,000 of state funds and $2,273,000 from Flagler County’s Environmentally Sensitive Lands Program. The city of Palm Coast recently committed $400,000 to the cost of designing the park on the land, but the actual cost of park construction is unknown until design is completed, according to City Manager Jim Landon.
+ Tasers not the problem; education needs to be fixed
Dear Editor:
Rather than issue petitions, maybe we should investigate the systemic reasons for the necessity of having to use Tasers in our high schools around the nation.
We must fix our education system because it is apparent that it is not producing the students needed to fill the high-tech jobs required in every field. Sustained unemployment will be the destruction of our nation as we once knew it.
Not only must we upgrade our education system to be accountable for low performance, but we must place disruptive and undisciplined students in other facilities specializing in teaching them so that they will not impede everyone’s progress.
We must pull together and realize that the system is broken and that it must be fixed, or we will continue the downward slide just like Rome and all the others did because of inaction.
Thomas B. McMullin
Palm Coast
+ Piercings, extreme hair styles are worse than miniskirts
Dear Editor:
I would vote yes on the uniform code, but I feel the schools need to pay closer attention to other things before these uniforms. There are things that the schools allow that are far worse than a girl in a conservative miniskirt.
On my way to work, I passed in front of Flagler Palm Coast High School. There, I saw something completely outrageous:
One young man had red hair spiked about 2 feet in the air and two girls were completely dressed in gothic (black), which to me was fine except for the piercings all over their faces. One girl had orange, black and bright-blue hair and piercings and earrings in her eyebrow, lip, nose and even cheek. The other had black hair and piercings on her face with a chain from her nose to Lord knows where.
Kids have plenty of time to change their image to who or what they want as they get older and out of school, but why are schools allowing this kind of thing?
It’s obvious those parents don’t care what their kids look like, but the teachers and school officials should set a standard. Uniforms are the least of your worries.
Maria Lopes
Palm Coast
SIGNS OF RACISM
+ Letter shows ‘racism is alive and well at the NAACP’
Dear Editor:
In response to the letter, “Sign vandalism shows racism is alive and well in Flagler County,” in the Oct. 27 edition of the Palm Coast Observer:
Linda Shape Haywood, president of the Flagler County NAACP, claims that Holsey Moorman’s missing sign is proof of racism; the fact that no one has been caught is not important to Haywood. I will tell you what this letter proves: Racism is alive and well at the NAACP. Shame on all those who play the race card at every opportunity.
Doug Colpoys
Palm Coast
+ Does defacement of McCain/Palin sign reveal racism?
Dear Editor:
I felt I had to respond to the letters and articles about racism being alive in Flagler County. Diversity is what I see alive and flourishing here. It was truly an unfortunate sign of the times that political signs can be defaced without repercussion to the guilty party. To say it was racism, however, is absurd.
Politics is just a dirty word, and the people who are playing do not always follow the rules. When the presidential elections took place in 2000, people went around Palm Coast in the dead of night and defaced all the McCain/Palin posters and signs that were on private property. That is correct: Like thieves in the night, they came up to my front door and many of my neighbors’ and spray-painted a large red X across the campaign sign that I had placed in my flower bed.
We were all victims of dirty politics. Did we yell racism? After all, they were the only Caucasians running for president and vice president.
It is time to learn to live with each other. We are all not that different at heart. To you who believe racism is still running rampant here in Flagler, may I suggest you do a little soul searching and do unto others as you would have them do onto you.
Lorraine Jeziorski
Palm Coast
DESTINY AND SLIM SPEAK
+ Thanks to all who supported Destiny and Slim
Editor’s Note: For the full story of Destiny and Slim’s accident, in which both lost their left legs, search “Destiny” on www.PalmCoastObserver.com.
Dear Editor:
Every so often in our lives, we have major turning points that change us forever, some good and some bad. This accident, amputations and the long road to walking again is one of these defining moments for Destiny and me.
We chose to fall forward and drive through this adversity with poise, motivation and all-out positive thinking. Allowing everyone to know and see that life is too short and that every wall is a door has been our real therapy.
But from Aug. 9 till now, nothing has been more important in our long road to recovery than the support we received at our benefit last Thursday night. To truly witness a whole community rise up financially and physically during such bleak economic times is an amazing test of the will and spirit that our neighbors, family and friends have shown the world.
Both of us were blown away by the proceeds that exceeded $10,000 to help us with our never-ending medical bills and transitions back to normalcy.
But what emotionally touched us the most was the undying daily support we receive from people we don’t even know. It shows you the compassion Flagler County residents have expressed toward us, making Destiny and me proud to be part of it.
I hope all who attended will take as much from our spirit as we both did from all who attended, and we also hope you will take a close look at life and start living it the same way you did last Thursday.
Destiny and I want to show this community and the world that they have made a great investment in us. We will now continue with our nonprofit charity, The Achilleus Foundation, to help other amputees and wounded veterans receive the same love and attention that this whole community has shown us.
I promise all of you we will not let any of you down and that every time negativity or adversity tries to return, we will use Nov. 10, 2011, as motivation to keep moving forward.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Mike “Slim” Stevens and family
Destiny McCarrick and family
