Right decision on Cyber Spot
To the editor:
I read with the interest the letters from Peter Kay and Wade Davis regarding St. Cloud’s wireless network.
Mr. Kay was correct when he said the system has many problems. The outages were so frequent and lengthy that the system was not viable for businesses or individuals who need uninterrupted access to the Internet. This system was a white elephant from its inception. It was first ballyhooed as a means to attract business to St. Cloud. The only business it attracted, and one that profited from this boondoggle, was the consultant that saddled taxpayers with the system at inflated cost.
Mr. Davis was a member of a naïve St. Cloud City Council that sanctioned no-bid contracts, put the city in the development business in Stevens Plantation and saddled us with Cyber Spot. Mr. Davis’ claim that 9,000 to 10,000 households use the wireless system is baseless.
Many people, including myself, linked to the system hoping to be able to use it. I would bet that anyone who linked to the system is still being counted as a user. Misleading statistics regarding the system were being spread on the Internet after the consultant who had it installed left for greener pastures, and misleading statistics are still being floated. It would be interesting to know where they originate. It is very interesting that the one statistic that has never been floated is the percentage of system outage during a business day.
Mr. Davis says that maintaining the wireless system can now be reduced from $400,000 a year to $125,000. Mr. Davis was a member of the council when the original expenditure was authorized. Why didn’t he question this expenditure then? The chatter on the Internet from wireless professionals regarding St. Cloud’s wireless expenses is astonishment at the cost, which all maintain is grossly inflated.
Council members Jarom Fertic, Tom Griffin and Jay Polachek had the taxpayers of St. Cloud in mind when they voted to pull the plug on Cyber Spot. They did a valuable service in the face of organized opposition on behalf of a few casual users of the system. They are to be commended for their votes.
George R. Gibson
St. Cloud

Soto doing right thing for BVL
To the editor:
I am taking exception to Mark Cox, a resident of St. Cloud, who wrote a disparaging letter casting aspersion on our state representative, Darren Soto.
Mr. Cox, while addressing the editor of the Osceola News Gazette, published on Saturday, Jan. 2, characterized Mr. Soto as a “racist” for supporting a health care initiative emanating from Osceola County officials, requesting assistance with funding a health care clinic for Buenaventura Lakes residents.
Mr. Soto, our representative for district 49, – comprised of areas of Orange County, Buenaventura Lakes, Lakeside and other areas in the city of Kissimmee – is doing the right thing for supporting the health care clinic for Buenaventura Lakes. There is a dire need for this type of service for the residents of this community, especially an area of residents lacking health care services. Need-less to say, these residents are being hit with higher and disproportionate utility bills and a higher index of unemployment and home foreclosures.
Furthermore, a substantial number of homeowners facing foreclosures are residing in Buenaventura Lakes. Due to the callous attitude of the banks, the homeowners are seeking an impartial arbiter to listen to their severe economic plight. The homeowners have submitted requests to the court for mediation hearings, seeking relief to no avail. Adding salt to the injury, the local judge in charge of the foreclosures calendar refuses to grant the petitions for the mediations hearings.
Moreover, Judge Belvin Perry, who oversees state courts in Osceola and Orange counties, issued an administrative order that makes mediation mandatory in foreclosure cases.
Judge Perry’s order stated that in many of these cases, the homeowners and banks never discuss a resolution until they get to court. That failure to communicate wastes time and resources.
My suggestion to Mr. Cox is to contact his local district county commissioner, legislative leaders and St. Cloud city officials to seek a health care clinic initiative for his local area.
Armando Ramirez
Kissimmee