Wheeler defended

To the editor:

I want to write a few words in defense of Jay Wheeler. I don’t know Wheeler and I have no children in the Osceola County School District. I do, however, watch most of the board meetings on TV.

With Wheeler’s focus and his total commitment, we would not have the great leadership that we now have in the district. Wheeler will continue to fight for what is best for the students and better grades. This will be a great asset for Osceola County.

His appointment to the chairman of the board of directors for the Boys and Girls Club will just re-enforce his total commitment to education in his county.

Don Felgenhauer
Kissimmee

Here we go again

To the editor:

Ronald Reagan once said, “Here we go again.” Unfortunately, once again, the Osceola County commissioners have lost touch with reality. The economy is taking a toll on everyone. Foreclosures are at their highest level in history, with the second wave having yet to hit. Businesses are closing their doors in record numbers. There is no relief in sight from unemployment.

But wait, the Board of County Commissioners has a solution. They voted 4-1 to let us vote for an additional 1-cent sales tax. Can’t these commissioners see what is happening in Osceola County? Do they have blinders on?  

The voters will reject this ballot initiative in November and the BOCC will just stick their head in the sand another three months hoping the taxpayers will save them. This county does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.

How in God’s name will an extra penny sales tax help our economy? The only thing the extra tax will do is give the BOCC more money to waste. After they waste that, here comes the 5-cent gas tax again.

I say, “Let’s have another ballot initiative to lower the sales tax by 1 cent.” Which initiative do you think will win?

I can understand tax and spenders like Brandon Arrington and Michael Harford. I can also understand Ken Smith, who only has a few months left and is struggling with his legacy. But, Fred, “Say it ain’t so.” What were you thinking of? At least John Quiñones voted no. But wait, he is the only one up for re-election. That tells the whole story right there.

When you deal with politicians and elected officials trying to sell you a bill of goods, you have to sit back and ask yourself, “Who benefits from this.” I can pretty much guarantee it is not the taxpayer.

Do we want to be the highest-taxed county in the state? Do we want to continue to pay over $70,000 per year for part-time county commissioners? Do we want money spent on satellite vanity offices for the commissioners? The BOCC needs to tighten its belt the same way we the taxpayers do.

Commissioners, the taxpayers are watching. We will not forget.

Tony Ferentinos
Kissimmee

What city does he live in?

To the editor:

This letter is in response to Jay Wheeler’s propaganda letter to the editor dated July 31, 2010.

I really don’t know where to start, but the remarks about Ms. Carr “losing an election miserably” was a callous remark and uncalled for.

He forgot that Sept. 5, 2000, (his second run for election) he received only 26 percent of the vote when he ran for County Commission district 1.

The most surprising statement was “the Osceola Boys and Girls Club voted unanimously to make me its new chairman.” I find it very difficult to believe that, while you are currently under investigation for ethics, illegal campaign spending and campaign law violations. You were also cited for violating school rules and regulations. Jay, your response to all of this is “nonsense.” Tell the Miami attorney who you hired the same thing when he hands you a bill, nonsense!

The Boys and Girls Club of Central Florida deserves much better. Shame on the board of directors for lowering their standards and possibly losing future funding sources due to controversial behavior.

Morale, you say, is no problem, but then you say, “There are many unhappy staffers” and remarks like “Those workers know that if they aren’t willing to work to higher expectations, and do better for our kids, they will get no sympathy from me.” You also believe that there is no morale problem. Best you change your negative attitude and pay more attention.

Gangs — thanks to our Sheriff’s Office and both cities, we are staying on top of gang activities.

School uniforms first started at the city of Kissimmee charter school and they worked very well.

Oh, Jay, you made uniforms mandatory at the Four Corners Charter School, but the uniforms could only be purchased from Ibiley Uniforms, a Miami-based company — the same company that donated a lot of money to your campaign. Our local uniform vendors got stuck holding inventory of uniforms because Ibiley is the only vendor.

Ibiley may thank you, but local vendors and local voters do not.

Jay, tell the truth, it’s not about the children, it’s about the money.

Is Jay Wheeler who you want in charge of your children? I don’t.

Richard Kinney
Kissimmee

Response costs

To the editor:

I am sure our Osceola County firefighters and the associated medical response teams are world class. There is no doubt in my mind.

However, what I do not ever see posted is the call/ result statistics per station and the cost/benefit ratio to taxpayers. What is the total Osceola County (and city) firefighter budget?

How many stations are there and number of firefighters/medical staff per station? How many calls at each station?

How many are false alarms? What are the pay grades? Do individual firefighters/medical staff still typically work at another job or business during their

considerable off-time each week?

In Osceola County and the cities, how many lives are actually saved each year by firefighting/medical response teams? How many buildings are saved and at what cost per square foot at the end of each year? What are the construction profiles of those buildings and when were they built? What were the causes of the fires acted on?

Are any firefighting or medical response costs transferred to individual insurance policies? There are probably a dozen or more other questions. What I would like to see is an independent assessment and statistics for this multi-million dollar, world-class, taxpayer-funded enterprise.

If I had real, unfiltered numbers to digest instead of platitudes, I might be all for the money we spend on firefighting and associated medical response. For some reason, this county thinks the residents are too stupid to see such numbers and make any sort of judgment. Let’s get this unfiltered information in the local paper. If what we are getting is so great, let’s be proud of it and post the stats.

Michael Hall
Kissimmee