Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Deviates have stolen Halloween from kids

To those whom the honor belongs for ruining Halloween for the kids, I hope the goblins of Halloween past, present and future scare the donkey part of your physique for the entire next year. To rob children of a holiday, special to just them, so you deviates and money worshipers can have your night of sin is more despicable than anything Scrooge ever did. I know of one child who expended great effort designing and handmaking his own costume, another who saved $200 to buy a special costume. You Grinches not only stole Halloween, you are certainly the lowest of the lowlife. Your names should be published along with your photographs and businesses you represent so all the kids know who you are.

Arthur J. Gandolfi

Sugarloaf Key

Officials should be held accountable

I read the Oct. 30 article in The Citizen, "Hickory House draws only 1 bid." This article brings back memories of the auto executives who helped drive their companies off the cliff, and then our government flooded them with taxpayers' money to get them back from the brink. What about the mortgages that could not be paid back? Our government is handing out blank checks from the American taxpayer to save their homes.

What has happened to being held responsible for your choices and actions? As a parent, my children were taught there are consequences for your actions. You make a choice, there will be a reaction for that choice. While I was growing up, if you borrowed money for a car but did not pay the loan, what happened to the car? If you acquired a mortgage for your home and defaulted, what happened to your home? If you did not run a business productively, what happened to your business?

Who was held accountable or responsible for their votes on the Hickory House fiasco? Who paid $3.1 million for this property, plus all the other charges that have been applied to this purchase? Every taxpayer in Monroe County paid. Did the commissioners who voted for this purchase know what they did was wrong? Did they care? Were these commissioners held personally responsible or accountable for their actions? No!

We are being held personally responsible, accountable and paying the bill. ...

Do you solve a problem by feeding it and allowing it to continue without consequences? When will citizens of Monroe County stand up and require answers, or require accountability from ourselves and from our elected officials? Are you tired of being the pocketbooks for all of these actions without accountability and consequences?

Kay Thacker

Key Largo

Transportation official should be prosecuted

During an interview on radiofreekeywest.com, a live-feed local morning radio-video show, I was asked by host The Reverend Doug how I would have handled the Myra Wittenberg demotion and salary cut by City Manager Jim Scholl, if I was mayor.

I said if I was convinced Director of Transportation Myra Wittenberg had ordered a city Public Works crew to do special right-of-way improvements in front of her ex-husband's home so her grandchildren would not have to step in mud puddles when they got out of car to visit their grandfather, then at the next duly held City Commission meeting I would say I was not satisfied that a mere demotion (change of the name of job description) and cut in pay was sufficient discipline. I would say Wittenberg should have been fired. This sort of special treatment has to stop, and the way to do it is get rid of people who do it. Then I would ask the city commissioners if they had anything they wished to say about it.

After the interview, it occurred to me that the first thing I would do would be to pick up the phone and call State Attorney Dennis Ward and ask him to investigate Myra Wittenberg for criminal activity.

What's the difference, really, between her getting special treatment from the city for herself, her children and her ex-husband, and Randy Acevedo covering up for his wife, Monique?

Both Myra and Randy were in positions of responsibility, positions of public trust. They both violated that public trust. Randy lost his job and was criminally prosecuted. Myra should be treated the same.

By copy of this letter to the editor, as a private citizen, I am asking Dennis Ward to launch an investigation into what Myra Wittenberg did, if he has not already done that.

Sloan Bashinsky

Key West