The Readers: Hometown Democracy, The 35-Day Month, Not-So-Green Charlie, And By The Way, Howard, You $%*#

Hello and happy Monday! I was gone for a week and am STILL catching up with e-mails and events. Here are a few excerpts from recent comments... and I'll post a separate notice later today with a reminder about the return of the ***weekly live chat*** on Tuesday.

Here's a skeptical note on my column about the Florida Hometown Democracy movement:

The Florida Hometown Democracy movement is a brainless, Draconian approach that will cast current comprehensive plans in concrete.  The better solution is, if the decision makers are doing a poor job, vote the rascals out.  And you will likely say, but the voters have a track record of bringing all the incumbents back to office.  To which I might respond:  If the voters are mad enough to approve the Hometown Democracy amendment, they should be mad enough to vote for new faces or even run for office themselves. Approving the Hometown Democracy amendment is going to fall into the category of, "be careful what you ask for because you might get it."   -- AG

Thanks for the note, but this is an age-old dilemma. If the voters try to change the government, the folks who like things the way they are say, "If they want to change the government, they should just elect better representatives." I agree with the sentiment -- the voters SHOULD elect better representatives. But getting elected takes money, and money comes from those who want the sysem to remain under the status quo. I will cheerfully trade you Hometown Democracy for, say, public financing of elections, or complete campaign finance reform...

It appears Progress Energy is slowly increasing their billing dates to beyond 30 days. I have noticed bills to include 32, 33 and now this month 35 days. I find it more than coincidence that this seems to always occur in the summer months. As we know, with the longer billing days this allows them to bill at higher rates after 1000 kwh of usage. People may think it equals out but it does not. Have you heard from any one else about this and/or thought about doing more probing into this topic? -- Robert

Dear Robert: Indeed this has come up before, as you noted in your e-mail. I wrote a column about it two summers ago. The practice of long "months" in the summer does NOT "all even out," since it allows the company to capture the highest-use months at the higher tiered rate... perhaps our "new" Public Service Commission should return to this issue.

On my assertion that based on what we know, there's probably not a criminal violation in the Jim Smith land purchase by Pinellas County, even though it reeks of an insider deal:

That's all? Nothing criminal? Not even unethical? Just some Dukes of Hazzard insider low down sneaky favor doing? That's it? Here all along Howard I thought you had uncovered the Pinellas County Scam of the Century. Turns out we can't even bust' em for untied shoe laces. -- Jerry B.

Dear Jerry: First of all, I keep saying the caveat, "based on what we know." But, yep, based on what we know I can't see it being illegal. That does NOT mean it's OK, and if the grand jury comes back without any criminal charges, it does NOT mean everybody has been "exonerated." It's STILL an insider deal, arrived at by insider means, and speaks poorly of the mindset of the Pinellas County government.

On our esteemed governor's controversial appointments to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission:

I've been pondering how to deal with the yard at my home lately. I mean, all kinds of stuff just wants to grow everywhere out there, and then those pesky animals move in. But Charlie Crist has shown me the answer: I'm going to fire the yard maintenance people and hire a paving contractor instead. -- Larry Van Gelder, St. Petersburg

Dear Larry: Apparently, the governor, like MY lawn, is only green in spots,

Are you any 'kin' of Steve Troxler, the State Commissioner of Ag. NC?? I have been wondering that  ever since we have been going to the State Fair in Raleigh with my daughter, son-in-law (NC Native) and granddaughter for several years now. -- M.L. Fisher, St. Petersburg

To my knowledge we are not directly related, but we probably are up the family tree somewhere. There are several branches of Troxlers in North Carolina. By the way, there was a David Troxler in the Florida Legislature a few years back but we weren't related either...

And lastly, this strong criticism:

After reading your August 10th, posting concerning WCI, I believe that one of the things that's wrong with the American press is blogs passed off as  "press".  If you were apt at objective economic research, you might have realized that what you published is largely uninformed inflammatory rhetoric.  Howard, your agenda is showing.   You might at least have labeled your piece "Warning: Personal And Biased One-Sided Opinion". The Florida public deserves better writing from you a "professional". -- Rod Cross, Pensacola

I would take this criticism more to heart if I had made a blog post on Aug. 10 or knew what "WCI" was. But in general, yep, I often DO include the warning in my columns that they are "personal and biased one-sided opinion." A column (or a blog) consists of the writer's take on some subject or another and is fair game for agreement, disagreement, criticism & response. In the meantime, I will try to figure out what this one is about...

Comments

[Chris W]

I'm looking forward to voting for Hometown Democracy. I'm also looking forward to doing something similar at the county level. The only way we will ever stop our elected officials from selling *our* land and resources to private developers is to completely tie their hands.