Letters to the Editor: June 30, 2022

Working with Vero’s city staff brings better results than does discourtesy

While campaigning for Vero Beach City Council during the 2021 municipal election, I had the opportunity to meet many of my neighbors. One resident from Vero’s Oakmont Park Community, Scott Eungard, shared with me his concern about his neighborhood’s barrier wall which was at one time a well-maintained accent on the main route to Vero’s beaches.

He described the wall now as neglected and badly vandalized. Scott viewed the wall daily because he walked the length of it frequently. It was not just a part of Scott’s daily exercise but a connection to his past. The wall, part of Scott’s memories of having visited his grandparents in Vero since 1986, was a symbol of a welcoming neighborhood then. So welcoming was this neighborhood that he and his parents bought property on the same block, and still there today.

After hearing Scott’s passion for wanting to improve this symbol of his neighborhood, I pledged to help him preserve his neighborhood’s investment, which now was negatively reflecting on  his community and Vero. Although unsuccessful at my first council bid, I nonetheless promised Scott to help if I could. Political newcomer or not, I still wanted to work for the betterment of our community.

At a February meeting with Vero Beach City Manager Monte Falls, he and I discussed the wall at great length. Through Monte’s diligent work in conjunction with Public Works Director Matthew Mitts, and a long correspondence spanning three months with the Florida Department of Transportation, maintenance started on June 20.

I, along with many, attend City Council meetings regularly and witness discourteous comments directed at staff during public input for similar concerns in other neighborhoods. The city’s hard-working staff are committed to serving us; work with them. We will always achieve more together.

Taylor J. Dingle, Vero Beach

Martin County ‘Rural Lifestyle’ items tabled again: Who knew in advance?

The headline on Blake Fontenay’s June 12 column, “Developers in Brady-backed project seem to be holding onto the ball,” hit the nail right on the head. It’s a delaying tactic used by firms with a lack of ethics to delay in any way possible when bringing up a controversial project for approval.

The Rural Lifestyle representatives sent an email to the county around 3:30 or 4 p.m. on June 20, asking to table the three Rural Lifestyle agenda items set for June 21. According to senior staff they notified department heads and the commissioners’ executive secretaries, but by then it was after 5 p.m.

The first hearing to "Destroy The Martin County Difference" (that is, to approve the Rural Lifestyle) was Feb. 22. Two groups spoke that day. It appeared that those that spoke in favor were from the Martin County Chamber of Commerce; those of us who spoke in opposition were taxpayers of Martin County.

When we showed up for the June 21 county commission meeting, that’s when we found out the Rural Lifestyle had been tabled.

It appeared the only person from the Martin County Chamber of Commerce who showed up at this commission meeting was the president of the Palm City Chamber of Commerce. She had a beautiful bouquet of flowers to present to our retiring county administrator — for all the work she had done supporting the Chamber of Commerce on the backs of Martin County taxpayers.

So how is it that no Chamber of Commerce people showed up in support of the Rural Lifestyle this time? Did they get advance notice from the county or was it from the Rural Lifestyle representatives? Something smells fishy in Martin County again and it’s not fish.

Tom Pine, Jensen Beach

We need a Supreme Court that is above politics and religion

For almost eight decades I have resided on this earth and in all that time I have never been so appalled by a news flash as I was last week regarding the decision concerning Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court. I have always held the Supreme Court of the United States to be above politics, but this ruling clearly proves otherwise.

I always held the High Court would be above religion, but Justice Samuel Alito's comments clearly reveal his Catholic bias.

This has been a long time in the making and it was largely due to one Mitch McConnell and not Donald Trump. It was McConnell who denied the appointment of Merrick Garland during the Obama administration and then the over zealous push for Amy Coney Barrett, stacking the court with anti-abortion conservatives.

As a young man I remember the things women went through to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, horrified by the accounts. I guess they will begin all over again as a result of this decision.

If men do not want women to undergo unwanted pregnancies, then maybe women should abstain from sex with men and then and only then will women have utter control over their bodies.

It's truly a shame, but things should never have to come to this.

We need a SCOTUS above politics. We need a SCOTUS that will not revoke our rights. We need a SCOTUS that will move forward and not hold religious beliefs of our forefathers.

We must move forward or we will be doomed in rhetoric.

Joseph De Phillips, Stuart

Thank you, SCOTUS, for respecting and abiding by our Constitution

God bless the justices of the Supreme Court for respecting and obeying the Constitution of the United States, which does not advocate abortion rights.

The states have always had the legislative power to determine this question, and, will continue to do so.

I do not want to be responsible, financially, for the murders of unborn innocent babies. If a pregnant woman wants to terminate the life of her child, she must be the one to pay for it. If her state will not recognize her right to do so, she will be free to travel to a state that does.

The president and the Speaker of the House should not question decisions of the court, but President Biden and all other liberals just cannot keep their mouths shut. They want the power to take down America and will do or say anything to accomplish it.

To prove they are true Americans, the liberals must not destroy what is not theirs. The super-rich must not financially support liberal destruction. The day will come when such action will be instituted against them, and in spades.

Nancy Celano, Sebastian

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Dealing with city officials; SCOTUS and Roe overturn: Letters, June 30