Letters to the editor for Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Out of touch

I just finished reading your "Water Shortage" article in Monday's newspaper. Last week, I read an article on growth in Collier County. Our elected officials should drive Collier Boulevard between Founders Square and U.S. 41 plus the area around the Davis Boulevard and Santa Barbara intersection to see the tremendous growth. How can they one week pat themselves on the back for growth and the next week issue a water shortage alert. Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing. It seems our county leaders are as out of touch as our national ones.

Roy Gerold, Naples

Consider the facts

Naples may need a better heart and stroke critical care facility, but we should not ignore future needs and Naples’ prized ambiance to achieve it.  Nor should we signal other organizations that our building restrictions are meaningless.

Consider the facts. The original proposal was submitted knowing it was non-compliant with the existing building codes. After pushing Council to change the facilities classification the latest proposal still  does not meet the codes.

It may or may not be true that “most of our patients live closer to the downtown campus.”  That will not be true in the future, population growth is to the north and east.   It is also true street access to the current facility is already difficult.

In addition to cardiac/stroke recovery rooms, the proposal includes significant space for upscale general medical suites.  Why?

Based on inpatient care metrics, including hospital acquired infections, independent hospital rating services rate NCH a Class-C facility. Why not make make a major effort to improve the existing facility and develop the NCH North site to meet future needs?

Scott Lutgert says “due to the city’s pushback, we may be forced to build the facility at the north campus…”.

I say OK and use this opportunity to improve the downtown campus so NCH no longer means “Never Come Home.”

John Carlson, Naples

Support NCH position

I am sending this email to express my full support of Scott Lutgert's position on the downtown location of the proposed NCH Heart and Stroke Institute as expressed in his opinion piece in the Naples News.

I am a long term visitor and resident of the City of Naples; 44 years in total.  I have witnessed the development of the area over those 4+ decades and the critical role the downtown hospital location plays.  Many, many friends and neighbors over those years have benefited from the fast access to top notch medical care due to its location in the city's core.

I am originally from Cincinnati and worked for Procter and Gamble in its Health Care business for 25 years.  After I retired, I served as CEO of the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) from 2003 - 2005.  This was a newly formed public/private development partnership between the city and community leaders.  Its mission was to revitalize the downtown Cincinnati community.  The Board consisted of CEOs from major corporations and hospitals as well as City Council representatives.  Its funding is sourced from corporate donations, private donations and city tax revenue budgeted for economic development.  Through that experience I learned just how critical it is for a city to have a thriving, dynamic community at its core for its long-term vitality.  In Cincinnati's case, its world renowned Children's Hospital and the highly respected Christ Hospital and University of Cincinnati Medical Centers are key to the city's core and major economic development drivers.  While all three have satellite locations, their critical services and specialties remain based in their downtown locations.  Downtown Cincinnati has indeed been revitalized by strongly supporting the "drive the core" strategy. The public/private partnership continues to thrive today and is the city's key catalyst for economic development growth.

NCH's core downtown location should indeed continue to be its major services destination.  Without a doubt, heart and stroke care are critical services to provide in the core of our city with its older population base.  As pointed out in Mr. Lutgert's opinion piece, fast access to world class heart and stroke services because they are centrally located within its at risk population is ideal in terms of saving lives.

Please continue to work with the Naples Comprehensive Health Board to find an acceptable design for this lifesaving institute in its downtown campus.

Thomas C. Blinn, Naples

A tale of two colonels

The November 19 issue contained submissions by two retired colonels, one Army, the other a Marine.  One strongly supported democracy and warned that authoritarianism, as exemplified by Donald Trump, needs to be strongly rejected if we are to save our democracy.  The other colonel took the opposite approach, strongly supporting Trump’s authoritarian policies and practices.  In subsequent mailbag letters I did not find deserved praise for the patriotic pro-democracy piece by the Marine colonel and I offer it here.  I did find deserved condemnation of the Army colonel’s statements and, as a Purple Heart veteran of World War II, join those writers who criticized the colonel for supporting a politician who denigrates our Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard veterans, who spits on the graves of the millions of Americans who have given their lives to maintain our democracy, calling them “suckers” and “losers,” and whose questionable deferments during the Vietnam War appear make him a draft dodger.  It is incomprehensible that any veteran, including the retired Army colonel, could support a politician who vilifies the veteran’s service buddies who sacrificed so much to save democracy. How can any veteran be so insulted by Trump and not let it bother them and still support him? Have they no self-respect? Maybe Trump is partially right about losers and suckers?  Will those veterans who support him, despite his vilifying them as veterans, continue to allow Trump to play them for suckers?

Robert Hilliard, Sanibel

Women should vote Blue

There are at least four good reasons why American women should vote Blue.

The first one is women’s rights - the right to choose, the right to birth control, the right to vote - those rights need to be clearly carved in stone, made known to men that they are permanent.

Number two is climate change:  Our planet beckons you to save your children and your grandchildren from pain, suffering and extinction.

Number three is gun control: We must have  background checks and eliminate all assault weapons to prevent the taking of lives of innocent children.

Number four (the big one) is white male supremacy: If we revert to their standards, then racism, sexism and avarice will prevail defying our democracy.

So, women, be a little selfish and do something for yourself, and humanity, for a change.   A change which will save the rights of American women and help save our American Democracy.  Vote Blue.

Sally Lam, Naples

Pushback gains steam

Melanie Wicker wrote a guest column that appeared in the Sunday paper. She talked about the classics of American literature being axed at Collier schools. You go girl!  It took a while but the pushback is gaining steam. Let’s just live and let live. Let’s protect the rights and values of all people.

Chuck Ryntz, Naples and Washington, MI 

Donalds empowers the enemy

Israel and Ukraine are two fronts in the war against autocracy and oligarchy. Four dangerous North Korean, Chinese, Russian and Iranian leaders have conspired to provide military and non military support to Hamas extremists and soldiers of fortune to create political instability in the free Europe and Middle East.

The United States has the power to determine whether the invasion of Ukraine spreads deeper into NATO territory.  Byron Donalds' declaration that he wants to tear down the foundation of democracy by blocking the normal appropriation process will cause at least 10K deaths during the winter stalemate in Crimea.  Poland and the Baltics will be invaded next. The world sees America as weak, unable to meet its global obligations, a fallen great power. Donalds has empowered the enemy through his slash and burn political tactics. Everybody but Byron Donalds and Donald Trump gets it.District 19 needs a qualified U.S. Representative versed in diplomacy and the "carrot and stick" to reverse our decline.

Bebe Kanter, Quiet Collier, Inc., Naples

We are getting robbed!

Has anyone out there begun to wonder how Florida State public funds -- our tax dollars -- will be replenished after Governor DeSantis and his wife and children have been using these funds to fly to the Midwest and other presidential primary states.No, this is not highway robbery; shortly before the governor announced his run for the nation's highest office, the Florida Legislature passed a law exempting the governor's travel expense records from public scrutiny which were previously open to the public under the state's Sunshine Laws. So you and I are funding his perceived ill-fated campaign.And who funded the private jet flight of the undocumented immigrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard possibly as a favor to Governor Abbott? Governor DeSantis at our expense. Wake up, Floridians! We are getting robbed!Perhaps we should all be prepared for a sales tax increase in the near future! Or perhaps a state income tax!

Adrianne Cady, Naples

Robbery planned in plain sight

Florida Rep. Joe Gruters is attempting to raise money to capitalize a new property insurance company. He, and most other legislators, voted to change the law by making it more difficult to sue an insurance company. He has solicited his fellow lawmakers to invest in this venture and has prepared a prospectus projecting a 165% investment payout in five years. He sees no conflict of interest.We already saw this property insurance movie in about 2012 and know how it ends. A robbery is being planned in plain sight, folks.

Suzann Smith, Cape Coral

The best we've got?

Out of 340 million people our process is coming up with Biden and Trump. Just a thought!

Ron Decker, Fort Myers

Assault on taxpayer's wallet

As I begin my annual rite of passage that involves the mystery of my local property tax bills, I stopped to contemplate what exactly do these detailed bills really represent.As a a retired person and owner of several Lee County properties including my own residence, I noticed the never ending increase in the final tally of these property tax bills. Some simple math computations helped me calculate that my residence tax bill went up 7% and the tax bills on my single-family rental homes went up between 7% and 18%. Of course, my local government entities will argue that their cost of services have increased due to inflation and they need more money. This argument will not recognize that two of the largest contributors to our inflation rate are increased real estate values and cost of borrowing, neither of which my local governments should be subject to with balanced budget restraints. It seems that it isn't hard to argue that my local governmental entities are enjoying a revenue tax windfall at the expense of the taxpayers. The fact that is easily ignored is these increased tax amounts are actually taxes on unrealized value gains on our property and that the property owner can only realize their profit if they dispose of the property. In other words, it represents a tax on unrealized profits. The size of the government grows with these increased surplus taxes. Unfortunately, once real estate values start to go down which they always do at some point, the size of government stays the same and you can feel pretty secure that your taxes aren't going to go down with reduced property values.We, the taxpayers, would be wise to pay attention when voting for our representatives that control our local governments and elect politicians that promise static property taxes, controlled government spending, and aren't comfortable with the never ending assault on the taxpayer's wallet. The taxpayer's income doesn't necessarily go up at the rate of inflation.George W. Hoover, Cape Coral

Another generation of hate

What a heartbreaking and humanitarian mess. Can’t we just all get along? Obviously not. Israel: If you treat people like animals they become animals. Hamas: You are a bunch of animals. Another generation of hate has been born. It’s so sad.

Marc Bellagamba, Fort Myers

Reluctant to criticize Israel

Those of us who remember Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, and what it took to end that war, including two atomic bombs leveling major cities, are very reluctant to criticize Israel. We credit Israel with allowing civilians to exit from areas to be attacked in order to destroy an enemy.

Albert Myers, Fort Myers

Capitol tourists need bear spray?

Having orchestrated a temporary stop-gap to keep the government funded, new Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson made the obligatory pilgrimage last week to former President Trump’s abode across the state in Mar-a-Lago.

Upon his return from paying homage to the ex-president, the speaker announced that he will release to the public the full 440 hours of security video recordings at the Capitol during the January 6th insurrection, which his predecessor had furnished exclusively to Tucker Carlson.

The speaker presumably feels that, upon viewing the real-time events on the videotapes, the public will concur with the MAGA mantra that the riotous crowd actually conducted themselves like “tourists” sightseeing in the nation’s capital.

But that begs the question why the “tourists” would be armed with accoutrements like spears, zip ties, bear spray repellent, and other similar weaponry for their friendly outing.

Perhaps Speaker Johnson can explain that.

Marshall Tanick, Naples

Gullible Americans

It has been my not-so-casual observation that the former president actually spoke truthfully on one occasion.  It was during the run-up to his nomination as a 2016 candidate and was a statement that mocked the intellect of his own supporters.  He remarked that he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone yet not lose any voters.  Now that he has been indicted for exploiting the violence of January 6 that is credited with several deaths and numerous injuries to officers, the question is: Are they still that gullible?  Given recent polling numbers, the answer appears to be yes.  As the saying goes, "There's no cure for stupid."  A hypothesis proven correct when applied to our most easily manipulated masses.  MAGA? Manipulating All Gullible Americans would be a more accurate definition.

Kevin Shanosky, Naples

U.S. role in negotiations

It is obvious that the U.S. played a critical role in the Israel/Hamas negotiations. Following the terms set by Hamas, one frightened Israeli citizen will eventually be exchanged for every three young, trained and angry terrorists. Then, let Hamas complain about the deal, even though their forces were being obliterated. Finally, sweeten the deal with food and fuel that Hamas can supposedly distribute to the needy Palestine refugees.

Ron Ustruck, Fort Myers

Violent rhetoric, chaos

Who raised you? When Trump ran for president in 2016, he mocked and aped a disabled reporter. People laughed. When he said that he didn't like soldiers like John McCain because they were captured, people at his rallies cheered. When he questioned Mike Pence's loyalty to him, and January 6-ers called for him to be hanged, Trump praised them and said he loved them. When 81-year-old Paul Pelosi was bludgeoned by one of his crazed supporters, Trump turned it into a joke and people snickered. When Trump intimated that General Milley, a man who served our country honorably for decades, should be tried for treason, people nodded their heads in agreement. When Trump called anyone who opposes him "vermin," rally goers, including children, loudly cheered. When those who espouse the teachings of Jesus like Trump's idea to round up immigrants and hold them in concentration camps. So much for "Christian" values.I ask again, who raised you? Do you support the violent rhetoric that comes out of Trump's mouth daily and do you really want the chaos that will surely ensue if is he is reelected?

Mary Calabrese, Bonita Springs

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Wednesday, November 29, 2023