Vero Beach downtown; Palm Beach County problems coming? Indiantown; mail woes | Letters
Palm Beach County refugee: Be prepared for what's coming if ...
Laurence Reisman's recent column, "What do we want from downtown Vero Beach? A place lots more people want to move to, visit?" is the best I have read on the subject since moving to Wellington in 1986.
We moved to Vero Beach about 10 years ago to escape the onslaught of Palm Beach County.
If anyone wants to change Vero Beach, spend the day in Wellington. A beautiful, bucolic village in 1986 has morphed into a dangerously scary and overcrowded metropolis.
The 20-year-old, two-story mall now has a police-manned armored tank stationed outside the food court.
Roundabouts abound. Developers buying and then shutting down beautiful golf courses. Long-treasured restaurants permanently closing due to lack of qualified personnel.
People moving up from Delray, Boca Raton and Boynton to get away from overcrowding have put a burdensome load on the medical facilities.
It is very worrisome to me that this is the future of Vero Beach. Hopefully, Reisman's inspiring column will wake up the people who are complaining about our beautiful town.
Debbie Alexander, Vero Beach
Vero Beach can't afford to settle for mediocre downtown
Recently, I read an opinion piece in another publication that sadly seems to reflect the dismal state of affairs along our coveted downtown gantlet better known as the Twin Pairs Raceway.
The opinion suggested the downtown community isn't doing "that bad," as if "that bad" is an acceptable solution to a problem that has divided this community for years.
Seriously? What a weak assessment of the town the writer calls home. He goes on to say: "Is downtown Vero a vibrant and alluring as it could be? No, but here's a better question: Was it ever?"
As if to say: "My daughter's a bit homely looking. Of course, I still love her, but I doubt she'll ever blossom into a beauty queen. Oh well, at least she's a good cook."
As if settling for second best is an acceptable standard.
Oh please, can't we do better than that? Can't we realize, and accept the fact that we have an issue that's negatively effecting downtown businesses, that intimidates innocent bystanders simply trying to enjoy a good cup of coffee at a downtown shop?
All this opinion writer seems to want to do is throw his hopes and dreams into a yet-to-be-determined project that may or may not ever see the light of day. He'd rather invest in a dream called Three Corners rather than fix up an existing community?
OK, fine, don't reduce the lanes and install parking spaces. But at the very least, stop holding downtown Vero hostage to overzealous drivers who care little about pedestrian safety. Full speed ahead, folks. Stand clear.
Progress lies in our traffic flow, not in our people. Settling for mediocre is not a solution; it's part of the problem.
John Ryan, Vero Beach
Vero Beach was quaint, but no more; here's why
I enjoyed Laurence Reisman's recent column on what we want from downtown Vero.
When I moved to Vero in 1978, it was kind of quaint. Not Mayberry quaint, but quaint nonetheless.
You actually had to leave your house and interact with people to get things accomplished.
Since then, so-called progress has taken a lot of that homey feel away.
The Walmart Superstore became the one-stop shop, where there was no need to patronize a local business. Where else could you get jumper cables, a toilet seat and a lampshade at 3 a.m.?
The Dodgers relocating was a big loss to Vero's quaintness. So was, in my opinion, the sale and move of the Press Journal plant.
The biggest stealer of quaintness is, of course, Amazon. We can now order everything from chewing gum to large appliances without getting up from our recliners. Who needs local businesses?
The internet, while greatly improving our lives in many ways, has also diminished our need for interaction, local or otherwise.
I still do fantasy sports on Yahoo, but it's with faceless, unknown opponents. The camaraderie, laughs and arguments of the old days are nonexistent.
Besides a gym, I'm not sure what can thrive downtown except restaurants and bars. Everybody eats and many love to drink.
Bob Vaccaro, Vero Beach
Speed of Twin Pairs ruin the vibe of downtown Vero Beach
In a recent column, Larry Reisman told us all to want Vero Beach to be Vero Beach. It seems to me that making downtown more like the slower pace it used to be before the highway we call the Twin Pairs was built is doing exactly that.
I attended a community forum at the Heritage Center, where the expert engineer they hired explained how cutting lanes and making improvements would only slow traffic by less than 60 seconds.
Then lots of people that live on the island and don't care one bit about making it a nice place to enjoy an evening out spoke against it. All they seemed to care about was getting through it and past it. They all complained about traffic slowing, which I thought was exactly the point of the whole project.
Some in favor were people that actually live, work and have business in the area. They expressed that one wrong move on that stretch of State Road 60 could be catastrophic for a child or anyone distracted for a moment trying to traverse that fast-moving stretch.
This, in fact, happened to a dear friend five days before Christmas while she was simply walking to her car after we shared a meal at Post and Vine. She was struck by a car and is still recovering.
I have visited other older downtowns that have gone through revitalization and sure, people complain about the traffic, congestion and parking, but they keep going because it's pleasant. Because it is slow-paced, walkable and fun.
The Twin Pairs ruin the "vibe" of downtown and there is no getting around it.
Slow it down and we can all enjoy a lovely place to congregate and enjoy Vero the real way it used to be.
Lisa Alsofrom, Vero Beach
Downtown, its homeless, least of Vero Beach area's problems
Per Laurence Reisman's recent column, "Big 2024 question: What kind of downtown Vero Beach do residents want?"
One without getting harassed by the growing homeless population while taking your kids to Pocahontas Park.
On the other hand, the developers on the island and along the Indian River Lagoon have singlehandedly destroyed the lagoon as we knew it. But nobody ever talks about it being the problem.
Jared Smith, Vero Beach
Indiantown Middle School has exemplary leaders, students
The final approval of principal at Indiantown Middle School was timely and carefully scrutinized. The seamless transition was hardly noticed, a testament to the established structure left by previous principal and the continued vision of the newly appointed leader.
My wife cringed when I stated that retirement is overrated. I’m certain that for some it is embraced at that point of their lives.
I recently returned after 42 years as a former teacher and school administrator to serve students in the Martin County School District. After substitute teaching in several schools, I was drawn in seeking an opportunity to join the Indiantown Middle School staff in a full-time capacity.
The unique culture of this school community cannot be understated. Most recently to commemorate National Cultural Heritage week, an event like no other that I’ve witnessed was performed by the sixth- through eighth-grade students. Not only were the individual cultural performances performed that displayed their country’s diverse traditions, but the student audience showed their genuine enthusiastic appreciation.
At the passing of each class, students can be seen arms around each other in appropriate and genuine affection for one another. In the communal atmosphere of lunch in the cafeteria, you can witness laughter and conversation through years of friendship. In my individual meetings with students, each have a desire to do better and achieve success.
The former principal created a dynamic school climate. He and his administrative team created a clear vision of being advocates for students. Teachers provide a high quality of instruction in spite of the challenges of an isolated community and effects of the local political and national polarization.
At IMS, all students are treated equally and fairly. All the stakeholders can express themselves without intimidation for the purpose of improving the students social/emotional and academic growth.
Howard Marder, Stuart
Crickets from postal officials, Mast when it comes to mail complaints
For many months, the 260 residents of the Creekside community in Fort Pierce have been living through a virtual nightmare with respect to delivery of the U.S. mail.
The lack of regular route-assigned delivery personnel and an apparent void of training and supervision of employees has led to mail being lost, stolen and even resulted in the cluster boxes being left unlocked overnight. The community Facebook page has listing after listing from residents reporting mail being delayed, misdelivered or lost entirely.
Personally, we had a package that the Fort Pierce delivery supervisors insist was delivered that was not. Supervisors "wash their hands" of any responsibility, citing that their GPS-driven scans are accurate.
Well, time they learn that their system is rife with errors or misdeeds. Once, someone destroyed a piece of mail marked "Do Not Bend" by folding it in thirds and stuffing it into our mailbox, thus destroying the intended Christmas present it contained. Other mail, including checks, properly addressed, were returned to senders for no known reason.
On Nov. 9th, I wrote to the Fort Pierce postmaster, the U.S. Postal Service Regional Consumer Affairs Office in Miami, and the Washington, D.C., office of Congressman Brian Mast. As of this writing, two months later, not one of them has had the simple decency to even acknowledge receipt of my complaints, let alone take any action to mitigate them.
Have they no accountability to anyone, whatsoever? For this, our tax dollars pay these bureaucrats and their agencies to ignore real issues that impact people's lives. How very said that these individuals have no sense of public service and professional responsibility.
Peter Barton, Fort Pierce
Many seniors disenfranchised in world of smartphones
I must respond to Mark Lane's column about being disrespected by the younger generations over being tech-savvy.
He says that more than 60% of those 65 or older have smartphones. That means that almost 40% don't. Even those who do have them don't always carry them.
I've encountered the parking lot across from the Fishack restaurant and didn't have my phone to pay. Given there was other handicapped parking in the area, we went elsewhere to eat.
I went to a Vero Beach High School basketball game and couldn't get in without my phone. They will not take cash, which may be illegal for a school event.
I went to the bank to buy a cashier's check and needed a phone to get one. So I guess that those 40% of seniors who don't have smartphones are shut out of these and many other everyday activities.
Joan Clark, Vero Beach
Blame U.S. elites for disruption in world supply chains
To compete in a world where labor costs can be 10% of the costs of doing something in this country, U.S. manufacturers 30 years ago, in cooperation with U.S. transportation, developed “just in time manufacturing management.”
A woman journalist who worked for me created the terminology. This permitted U.S. manufacturers to arrange for overseas manufacturing supplies to arrive at their plants a day or so before they were needed in the manufacturing process, saving warehousing costs.
The movement of supplies by ocean ship, rail and truck moved in a predetermined on-time manner from abroad, where it was created with low labor costs, to U.S. manufacturers for production and assembly.
But 20 years ago, foreign countries figured that if they disrupted the supply chain, U.S. manufacturers' costs would go up and not be able to compete with the rest of the world. Foreign companies methodically bought up U.S. ocean ship companies. Our country no longer owns any American flag world trade container ship companies. Seven major foreign-owned ocean carriers, and China is the second largest, control nearly 100% of the ocean-bearing goods to the United States.
President Joe Biden has no problem with this because he, like his mentor, Barack Obama, believe the United States must be a member in good standing with the rest of the world. But the rest of the world is intent on doing what is best for themselves and not what is best for the United States.
President Donald Trump understood this because he operated a worldwide business. Trump took on the world to protect the United States. The world, aided and abetted by one-world U.S. elites, have done everything to remove Trump from the presidency and continue to this day.
Stanford Erickson, Vero Beach
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Vero Beach traffic; Wellington woes here? Indiantown school | Letters
