longboat Observer
YourObserver.com
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011
LETTERS EDITOR
DOGS / FROM PAGE 1A
TO THE
+ Commissioners owe an apology to Hogle
Dear Editor: Having just arrived back to Longboat Key for the winter season, I am amazed to read that the matter of fixing the appalling cell-phone reception on parts of the Key are still being debated with no apparent signs of a resolution. During the summer, I spent a few weeks in China and was amazed that wherever I went, and I don’t just mean the major cities, I was always able to receive a signal. This includes rural and unsophisticated villages and even remote hilltops. Yet, in the so-called modern civilization that comprises Longboat Key, this is not the case. When are all the interested parties going to get off their backsides, stop squabbling and actually do something constructive to resolve this? Nigel Karmel Longboat Key
In the case of employee complaints of hostile work environment or sexual harassment or discrimination, the law demands immediate action by the superior in charge of the accused manager. If not, the employees making the complaint are in jeopardy, and the town is in big legal jeopardy. This is even more serious when there is more than one complainant. Acting Town Manager Al Hogle did the right thing immediately conferring with the labor attorney, briefing commissioners on what he was required to do, then immediately acting to put the accused, but innocent until the investigation is completed, on paid leave. If Hogle inadvertently offended some commissioners in the process, that is too bad, and he should apologize. But his actions certainly do not rise to the level of removing him from the acting town manager role. If anyone should apologize, it should be the town commissioners. Robert Gault Longboat Key
Dear Editor: There is nothing stealthy about the proposed stealth tower — more like a sorethumb tower. The photo in the Observer advertisement Oct. 13 was pretty stealthy, though. Cunningly designed with a prominent telephone pole at center stage and the stealth tower itself stealthily faded out. Because the whole idea is so bizarre, the town will probably approve it! Malcolm Barry Longboat Key
+ Jim Brown was a super human Dear Editor: When Jim Brown was mayor, he and (his wife) Marge would come into my restaurant three or four times a week for breakfast. Whenever we became busy, Jim would come into the back of the café and take the coffeepot and walk around filling patrons’ cups — I never asked him, but he took it upon himself. He was a super human, in other words a real “mensch.” Bert Spiegel Longboat Key
Multi-Talented Couple Available. We Share All Duties.
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Vice Mayor David Brenner
“I don’t have a dog — never have had one. I don’t have a cat, never have had a cat. Maggie and I have each other.”
Commissioner Jack Duncan
“I really don’t want to weigh-in on this. I have a cat. I don’t like cats. But I do like dogs.”
Commissioner Lynn Larson
“I have a five-pound, now, Yorkshire terrier, Muffin … ” “I certainly wouldn’t take Muffin to a beach … I think she’s too small.”
Commissioner Hal Lenobel
Lenobel was the only commissioner who didn’t disclose at the meeting whether he had a four-legged family member. But he told the Longboat Observer that he loves pets but doesn’t have them because they’re prohibited at his condominium. But if they were allowed, “I’d get one tomorrow,” he said with a smile.
Commissioner Phill Younger
“I don’t have a dog. But I have had a dog. And I love dogs. I’ve even grown to love cats. That was quite a transition. I don’t currently have cats, either.”
Commissioner Pat Zunz “I have no animals.”
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“I have dogs. They had their first trip on the beach last weekend when we went to a family wedding in Ponte Vedra.”
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Is the dais filled with dog people? Or is your commissioner more of a cat person? Commissioners put their pet preferences on the record while they discussed a potential dog beach at last week’s workshop.
Paul J Strom, Jr., M.D.
59939
+ Proposed Key cell tower is anything but stealth
Pet people?
to explore the idea of giving dogs limited access to a portion of the island’s beaches and report back to the commission. Commissioners Lynn Larson and Pat Zunz, along with resident Laurin Goldner, who, with her husband, Nelson, suggested the idea of giving dogs limited beach access over the summer, will assemble the committee, which will include both those for and against the idea. The commission reached the agreement after supporters and opponents packed the workshop to give their input. Dr. Sanford Mackman, a physician and self-described dog-lover, said that he was concerned that dog droppings could spread disease, noting that his wife picked up hookworm from a beach in Hawaii. Brie Ochoa, assistant regional biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, urged commissioners to consider the impact on shorebirds of allowing dogs on the beach, citing research that suggests that showed that snowy plovers react to dogs from twice the distance that they react to humans, because they view dogs as potential predators. And Sarah Hirsch, a biologist with Mote Marine Laboratory, told the commission to consider the impacts on sea-turtle nests, which have faced predation by dogs in past years. But resident Lillian Sands said that she is frustrated by the amount of attention the town pays to turtles. “We can’t go out there and touch the turtles and say, ‘Hi, Turtle, take care of me,’” Sands said. “You can talk to your dog and your dog is part of your family.” Chuck Nechtem, who does not own dogs, urged the commission to give the idea a try. “Do you realize that people who stutter never stutter when they talk to their pet?” he asked. “Because no one judges them. They can be whoever they are. And that’s what people want in this town.”
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+ Longboat behind China in cell-phone reception
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