Letters to the editor: Friday, Nov. 24, 2017

Traffic light needed to prevent crashes

For several years our association, Carlton Lakes, has requested a traffic light at the north end at the intersection of Carlton Lakes Boulevard and Livingston Road.

Across from our north entrance and exit is the Delasol community. I believe that between the two communities we have in excess of 1,200 homes. We had a traffic check done about four or five years ago and were told there was no need for a light at that time.

Until the evening of Nov. 11, we had no fatalities.

In the past few years seven or eight new communities have opened up along Livingston Road from Bonita Beach Road to Pine Ridge Road. Traffic is flying at 50 mph plus.

Finally, we had a fatality at that location. Now, even more than ever, we need a traffic light at that location.

Next year, Seed to Table will open up and more residents of our community will be using our north exit and entrance than at our south end. I have witnessed school buses caught in the middle, waiting to cross over with the rear of the bus sticking out into northbound traffic lanes. How many more accidents or deaths do we need in order get a traffic light? 

Charlie Hirschfeld, president, Carlton Lakes Master Association, Naples

Impeachment best solution

A recent letter stated that the Democratic Party is dead. The evidence is clear that the Democratic Party is moving in the right direction and the Republican Party is in trouble.

The recent elections put Democrats solidly in the win column in many parts of the country. People are rebelling against President Donald Trump's untruthfulness and hurtful ways regarding health care, our environment, gun policy, taxes, immigration and women's rights.

After several mass murders, Republicans refuse to talk about sensible gun control laws like keeping people on no-fly lists unable to purchase guns and allowing background checks to keep guns out of the hands of people accused of domestic violence. In fact, the Trump administration recently passed legislation making it easier for the mentally ill to get guns. Campaign contributions from the National Rifle Association prevent them from introducing sensible gun control laws.

The most important issue in the recent election defeats for Republicans was health care. People realized that the Republican plan was worse than Obamacare and would cause 24 million Americans to lose their health insurance. What happened to Trump's plan that would be the best and cheapest and cover all Americans? Just another falsehood.

Obamacare has some problems, but if Democrats and Republicans work together, I believe a solution can be reached. This refusal to work together is why Congress has one of the lowest approval ratings in history. 

Republicans have done nothing for the middle class. Their ideas only benefit the rich. Do the rich really need more tax breaks? Several Republicans and senators have come out against Trump and some believe that impeachment is the best solution. I tend to agree. 

Ben Ahern, Naples

Let marketplace decide housing

Once again in a Sunday editorial the Naples Daily News is lobbying for housing for the workforce. Why not let the marketplace prevail as in other communities? Why step in with subsidized housing that will become an expensive, bureaucratic nightmare?

It's amazing that this issue is continually flogged when it is evident it is a nonstarter.
Employees can commute to their place of work using their own vehicle, carpooling or the bus system. If this doesn't work, let them find employment elsewhere. If employers have difficulty attracting employees, then the salary levels must be increased. Isn't this the way it's done in other cities?

Eric Steiner, Naples

Democrats won’t win presidency in 2020

You have to laugh that the liberals in Congress care about minorities, gays,
undocumented aliens, refugees, women’s rights and the like. They care about catering to these groups to gain a power base to stay or return to the majority.

They roll out over-the-hill politicians to run for office and when that doesn't work they call on the far-left activists like senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, et al.

America is wise to them and no matter who they put up they won't win the presidency in 2020.

Their only hope is another John Fitzgerald Kennedy and he doesn't exist and if he did he would be too conservative to get the nomination.

Looking forward to their agenda of Russia, Russia, Russia and racist, racist, racist in the 2018 midterms and the 2020 presidential race.

Good luck with that and Gov. Rick Scott beats Sen. Bill Nelson in that Senate race.

Joseph Miranda, Naples

Good ideas on Medicare, Social Security

Kudos to letter writer Gray Poehler, of Naples. In his letter he suggested ways of saving Social Security and Medicare.

I'll shorten his ideas: Raise the Social Security age to 70; eliminate the cap on Social Security and Medicare tax; and stop paying Social Security to people with huge incomes. His letter should be read by 536 people: The 435 House members, 100 senators and the president.

Don Brown, Naples

An average Joe asking questions

Concerning Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl, doesn’t this mean that any soldier can desert in a war zone, go to the enemy and not go to the stockade?

Concerning fracking, how do you explain all the earthquakes in Texas and Oklahoma? Doesn’t common sense tell you that that if you inject a billion barrels of chemical wastewater underground, something bad is going to happen, like earthquakes, crumbling foundations, cracked sewer lines and sinkholes? Is that enough?

Concerning the fold out ads in the Naples Daily News, to the shoe company (and sometimes others), don’t you realize you are aggravating thousands of people when you do that? And it cost you extra? What’s wrong with the inside of the paper?

Concerning shopping carts, why do you inconsiderate, lazy people leave the carts by the cars when the proper place is 15 to 20 feet away? I myself have pointed that out to quite a few people, telling them, “Hey, right over there.”

And last, but not least, to the great store, Publix. Now that there’s more shoppers, why do you put out displays throughout the store that make it more difficult to maneuver the shopping cart and causing bottlenecks with other shoppers?

Just an average Joe asking questions.

Jim Adduci, Naples and Boston

Bill Nelson an empty suit

John Thomas writes that we should reelect Sen. Bill Nelson "because he has gotten things done." Exactly what has he accomplished?

A recent poll indicated that most Floridians are unaware of him. This is because his secret to success has been to fly under the radar, voting for the entire Democratic agenda and beating weak opponents.

If you have any doubts that his own party considers him as nothing more than an empty suit, ask yourself why, after 17 years in the Senate, he heads only one insignificant committee and never serves as a spokesman for the party.

James Cavanagh, Naples

Meteorological omission

In reference to the Nov. 15 article on increased probabilities of future "Biblical" rainfall: Meteorologists failed to point out that at the time of the Old Testament, people just bought dirty gas, coal, leaky air conditioning systems, etc. Wait a minute ...

Jeff Davidson, Naples

Truth distorted by left

Regarding a recent letter by Richard Quist, in response to Erik Meyer’s article headlined, “Beware: George Washington next,” Quist obviously misread or misunderstood the message in Meyer’s letter, perhaps intentionally so.

Even if the Vikings, Mayans, Incas and Aztecs had discovered America first, according to Quist, the "despicable left” would denounce them as well as part of its efforts to rewrite the history, which Meyer correctly alleges.

Attempts by the despicable left to deflect, divert and denounce the truth are so typical.

Frank Sterdjevich, Naples

Hurricane recovery requires patience

On Sept. 10, Hurricane Irma made landfall in Southwest Florida. We are still dealing with the aftermath of this monster storm. As of this date, the total damage estimates stemming from Irma total over $50 billion and could go higher.

There were 134 deaths that were directly related to Irma. By contrast, Hurricane Wilma, the last major hurricane to strike the area, cost $26 billion in damage and there were 26 direct deaths as a result of the storm. Wilma struck on Oct. 24, 2005. I remember we were without power for almost a week.

My mother and I had damage to our condo and had to have carpeting and drywall removed. We now have repair work underway. One of the horror stories after an event of this nature occurs is that to add insult to injury, insurance companies don’t always come through when it comes to paying out on claims.

This was not the case with us, but others have not been as fortunate. It is no surprise attorneys are getting involved to help Irma victims. Let's face it; it has been a very messy situation and the road back to normalcy will be a long one.

On top of dealing with insurance, many people have to deal with their homeowners association and property management companies, which can further complicate matters when it comes to repairs. Much work still needs to be done. Many roofs have tarps, debris is still on the roadside and some businesses have remained closed.

I have been told it could be a few months before all storm debris is removed. My advice to those still dealing with this nightmare is to simply be patient; recovery is a process that takes time.

Mark Gayda, Naples

Independent evaluation needed

When the North Collier Fire District commissioners, or their fire chief, asked Deputy Chief Sal D’Angelo to “interview elected officials, union officials and chief officers on their perspectives” of the merger between the North Naples Fire District (NNFD) and Big Corkscrew (BCFD), we should immediately realize his answer will be biased in favor of his employers. Nobody is going to bite the hand that feeds him.

D’Angelo, in his guest commentary on merging fire districts, neglects to mention that before the merger took place, citizens were promised by their fire commissioners that response time and operating efficiency would improve in both NNFD and BCFD and North Naples taxpayers would not subsidize or become a donor district supporting Big Corkscrew.

We already know there was no improvement in response time and North Naples taxpayers are paying approximately $860,000 to subsidize the purchase of fire engines for Big Corkscrew. It is not possible to accurately evaluate operating efficiency because of the many variables involved.

However, when you realize that the amount of taxes citizens in NNFD and BCFD pay was recently increased 5 percent, you can infer that raising taxes is caused by a combination of operating inefficiencies and additional costs. Otherwise the promised operating efficiency would offset increased costs and there would be no need for a tax increase.

Instead of a biased commentary, written to support the view of the fire chief or the fire commissioners, an independent evaluation would be helpful. Citizens need to speak up and ask the Naples Daily News, Florida Weekly, Pelican Bay Post or our locally elected county or state officials for their assessment on the merger between NCFD and BCFD.

Richard Hoffman, Naples