Letters
Letters to the editor
Highlands Today
Published: July 15, 2012
Why run her letters?Published: July 15, 2012
Congratulations to Sylvia Alderson of Avon Park on her letter to the editor. I, too, have been disheartened to see the ongoing publishing of letters to the editor from Evelyn Clements.
I agree that everyone has a right to express their thoughts, but letters that are completely devoid of facts and filled with childish taunts straight from Fox News and its ilk are counterproductive to any rational discussion. Making ridiculous blanket statements like: Obama has sneaky plans, Obama doesn't care a darn about people, etc., makes one wonder why Highlands Today would dignify (as Ms. Alderson correctly states) "her latest jumble of words."
A rational discussion of facts would be appreciated since I'm quite sure we all already know Ms. Clements' feelings about our president. Fact checking — please, don't make me laugh.
Judith Torrey
Avon Park
Peck is best superintendent choice
While we lay off hundreds of positions in our educational system, the higher-ups don't seem to think that their outrageously large salaries are a part of the problem. Only one candidate for superintendent of schools has said they would donate more than $100,000 of her own salary over her four-year term and put it back into the classroom: Roberta Peck.
Republican Roberta Peck has been an award-winning teacher and an activist for better spending in Highlands County for 33 years. She is a leader and a person who thinks outside of the box on ways to cut waste. Before retiring in 2010, she even offered to keep her art program running at Hill-Gustat Middle School by teaching for free.
She is not an everyday politician. She is an experienced educator with a clear and detailed plan to fix the problems we face, including taxpayer waste, truancy, bullying, bloated salaries and our unacceptable "D" schools (her plans are available at www.electpeck2012.com).
She believes that public service is the highest calling and that public officials should not be overpaid because it attracts the wrong kind of people. If elected, she would propose to return the school board to a stipend system, like most other states, which pays school board members on a per-meeting basis instead of a bloated salary of more than $30,000 plus expensive benefits.
These bloated school board salaries have "big government" written all over them. The board only met for 82 hours in 2011, which is an hourly rate of $373.36. This could put close to five new, badly needed teachers back into classrooms teaching our children.
Roberta Peck is the obvious choice for conservative Republicans in the superintendent of schools primary race. She will serve as the taxpayers' best friend.
Joshua Everhart
Sebring
Needs serious research
I really get a big kick out of the letter from Sylvia Alderson who rebukes those using the names of people they disagree with, and then puts the name of that person in her letter.
I do research on everything I give an opinion on. If people would be objective, they would see that ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NBC and PBS all put a liberal slant, spin and opinion in their reporting as if they are laying out facts. The only television network that is objective is Fox News.
If we are really concerned about the truth, we would know that on many news stories Fox presents, they have opposing views with a liberal and conservative giving their respective thoughts and ideas on a certain subject. What this verifies to me is what Fox News calls a "fair and balanced" presentation to encourage the viewing public that they are able to make up their own minds.
If anyone has taken bits and pieces from the different news shows they watch, it is Sylvia. Maybe there isn't an intelligent Democrat to be met, but that needs to be seriously researched.
Robert G. Hedenberg Jr.
Sebring