To the Editor:

Hi Suwannee County, Kristi Mullen here. First and foremost, I want to give a sincere thank you to Mr. Mike Chase of Lake City for his Letter to the Editor in the Sept. 22 edition and for all of the comments in the Rant and Rave Sept. 24 edition!! Thank you for speaking up WITH me. Contrary to what the Rant and Rave in the Sept. 10 edition showed, I never once thought that I was alone in my parental mode of thinking. And I know there are many more.

Secondly, I would like to let you know how the meetings have been going. The purpose of the workshop on Sept.14 was to acknowledge and discuss research done on this subject. The transportation director was able to turn his studies in ahead of time, but I was not informed that I could or should. The School Board members all had their minds made up before the “workshop” began, to approve the “guidelines” for the AM/FM school bus radios.  However, I was still there for the Sept. 28 board meeting for the final approval of the stations that will be allowed. I was there to give my final plea – to the School Board – against the continuation of the AM/FM radios on the school bus. I was told that they think that I am doing a good thing and that it’s great that I stand up for what I believe in and for my children, but those were their words not their actions. The guidelines received their final approval by the superintendent and the board members at the Sept. 28 board meeting. That was only my final plea to the school board, but I’m not done. I understand that some of you might not agree with what I am doing, but it is like having no choice on the babysitter you have to leave your children with. You wouldn’t have that now would you?  I disagree wholeheartedly with the argument that the board puts up about the radios being used as a reward for good behavior. When I rode the bus, good behavior was rewarded by getting to keep riding the bus versus being suspended.

The stations now allowed are:

WNFB 94.3 The Mix Oldies 70, 80, 90’s

WQHL 98.1 FM Country

WQLC 102.1 Power Country

WLVO 106.1 Classic Hits

There will be alterations made to the guidelines, to include, a ban on talk shows and time restrictions on some of the stations that were approved.

Thank you again, may God pour his blessings upon you today and everyday.

Kristi Mullen

Live Oak

To the Editor:

Many people, realtors, developers and politicians have come out against Amendment 4: Hometown Democracy Amendment. They have spent millions of dollars and you can not drive anywhere in this county without seeing their signs to vote no on Amendment 4; all of this to deny citizens the right to vote for land use changes in their home counties. They do not want you to have an American right and their arguments against this amendment are not truthful.

They say it will cost jobs, not mentioning that there is already enough land slated for development to provide decades of work or that counties that have high population densities have higher unemployment rates.

One of their favorite arguments is about broadening the tax base. This is a cruel hoax and an outright lie. There is not one subdivision anywhere in this state that has ever paid its own way; it is the existing tax base that picks up the tab for infrastructure. In fact for every dollar brought in from impact fees and new taxes there is a shortfall of over two dollars. How many of you would put your money in a bank that took two of every three dollars you deposited? But that is what developers tell politicians to dump at your feet. Alachua County which has embraced development has the highest taxes i the state.

Then of course there is the threat of litigation; if Amendment 4 was a state law the developers would have to fight it in front of the state supreme court, not here.

There are a couple of things the special interest groups don’t mention and one of them is Senate Bill 360 that Governor Crist recently signed into law. This law gutted the Growth Act and put an end to developer financial responsibility for roads, schools or any other infrastructure improvements needed to accommodate their developments. We the taxpayers now have to pay the tab for this, too. Does all the money for these signs start to make sense?

The main omission is quality of life. Do you want traffic jams and wall to wall people? Go ask some of your new neighbors why they moved here. or just drive around Gainesville.

If you want to subsidize millionaires and see shoulder to shoulder houses to the Georgia line then vote like they tell you, their politicians already do.

Richard E. Stewart

Branford