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Vote for August's Letter of the Month

 
Published Aug. 31, 2015

Editor's note: Letters to the editor offer a significant contribution to the discussion of public policy and life in Tampa Bay. To recognize some of that work by our most engaged readers, the Times will select a letter of the month and the writers will be recognized at the end of the year. We will choose the finalists each month based on relevance on topical issues, persuasiveness and writing style. The writer's opinion does not need to match the editorial board's opinion on the issue to be nominated. But clarity of thinking, brevity and a sense of humor certainly help.

Help us choose the letter of the month for August by reading through the three nominated letters and voting on the ballot at the bottom of the web page.

Hillsborough transit plan

More details needed

For some reason, the planners for the transportation tax in Hillsborough County just don't get it. They think if they are sincere in asking for a tax increase and they promise that good things will come, voters will impose taxes on themselves. They won't, and for good reason. There is no detailed explanation of what the money will be used for, who will benefit and who will suffer.

What the voters are asking for is a map and plan of where their money will go. They want to know how we got here and what we are going to do in the future. How we got here is the historical economic model of Florida: Development equals growth and growth equals prosperity. What we have learned is that growth does not equal prosperity but sprawl and congestion. Growth does not improve our lives; it takes away the beauty that brought us here. If the planners want the transportation tax to pass, they have to address what we will do in the future to limit growth.

Rick France, Tampa

Failure Factories | Aug. 16

A community crisis in schools

This is what newspapers do best: expose community crises. The failing schools in Pinellas have not been a secret, but your scathing expose has helped more than any other measure to bring this shameful situation to the forefront. Many citizens and citizens' groups have spoken with, negotiated with and implored the School Board and other school officials to make changes to alleviate the deep discrimination in Pinellas schools. We have been met with resistance and lame excuses and distortion time and again. It's likely these officials believe what they say: that they care about Pinellas students and want the best for all of them. But their actions prove otherwise.

When School Board members say, for example, that they need to know more before they act, I throw up my hands. The information they need has been readily available for years. Citizen groups like FAST have presented them with alternate programs used in other Florida districts, brought their attention to specific problems and suggested alternatives, but the School Board and district administrators seem to believe citizens have no insight, no wisdom, no business telling these "experts" they could do better.

Thank you, Tampa Bay Times. We desperately need this exposure to instigate change.

Gretchen Craig, Seminole

Yes, I need pain meds | Aug. 23

Can we change this?

I have suffered with back pain for 30 years. I have had many types of treatment and avoided surgery due to pain medicine. My family doctor has prescribed hydrocodone/acetaminophen. Before the new laws, he would give me a prescription for a three month supply with one refill. I received these pills either from my local pharmacy or a mail order company. I would have an appointment with him each six months for a checkup.

But with the new regulations, I am forced to visit my doctor once a month, every month, to get a one month prescription for my pain medicine. It must be on paper, and I must present it to my pharmacy. The result: I take time from my doctor who could be treating other patients; the bills for these calls increase payments by Medicare and AARP so the cost for insurance will go up; I make monthly trips to the doctor and the pharmacy, costing me money and time; and the cost of my medication goes up as a three month supply costs almost the same as a one month supply. Travel is very difficult. I think this is another case of punishing the innocent majority for the few bad guys.

Couldn't this situation have been solved with some sensible provisions? If a patient had a long history of receiving and taking a reasonable amount of pain medication prescribed by a licensed doctor, couldn't this have been an exception to the stringent regulations? Wouldn't this have been just as effective in stopping the illegal overuse of drugs?

What can we do to get this changed?

William Sutherland, Seminole