Slow development down

Zephyrhills’ growth is the Florida story | Editorial, May 31

Per the editorial, the Zephyrhills City Council tentatively agreed on a moratorium that could stop new development and annexation applications because of future water needs. I have to give them a lot of credit for doing this. I think it’s time that every city do the same. Next time we have a water shortage these same cities, counties and even the state, will demand that we residents conserve water. I find this highly hypocritical when I look around and see every available piece of land that is left in Pinellas County filled with town homes, car washes and gas stations. So next time there is a water shortage, and there will be many more, don’t expect residents to take it seriously. After all, there’s only so much rain to be had.

Danny Herzog, Pinellas Park

Parents should pay

Vouchers spur price hike | May 31

My two children received excellent K-12 educations from Pinellas public schools, schools that will continue to educate the majority of students. I support charter schools as offering a sound alternative, properly operated and staffed, to traditional public schools. But the intrusion of vouchers is bothersome given their amount, availability to all families and how private schools are using them as an excuse to raise tuition. I generally want my taxes to support public schools, despite all the controversy now hammering them. I see voucher funding as undermining the public system in the long run. Private schools are fine, but if parents want such an education, they should pay for it in private and religious schools. Lawmakers should rethink the funding scheme now in place.

James Gillespie, St. Petersburg

Keeping kids safe

Could Disney leave Fla. because of DeSantis? | Column, June 1

Gov. Ron DeSantis continually brags about keeping our children safe as his No. 1 priority. Yet he has made it easier to have guns, which are our No. 1 killer of children today. He battles Disney yet ignores the expansion of the Proud Boys’ involvement in the Miami-Dade Republican Party. I believe that he is destroying public education with his “anti-wokeness” and misguided messages that parents are somehow not free to be involved in their children’s education. Our state is not being led. I believe that it is being coerced to follow policies that create hatred and ignorance. We deserve better.

Barbara McClamma, Riverview