Getting hoodwinked

Moody urges justices to reject abortion rights amendment for 2024 ballot | Nov. 2

Once again, we have an elected GOP official in the state of Florida, in this case Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who does not think the voters in this state are intelligent enough to understand a simple ballot proposal to amend the Florida constitution. Really? Just like we didn’t understand we were granting certain felons the right to vote when we overwhelmingly supported the felon voting rights measure in 2018, classroom sizes in 2002, funding the Forever Florida conservation fund and allowing medical marijuana?

Moody is just another politician who disrespects your intelligence and knows what’s best for you regardless of your view. Tell me, who is hoodwinking whom?

David Burg, Tampa

Voting matters

Moody urges justices to reject abortion rights amendment for 2024 ballot | Nov. 2

Was Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody elected to determine what voters can vote on, as she is clearly doing in reference to the abortion issue? More to the point, were Florida legislators and a governor elected to ignore voters’ decisions once rendered? Previous referenda on class size, mandatory contributions to Forever Florida, gerrymandering, ex-felons’ voting rights and medical marijuana are ignored or distorted by those in power. The root cause: Voters who don’t pay attention to whom they are electing. We voters get what we deserve.

Stephen Phillips, St. Petersburg

Gun safety needed

After shooting, close Ybor bars at 1 a.m., says Tampa City Council member | Nov. 2

So to solve the gun violence problem in our community we should close our businesses and alter the way we live our lives? To what end? To appease those who value their guns over the value of human life? Why aren’t we addressing the real issue, the proliferation of guns in our society?

Why aren’t our political leaders focusing on their responsibility to keep us safe? Doesn’t the responsibility of leadership require difficult decision making like promulgating reasonable gun safety legislation?

Anthony Edl, Odessa

Where are the parents

Two killed in Ybor shooting | Nov.1

When are the parents of a 14-year-old shot and killed at 3 a.m. going to be held accountable for their obvious lack of parenting? This is a major problem with our society today. The lack of parental guidance is epidemic and those responsible need to be held accountable. Would the prospect of serious jail time make parents think twice about their lack of parenting?

Ernest Brown, Tampa

Yes to straw vote

St. Pete council member seeks public stadium vote | Oct. 28

After several residents at the St. Petersburg City Council meeting spoke in favor of a resolution requesting a March 19 city-wide straw vote on the proposed Rays Stadium deal, council members voted 5-3 in favor of discussing the possibility at a future meeting. But the request required a super-majority vote of 6 out of 8 council members, so the straw vote will not happen, not even a City Council discussion of having a straw vote.

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Two of the opposing council members said they did not know how a vote on this stadium project, which is the biggest and most costly in the city’s history, could be summarized into the legal requirements of a 15-word title and 75-word description.

Here’s a good title possibility: I support the city subsidizing the new Rays stadium with $1.3 billion of taxpayer funding.

Text: I support the city subsidizing the new Rays stadium with $1.3 billion of city and county taxpayers’ funding over 30 years by issuing $417.5 million in bonds; paying millions of interest on those bonds; giving a free land lease for the stadium and surrounding green space worth tens of millions; and granting the stadium an exemption from ad valorem property taxes, also worth millions.

Peter Kent, St. Petersburg