Dear Editor: I am pleased to see the action of the City Commission with regard to hiring a search firm to recruit candidates for police chief and city manager. Plant City residents remember when Troy Surrency retired as chief of police, a search firm brought several well qualified candidates to town for interviews. The commission […]
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In defense of the WLCA
Dear Editor: With respect to Don Marshall’s letter, “WLCA running low on mulligans,” in the March 27 edition: It’s always interesting with today’s “shoot-from-the-hip” mentality that critics come crawling out of the woodwork to slam the Walden Lake Community Association board. Even more interesting is that these folks generally have misinformation, feel they have better […]
Continue ReadingLETTER: WLCA running low on mulligans
Dear Editor: Six months ago, the Walden Lake Community Association board was called out for a lack of transparency, consistency and objectivity regarding meetings between WLCA directors and Visions Golf LLC to discuss Visions development plans (see “Is WLCA out of bounds?” in the Sept. 18, 2013 edition of the Plant City Times & Observer. […]
Continue ReadingLETTER: Fireworks frighten animals, residents
Dear Editor: New Years Eve and the Fourth of July are two very terrifying days/nights of the year. Why? Because of general citizen use of fireworks. It used to be in this county and city that you traveled to a central location to watch a civic display of fireworks. Now, aerial fireworks are in every corner of the […]
Continue ReadingLETTER: Cone Ranch development will damage small-town feel
Dear Editor: We are Plant City. We’ve chosen — not an accident but chosen — to raise our families here. Why? Because there are few rural small towns left, and it is a beautiful land. Real Floridians have seen the rape and loss of our natural landscape by this exact thing all over the state. […]
Continue ReadingLETTER: Search should be national for city manager
Dear Editor: I trust a good search committee and a recruiter will be put on this to locate a solid replacement (for City Manager Greg Horwedel). With the interconnectivity of the Internet, a suitable replacement need not come from Florida but could be found virtually anywhere in the United States. Best wishes to the search […]
Continue ReadingLETTER: Lack of transparency concerns Plant City mom
Dear Editor: As a mother, I am concerned with the lack of transparency that is going on with Common Core being implemented in Hillsborough County and the state. While doing my Kindergarten Round Up, I was told by an assistant principal that the school (Shiloh Charter) is field-testing Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College […]
Continue ReadingLETTER: Remembering Gerald Hooker
Dear Editor: When I read in the Plant City Times & Observer that former Plant City Mayor Gerald Hooker died, I started remembering him as someone who meant a lot to people here. He was a friend of my late father’s and mine, and he ran Hooker’s Department Store, in downtown Plant City. The store […]
Continue ReadingLETTERS: Cheers, jeers for police chief coverage
Dear Editor: I respect the way that you reported the news about this. Thank you for your kindness and respect to your hometown. You showed that our hometown loved Observer is respectful and has class. You should be proud of your values. Don’t let lesser people bring you down just because you wouldn’t stoop to […]
Continue ReadingLETTER: Car wash’s honesty a breath of fresh air
Dear Editor: After all the dishonesty, meanness and sad things that are happening in this time and day, I would like to point something nice out to you. Recently, I went to the Walden Lake Car Wash in Plant City to get my usual for my car. As always, I get greeted with the biggest smile […]
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