Letters to the editor

“Fed” up

When are we going to tell the federal government that we don’t want to send them filet mignon in the form of income taxation and then compete for rendered pork after the meat goes through Washington’s grinder? No time soon, I’ll wager, because addictions are hard to kick.

Too often the returned money is just in search of a problem. Like silent railroad crossings. SunRail’s coming and all of a sudden everyone hates train whistles. But not a problem that a few million more won’t solve.

I swear, after our Central Park restrooms are completed with federal Bus and Bus Facility funds, the city must change the Winter Park topiary to read Winter Pork.

Here’s the latest: surveillance cameras on the “Ave” (loosely translated from the French verb “surveiller” to convey Big Brother is watching) paid for from Homeland Security funds. Perhaps we need to be seeking “intelligence” elsewhere in Winter Park, like City Hall, where we may have lost it.

And perhaps some here might be a little edgy about the prospect of riffraff arriving on SunRail and wanted to get a jump on the gun, so to speak. Maybe we should have held off and installed the cameras at the to-be-built station, along with face recognition software. And a prominent sign declaring: “Don’t Mess With Winter Park” including the number of concealed weapons permits issued locally to merchants and residents alike.

The Winter Park Police Department’s previous crime prevention rollout (perhaps a year ago) was Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) - and I guess a play on “didactic.” You all know about this program, right?

DDACTS is a heralded national program exploiting a geographic link between traffic crashes and crime – touted by our Mayor - apparently underwritten by the feds since it is supported by a partnership among the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and two agencies of the Department of Justice: the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Institute of Justice.

So what did Winter Park learn over a year of examining DDACTS? I assume that out of all of Winter Park, WPPD found the strongest correlation on our Main Street. And all this time I are just knew it – anecdotally and intuitively, of course - that the merchants (and their landlords) are the real robbers!

I really question the value of these cameras as a crime prevention/deterrent tool, especially if 1) the criminal elements working Park Avenue don’t know they are being (remotely) recorded like in, say, a 7-11 – which, by the way, are still being robbed regularly and regardless by, apparently, idiots – and because the WPPD doesn’t want such idiots to know the secret candid camera locations; and 2) no one is monitoring the “action” in real time. And why not? Because the recordings are probably about as interesting to watch as gum balls dropping at Wally’s Garage and Gas Station in Mayberry.

And as for Mayor Bradley’s comment, “Cameras, like lights, make places safer…” – I don’t get it. I’m less worried about purse snatching than dying in a “Heat of the Night,” stand-your-ground shoot-out, camera or no camera.

The philosophy behind these cameras is long-held by the WPPD and revealed in the recent WPO article: “for us [WPPD] to be omnipresent where we can’t always have an officer present.” And just when I thought community policing was taking hold in town.

I’d feel a whole lot better seeing a real live officer on the downtown beat than a camera overhead. But no one was offering money for more manpower – not that I’m suggesting we need it - but we took what they were handing out. Maybe the merchants should just form a crime watch group if times have come to that.

The purported value of these cameras is particularly instructive in light of the Trayvon Martin affair (a politically correct mischaracterization). Passive policing can’t stop a crime or render an immediate emergency response, though it might help intelligence collection after the fact. The sad fact is that these cameras are a zero sum game at the price of privacy. Although if you all stopped to realize how many times a day your actions are recorded – on toll roads, in banks and stores, including credit/debit card use, and mobile phone logs and on the Internet, you’ll understand that horse has already left the barn.

So what’s next for Winter Park in pursuit of the latest technology federal money can buy? Unmanned aerial vehicles – better known as drones? In reality, and not to give anyone ideas, but the recent acquisition would have been much more useful as roaming cameras – like our mobile speed radar unit - that would really keep criminals off their game. Fixed cameras are the technological equivalent of a phone landline.

Winter Park installed cameras instead of emergency call boxes – like on the Rollins Campus – for at least the following reasons 1) Park Avenue is hardly unsafe; if you crave unsafe, go to Downtown Orlando at night; 2) they didn’t want to send the wrong message to patrons, although cameras can convey a false sense of security; 3) WPPD globally subscribes to an omnipresent prevention philosophy – mostly in the form of traffic enforcement; and 4) the money was free. In a small irony, the WPPD told me they don’t know how much the cameras cost that they were provided by Homeland Security’s middle-man: the city of Orlando. The $35,000 came from local forfeiture funds.

So cameras or no cameras? Who cares, really? But I expect we’ll all sleep sounder at night, especially if you love seeing your hard earned dollars, once thought lost, come home to roost.

—William Shallcross

Winter Park

The specifics of 2012 job creation and economic growth agenda

Last October, while visiting Metal Essence, a precision metals and plastics fabricator in Orlando, I called on the Florida Legislature to pass my 2012 Job Creation and Economic Growth Agenda. I would like to thank the Legislature for answering my call and joining me in the effort to make Florida the best place for businesses to grow and create jobs for Floridians. This plan is designed to ensure that Florida’s unemployment rate continues to drop.

During recent weeks, I met with working Floridians to talk about what this legislation means to them. I would like to thank all of the great companies that I visited: ENTERA in Bay County, Load King Manufacturing in Jacksonville, Advanced Protection Technologies in Clearwater, Ring Power Inc. in Sarasota, as well as Metal Essence in Longwood and Workforce Central Florida in Orlando.

Overall, my 2012 Job Creation and Economic Growth Agenda will eliminate burdensome rules and regulations, reform our unemployment system to a re-employment system, provide tax relief to our job creators and hold accountable the workforce boards tasked with connecting Floridians to job opportunities. I would like to highlight four reforms that we have put into place and how they better position our state to create jobs.

First, we took steps to restore accountability and credibility to Florida’s Regional Workforce Boards so they are better able to serve Florida’s unemployed citizens. In response to irresponsible spending of taxpayer dollars that should have been dedicated to getting people back to work, Florida’s Regional Workforce Boards will be held accountable and will be able to better serve Florida’s jobseekers. I have been monitoring daily rankings for job placements from each regional workforce board to ensure that they are serving the citizens of Florida. Members not fulfilling this duty can now be removed.

Next, we became the first state in the nation to reform our unemployment system into a system focused on re-employment. This new system will direct efforts to providing free job skills training to Florida’s out-of-work citizens who need it the most, while providing unemployment compensation tax relief to Florida businesses.

The next reform continues the process I started on my first day in office: the repeal of burdensome state rules and regulations that often discourages businesses from creating jobs. Since taking office, I have reviewed and repealed nearly 500 unnecessary rules and regulations. I will continue this process to ensure that our state government is efficient and not standing in the way of business.

The last measure of my 2012 Job Creation and Economic Growth Agenda is tax relief for Florida’s working families and businesses. Working with the Florida Legislature, we delivered two tax cuts. First, we continued efforts begun last year to eliminate the corporate income tax by doubling the exemption, representing a 66 percent re-education of total payers since I became governor. In addition, Florida’s manufacturers will now be able to more easily qualify for a sales tax exemption on machinery and equipment. Both tax cuts will help grow jobs in Florida by helping business and families keep more of their hard-earned money.

In February, Florida recorded an unemployment rate of 9.4 percent, a three-year low. We’re headed in the right direction, but there is still a lot of work to do to make Florida the No. 1 state in the nation for business. Since becoming governor, creating jobs in Florida has been my top priority. I am confident that my 2012 Job Creation and Economic Growth Agenda will help Florida create, retain and attract jobs. 

—Gov. Rick Scott