One way we do this is to provide our readers an opportunity to comment on our news articles. Below you will find a list of all the comments added to the articles on the website.
To read the full text of the article being commented on, just click the Article Headline. Check back often! Our readers (that's you!) are always continuing the conversation.
Questions on how to add your comment? Click: How to comment on The Bradenton Times articles
|
Comment:
All the players with Healthy Manatee are connected to MMH.Christopher, their CPA, Fleece their lawyer, Glass on the Board. MMH has a lot at stake because they will continue getting millions in grants from the county. And if Ed's 26/13 tax reduction passes MMH will save over 1/2 million in property taxes. Follow the money. |
| Posted by John Starost on May 22, 2013 at 2:02 pm |
| |
|
|
Comment:
These are the very concerns that many of us have about the false advertising being done by Healthy Manatee. There is no promise of a property tax reduction in this June 18th referendum. Mr.Hunzeker needs to state the true fact that his indigent health care fund is a 7.7% increase in the sales tax. |
| Posted by Sara Cohen on May 21, 2013 at 9:18 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
Kudos to Gallen and Disabatino for being watchful of the taxpayers money. You have to wonder why the other Commissioners are pushing so hard for this tax. It can only be because the Commissioners stand to gain something. If it was really best for the taxpayers and county, they could just present it in a forthright, honest manner and put it on the fall ballot. Hard sell is always suspicious. Vote "NO" on both issues. |
| Posted by Linda Schaich on May 21, 2013 at 8:58 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
The only reason that Bob Gause is complaining that he did not get the information ahead of the meeting time is because when Timmy was Superintendent, they were glued at the hip and he always got his information first. No more preferential treatment any more. Be very wary of the people who are trying to bring down Rick Mills before he has a chance to change things for the better. |
| Posted by Linda Schaich on May 21, 2013 at 8:52 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
The hospitals are funding the campaign for the 1/2 penny tax you and I both know it is because they will split the tax three ways, MMH, Blake and Lakewood Ranch. Bustle Sundays article says there will be no change in giving the money as grants to the hospitals.
The ordinance passed by the commissions says the money will be spent on "innovative cost effective alternatives". The hospitals know the majority of the commission will ignore that clause and continue to give it all to the profit hospitals already making millions in profits. I say if it passes give it to Rural Health and get the biggest bang for the buck. |
| Posted by Jack Starost on May 21, 2013 at 7:07 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
Another false claim that needs to be exposed is that tourists and visitors will pay up to 33% of the sales tax.
Here is why:
1. If a 1/2 cent sales tax increase generates $23 million, then the total taxable sales in Manatee County is $4.6 Billion.
2. If tourists and visitors pay 33% of the sales tax, then the total taxable sales to tourists and visitors is over $1.5 Billion.
3. But the Manatee County Tourist Development Council and the Visitors Bureau states the economic impact from tourists and visitors is around $500 million. (Economic impact is greater than taxable sales) |
| Posted by Larry Rued on May 21, 2013 at 6:56 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
Just another corporate welfare crony politician will be promoted by Lobbyist. why do you really think he's smiling? |
| Posted by Frank Kirkland on May 20, 2013 at 4:19 pm |
| |
|
|
Comment:
"Florida's Deferred Retirement Option Program provides a unique opportunity for the state's public sector employees. But what is the best way to utilize its advantages?"
Let me rewrite that paragraph:
"Florida's Deferred Retirement Option Program provides a unique opportunity for the state's public sector employees to cheat taxpayers. But what is the best way to suck tax money via DROP?"
I had never heard of anything like DROP before moving to Florida, and I'm still amazed that it's allowed to continue here.
Republicans dominate this poor state's politics, and constantly claim to be prudent financially. But when you look at at travesties like DROP, they're not.
Check out the retirement payments some of your biggest-time Republicans get (I'm looking at YOU, Charlie Wells, among many others) and tell me how DROP is a decent deal for taxpayers. It's not.
I am too polite to use the word "theft" here, but isn't that really what DROP is, in practice? |
| Posted by Robin 'Roblimo' Miller on May 19, 2013 at 10:10 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
I sent the following letter to all the County Commissioners. I suggest as many as possible do so as we are being the victims of the biggest fraud I have ever seen on the voters.
Another Scam:
The truth has come out that the county has no plan to change how we spend the indigent health care fund.
The Chairman of the County Commission, Com. Bustle in his Sunday editorial says the only thing we are going to do is change "the source of the money".
Quote: "No changes are proposed for the health care plan at his time."
No wonder the for profit hospitals are spending hundreds of thousands? of dollars on the fraudulent campaign because the plan is to divide the 23 million between Manatee Memorial, Lakewood Ranch and Blake hospitals.
Again we are being lied to, this time by the commission. All the debate when the ½ penny ordnance was passed was that a detailed plan would be adopted from the guidelines put forth in the ordinance.
I thought the law allowing for the county to put the sales tax to a vote required a plan. In fact the county published what it called the Statutory Requirement that included:
"Innovative health care programs that provide cost-effective alternatives to traditional methods of service delivery and funding."
Now Br, Bustle is telling us that all that is being thrown out the window and the county is going with the old plan to just give $23 million in grants to the 3 hospitals. To heck with the ?cost effective alternative to traditional methods?
You guys know that once the hospitals start receiving $23 million in grants it would take H_ _ _ & high water to ever change the plan to a more cost effective alternative. If you believe it could be changed later I will sell you the Skyway Bridge.
I think Jim Kaiser's comments makes sense. |
| Posted by Jack Starost on May 19, 2013 at 8:08 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
I received a pamphlet in the mail yesterday from Healthy Manatee that said the ½ sales tax would reduce my property taxes by 26 percent since I live in the City of Holmes Beach. What a lie.
I think Ed Hunzeker is behind the lies and I do not know about the commission. Hunzeker promised the 26% tax reduction if the commissioners adopt a menu of new fees and mixed it confusing enough with the sales tax so even the Bradenton Herald was confused or part of the conspiracy by the hospitals to get 23 million dollar grants.
What a gross misrepresentation that leads me to question the honesty of the Chamber, Hunzeker, MMH and the commissioners to mislead the public. I think the commissioner should demand a retraction of the falsehood that the ½ cent sales tax will reduce city taxes by 26 %. Or tell MMH you will not get any of the 23 million because of your lies. |
| Posted by Jack Starost on May 18, 2013 at 8:35 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
Lenders should be encouraged to do loan modifications whenever possible. It is cheaper for them to do so rather than to expend resources and time on foreclosure which will result automatically into placing the subject property into the depressed price category. Multiple foreclosures in the neighborhood will have an adverse impact on all home values in that neighborhood which isn't beneficial for anyone.
On the other hand, in cases where owners can not even meet reasonable modified loan terms, the only answer to take the property back one way or another and get it back into productive use. Although this is painful for the individual involved, the fact is the individual couldn't afford the home in the first place so reality takes precedence over wishful thinking. |
| Posted by Dick Olson on May 16, 2013 at 9:02 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
Right on, Dennis! There is hope for you after all. |
| Posted by Dick Olson on May 16, 2013 at 8:51 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
We need a turnout of over 40,000 voters to defeat this referendum.
Manatee County employees 3400
Sheriff employees 2900
School District employees 6000
then you have fire districts, cities and then the medical community members estimate over 15,000
these people are going to vote yes, why? because it will financially benefit them. The Sheriff got an increase last year to give raises of over $3 Million, now he wants another $4 Million to increase starting pay, remember that $3 Million is going to re-occur every year. So now he wants to make it a total of $7 Million and he will get the ad valoreum tax which will be freed up by this tax referendum.
Then they will be charging storm water (hard surface) fees to ever person and business in the county. Then they will lower the garbage fee by $2.00 but what will prevent them from amending those decisions as Ed Hunzeker likes to point out they could if they wanted. So lower it and then raise it? The sales tax will impact those with less income at a much higher percentage. The commissioners are not even engaging with us the public as to what it is that we EXACTLY are funding. Please vote NO. |
| Posted by Linda Neely on May 15, 2013 at 5:38 pm |
| |
|
|
Comment:
you environmentalists are destroying our once great country ! We have to stand up to these morons that do more harm than good. |
| Posted by Dr. Michael Williams on May 14, 2013 at 10:10 pm |
| |
|
|
Comment:
What is the inscription? |
| Posted by Shelly Massey on May 14, 2013 at 4:01 pm |
| |
|
|
Comment:
Will the prepaid college program pay for the increased tuition? |
| Posted by Dick McNulty on May 12, 2013 at 8:32 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
Mitigation of wetlands is like replacing a lost limb with a prosthesis. It never works as good as the original God given limb but the doctors think it is great. Mosaic is the doctor and they brag about their mitigation policy, which incidentally was legislated in the 1970 and fought tooth and nail by the phosphate industry. |
| Posted by Dutch Satterfield on May 12, 2013 at 8:30 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
how do we find out info for this years event? |
| Posted by pamela spectorman on May 11, 2013 at 12:15 pm |
| |
|
|
Comment:
As an East Manatee native, the "Manatee Mineral Springs" (or it's less politically correct but more common name of "Indian Springs") has been a part of my life since childhood.
I can tell you that in the early 70's the output of this spring was nothing more than a trickle at best. Barely sufficient to sustain a mud puddle much less an area large enough to be commercially viable as a spa.
The reduction in pressure results from 160+ years of well drilling since the area was settled in the mid 1800's.
The spring used to be one the few outlets of the local ground water system. (I know of 2 other locations where artesian wells flowed freely within a 1 mile radius of the spring) Many shallow wells, dug by the pioneers for survival and by more recent residents to water their lawns have reduced the ground water pressure to the point that little or no water bubbles up at springs today.
When the City of Bradenton capped the spring in the early 80's, the water quality was not the same as when Dr. Branch and the early residents of Manatee depended on it for their existence. It was a mere trickle of a mud puddle that, despite signs advising against it, people were still trying to drink from!
As to Mr. Gaus' question about the current discharge, the slab of concrete has staunched the flow for the most part. The occasional heavy rainy season will cause a trickle to return. Sometimes even enough to seep over the curb and run down the gutter but nothing more than that. Most days the only hint of it's existence is a bright green patch of grass growing around the slab.
Sadly, the glory days of Indian Springs is long gone. Uncapping the spring will not result in a vibrant oasis for tourists with fat stacks of cash. More likely than not it will result in a muddy spot on the edge of a underutilized playground and a whole lot of liability for Reflections of Manatee.
Great writing as always Miss Favorite! |
| Posted by Brian Henry on May 10, 2013 at 10:20 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
So the corporate welfare wheel turns on and on never skipping a beat, why not adopt a policy of if you have LLC. or Inc behind your name as a scammer or for real, the county should quit wasting time efforts and money, hearing these issue , fire the county so called experts and corporate supporters lawyers and all, they only parade around handing rubber stamps out , and that's a waste, put rubber permits in grab box, and deregulate it all save the Drama and hurt the county brings to the hard headed activist , who only want there to be a tomorrow that doesn't include billion dollar desalination plants with less than good track records. |
| Posted by Frank Kirkland on May 9, 2013 at 11:00 pm |
| |
|
|
Comment:
the county commission majority is now the "developer darlings". They are now totally under the influence of these big developers & other special interests & will do their bidding. |
| Posted by William E.Moore on May 9, 2013 at 4:54 pm |
| |
|
|
Comment:
Informative article. Astonishing that Medallion's, errr Manatee's new commissioner Ms. Benac has warm feelings for new precendent-setting, pro-growth terminology. "Our-term", she says, I really laughed out loud when I read that one.
I appreciate the cautious stance that the commission appears to be taking on this issue, but I fear that it will be quite an uphill battle for them. Just seeing how much money developers have paid for raw land ($/acre) over the last 18 months tells me the odds are stacked in their favor.
I appreciate the coverage. |
| Posted by steve prescott on May 9, 2013 at 12:39 pm |
| |
|
|
Comment:
The Manatee County Board of Commissioners is now all-developer, all the time. We -- the regular residents and citizens -- no longer have viable representation at the county government level. Oh, well. |
| Posted by Robin Miller on May 9, 2013 at 10:59 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
I read the article about the concrete capped spring with interest. Where does the spring discharge now? With the shortage of water at times each year, depending o the analysis, this may still be utilized. Please advise of the location so I can see and analyze.
Regards,
Jeff Gaus |
| Posted by Jeff Gaus on May 7, 2013 at 12:09 pm |
| |
|
|
Comment:
I worked for bob alloca in the environment control systems group as an analytical engineer. He is a great person. I help write the procedures for the thermal vacuum testing of lta8 ( lem test article number 8 ) and spent many months working many hours a day at msc in Houston preparing for the flight simulation test which thermally qualified the lem for flight. I also calculated all the predictions for the 160 or so test instrumentation. I made the sequence error for switching for flight to redundant cooling system at the end of the test which highlighted the need for the change in the procedure for flight. This caused backup cooling sublimator to fail. I reduced, plotted and reported all data for this test. Earlier in the program I wrote computer program which simulate the oxygen supply subsystem from god tanks to cabin and cabin depressurization. During Apollo 13 I predicted the oxygen, water and lithium hydroxide use age to determine if the crew would survive. Bob alloca was a great boss. |
| Posted by Peter J. Lukovits on May 7, 2013 at 11:10 am |
| |
|
|
Comment:
Other than this article being unfair to pigs, continuing the myth that pigs are stupid animals, I object! but appreciate your reporting. If only those who need to "learn" from your reporting would pay attention, we would be in such a better place in our world. |
| Posted by Kathy Morrison on May 6, 2013 at 12:44 pm |
| |
|
|
Comment:
Once again my Government re-iterates to me the need to push hazardous chemicals down my throat literally, and then refuses me Medicaid Expansion to help with it's inflicted diseases. I am taxed to the max, body, mind, and soul, sucked dry till death. |
| Posted by DollySue Armstrong on May 5, 2013 at 6:30 pm |
| |
|
|
Comment:
Thank you for this article from Dr. Franklin Branch and Dr. Grigory
Pogrebinsky, MD |
| Posted by Dr. Grigory Pogrebinsky on May 5, 2013 at 4:45 pm |
| |
|
|
Comment:
I guess the party in power still hasn't learned that not all voters are foolish enough to believe all their lies.You would think that the fact that Obama carried Florida despite the roadblocks they & our governor put in place to discourage democratic voters from going to the polls would wake them up to reality. I guess the only reality they will understand is at the polls come next election. |
| Posted by William E.Moore on May 5, 2013 at 3:34 pm |
| |
|
|
Comment:
Thanks for the rundown. You have a new fan. Tallahassee needs an enema. |
| Posted by Steven Prescott on May 5, 2013 at 1:56 pm |
| |
|
|
One of the primary goals of The Bradenton Times is to be a voice for the community of Bradenton and Manatee County. 
