generic Voice of the people: City has made bad utilities decisions
City has made bad utilities decisions
Lakeland has no business being in the power supplying business. Reserves hamstring the ability to nominate gas coal or other fuels for generation. Bad choices have been made in generation ability and equipment.
Lakeland is now relying on solar and reciprocating engines and older technology for grid support. Not to mention the necessity to buy power at a premium from nearby utilities. Hence the word utilities. That is what they do. City of Lakeland does not do that.
Rocky Rule, Lakeland
We help immigrants before we help 'our' needy families
Evidently we have decided to keep our borders open and allow immigrants to enter without any of the assorted paperwork or legalities. Then we begin making political pawns out of them by unilaterally shipping them here and there. Some say that we are helping them find a better life. I guess that these people have come to the conclusion that we have handled "our" destitute people in a kind and beneficial manner.
Yet, I do not remember the last time that we sent buses to neighborhoods ravaged by need in "our" cities or reservations and setting them up in four-star hotels with room service. But forget "our" needy families. Let's take in the needy from other countries and room them in upscale hotels, clothe them and feed them and create jobs for them.
Once that is accomplished, let's figure out a way to convince people that this is not politically instigated. Well, don’t waste your time trying to convince me.
Alexander Kendziorski, Lakeland
Did DeSantis forget his immigrant roots?
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recent shipping of 50 refugees from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard has been the topic of much passionate debate. The use of Florida tax dollars was suspect and the cruelty and deliberate misinformation given to vulnerable people was unconscionable.
Has DeSantis forgotten his immigrant roots? DeSantis was born in Jacksonville, the son of Karen and Ronald Daniel DeSantis. He is of Italian descent, with all of his great-grandparents born in Italy. His maternal great-great-grandfather, Salvatore Storti, immigrated to the United States from Italy in 1904, eventually settling in Pennsylvania. His great-great-grandmother, Luigia Colucci, joined her husband in the United States in 1917.
As a child of a German immigrant living in a country of immigrants, I find the selfishness of some Americans who come from immigrant backgrounds despicable. Their families gained citizenship and a leg up in America, just like the relatives of Ron DeSantis. Are they now thinking, "We got ours, now slam the door?"
Shouldn’t we pay forward our American Dream - the chance to prosper from hard work and ingenuity? Remember, America was built by immigrants and is sustained by them!
Bernice Warren, Bartow
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This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Voice of the people: City has made bad utilities decisions
