Our Town Page 8 C www.sunnewspapers.net The Sun ITuesday, April 1, 2014 VIEWPOINT Derek Dunn-Rankin Chairman David Dunn-Rankin Publisher Chris Porter Executive Editor Brian Gleason Editorial page editor Stephen Baumann Editorial writer Email letters to letters@sun-herald.com I OUR VIEW Florida Senate offering options on flood insurance OUR POSITION: We ap- plaud the Florida Senate for a bipartisan effort to ease future flood insurance premiums for state homeowners faced with huge increases in their rates. he Florida Senate has come up with its own creative way to grant flood insurance relief to state homeowners. A stop-gap measure by Congress to postpone severe hikes in flood insurance costs under the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act has tem- porarily eased the heartburn for homeowners in flood-prone areas, or near inlets and beach- es, but it merely postpones the inevitable. The Florida Senate unan- imously passed SB 542 Wednesday a bill that would entice more private insurers into the market. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, authorizes private companies to write the insurance that had previously only been available through the federally subsi- dized program. Under the Senate bill, homeowners could potentially save money by buying less in- surance than is allowed under the federal program, such as insuring their property only for the outstanding value of their mortgage, the property's replacement cost or the actual cash value of the property. The current limits under the federal program are $250,000 for a home and $100,000 for person- al property. According to a story in the Miami Herald, the bill also authorizes insurance compa- nies to offer various deductible amounts and to give home- owners more options for cov- ering contents, living expenses, secondary structures, etc. Only a handful of private companies are currently offer- ing flood insurance in Florida. Tampa-based Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance Company Inc. began offering flood coverage as part of a homeowners insurance policy in January. The Flood Insurance Agency, based in Gainesville, also writes policies, the Herald story said. Thirty-seven percent of Florida flood policies more than any other state are written under the NFIP. Yet, of the $50 billion paid out over the history of the program, only about $3.7 billion has been paid to Floridians, the Herald said. The potential hikes in flood insurance are substantial. At least 2,882 homeowners in Charlotte County are at risk of increases in their insurance rate and some of those pol- icies will triple in cost. Overall, more than a quarter-million homes in Florida are in danger of seeing double or triple the rates on their flood insurance. Under Biggert-Waters, Florida homeowners would have seen a huge jump in most flood insurance policies as ear- ly as next year. The outcry got the attention of representatives in Congress and the compro- mise bill was passed earlier this year that would slowly phase in new rates. That effort gives each state a window to come up with solutions to ease the burden on homeowners - many of them long-time Florida residents whose homes are not mansions or beachfront getaways. While it is too early to tell if the Senate's idea will gather steam and actually result in a solution, those who pushed through the bill and were pro- active in solving the problem deserve our thanks. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Kreegel great for America Editor: My family and I have been patients of Paige Kreegel for 25 years. We feel as if we have been the benefactors of superb medical treatment during that time. It's clear those in your front page ar- ticle feel the same way when talking about Paige Kreegel as a doctor. I really have to scratch my head with your take in the article because of what I see you write when compared to what his patients say. I have to ask just what is your agenda? Paige Kreegel has faithfully served this community in ways that will never be recorded in the articles you print. Besides being a fan- tastic physician for Charlotte County he has treated the indigent and many times not charged them. He has gone to people's houses that were not well enough to get to him. He has generously paid expenses of disadvantaged children so they had the hope of a better life. When he is asked for help by anyone, Dr. Kreegel will- ingly gives it. He is a devoted husband and father of three wonderful children. The greatness of Paige Kreegel as a physician in Charlotte County is now needed in Washington where our nation is in dire need to fix a health care system so disrupted and destabilized by Obama. America will gain greatly from what we lose as Paige Kreegel goes to Washington. All of his patients know how good he is and we will all miss him. Brian Chapman Sr. Port Charlotte Don't kill transit before report is in Editor, Once again Charlotte County elected officials are giving us examples of why we elected them. Commissioners Duffy and Deutsch seem ready to "dump" the transit plan for Charlotte County as not affordable even before the consultant's report is ready. First of all, Commissioner Duffy, there is no" I" in "we." You were elected by the citizens to serve us and not to vote on your personal opinion. There are many who cannot afford a car and/or a taxi to commute to work or shop. Secondly, $80,000 has been paid for this study, I don't think we can afford to just forget about it. MurdockVillage, I don't think we can afford it. Rotonda sewers part 1 and part 2 lawsuits, I don't think we can afford them. Race track fiasco at the Charlotte County Airport that I also believe we couldn't afford. The bail out of two county com- missioner's legal fees, which I know we couldn't afford. How much is the developer going to cost the county to have the sheriff's pistol range moved? If the builder wants it, let him pay for the entire cost to relocate. In Commissioner Deutsch's words, he is against the public transit plan because he is "worried that residents wanting more service don't realize the asso- ciated cost to taxpayers." You don't get it, do you? It is you, the commissioners who don't realize the associated cost to "us" taxpayers. Stop spending like drunken sailors. Michael Kopinja Port Charlotte No Chinese products at Easter Editor: Last week I went shopping for Easter treats for my grand- kids at a well-known store. Since I try to buy American, I have become accustomed to checking where things are made. I looked at the egg coloring kits. All American companies that I have used for the last 40 years, but on the small print on the back China. The Easter baskets, grass filler, plastic eggs and Easter toys were all from China. It struck me as very ironic that China, which oppresses Christians and many other religions, is trying to make a profit from my celebrating my most precious Christian holy day. Why in the world would I even consider to help support their policies by buying their products? I decided then and there not to buy anything. Maybe, if people would consider the country and the politics of that country before buying a product, they might decide, like me, not to buy it. Hurting countries and busi- nesses in their pocketbooks is the only form of protest they pay attention to. I am sure China will get along just fine without my money. I am equally sure that my grandkids and I will have a wonderful Easter without any Chinese products. Linda Bredfeldt Port Charlotte A handful of what-ifs Editor: What if no illegal votes were cast in the 2008 presidential election? Answer: A conservative pres- ident would have been elected and government-controlled health care would be non-exis- tent, small business would be growing and creating jobs due to less regulation, and your tax money would have been wasted on Cash for Clunkers and Solyndra. What if every illegal alien now serving time for crimes com- mitted in U.S. were exported to their native land? Answer: The millions it costs to incarcerate these criminals could be better used to feed the needy, and provide funding for jobs rebuilding highways and bridges. What if Islamic radicals were not released from Guantanamo Bay? Answer: They would be un- able to return to the Middle East and continue terrorist activities. What if energy companies were permitted to continue ex- ploration, drilling and building pipelines? Answer: Gasoline prices would be more affordable and thousands of workers would be back on the job. What if big box industries scaled down Chinese imports? Answer: It would require more products to be manu- factured in the U.S., thereby creating local job opportunities, allowing commerce to enlarge the tax roll, thus more tax income. Russ Kyper Englewood Don't turn park into a hazard area Editor: Sometimes it's wonderful to just sit back in a tree-filled, quiet place, enjoy a water view and breeze while enjoying a family picnic. Bay Heights Park offers exactly that now. Why make a move to follow "the plan" as first proposed some years ago? To do that means hardly any trees, parking lots for cars and trailers, the noise of outboard motors and all the boat party trash left behind. One of the many benefits of canoes and kayaks is that with limited load capacity very little is left behind. Vehicles towing boat trailers when entering or exiting onto busy 45 mph or 50 mph-plus traffic will only be an accident waiting to happen. Perhaps those promoting the development of the area should do the following, ask boating friends to arrive at a certain time. Some from the north and some from the south, and some leaving the park. This can be done with promoters watching from the True Value Hardware parking lot. Leave Bay Heights Park as is. Do not turn it into a hazard area for people and vehicles. Dave Wilder Englewood Vote early and often Editor: Kreegel, Clawson, Benacquisto. Whom do we believe? Listen carefully to what they say about each other. This will be one of the few times in their careers that they will come close to telling the truth. As they say in Chicago, vote often and early. Harry Thomas Punta Gorda March Madness, Russian aggression Editor: Regarding a recent letter, March Madness is everywhere, it was even mentioned on the floor of the House of Representatives. Watch C-Span. President Obama did not bring down the plane from Malaysia, but our military authorized by our president is spending hundreds of hours and millions of dollars to help locate this plane. President Obama can't put on a wet suit for a swim in the Indian Ocean. I, for one American, do not want another war, loss of lives and trillions more in debt to go to war with Mr. Putin over Ukraine and Crimea. President Obama has done what Mr. Bush did when Russia entered Georgia. He is using diplomacy and his contacts with our European allies. President Obama has opened drilling and exploration in many areas, and our oil and gas output is at record high levels. Many question the Keystone Pipeline. Why should we put our water aquifer at risk for the dirtiest oil, that is not going to stay in the U.S.? Our deficits are going down and would go down even more if corporate America would let loose of the trillions they are hoarding and hire some American workers, instead of hiding their money and building overseas and giving India, China andVietnam the jobs we need here. As for our president appear- ing on talk shows, President Bush enjoyed his several appearances on Leno's show. Jacqueline M. Bell Port Charlotte Seeking witness to his accident Editor: I was in an auto accident on March 22, after leaving 4 p.m. Mass from San Pedro Church. I was driving a red KIA Sportage vehicle at the U.S. 41 intersection of Almonte Terrace, North Port. A gray Hyundai swerved over from the left lane to my right lane hitting me and damaging my vehicle. I was hurt and taken to North Port ER. If you were also leaving church at that time and wit- nessed the other driver hitting me could you be so kind as to contact me at GannonL50@ aol.com? There is a discrepan- cy to what police wrote on my accident report. Larry Gannon North Port I LETTER SUBMISSION POLICY Letters are welcome on virtually any subject, but we do have some rules. Please keep them to the Editor section is designed as a public forum for community discourse, and the opinions to less than 250 words. Letters will be edited to length as well as for grammar and spelling. All and statements made in letters are solely those of the individual writers. The newspaper takes letters must be signed with full name not initials. An address and telephone number must be no responsibility for the content of these letters. Please send or bring correspondence to the Sun, included. The phone number and address are not for publication, but must be provided. Due to the Letters to the Editor, 23170 Harborview Road, Charlotte Harbor, FL 33980, or fax to 941-629-2085. number of letters received, we are able to run only one letter per person per month. The Letters Readers with access to the Internet may email Letters to the Editor at letters@sun-herald.com. OurTown Page 8 C www.sunnewspapers.net The Sun /Tuesday, April 1, 2014