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Thanks For Making Time To Help The Frail During Holiday Season

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By STEVE OTTO

sotto@tampatrib.com

Published: December 16, 2008

On Wednesday, I wrote about Aging Solutions, a nonprofit organization working with elderly wards of the state, and its efforts to provide simple holiday gifts for 350 people in nursing homes and assisted-living centers.

This is just a thank you to those who brought in unwrapped gifts or sent in, so far, more than $3,000 in checks to the organization to buy gifts of clothing or small items.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come reminds you it is not too late to help these senior members of our community or any of the organizations in town trying to provide something for the holidays during this tough economic time. For information about Aging Solutions, you can call them toll free at 1-866-922-4464.

Our Best And Brightest

An idea in a recent column was to bring together the best and brightest across the Tampa Bay area to see if we could put together local solutions to the downward spiraling economic crisis. Why not bring together some of those resources that normally do not converge, such as the economic thinkers at the local universities and in the corporate community? Why not bring in the politicians with the churches and the medical professionals and even the huge military community at MacDill?
Mayor Pam Iorio responded, suggesting that among those things we need to do are the large projects, such as a light-rail system that would invigorate depressed areas and bring in new jobs and businesses.

Here are some more of your responses:

Jesse Juilano of Tampa writes, "I'd like to offer some suggestions. One is regarding the light-rail that Mayor Iorio has been championing for quite a while. In theory it sounds like a good idea, but she is dead wrong.

"As we all found out during the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway expansion, private construction companies are only concerned with profit. How many times did they have to rebuild the columns because of shoddy work? Also, the Sunshine Skyway is rusting internally and we aren't dealing with it properly. They skimp on quality for gross profits, and the jobs are only temporary.

"Here's my small idea to improve traffic congestion. HARTline is a joke. The routes look like someone threw limp spaghetti at a map of Tampa. Most metropolitan cities have a bus system that supports the rail or subway system, a fact Mayor Iorio conveniently overlooks. The routes need to be a 'grid' type, north, south, east and west."

Being Smart

Meg Forehand Korakis also writes on light rail: "Like smart strategic growth plans, the route to success is developed and put into action. Light-rail infrastructure represents our route to future growth and successes. If we fail to grow, will we not fail our citizens in providing opportunities to lead prosperous lives?"

Tampa Bay Partnership

And finally this from Stuart Rogel, who is president and chief executive officer of the Tampa Bay Partnership:

"Steve, I appreciated your column today Nov. 30. No question this community must respond to our economic needs ... and fast!

"I could not help but think you haven't heard of the Tampa Bay Partnership nor our efforts to address our region's economic development challenges."

Rogel included a link to the partnership's Web site at www.tampa bay.org and concluded, "... these respond to the needs you identified in your column." Thanks, Mr. Rogel. I am familiar with the partnership and it is very much the model I was suggesting in the initial column, although I would like a broader base of community involvement and a stronger emphasis on immediate - as in today - solutions. In fact, I would like to see the partnership take on an initiative that would reach out to that broader base and put this thing on a crisis mode to bring solutions to the table today.

Please keep sending in your ideas.

For more Steve Otto, go to TBO and search for "Otto Graphs." For more Steve Otto, go to TBO and search for "Otto Graphs."

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