Letters to the Editor

+ No taxpayer money for town center
Dear Editor:
I had to respond to Rabbi Jonathan Katz’s recent letter to the Longboat Observer concerning your editorial about a town center. Katz made the point that great vision is sometimes required to accomplish big things. He used Ringling’s building of St. Armands Circle as an example. Unfortunately, he neglected to mention that Ringling used private money in his enterprises. He took a financial risk, and it succeeded. Further, Katz’s notion that Ringling built St. Armands for its “social value” and “community asset” is naive at best. No, sir. Ringling built it to make money. And that’s just fine by me — his profit in no way diminishes the public benefit we obtained from his great vision. That’s how free enterprise works.

Katz claims a town center is “generating a lot of interest” and that “many feel (it) has been a long time coming.”

Question: Is there a poll or other data with real numbers to support those statements? Perhaps you could publish (or republish) it?

Lastly, if I understand him correctly, Katz is not talking about using private investment but public money — aka my money in an undertaking that may or may not result in success. If a town center is such a wonderful idea, surely some entrepreneur would be willing to take a risk — if Katz has someone in mind I’d willingly support that. Absent the far higher chance of success that comes with private interest rather than government taking the lead, I’m with you, dear editor. I want our revenues to continue to be as carefully husbanded by our town as in the past — in other words, I do not want them to ever forget that it’s not their money.

M.S. Ellsworth
Longboat Key