Letters to the Editor March 17

59th Street Traffic Jam

I enjoy walking from my home on 59th Street to the beach in the morning where some friends of mine do tai chi before the sun comes up. It is pretty much heaven on earth. When I walk home I usually go through Wood Ibis Park and up 59th. Most mornings I’m met with a parade of cars and trucks parked, idling, outside the guarded community’s gate leading north on 59th Street. Their idling engines stink, especially the diesels. I’ve been told the gated community owns 59th Street south of the gatehouse and they can open and close it whenever they want. I am also told the police will only enforce the no-park zone on vehicles that turn their motors off. So all those trucks are gassing everybody who lives along south 59th Street. Some mornings trucks waiting to get in pull around and idle on 27th Avenue South, gassing those folks, too. I’ve observed and photographed a resident near the gate entrance who had to honk his horn to get a truck to move to allow him to back up and exit his driveway. It took a while to get the trucks re-positioned to allow his departure. This isn’t conjecture. These are facts. We should call on Gulfport Pasadena Yacht and Country Club to tell trucks to line up out on their long entryway a couple blocks south on Gulfport Boulevard. Their idling motors won’t disturb any neighbors there. I’ve been told they’ve been asked before to use the Gulfport Boulevard entrance and they declined. If they refuse our request this time, we’ll have to call them what they are: bad neighbors. –April Arnesen, Gulfport

Meet Madeira’s Pioneers

Love the historic articles and pictures! Please do more of those whenever possible. –Chris Splendore, North Redington Beach

Letters From Your Neighbor

I had heard that Ian is writing for The Gabber. He did a great job on his first piece. His opinion in this piece has been my opinion for years. It is too bad that The Gabber doesn’t ask him to ask questions of council. Get the council on record for their actions. –Bruce Plesser, Gulfport

Publisher’s note: Unlike former iterations of The Gabber, the current owners will not allow an opinion columnist to function as a reporter, and no reporter will pen an opinion column. We are, however, currently hiring for the city council reporter position and encourage qualified journalists to send clips and a resume to cathy@thegabber.com.

Gulfport Elections and World Cafe

This Tuesday, March 15, would have been Gulfport’s Municipal elections. Since there were no leadership options for the Mayor and two Council members, elections were canceled.  This saves Gulfport the cost of running the elections, and the incumbent Council members a significant amount of time and resources to run campaigns. The lack of challengers may have many different causes – citizens are sufficiently satisfied, or are not adequately informed or a insufficient familiarity, confidence or willingness to take on public service leadership.

Gulfport would benefit from having a leadership pipeline of diverse citizens who are grounded in Gulfport’s history, informed about current realities, and capable of envisioning and implementing strategies for a sustainable, vibrant future.

After two years of a global pandemic, Gulfport is emerging into a world with new challenges and opportunities. Gulfport is growing and its demographics are changing. This is an ideal time to engage citizens, businesses, and government in crafting a shared vision of the future that will help civic and community leaders prioritize and address Gulfport’s current needs and future aspirations.

In April we will present a proposal for three Community Conversations that will use World Cafe® methods that foster respectful dialogue and documentation of group-sourced information, expertise and visions.

We are seeking sponsors, partners and participants in co-creating these conversations to develop community strength, engagement, and uniqueness.  Listen in to the presentation at April 5 City Council. And then…please take a seat at the community table to share your perspective. –Ingrid Bredenberg, Gulfport Votes 100%, Gulfport

Dogless at Get Rescued

I am an 83-year-old widow and disabled. I lost my best friend of 15 years in December due to CHF and kidney failure. He was a little chihuahua named Sam, and it nearly destroyed me when he died, but I have recovered somewhat. I was also disappointed by Get Rescued. I’ve been trying to adopt a chihuahua for three months, and I thought surely I would find one there. They were mostly big dogs who need a yard, but I didn’t find any chihuahuas. Maybe I was late getting there or they were all adopted already, but I am finding that even the shelters with their unreasonable demands are making it hard to adopt dogs that need adopting.

I know I’m a senior, but I feel discriminated against every time I try to adopt a dog. It’s either my age, my disability, the fact I live in an apartment, or any other excuse they can find, even that my Sam was not neutered. He had CHF, therefore could not be given anesthetic for surgery. My husband died in 2014. My one chihuahua mourned his death until she died two weeks after him. I kept my little Sam with me, gave him medicine twice a day and even when funds were low, I made sure he ate, and he got his medicine because I loved him. So I am wondering where all the adoptable chihuahuas are. I have an adopt a pet app on my phone but the dogs are usually adopted out already, or when I fill out the application I am denied. I’m mad about this, because so many dogs need a family, a home even in an apartment. Sam and I lived in this apartment for five years [and] I took him out and exercised him, but he was getting sicker and sicker and finally to keep him from suffering I had to have him put down. There were times when funds were low, and we still made out great because I would make sure he got care even if I didn’t. I even had a part in my will, making sure he was taken care of when I passed. I had a dogsitter and I took care of him as best I could for 15 years.

I am not a novice at dog care; I have had dogs all my life, but that doesn’t matter to these people who run the shelters; it’s as if they don’t really want their dogs adopted. So when there is a rescue event i try to make it to all of them, even if they are for another breed of dog, because sometimes there is a little chihuahua in the mix, but I am always disappointed. It’s almost as if I’m trying to adopt a child. It shouldn’t be, because there are so many dogs that need adopting.

I agree with Dogless. I hope she finds a little one to love – the breed she wants. I hope I find one but at this moment I am totally hopeless at finding a best friend, and I have a robotic dog, to help me get over the loss of my Sam, but it’s not working. I need a real dog. No, I don’t have a lot of money; I’m on Social Security, but any dog who comes into my home will get the best care I can give it, in every way, and all the love in my heart, for as long as I live. Thanks for listening.  –Dearldean Hall