Well, it’s official. If you picked up the Sunday Orlando Sentinel this week, you noticed that the Osceola section no longer contains anything but community announcements and advertising.
On the other hand, if you turned to the main editorial section, you probably read the most relevant editorial written about Osceola in a long time. Jane Healy’s “Osceola County – neglected from the start, neglected still”
It was a hard-hitting editorial on how Senator Paula Dockery pretty much single-handedly delayed commuter rail for Central Florida this year, and how her constituents in Osceola County were powerless to stop her.
And, it had all kinds of relevant discussion points:
1. Osceola County has been the region’s neglected stepchild /“bedroom community” since tourism came to Central Florida.
2. Osceola (and Polk) elected leadership have been putting development before infrastructure at least as far back as the ‘60s, when Poinciana was developed.
3. Paula Dockery represents almost half of Osceola’s voters, yet put the wants of Lakeland above Osceola County when forming her position on commuter rail.
4. Osceola’s other elected state officials are powerless to supercede Dockery.
5. In spite of all of this, not a single person came forward to oppose Dockery in this year’s election, handing her another term on a silver platter.
We’ll happily give up our Osceola section and it’s recurring series of “remember when we could do (fill in the blank, usually involving horses) in Osceola County?” editorials to get this kind of coverage on a regular basis.
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6 comments:
Jane Healy is a liberal journalist. She has the right to her opinion, but I am glad Paula Dockery stopped this boondoggle and I hope she continues to stop it for the next four years. Keep up the good work Paula.
The editor has it all wrong. Paula Dockery is a heroine for stopping light rail.
Dockery is a mockery for the position she was elected to. Voters of approved light rail, but like many other politicians, she believe the voters are stupid. And if you are going to fight to stop light rail, do it on the merits of transportation and expenses instead of just find ways to get money to your lawyer contributors. It is time for her to be shown the door.
I love how often the word liberal is thrown out as a hateful adjective to discredit an individual.
Definition of liberal:
1. favorable to progress or reform
2. free from prejudice or bigotry, 3. favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.
4. favoring or permitting freedom of action, esp. with respect to matters of personal belief or expression
I'll gladly be a "liberal" than a close minded individual as the first comment portrays. You sir (I'm guessing you are a male, republican, possibly a baby boomer) are boondoggle
Traffic sucks, the way our roads and county are laid out is stupid. We aren't proactive just reactive currently. Guess you folks want to keep things the way they are
I just read that El Nuevo Dia Orlando is shutting down. Guess it's not just the English newspapers.
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