The Way I See ItBy cj pollickBelleair Beach City Election March 11th - The qualifying period for candidates who are interested in running for elected office in Belleair Beach is from December 14th through Friday, December 21st, 2007. Three current city officials (Mary Schoonover, Richard Crowl and Mitch Krach) have not stated whether they would run for another term of office, stated Belleair Beach City Manager Nancy McCollum. With several important city issues under review, such as a new City Hall building, the future city council should be busy balancing city expenses with city revenues. Thinking of running for office in Belleair Beach? The qualifying period ends on December 21st. at noon. Interested candidates can call Belleair Beach City Hall at 595-4646 for more information. Did They Solve The Property Tax Dilemma? - Elected officials in Tallahassee believe they have compromised and have put forward the best possible property tax relief bill. Bottom line savings to most taxpayers in Florida might be a few hundred dollars. Is this the tax relief sought after by taxpayers in Florida? Most taxpayers would say no. Taxpayers and homeowners in Florida, the third highest state in number of home financial defaults, expected more from elected officials. One Clearwater taxpayer asked, "Whatever happened to the sales tax increase proposal which would eliminate the property tax?" Of course, the answer is that the increased sales tax idea was trashed in favor of this new property tax compromise. Did state officials help solve the homeowner property tax issue? Many Florida homeowners might disagree with the final tax relief resolution proposal that we will vote upon in January. County Property Appraiser Jim Smith To Retire - Pinellas County Property Appraiser Jim Smith will not seek re-election. At age 65, longtime political activist and GOP leader Jim Smith stated he would not seek re-election in 2008. Of course, much of this decision was due, in great part, to Smith's suspect real estate transaction involving some officials at Pinellas County government. Some of the county officials who had been involved in the controversial land deal with Smith were either allowed to resign or be terminated even though an investigation did not support any violation of the law. Jim Smith, nevertheless, saw that other political candidates were preparing to run against him in the 2008 election and felt it was time to retire. Starting as a state representative, Jim Smith rose in political ranks to become not only the County Property Appraiser, but also was head of the state GOP for many years. Scientific Whale Hunt? - Japan's Fisheries Agency plans to conduct the largest whale hunt of all time. A JFA sponsored ship plans to kill, in the name of science, 50 humpback whales, 935 minke whales and up to 50 fin whales. Marine biologists and conservation groups, such as Greenpeace, plan to condemn the killings and track the Japanese whaling ship to disrupt the killings as much as possible. Commercial fishing or scientific research? Even though Japanese fisheries agencies have referred to the whale hunt as scientific, most marine biologists believe it sounds more like a large commercial fishing expedition. Kill over 1,000 whales in the name of science? Makes you wonder what they plan to do with all the whole meat--tons and tons of whale meat. Marine biologists in South Africa believe the humpback whale population is just beginning to show signs of recovery from years of commercial fishing abuse. Just another Japanese fishing expedition? Canada Rules US Soldiers Not Refugees - Last week the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear an appeal by two US military deserters seeking refuge status in Canada as war protestors. The high court ruling in Canada meant the two US army deserters could be deported back to the US to face military charges. With about 300 other US military soldiers reportedly facing the same legal dilemma in Canada, the recent court decision has many anti-war sympathizers planning their next move. This court decision may have come as a surprise to many Canadians who harbored and assisted thousands of US soldiers during the Vietnam War era. However, it seems as though times have changed in Canada and they no longer support military deserters from the US who seek legal protection in Canada. What is next? The deportation clock is ticking for the two AWOL soldiers in Canada who lost the high court appeal. Same might be true for about 300 other AWOL US soldiers in Canada. LSU Or Kansas? - Who would have thought that the 2007 BCS college football rankings would change almost on a weekly basis due to upsets of the top three football teams. And, with a few tough football games remaining to be played such as LSU versus Georgia and Kansas versus Missouri, other upsets might still occur to help to change the BCS rankings. The Florida Gators, on the other hand, moved to number 10 and USF Bulls moved to number 23. (Go Bulls beat Pitt.) People involved with awarding the Heisman Trophy still like the Florida Gator's Tebow, but perhaps wish a senior player from another top-ranked football team would press the issue. Tebow for the Heisman? No contest, Tebow is the best college player in 2007 bar none. If he remains healthy, he could win this coveted college football award three times. Tebow is the Gator's offense; and when he is healthy, he has the ability to carry the game to any team. LSU number 1? Wouldn't it have been great to see a Gator/LSU rematch? Lastly, Lloyd Carr resigned as coach at Michigan on Monday. Carr coached a national championship team while coach at Michigan and won several Big 10 football titles. Yet, his loss to Appalachian State and Ohio State this season seemed to cloud a wonderful coaching career at the Big Blue. Other football coaches who knew Coach Carr refer to him as a "class person" who treated his college players like family. Michigan must now go on the hunt for a successor to a great coach and gentleman.
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