Thursday, December 31, 2020

Welcome to 2021

FLORIDA
WEST COAST         

Opinion by:  
E. Eugene Webb PhD         

Well, it's time for the new year. I guess we're all hoping that things are going to be a little better in 2021 than they were in 2020, it's difficult to imagine that they could be worse.

Given everything that has been going on, it shouldn't be too difficult to come up with some New Year's resolutions. However, if you have been cooped up in the house, stuck with all the negative news and worrying about everything from your job to your health, working on New Year's resolutions may not be at the top of your list.

So, I've put together five suggestions for New Year's resolutions:

1. When you qualify, get your coronavirus vaccination.

2. Go take a walk at least twice a week. You will be amazed at how refreshing some fresh air really is.

3. Get your second COVID-19 vaccination. Remember this vaccine is a two-shot process.

4. Keep wearing a mask and social distancing. Don't take any foolish chances.

5. Finally, if you're looking for something to do that will help you out emotionally and spiritually, try setting up a Bible reading project. There are a lot of good Bible study guides out there just Google read the Bible in a year and take a look.

Those are my five New Year's resolutions.

Regarding that Bible Study, I'm using the Moody Church 3-year Bible Reading Plan.

I've got a year up on you as I started a year ago and just finished the first one-year segment. I find it the easiest to do early in the morning before I go into the old Home Office and start working.

If your argument is: those Bibles are so hard to read and that King James thing with all that King James English is just impossible to understand. I have a suggestion for you. Check out the Expositor's Study Bible from Jimmy Swaggart Ministries. I recommend the Kindle e-book version which is available at Amazon. Virtually every verse is explained.

I have the Moody 3-Year Bible Plan downloaded into Word on my iPod, along with the Kindle version of the Expositor’s Study Bible, making it one nice easy package to access and use.

Here's hoping that 2021 will be a better, brighter, and healthier year for all of us.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

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Thursday, December 24, 2020

“Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable Gift.” – 2 Corinthians 9:15


FLORIDA
WEST COAST

Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings

"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever." – 1 Timothy 1:15-17

Merry Christmas and happy Holidays to you and your family.

Have a safe and happy Christmas celebration as we all look forward to the new year.

Gene and Theresa

Sunday, December 20, 2020

COVID-19 Perspective - No Time to Take A Risk

FLORIDA 
WEST COAST         

Opinion by:  
E. Eugene Webb PhD         

With just a little over two weeks to go until a new year, and what appears at this point to be a successful rollout of the coronavirus vaccines, you might think that we are over the hill on the virus. However, you would be mistaken.

Now is the absolute worst time for us to let down our guard. It's not time to go traveling; it's not time to go to grandmas for Christmas dinner nor time to get on an airplane and fly somewhere nor time to throw away all those masks.

Now is the time to be more diligent than ever.

Check out this editorial in the Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Bay right to crack down on masks | Editorial.

What I find so amazing about this editorial and what a lot of really good mayors and public officials are doing regarding cracking down on mask wearing, gatherings and especially business owners ignoring local ordinances, is the fact that it's even necessary at all.

It's just difficult to understand why somebody that is seemingly intelligent enough to start a business and make it successful would have such total disregard as to encourage gatherings, discourage mask wearing, and defend their actions by saying they're protecting their business.

In case you missed it, your business is just simply those people who walk through the door to patronize your establishment. Creating an environment that may kill them off seems counterproductive.  It's amazing to me how little respect some totally selfish bar and restaurant owners have regarding the health, safety and well-being of their customers.

By the same token, don't be lulled into a sense of security regarding the coronavirus with all the announcements of vaccines shipping around the United States. The national public health officials are indicating that it may be sometime in March before vaccinations become available to the general public. Even then if the current reluctance rate to take the vaccine, which is somewhere in the 40% to 45% area of the American public, continues to hold out, that means there are still going to be a lot of us running around that hasn't been vaccinated that can be infected and can in turn infect you if you have not been vaccinated.

This whole COVID-19 thing has brought out some of the best and a lot of the worst in our society. There was a time in our culture here in the United States where we put the benefit and the welfare of others above our own personal and selfish needs it seems that time has long since passed.

So, as I post this there are about 12 days or so until the new year.

Are we really looking forward to putting 2020 behind us?

Let's hope everybody gets on board with wearing masks, socially distancing, and staying out of gatherings with other than people you live with until we get enough people vaccinated that the case rate, the positivity rate, and the death rate start going down.

In the new year is it really too much to ask of you to stay out of the bar, stay out of the crowd, think twice before you go to a football, basketball, hockey or baseball game.

Maybe that would make a good New Year’s resolution.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

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Wednesday, December 16, 2020

DeSantis Ignoring Reality

FLORIDA
WEST COAST         

Opinion by:  
E. Eugene Webb PhD         

There is an outstanding editorial in the December 15th 2020 addition of the Tampa Bay Times titled who is Governor DeSantis listening to on the virus, you can read it here: Who is Gov. DeSantis listening to on the virus? | Editorial,

Governor DeSantis continues to pursue the course of ignoring the reality of the COVID-19 virus and its effect on all Florida citizens.

For a while there, I thought the good governor was just following the Trump banner in search of an opportunity to run for president perhaps in 2024.

It now seems, however, that DeSantis has convinced himself that he is right; all the experts are wrong; it doesn't really matter how many people get sick or die in Florida, he is right, and all the experts are wrong.

It remains to be seen whether the charges related to the young woman responsible for the Corona virus dashboard, and the raid on her home were the doings of the governor's office or any other official order from the administration.

The Governor has made a mockery of dealing with this pandemic. He has openly shown little regard for the health and welfare of the citizens of Florida, and of the tourists and the visitors to our state.

You will notice that the members of the DeSantis administration are well out of view in the whole COVID-19 issue. Apparently, they have fully recognized that contradicting the governor can be hazardous to their future and their careers.

This muzzling of officials who would normally be out working to protect the citizens and providing information to help them make good decisions are, at least to me, a total advocating of the responsibility of the governor's office.

DeSantis needs to be held to account, there needs to be a state investigation if not a federal investigation into the possibility of dereliction of duty.

For the record, I voted for Ron DeSantis for governor, at this point I can truly say it's one of the very few votes I've cast that I totally regret.

I thought there was more integrity there, more sense of right and wrong more concerns for life and death, I guess I was just mistaken.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

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Sunday, December 13, 2020

Manatee County - Opportunity Lost

FLORIDA
WEST COAST         

Opinion by:  
E. Eugene Webb PhD         

For a fleeting moment, it appeared that the recent Manatee County Commission elections for County commissioner, we're going to produce some actual change.

At the initial County Commission meeting, including the newly elected three members and a reelected member, it was decided that there would be a review of the current County administrator Cheri Coryea and a meeting to discuss her future would be scheduled for January 6th.

It should be noted that the District 7 commissioner at large Commission member, George Kruse, did indicate that he was withholding his final judgment on the decision to potentially replace the County administrator pending the outcome of meetings and discussions with various members of the community.

Apparently, following his conversations with community members Mr. Kruse had a change of heart about a change of leadership in the Manatee County administration.

I'm sure the hint of a public records request lawsuit also wasn't much encouragement for Commissioner Kruse to continue.

While it might have appeared a little aggressive, this move to replace the senior leadership in the County administration would have been the best way for these four future thinking commissioners to get the change process underway.

The fact that there was immediate opposition from the administration, from their other Commission members, from the press and others, should have been anticipated.

If you think, anything that happened since that first initial Manatee County Commission meeting happened by accident you are sadly mistaken.

Here is the thing these new commissioners need to understand. All local governments, in fact, every government in its entirety is a continuum. These governments have a finite beginning an absolutely no end. They are dedicated to their own self-preservation. They are very good at it, and you just saw a classic example of how they go about it.

The bold move by these four incoming commissioners and the actual replacement of the County administrator would have set the stage for significant change in the way Manatee County does business. That opportunity is completely lost.

Everyone in the current County administration, including administrator Coryea will be playing defense from this day forwards. Commissioner Kruse and his three fellow commissioners can expect unparalleled scrutiny of all actions and comments.

Kruse says he wants to wait for a year to reevaluate the administrator's performance and then perhaps reconsider his decision. A year from now Manatee County will be five years further behind.  

For a brief moment Commissioner Kruse and his fellow, incoming Commission members held the opportunity in their hands to begin moving Manatee County from the 1960s to the early part of the 21st century.

Opportunity lost.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

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Sunday, December 6, 2020

COVID-19 - Help Make This the Last Super Spreader Holiday


FLORIDA
WEST COAST  

Opinion by:  
E. Eugene Webb PhD

 
In the next few days, we may all be faced with some of the biggest decisions we have to make regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

 It will simply boil down to are you going to follow the guidelines given by the Center for Disease Control, the CDC, or the directions and pleas from the medical professionals regarding COVID-19 or are you going to succumb to the pleadings of the sports leagues, the bars, the restaurants and those requests from your family to come home and most of all the errant babbling of the Florida governor.

It's no wonder a lot of us are conflicted regarding what to do about the COVID-19 virus. On one hand, we have Anthony Fauci and the other infectious disease experts literally begging us to stay home wear masks and stay distant. On the other hand, we have everyone from the jocks to the governor telling us to do just the opposite.

So, who do you believe? Who do you trust? Do you trust the disease experts who've spent their lives and careers and the medical professionals who are seeing the results of our actions related to the COVID-19 virus play out in real time, or do you trust the people who make their living playing with a ball and selling you tickets so you can watch?

Or do you put your trust in a governor who's more interested in making money for small business and big business than he is protecting you, your family members and those around you?

When you have virtually everyone who knows anything about infectious disease telling us that COVID-19 is an airborne virus, highly contagious, and it transmits best in close quartered crowded environments, have you asked yourself why everybody out there who's trying to make a buck is asking us to do just that; come together, give us your money, and we don’t care if you get sick.

I think if I see one more college or high school football coach on television blubbering or nearly blubbering about his canceled game and how important it was, I'm just simply going to shoot the television set.

We've been dealing with this virus so long now that common sense is just literally flown out the window.

The question is will you go out of your way to either get infected or help spread this horrid virus or will you resist the temptation, stay at home, have Christmas with your family at home or over the Internet with your extended family and help us get this thing under control so that when the vaccines get here hospitals won't be so overburdened with dying patients?

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.  

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Friday, December 4, 2020

Manatee County Administrator – Time for a Change

 FLORIDA WEST COAST  

Opinion by:  
E. Eugene Webb PhD         

In 2006/2007 then Manatee County administrator Ed Hunsicker made the decision to stop infrastructure development in light of the economic slowdown.  When then County Administrator Hunsicker lost his glitter with the developers, he was sort of moved out of the way and a search for a new County administrator was begun.

Without going into a lot of sordid details, the Manatee County Commission then committed one of the grossest acts of political inbreeding seen on the West Coast of Florida in quite some time.

Following a nation-wide search, the Manatee County Commission tossed out all the recommended candidates and picked Assistant County Administrator Cheri Coryea as the new County Administrator.

Coryea did not meet the job requirements when she was hired, had no experience in actually running a large multidisciplinary organization, had limited people skills, is a responsibility avoider and her only objective has been to ingratiate herself to the seven people who control her fate, the County Commission.

The existing County Commissioners see Coryea as a kind and caring administrator, who wants to make everyone happy. They should interview a few County employees down a couple of levels to see what is really going on.

When Manatee County was a sleepy little place with a few developers building a few houses here and there, the type of County government currently in place was more than sufficient to deal with the issues.

However, things have changed. A county developing as rapidly and aggressively as Manatee County is more like the wild west than a love fest. You rarely see descriptors like “much adored” attached to County Administrators in rapidly growing Counties.

For some background check out The Bradenton Times by Dennis Maley, Sunday, Nov 22, 2020, Yes, Special Interests are Gunning for the County Administrator. And also by Dennis Maley, Bradenton Times, County Land Deal Gets Machiavellian in Runup to Election.

The ensuing cat fight at the recent County Commission meeting is a clear example of why it is time for some changes.

The existing commissioners can argue and accuse the voters all they want, but the fact is the political winds are changing in Manatee County, and it is about time.

The new elected commissioners Baugh, Satcher, Van Ostenbridge, and Kruse need to be respectful of the Commission’s history and personality, but the only way they can be effective is to shift the structure and the culture of the County administration as it relates to the Commission. That requires a change in leadership.

There is no sense in dragging this out through a series of histrionics and tear-filled meetings.

It is time to go forward and find a seasoned county administrator. Not some developers hack, or another existing employee but one who is experienced and capable of dealing with a poorly prepared, rapidly developing county.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.  

Disclosures:

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Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Manatee County Slowly Killing the Goose That Lays the Golden Eggs

FLORIDA WEST COAST  

Opinion by:  
E. Eugene Webb PhD         

If you are relatively new to Manatee County, you're probably starting to ask yourself who's running the show in this County?

The first thing that grabs your attention, is all the development going on in eastern Manatee County.

Add to all of that, the almost unbelievable number of growing dangerous four way stops, poorly lighted and signed intersections, limited turn lanes, and you have all the ingredients of a road infrastructure nightmare.

It seems, that Manatee County’s idea of road improvement is a two-lane road with a four-lane blow out and a couple of short turn lanes into the latest development, that runs the length of the new development frontage, and quickly necks back down to a dangerous 2 lane road.

No plans to expand the road, to make it safer, or capable of handling more traffic just enough to keep the developer happy. Stop lights and controlled intersections are all but unheard of an unseen. 

Manatee County is faced with the age-old conflict between developers and controlled growth.

Back in 2006/2007 then Manatee County administrator Ed Hunsicker made the decision to stop infrastructure development in light of the economic slowdown.  The County continued to collect property tax as development exploded and has yet to begin a serious infrastructure program that deals with that development from a road improvement, water, storm water, and wastewater perspective.

As the economic downturn of the early 2000s began to subside, development in Manatee County literally exploded. Big developers mean lots of jobs, lots of new property tax, and lots of money being thrown around to garner political influence.

The people building houses in Manatee County now are serious about making money. They want to do it their way and only their way, and they want as little County interference as possible.

There are a lot of indications that the big developers in Manatee County poured a massive amount of money into the most-recent County Commission election. It seems that three of the people elected are staunchly in the development side of the County Commission equation.

That's not uncommon in County elections for County Commission, but it does beg this question: if the developers are going to buy a seat at the table, or in this case, several seats at the table is it time that they supported stepping up and building the infrastructure that is needed for their continued ability to develop and build homes in Manatee County?

If all they're interested in is getting the density per acre increased and the ability to build houses 2 feet apart instead of eight or 10 feet apart and let the people figure out how to get in and out of their developments and survive on the roads, then it's time for the County Commission to have the courage to begin to put some limitations on development in Manatee County.

If things continue to go the way they're going now, it's not going to be too much longer before the closely spaced row houses, the massive traffic congestion on the two-Lane roads that connect them, and the inability for the underground infrastructure to continue to support the growing population will strangle the Golden Goose.

Then this area will become less desirable for home buyers rather than more desirable.

That's a situation that the home builders, the realtors, nor the County wants to occur.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.  

Disclosures:

Please comment below.