3 letters: The city's Memorial Day service, working together, and overdevelopment

Ormond Beach Observer
Opinion

Memorial Day's true meaning

Dear Editor:

I would like to thank the city of Ormond Beach and the local American Legion for the Remembrance Service held at the Rockefeller Gardens on Memorial Day. The tributes to the fallen that took place touched many people. I saw tough old guys I know around town tear up, but one I sat next to held it all in until the end of the official ceremonies.

This man is well known around town; he is also very humble. When his branch of the service was honored, he didn’t stand up. When those who received Purple Hearts were called to rise and be recognized, he remained seated. Few who know him actually know he served. He was a young man when duty called in the 1960’s. He rode his Honda motorcycle from the Berkshire Mountains in Western Massachusetts to Fort Hood in Texas. With a canvas duffle bag on his back, all he owned back then.

He volunteered to serve in what became a very unpopular war.

He actually upped voluntarily for three tours during the Vietnam War. And he got it. Those in the service know that meant he was wounded and received the Purple Heart. Why did he not stand up to be recognized?

Because it was never about him. He didn’t go to the Memorial Day Service to be recognized. He sat in the back row, only moving forward at the very end to put a rose on the wreath that had been put in place to honor the fallen. They were his guys; he had been their squad leader. He remembered them.

I would be doing him a disservice if I mentioned his name.

There are more like him in our beautiful city. They don’t talk much about their service and war, but find them. Draw them out.

And bring them to the next Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony because it really is as much about them as it is about the brothers they lost.

Bob Baumer

Ormond Beach

Lithium law

Dear Editor:

When lithium works it produces power. The power can create light and make things work. When people work, it produces power. The power can brighten their light and make things work for them.

Who does not want to have more power and light? All over this area you see signs that say workers are needed. There are lots of able-bodied people who are not working. Are there any of them that would not like to have more power?

When people work they have more power to help themselves and others. I hope a lot of people will start working and create more power for all. It is time for a power surge. Let's light up ourselves and the whole town. Remember the Lithium Law: "Work Produces Power." Better people make a better world.

Nathan Dobbs

Ormond Beach

Issue of overdevelopment

Dear Editor:

I am writing this letter to express my concern about how development has been recklessly approved by the current Ormond Beach City Commission. Why are we allowing overdevelopment to happen? Why are we allowing clear-cutting of trees, filling in of wetlands, higher than acceptable housing density, poorly designed storm water runoff, high traffic on inadequate roads, and inadequate green space to mention a few.

Any future development must include the following:

The City Commission must vote to restore the regulations and ordinances that were in existence prior to the more lenient St. Johns Water Management Codes. Reverting back to the pre-St. John’s code will provide the needed protection of our wetlands, waterways and greenspaces.
All development must include a plan to protect all of the wetlands and ensure that no clear-cutting will take place in any proposed development. This must be presented and approved by the Planning Board prior to being presented to the City Commission.
No zoning changes that increase density in a residential development should be approved. In fact, there must be an effort to reduce residential density. This will lower the impact to storm water runoff, demand on water usage and traffic within the city.
Re-direct runoff away from any culverts emptying into our rivers.

The above actions and policy decisions will keep Ormond Beach a desirable place we call “home." These are not just my views; many Ormond Beach citizens I have talked with feel the same way.

Joseph Valerio

Ormond Beach

Editor's note: Joseph Valerio is running for Zone 1 City Commissioner.