A GOOD ATTEMPT AT BRINGING SOME SENSE INTO THE DEBATE

I've had the pleasure of meeting Frank O'Reilly on several occasions. He was a Democrat at one point, switching his party affiliation after the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky episode. The former Lakeland mayor/city commissioner and current Polk County School Board member is a decent fellow, and Republican registration notwithstanding, has managed to retain many of the traditional Democratic Party beliefs.

And O'Reilly doesn't mind speaking out when he feels like it. This time, Lakeland Ledger political writer Bill Rufty writes that his ire is over a proposal in the Legislature (HB 7171) which would create incentives for teachers which would help them purchase homes in areas where they work but the housing market is too expensive (similar proposals would similarly cover police officers and firefighters).

Sounds like an idea everyone can support, eh? Not!

O'Reilly, quoted from Rufty's column: "Pay them a housing bonus? Why don't you just raise their salaries?" he said. "I have talked to high school students . . . They are not going to stay in Florida and teach. They are going to Georgia or to North Carolina or anywhere that treats them with respect by paying them a decent wage."

"What are they (lawmakers) going to do next? Give them food stamps? Teachers, police officers, nurses -- these are college men and women and we are treating them like scum."

"If someone is down and out we should should give affordable housing. But nurses, teachers and police officers -- we're not going to pay them enough so that they can buy their own home? "So, they come along and say, `We are going to give you subsidized housing.' What an insult. I just can't believe they would do this and not understand how they are treating people," he said.

I agree. Give them all a raise, and let them decide how to use what they've earned. If they want to purchase a home nearer to where they live, that their choice. And many probably have more urgent uses for those funds. With college loans, families, and other pressing debts, one can probably understand.