Lies, damned lies
The city kinda made things up about VNC's Sue Lang, then blasted at her about it in order to try to save face in the airport fiasco; Venice Gondolier merrily went along for the ride ... tsk, tsk, tsk
-- Thomas Brener, posted to Venice Florida! dot com's message board on 04/25/07

Got a comment? Make it here.

To the editor:

Todays Gondolier's front page article, Council Upset at Coalition Letter, is both misleading and factually incorrect. The sub-headline: Venice Neighborhoods Coalition may have crossed the line with a letter to Floridas congressional delegation requesting it not fund the US 41 bypass widening project is inaccurate.

I have read the Venice Neighborhood Coalition letter and it clearly states that the VNC is NOT opposed to improvements to US 41 Bypass:

Lastly, while we are not opposed to improvements to the US 41 By-Pass, we really question whether this funding should be made to the City of Venice when it is a State road and goes beyond the City limits. Plans are well underway with the County for the improvements and we believe this project should be administered by the State and County so that the funds are not diverted for uses for which federal officials and the public did not intend. We are concerned because 'earmark' funds are so flexible they could easily be extended for purposes other than the US 41 ByPass."
-- Sue Lang, Venice Neighborhood Coalition

So, it is the diversion of funds that the VNC is writing about.

Personally, upon reading the letter, one would think that the real news here is that the City is actively soliciting a National Guard Armory at the Airport. It is also interesting that the City of Venice has chosen to apply for $75 million for a variety of purposes but that there has been no public discussion of this and there is virtually no public documentation concerning the request. This has not been addressed at all in the article. Instead some undefined line has been crossed?

It is interesting that the Gondolier chose to misrepresent the letter rather than simply print it. If you do not have a copy of the letter, I can arrange to forward my copy -- the letter is public and readily available.

It is unfortunate that the Gondolier chose to spin the news and misrepresent the content. If the Gondolier is to maintain any semblance of credibility there should be an immediate correction placed in the paper. If the Gondolier instead chooses to propagandize and misrepresent the facts - it should be specified that the Gondoliers front page is really just the first page of the opinions section.

I am writing this reply as a private individual and not as a representative of the VNC or any other body.