Sound Off: September 4, 2024

Nothing to lose?!?

The mayor of Ocean Springs says that the city has “nothing to lose“ if the proposed four-star hotel fails, but, the developer has been guilty of “major fire-code violations“ in the past. If there is a risk of death of citizens or visitors, we have a lot to lose.

No sympathy

I have a hard time working up any sympathy for people who cheat and steal to keep ahead of the Joneses. The Mary Mahoney’s and Quality Poultry and Seafood bosses, whose ancestors built awesome businesses from the ground up, risked it all, and for what? If they were desperate to get medical care for a child, you could at least understand the motive. If they were desperate to get those $400 sneakers the child thinks they have to have, or a snazzier new boat, then you can only call it despicable.

Act better

LSU coach Brian Kelly needs to have a serious conversation with his players to remind them they represent the university. It was infuriating to see some of the players actions, which penalized the whole team at critical points in the game and directly contributed to its loss to Southern Cal.

Making the train work

The upbeat article in the Sunday print edition (I love the smell of newsprint in the morning) about the new train service was encouraging to me as the I-10 Motorsports Raceway to New Orleans and Mobile has become problematic. Give me a comfortable seat, Americana scenery and a sparkling water over Bubba’s road rage anytime. But, there is an issue nobody’s talking about: What happens when you arrive at your destination? How are you getting to Bourbon Street from the train station? Just as important is how will you get to the train station in the first place? Will you park somewhere in downtown Biloxi or take a cab? Imagine 100 people needing an Uber at the same time. This is the challenge, how to actually make the whole thing work?

Boardwalk fiasco

The mayor of Pass Christian wants to cover the seawall steps so he and his rich friends will have a pretty place to ride their bikes and look at the water, as voiced at the meeting. This is in the name of holding back the sand. The citizens would like access to the entire beach for recreation, just as we have now. The sand was pumped in too deep and covers most of the steps so there is little to stop it from blowing. How about we lower the level of the sand.

Ocean Springs hotel

I don’t live in Ocean Springs, although many times I have thought of it. If you do you should pay attention to the mayor and board of aldermen who want to give millions to a developer with a past history than sounds shadier than a live oak. The most alarming thing is that they claim to have known nothing about this man’s business dealings and troubles, but an ordinary citizen did. How do you not vet someone thoroughly when that much money is involved? After the voicing of concerns, they immediately voted to go ahead without even taking a step back and re-evaluating the proposal in light of the new information. This is government not representing their constituents well. If not for the Sun Herald getting the goods, no one would even know about this.

Again?

There seems to be a lot of headlines about men and child pornography. Where’s the outrage? And the laws seem to favor these offenders with light sentences. What’s really going on in our society?

They did it

One of the worst qualities people have lately is the need to blame others for their own actions. It’s the “yeah I got drunk and totaled your car, but you let me borrow it, so it’s your fault” syndrome. We now have a second Sound Off trying to blame the Sun Herald for the Mary Mahoney’s scandal. If this paper ran a story with the headline “Boycott Mahoney’s, Bring Them to Their Knees,” they still wouldn’t be responsible for whatever becomes of this business who committed fraud for years. Ditto Quality Seafood.

If you have to say it ...

A truly wise man will tell you that a truly wise man does not spend time standing on a soapbox announcing to the world that he is a truly wise man.

What’s the deal?

If Donald Trump is so highly educated and attended the best schools as he says, then why does he speak like an adolescent and write like someone who slept through his English courses? Apparently all those draft deferments under the guise of higher education didn’t do him much good. When it comes to sentence structure and punctuation, is he ignorant or just plain lazy? Either way it’s a bad look for a president.

Great job!

I have called the city of Gulfport’s maintenance department several times over the last year for things like ditch clearing, water main leak, etc. I must say it’s one of the best run and organized departments I’ve ever experienced. From taking my first call, to the follow up calls after job completion. And everyone doing the job.

Gun safes

Gun safes should not be excluded from our annual gun tax holiday. Gun safes help keep guns out of the hands of children and thieves.

Send your Sound Offs to soundoff@sunherald.com.