Path to my Songs

Clicking on the little bird icon at the top of the page will send you to where downloadable mp3 files of some of my songs are located,including "Sand In Your Shoes",a song about Florida

Friends of Florida Folk

This is an excellent site to keep up with some of the the clean music scene of Florida.There are links to musicians and songs about Florida,as well as lists of performances.The link is available on the right side of the page NPUBLICI

Florida Official Song Contest

I heard there was a contest for a new official song for Florida , so I wrote one and sent it off for copyright.I then read the rules,designed by the Florida music educators association.Within these rules were a requirement that the melody be written out in musical notation(sheet music),with chords noted.The US copyright office stopped requiring sheet music for a copyright applications a long time ago.I see this as only an elitist move to exclude most of the songwriters in Florida,who don't do notation,so as to keep the contest amongst themselves and the people they train.There is also a requirement for seven CDs to be sent.No allowance for tape was shown.I suppose they are all well off enough that when CDs hit the market they donated all their tape equipment,took it off their taxes and bought the finest Cd equipment.Well , most musicians are poor and these rules will insure that many are never heard by the"deciders".As a matter of principle I will not enter their contest.I have placed my song called"Sand In Your Shoes"on http:/audiostreet.net/delbertwallegood It is the 49th song on my site,and on the second page.I have written many songs and have placed 49 of them on that site as of this date.NPUBLICI Delbert W Allegood

Clicking on "veiw profile",then scrolling down and clicking on"Children Of The Dream",will send you to my NPUBLICI blog,which is not Florida specific.

I came to Zephyrhills, Florida in 1955,as a thirteen year old.One of the first things I noticed was a poor attitude toward children,by citizens and by government as a result of pressure by citizens.I don't think it was my imagination,for the subject was often discussed among the schoolchildren and there had been no such thing where I came from.I had read fairy tales where miserly, angry grinch like characters existed.I have,over the years watched many shortsighted ,visionless and uncaring decisions affect the young,the poor,the helpless and the powerless of Zephyrhills.In recent years,some things have been improving,such as the building of sidewalks, a water park and a skate park.Of course we have had some stymieing of the usage of these.It is always easier for police and other government officials to get governmental leaders to restrict citizens than it is to admit the inability to police and demand more officers and equipment.This is one of the prime tenets of establishing a police state.Apathy of citizens is another.Zephyr Park is a very sore spot with me. The miserly approach and the unwise decision for the city to run a business caused the nursing home "Zephyr Haven" to be placed where there should be more park area and more parking for people to use the park called Zephyr Park.Presently even the public property in the rear of Zephyr Haven has been restricted from parking by the public.The Alice Hall building should never have been placed where the additional park and parking was needed.This beautiful park has been treated as though no one but a few residents of Winters trailer park would walk over next door and spend a few minutes.Owners of property on the southeast side of the park should be approached to buy their land for parking use.I Have been seeing musicians and onlookers turn away after finding no parking within reasonable distance,by the dozens,for weeks during the winter.Because of the fact that Zephyr Haven was placed where parking is needed,full usage of the park is impeded.I would like to see part of Winters park Become Zephyr Park,especially that portion which is a flood plain, shielded by the ugly dike.NPUBLICI

Property Taxes

In the state of Florida corporations and the wealthy are holding land,waiting for opportune times to develop or to sell to developers.One of the ways these people pay low taxes, while holding land for gargantuan profits,is to plant trees and declare the land as agricultural greenbelt,which is taxed at a far lower rate than market value is.Green belting trees is a good thing,when it is not abused,because it preserves farms and it provides pulpwood from managed rather than old growth.Most often,what happens in Florida is that land held on forested greenbelt is sold or developed and the trees are bulldozed into piles and burned.I have seen acre after acre of trees large enough for pulpwood,bulldozed and burned.There should be no such tax shelter.Forested Green belt should have past taxes become due at market value,from the time the trees were first green belted,when the trees are not used as pulp wood.The taxes should become due to the owner at the time of the trees destruction.Notification by sellers of the amount of due tax,if the trees are not used as pulpwood or lumber, should be made law,with the penalty for not doing so being that the seller pays the increase of taxes.NPUBLICI

mp3 Downloads

I am a songwriter.Some of my recorded songs are available at http://audiostreet.net/Delbertwallegood The quality is not that of a finished commercial cd.The were recorded for copyright purposes.NPUBLICI

Florida Property Tax

Unless the computers of the state of Florida are ancient,it could quickly be known how my idea would affect the amount of taxes collected.I believe it would far more fair to have a minimum tax of a hundred dollars,or so,and to put the homestead exemption at fifty to seventy thousand dollars.I have known people who let the outward appearance of their property go and spent fortunes inside,so as to fool the assessors.I have known many people who lived in far cheaper houses than they could afford,simply because of their hatred of paying taxes.I have heard: So,I don't pay taxes;it's the way the laws are written;why shouldn't I take advantage of it?The original reason mobile/ modular homes were considered less worthy of full taxes is that they were built cheaply,sold cheaply and were considered as temporary housing.The low taxes some wealthy people pay for the now long lasting mansions on wheels is ridiculous.While they are still worthless to me,they still shouldn't be something the well to do can use as a tax advantage.I realize that asking fairness from people who think dry cleaning ought not to be taxed could be futile.NPUBLICI

Danny Burgess

Once again,Danny Burgess has ruffled the feathers of those who liked the elderly in charge of the elderly status quo.He got elected to the Zephyrhills city council,at eighteen with a high school diploma with wet ink,using the unusual promise of representative democracy and following the rule of law.Now, he has had the audacity to take an apartment in Tampa,thirty miles away,while he attends USF, as many people do his age,without giving up their residency in their parents home.Perhaps there might be those who would rather he would fall asleep at the wheel,coming to Zephyrhills,after working and going to college.I remember people who didn't think I ought to have anything to say about my hometown during my six years in the army,also.Mr Burgess will be going into the military.Perhaps if you feel he does a good job and he runs for office and wins;you would not be aggravated when the military forces him to live in the on post housing at MacDill.If you don't like his ideas or ideals,his stance,then don't vote for him again.Perhaps if you have different opinions,you could run for the office.If you're already elected,take a look at yourself and ask:do I really represent ALL of the people?NPUBLICI

Zoning Changes

Although it was a marginaly important change ,I believe that the votes of Burgess and Graham were correct in the recent hearing for zoning changes for one business.In itself it is not a problem.It sets a precedence which most lawyers would leap on when a similar situation is denied,now.Next time it might matter much more and the city would probably lose any litigation.NPUBLICI

You Got Elected; Do The Job.

For those who don't know,Zephyrhills has a political system which provides for 6 city council positions,whose members represent the entire city.There are no districts.Council seats are elected on alternate years,so as to have continuity.One of those positions is filled by a mayor who has no vote,but does have veto power on some council actions.Zephyrhills is a small city;much smaller than most cities having district representatives.When these councilmen were running for office,they were available and accessible.Now that they have been elected,a movement has arisen among them,to have Quasi officials from various areas or districts to represent the people to them.Also mentioned,was a need for watchers of code violations and other dastardly acts.While it is true that the city has not staffed or funded the building department to meet the needs of the rapid growth of the past few years,along with the other departments,this does not demand volunteer or unelected adjuncts.What is clear to me,is that it does require work and courage,on the part of the city council and other government members.Council members need to announce and publish their stance on these matters and schedule themselves to be available to the people,long before any voting is done.This low pay,underfunding and understaffing is not even nearly new.We have been losing good people.Until responsible heads are removed from the sand,it will only worsen.Getting elected is the easy part;you smile and tell everyone what they want to hear.Doing the job could prove to be a little more demanding.Concerning the advocation of unelected watchers,minders,violation reporters or opinion consolidators for various parts districts or areas of town:I suggest that anyone having an interest in such a thing should talk to people who have escaped from countries where this is commonly used.many of our elderly,here, know about Fascist block watchers,communist minders,correct thinkers and helpers to the supreme council. one only has to look to Cuba,red China or Iran to understand the implications of this function.I had two coworkers who escaped from cuba.They had stories of watchers and correct thinkers being found dead.No,Not a good idea.NPUBLICI Delbert W Allegood

Time For Change With The Changing Times

I moved to Zephyrhills at age thirteen,in 1955.In order to help feed my family, during the first few weeks,I pulled moss out of a 60 foot tall oak tree for 25 cents an hour,for an area new car dealer.The minimum wage was a dollar an hour then.I worked for similar wages for many other people in Zephyrhills.Most were retired.Most had lived through the depression and believed they were poor,no matter how much they had.Many were retired from good jobs and had excellent retirement, along with social security,yet they saw themselves as poor.I was not alone. Anyone else who worked by the hour,worked for nothing in Zephyrhills.Fees,taxes,utilities and wages have been artificially low in Zephyrhills,most of my life.In order to be elected,or hold any position of power one had to hold the line and continue the cheap haven for retirees in Zephyrhills.In recent years the demographics have changed drasticly,yet elected officials still tremble in fear when hearing the calls to continue "on the cheap".I am retired on social security alone.There is no young working family I want to cheat out of a just wage;not the city manager,not the cops,not the librarians,nor the guys on the garbage trucks.It wasn't right when I was a boy and it isn't right now.I particularly disagree with holding down the salary of those in midlevel management,because you think they'll stay anyway,because of their time invested,and that they're a little better off than they were.This has long been the situation in the police department.It may work,but it is patently unfair.This"government on the cheap and pass the cost on down to the grandkids"is a sickness. It is not necessary,and should not be the product of americans of good will. NPUBLICI Delbert W Allegood

Common Sense And Commendation

I applaud Cliff McDuffie,the mayor of Zephyrhills,for opposing a law which would make it much less likely to be able to control sexual predators,because of human nature.People don't obey laws which are unreasonable.I also applaud the mayor on revealing that he would veto the draconian measure,which had no merit,before there was any more time wasted on a do nothing law.There are things that the city council should be openly discussing,at length,which recieve a perfunctory glance,if any at all.I wish, also, to commend the wisdom and common sense of the council in rejecting the law.I applaud the city manager and city government members for paving sidewalks,at long last.Sidewalks are a measure of the soul of a city.Towns without sidewalks are for corporations and business,not for people.NPUBLICI Delbert W Allegood

Who do you represent?

Apparently,we need to provide a job description for the job of city council person,so that they will know how to do the job.Once they're elected,we seem to not hear from them,until the next election.One only hears that the elected has voted because of what he believes or what his friends or family believes.Once in awhile you'll hear that "the majority of the people of Zephyrhills" think or feel a certain way about an issue and you know that the council person hasn't walked one city block to discover any opinion, as they did when they were running for election.They have only talked to their close circle, who mostly agree with them ,and in truth,other opinions don't really matter.most of the time these council people find out that there is overwhelming, vehement disagreement to their stance only during a city council meeting,especially a second one.NPUBLICI Delbert W Allegood

Tampa Tribune reject

Letter to the editor,Tampa edition
It is long past the time in America when a public official,such as Rose Ferlita should be oblivious to the fact that renaming a street which runs through crime ridden ,blighted , highly commerce populated , and with a black neighborhood in order to “let the black people have THEIR hero honored and memorialized”is as much an insult to the memory of the sacrifices of the heros of the civil rights movement as it is an attempt to once again throw a bone to Americans with African in their bloodlines.
By now, these many years later ,there should have been several streets in new parts of Tampa named after those who sacrificed much and sometimes all in the cause for civil rights for ALL Americans. Are not there people of all colors in these new sections of Tampa? Don’t all Americans who are decent and have intelligence believe in racial equality? Is it still let the n-----s have their street in black town?-Still?
People of such stature as Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and many others,black and white ,who were courageous enough to take a righteous stand when they could have been killed deserve to be remembered with roads with beautiful vistas, big beautiful buildings with elaborate facade, parks of striking grandeur and proper, dignified remembrance by all of the people;for all of the people have benefited. All will continue to benefit.
Delbert W. Allegood
Zephyrhills , Fl. NOTE:Tampa has greatly increased in size and in
Nov3,05 new streets in recent years.

More sensible"Citizens" insurance

I propose that the state of Florida require, the insurance companies allowed to operate in the state,to provide documentation of definate areas, with legal definitions,which they actuarily determine as a risk and what the risk is.I further propose that the state of Florida add a fifty mile wide band to that boundry,encircling it,where possible. The properties within the fifty mile wide band would be allowed to buy insurance from "citizens",also.The insurance companies wouldn't have an effective argument against state competition,because of the proximity of the property in the band to their own determination of risk.It could, possibly,narrow their declared areas of high risk.This would provide capital to"citizens" from lower risk property.I believe a lower rate could be provided to everyone involved.The requirement that "Citizens" have premiums higher than any insurance company would,is insane."Citizens" rates should only reflect actuarial probability and expected event costs the same as any other insurance.The fact that insurance companies won't insure a property already nullifies the premise of government competition. Delbert W. Allegood npublici

Juxtaposed images of elitism and poverty

I know that Zephyrhills Florida is not the only place these things occur.I know that elitism is so common among the people we elect to office,that it has almost become acceptable, to permit government members to allow themselves to believe that they are better than the rest of us;simply because we elected them.We set a salary and benefits,according to the time,effort and expertise,to do the job.Upon being elected,The "public servants"then decide what they truely deserve,and start rewarding themselves for"all their hard work".In Zephyrhills,that would equal out to about twenty hours a month,unless you're dumb as a box of rocks or slow as molasses.Here in Zephyrhills,we have,quite a few,so called,part time employees.Ala bigbox commerce, we disenfranchise them,no insurance, no anything, but a low waged 32 hr week.It was recently pointed out,by Gina King,that some where along the line, city council members,although not employees of the city,had placed themselves on the full time employee insurance rolls.Since this was going on during an election period,it was decided by council that they would instead recieve half the benefit now,since they were'nt really qualified to be on the plan.No,we haven't heard any more about insurance for the young people,working part time, to fill full time needs.The third juxtapositioned item,is that of seeing contract street work done by people who,almost without doubt,were almost all, illegal workers from south America,while we are at the same time, disenfranchising Americans by calling them part time.Several times,while visiting the convience store next to where they were working,it became patently obvious that most of them knew at least three words of english.Delbert W Allegood npublici

Limiting lawyers, or limiting paid claims?

I'm not sure how it will work out, Or any of the details,but it seems the Florida legislature has authorized a mediation process for sinkhole claims.It probably will provide a little relief for people who cant't afford a lawyer.Other than that it will,likely,do little.It is difficult to take lawyers out of a legal process and sometimes unwise.I have yet to see preventative measures even mentioned.If a portion of the money collected by"Citizens"were furnished to city and county governments to facilitate and finance methods of prevention and equipment for testing and to provide a payout fund from counties and cities,possibilities of payout would be lowered.A situation where the home owner could opt to be bought out by citizens for heavily damaged homes,at the rate of retail value, related to tax value of the previous years taxes,would cause the home owner to insist on paying full taxes.It would cause counties to stay on top of tax valuations.Permits to build would, likely,require soil probes,soil compaction tests,core drills,closer inspections,or any number of these,and/or other determination methods.The state never should have started being in the insurance business;but now that we are,we should at least own the property we are paying for.Some sinkholes could be used as retention ponds,as they have been, for thousands of years.Some could be small parks. Large scale contractors should be paying into a fund which would pay out, when the root cause of settling/cracking is found to be contractor caused,as determined by arbitration.There should be no"whoops,sorry"it wasn't a natural sinkhole, so you just lose,to the homeowner.Delbert W Allegood npublici

Bushes E-mail to Vincinte Fox

Hey Vinnie! I'm gonna have to send 'em all home, if you sign that drug bill.That could work and then we'd have these people here, wanting to break down our wonderful drug law enforcement industry.We just can't have that.Delbert W Allegood npublici

Bogus "sinkhole" claims

Many of the payments made by "citizens" and other insurance groups, for sinkholes, are bogus claims.Certainly, it should not be a home owner, who has depended on the state ,to protect him from construction faults,who should take the loss. He should be,somehow,fully insured.There should be a fee based fund paid into, any time large amounts of earth are moved onto property.Large developers,who move earth in great quantities and bury debris are the most frequent offenders.Even large stemmed weeds and large amounts of grass can cause foundation cracking,because of uneven settling.In my area,I have seen farmers hold land on greenbelt,while they got free or low cost fill dirt from other construction excess.This fill would be dumped on top of topsoil {full of humus,which depletes},on top of weeds,small and great,sometimes,even small trees.In florida,farmers are allowed to bury many things on their property,which the rest of us would have to pay to dispose of in a safe manner.The farmer,can then sell the land at a higher price to developers.The developers have a harder time getting permits and fill is expensive,if you buy it when it is not construction excess.Quite often, large amounts of fill are dumped, with no packing done between loads.I believe that the homeowner should not suffer over the cause of settling,be it natural or construction caused.If the home is habitable,if repaired,then it should be repaired by the insurance company.Who finally is responsible, should be worked out afterward, between the insurors.Heavily damaged property, on the coast of Florida,due to storms, should be condemned and bought at the actual predamaged retail value,by the state.If it was built on the beach, it should have always, belonged to everyone,anyway.Our taxes,through citizens,should not restore folly, or merrily feed such a monster of greed.We should get something for our money,besides the knowledge that we have provided the rich with below market insurance, while sticking everyone else to do it.Delbert W Allegood npublici

It is definately time for a third party

The democrats did nothing when we wanted them to enforce our laws and protect us,because they are "all enclusive" any philosophy, any belief,any deviancy, any foreign interest,basicly anything in the interest of the few and against the many, of the citizens of the US.They also have been paid for by corporate money wanting cheap labor.Now the republicans have done nothing to relieve us, these many years and both parties are pretending it is an issue only recently come to their attention.Neither party has any credibility.It probably is an issue now,only because attention had to be diverted from Iraq.If attention stays there long enough,something would actually have to be done, besides sending working class young men to die.It is no secret,anywhere in the world, that the republican party is the party of the elite, and is the tool of the few hundred who own most of the world, through corporations.You may clip this and put it under just about any heading which involves corporate versus public interest,but the one this addresses is the purposeful prevention, by government,of enforcement of our immigration laws.Delbert W.Allegood npublici

Using Martin Luther Kings Name to further a cause against his people

It is not merely coincidence that young black men are standing on street corners and are in prisons in the state of Florida,with their children on the public dole,while millions of mexicans replace them in the workforce.How painful it must be to hear and see the name and famous words of Martin Luther King Jr being used in a cause which is grossly disenfranchising his people Delbert W. Allegood npublici http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

Coming to your state soon? Insurance cherry picking assistance from the state.

In the state of Florida,I believe the answer to high insurance costs is multifaceted.The basic underlying causes are greed and that elitist members of government feel that it is quite normal to force the general population to support the greed of their friends.The governmental insurance group"Citizens" was created by members of florida government to rebuild the vacation villas on the beaches after hurricanes,because they were such high risk that insurance was expensive.every one in Florida is assessed a percentage to pay for the losses of citizens when they pay for their homeowners insurance.this does not take into account how poor they are,how much care they took to buy inland, on high ground away from known problem areas,indeed, anything except that, they must have homeowners insurance.Florida is a state of porous limestone,with sand on top.Our water supply is in the lime rock.Floridas best also set up a water kingdom to control all the water supply in Florida.The first things they did, was to limit the farmers in the amount they could draw, then to drill huge well fields in a concentrated manner above the concentrated population areas.Clearwater,St Petersburg,Sarasota,Tampa and others.This causes "sinkholes" where the sand sinks into the porous limestone,vacated by the water.Not only is the water taken from under the feet of those in the countryside,it also must be cheap water,so the drilling of wells is not sufficiently dispersed.It is also harder to force drilling in new areas than to over pump the old. Permission is constantly given to over pump.These caused a great number of people to be dropped from the cherrypicking insurance companies and onto "Citizens" the states "last resort insurance".I do not believe that the people who created this agency ever dreamed that the common people would ever do anything but pay for the villas to be rebuilt.The insurance companies have better imaginations,and actuarial tables they keep current and secret.Because of the sink holes,a great number of the people of Pasco county{north of the cities}are paying several times their last years rate,on their ordinary, average little homes.Some are selling,some are living more cheaply(can you say catfood?}all are suffering.The owners of the villas,of course, are paying far below the commercial rate, instead of several times the rate like the common folk. This is not the whole picture,but a full page on the blog Delbert W Allegood