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Bonita Today: No rest for the code enforcement department

By CHUCK CURRY (Contact)

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Even though the Bonita Springs home of Spectrum home furnishings has closed, there is still no rest for the code enforcement department. Yet, while the department remains busy, there are those signs whose owners have actually followed city rules.

One was at the Comfort Inn at Michigan Street and Bonita Beach Road.

The establishment had a sign stretched between two trees (facing westbound traffic) that announced all rooms have been renovated.

A check with the city shows the Comfort Inn applied for and received permission for the sign. They did it the right way.

As to the length of time approved for the sign, I cannot say.

The day after my call to code enforcement, the sign was gone after a number of weeks in place.

• • •

On another note, I couldn't help but notice a couple of weeks ago that a Lee County public schools official appeared on the national "Today" show on NBC-TV.

Joe Donzelli, the district's spokesman, was talking about hand sanitizers and why they have been banned from Lee classrooms. The national report on New England Journal of Medicine was backed up with the local WBBH-TV (NBC-2) video of Donzelli from its own report on Jan. 10.

You know the sanitizers. They usually are packaged in clear bottle with a pump top. You pump some onto your hands and, viola, no more germs.

Well, there's a bigger issue in play for Lee County schools.

Donzelli says that any product with the "keep out of reach of children" on its warning label is verboten in Lee classrooms.

It isn't just hand sanitizer. It is bleach. It can be a cleaning solution such as Windex. It can even be latex balloons (some children are allergic to latex). It goes down to food brought in the classroom (do those brownies have peanuts?).

Donzelli says the district attempts to make sure no hazardous material is intentionally or unintentionally introduced to the classroom: It is not just local policy, but is mandated by state law.

In Collier County, officials say the district does not purchase such products, but students and teachers can bring them into classrooms.

The national media report, backed up by an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, put the spotlight on hand sanitizers. The alcohol content is high, these groups say, and there is a potential that a youngster could be harmed by ingesting the solution.

Duh. It is so basic, it sounds ridiculous. Drink sanitizer and become ill? Who would have guessed? Only someone with even marginal intelligence.

Which student would intentionally ingest hand sanitizer?

Well, the same could be said for a variety of household chemicals that some use as a drug. Still, it sounds a bit strange.

Why not put a glop of sanitizer on kindergartners' hands as they come in from playground?

Many would believe only a fool would think that a child would intentionally swallow hand sanitizer. Nearly all would be proved right.

However, Donzelli gets right to the heart of the matter:

"The issue of hand sanitizer ... is just not an issue," he says, adding that it is chemicals overall that drive the ban.

"We have to think of what best for all 80,000 students," Donzelli says of policy that bans many substances from classrooms, not just hand sanitizers.

Is it a perfect policy? Certainly not.

You'll likely find sanitizer in some classrooms today and Donzelli says he does not recall any case of sanitizer being abused or unintentionally ingested.

Does the policy makes sense?

Well, it is basically silly (for the most part), but the underlying issue offers a formidable foundation of a logical argument.

Yet, excuse me while I get some sanitizer.

• • •

Speaking of Donzelli, apparently his schedule nears the Homeland Security level of secrecy.

A call to his office early this past week could not elicit the answer to the question, "When is the latest I can call for Mr. Donzelli?"

I couldn't get an answer.

Apparently such information is at the level of Red on Homeland Security.

Unfortunately, the office staff must have believed that if they said 4:30 p.m., then Donzelli would sound like someone leaving early. If they said 6 p.m. and he wasn't available, then that would be just as bad.

Luckily, I caught up with Donzelli later in the week and actually got an answer to "what is a good time to call back."

The Homeland Security level for Donzelli must now be at a lower level.

Contact Staff Writer Chuck Curry at 213-6043 or by e-mail at cecurry@bonitanews.com.