Developers don't care what Sarasota residents want - and the politicians don't either

Stop madness of overdevelopment in Sarasota

I have lived in Sarasota County for 10 years. The deterioration to the overall quality of life has been shocking.

Overdevelopment is at a crisis point. Threats to safety are abundant and constant.

I have not seen any law enforcement personnel doing traffic control since before COVID. What are the current staffing levels of the police and fire departments?

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The number of pedestrians and cyclists being hit by motor vehicles is tragic.

Get on U.S. 41 anywhere in Sarasota County over the next four or five months and you will experience the traffic issues firsthand.

The developers and commissioners in Sarasota County have to be held accountable.

County and city commissioners must stop the madness and serve the community. They took an oath to do that!

Michael Holtman, Venice

Zieglers loyal to Zieglers, not GOP

Is anyone surprised that Christian and Bridget Ziegler have chosen to remain in office, despite the entreaties of elected Republicans that they leave post haste?

Emergency meeting: GOP executive board censures Christian Ziegler but he refuses to resign

Could it be that, despite all that the Zieglers would seem to owe the Republican brand, they view this standoff as all about them rather than their party?

If so, then it would appear that they have learned more about how loyalty works in the MAGA world − as taught by former President Donald Trump − than have the people who put them in their current positions.

David Cohen, Sarasota

Republicans’ impeachment effort a stunt

Congressional Republicans are avoiding tough issues like agreeing on a budget and providing funding for the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East – but they have managed to pass a toothless resolution authorizing an impeachment inquiry.

Even their star witness, law professor Jonathan Turley, testified that there’s not enough evidence to impeach President Joe Biden, yet all congressional Republicans, including U.S Rep. Greg Steube of Sarasota, approved the measure.

This baseless impeachment stunt is no doubt intended to boost the presidential prospects of the leading Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump.

It’s important to remember that while Biden has overseen record job growth and unprecedented economic gains, Trump’s record includes two impeachments, an attempted reversal of the 2020 election, a civil conviction of sexual assault and 91 felony charges.

It’s difficult to understand why MAGA Republicans would take their orders from such an unfit person. It is imperative that we let our feelings on such matters be known at the ballot box.

Laurie Ulrop, Punta Gorda

No cease-fire while Israel threatened

Some Democratic politicians in Congress are calling on President Joe Biden to urge a cease-fire in Israel’s war for survival.

Would they have told President Abraham Lincoln, during the Civil War, to cease fire and try to work something out with the Confederacy instead of giving Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman permission to burn Atlanta to the ground and help end the war?

Or would they have told President Harry Truman to not drop the atomic bomb and have a chit-chat with Japan’s emperor, who had greenlighted attacking Pearl Harbor? Sadly, lots of civilians died then.

In both examples, America was attacked; the nation was threatened. So was Israel.

John M. Alexander, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Stop the overdevelopment madness in Sarasota County