Friday's letters: Media bias, split opinions on single-member districts, school success

Critical CPAC story shows paper’s bias

As usual, the Herald-Tribune uses its bully pulpit to mock and deride the claims of those attending the Conservative Political Action Conference, claiming “False fraud claims find audience at CPAC” (Feb. 26).

The fact is that there are millions of people who truly feel that the election of 2020 had multiple problems –including ballot harvesting, mail fraud and other shenanigans – going on in certain liberal cities that to this day are still under investigation.

If the election was not “stolen,” then it was certainly manipulated in many ways to obtain a certain outcome. The Herald-Tribune takes every opportunity to shoot down anything said by Republicans, including our local Republican leaders, showing that the paper is indeed not fair and balanced.

More: How to send a letter to the editor

Throwing in a column by a conservative writer once in a while just doesn’t cut it. Shame on the Herald-Tribune and its far-left staff.

Paige Farr, Sarasota

Sarasota: One county, indivisible

In response to: “What to know about March 8 Sarasota County referendum on how to elect commissioners,” Feb. 26.

The article is well-balanced and provides an informative summary of the main points on both sides, but at least one important question has been absent from the debate as a whole: Are we truly five distinct areas, each with its own unique vision for Sarasota County, or are we one county with a shared vision for the future?

I live in District 4, my children attend school in District 1, I shop and dine in Districts 1, 2, 3 and 4, and I go to the beaches in Districts 2, 3, 4 and 5.

So, for me, my life in Sarasota has nothing to do with arbitrary districts. My vote is for one county.

Ofer Eckstein, Sarasota

Keep the power, keep single districts

It’s a simple story: In 2018, an overwhelming 60% of us voted to have our own single-member board districts – a political landslide.

Now the “Sarasota County Establishment” has decided that all of us were wrong, that we shouldn’t be allowed to directly elect our own local representatives.

And they’re making us vote on the issue all over again. They want us, the voters, to voluntarily hand this power back to the County Commission – a clear case of “Voter Castration.”

The reality is that 60% of us were absolutely right: Single-member districts work just fine and we need to keep them.

The county wants to take a giant step backward and allow people in Englewood, for instance, to vote on who should represent people in North Sarasota on the county board (and vice versa). This makes no sense whatsoever.

When we directly elect our own representatives in our own districts, we keep the power to hold each of them accountable for how they voted. The county wants us to give up that power.

Join thousands and thousands of your friends and neighbors in Sarasota to stop this shameless power grab by the county.

Vote "No" on No. 2.

Pete Tannen, Sarasota

Focus news coverage on what matters

How can you decide to put stories about “The curious case of Oriole the cat” and “How will we get European visitors back to Florida?” on the front page Feb. 28 when the Legislature is methodically stripping away the rights of Florida’s citizens and attempting to change history by pretending things didn’t happen – or that they are too nasty to think about?

For crying out loud, do your job and report the news – good and bad.

Alan Hopkins, Sarasota

Successful schools need respectful students

“Working as one for the success of all” is the vision statement Superintendent of Schools Brennan Asplen explained in a comprehensive article about how well our schools and teachers are performing.

We should all be proud of schools maintaining the “A” rating and all the efforts to accomplish this grade.

But, there is one element not included in the vision – student obligation. Our schools, especially high schools, have many disrespectful students. Those who disrupt the class, are rude to the teachers, do not obey the rules and speak crudely and inappropriately when questioned.

They seem to be increasing in numbers since the pandemic.

Teachers are having these problems daily. Discipline is needed, and there should be a strong understanding in all our schools that rules are to be obeyed.

This vision statement from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel chain comes to mind: “Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen.” Perhaps the school district statement should be, “Respectful students learning from respected teachers.”

We need to get a handle on this rise in disrespectful students. As we vote to renew the schools tax, we should inform the kids that they have a part in this as well.

You can still be a kid, but be a respectful one – to your teacher, elders and others, and we all will be successful.

Carole Nikla, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Paper mocks conservatives, opinions split on single-member vote