Friday's letters: Reject three-story parking garage at St. Regis resort
Parking garage a bad fit for Longboat
We think that the St. Regis resort will be an amazing place and a big plus for our beloved Longboat Key. We are shocked, however, at the possibility of the town government approving a three-story parking garage right on Gulf of Mexico Drive, or anywhere on the island for any reason.
I think we can all agree that the garage is not in keeping with the charm that is literally everywhere on Longboat Key, differentiating us from other islands.
Related: See how construction is going at St. Regis
More: How to send a letter to the editor
We believe that the St. Regis owners knew they were going to want this garage from the beginning – but also knew that if it were part of the original proposal, it would have been vetoed.
We hope that this garage is shut down because it is aesthetically wrong for Longboat Key, and I know there are other ways to accommodate the needed parking.
Please do not allow this precedent-setting three-story garage to be built.
Todd and Libby Rieke, Longboat Key
Don't abandon hurting children
I was one of those kids who felt lost and alone. My parents had rigid ideas of gender and sexuality. But I was different. I had a deep, gnawing sense of freakishness.
No one helped me understand why. No schoolteachers or principals acknowledged the existence of boys like me. No pastors or youth leaders helped me understand who I was.
So I strapped myself to the expectations of others. I went to a Christian college, got married and raised children.
I made it work for a long time from sheer force of will. Until I couldn’t anymore. Until I could no longer deny my inner sense of abandonment and desperation.
When we don’t allow teachers to affirm gay and trans students, we abandon hurting children. We consign them to a life of hidden desperation.
We hurt the people we marry. We lie to them about reality.
Political leaders who shame children and shackle teachers are on the wrong side of history. Yes, they’ll get some votes in the short run, some immediate gratification. But their legacy will be tarnished by their bigotry and by the harm they do to children who are different. Children like me.
Steven Phillips, Sarasota
If Trump repeats, goodbye to US leadership
Should Donald Trump survive his legal challenges, there is a reasonable probability that he will be our next president. He claims to be the only person who can prevent World War III.
That said, the following road map becomes clear:
1. He must solve the funding of Social Security and Medicare. He will do so without reducing benefits or raising taxes, both politically dangerous.
2. A number of prominent Republicans have said we cannot afford to give Ukraine a blank check in our support of its struggle with Russia. Goodbye, Ukraine.
3. Trump is no friend of NATO. Should he come to an accommodation with China’s Xi Jinping over Taiwan, that may resolve tensions with China.
Should these actions take place, you can say goodbye to our self-proclaimed leadership of the free world. History will then recognize our rebuilding of Europe and Japan after World War II as America’s finest hour. How sad.
Ronald F. Cota, Sarasota
Board fails students by banning SEL
I recently learned the School Board has effectively banned social emotional learning from our schools.
SEL is a globally emerging approach to education where students develop the ability to understand themselves, build healthy relationships and make good decisions. There is nothing scary about it, other than possibly self-awareness!
In March, the board suspended the SEL program and then, lo and behold, decided to go with Florida first lady Casey DeSantis’ resiliency toolkit. I’m not politically savvy, but I have to wonder why the board selected her nascent program over SEL programs with decades of data supporting their efficacy.
More: School Board chair calls character education a "distraction"
Might it be a little thank-you to the governor for his endorsements of board members in last year’s election?
The School Board and, apparently, the entire state Department of Education are confused. SEL has nothing to do with critical race theory or gender identity or woke ideology. It’s all about self-awareness, self-management, social awareness (not indoctrination!), relationship skills and responsible decision-making.
How could any of those skills endanger our children?
One can only hope that the new superintendent has the emotional intelligence to recognize we are failing our students by banning SEL from our schools.
Miriam Snyder, Sarasota
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Reject parking garage at St. Regis LBK; help hurting children
