Keep Bridget Ziegler on School Board as reminder of Republican Party's hypocrisy

Retain Ziegler as symbol of GOP arrogance

During the public portion of the Jan. 16 Sarasota County School Board meeting, someone actually blamed the left and the media for trying to drive Bridget Ziegler from the School Board because she’s the only one who puts children first – with the added non sequitur that the LGBTQ+ lifestyle is an “abomination” and “perverted” (“Ziegler scandal dominates meeting,” Jan. 18 Herald-Tribune).

Opinion: Bridget Ziegler's replacement could be even worse

Logic aside – and while wondering what that citizen thinks of the priorities of the other members of the board – I will agree with the speaker on one point: I believe Ms. Ziegler should hold fast to her School Board seat.

To paraphrase that famous movie line uttered by Jack Nicholson: “We want her on that board. We need her on that board.”

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Every day Ziegler serves as a clear and transparent reminder of the arrogance and hypocrisy of her party, and for that we should thank her – and allow her to serve out the rest of her term.

David Cohen, Sarasota

Don’t fear knowledge: Feel free to read

As soon as I saw the headline, “A brand new chapter,” about the opening of the Lakewood Ranch Library, my first thought was, “I wonder how many books will be kept off those beautiful new shelves?”

Then I opened the paper and below the fold saw this headline: “Hundreds of books pulled from Fla. schools for review.”

When will the book banning begin at our local public libraries?

At least for now, folks with their library cards can still look at a dictionary.

The overseers are trying to make us fear knowledge. What century are we living in?

George Orwell put it well with this passage from his novel "1984," which was published in 1949: “Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing."

Jan Dorsett, Sarasota

Call on county to quash hotel on Siesta

I attended a Zoom meeting on the proposed Siesta Village megahotel with two questions to submit. Neither were answered, as was the case with many.

My main question was: “People will stay at this proposed hotel to go to the Sarasota County public beach. This beach is owned by the citizens of Sarasota County for their use and already shows signs of overload. Parking is next to impossible.

“Does your analysis of this proposal consider the ability of Sarasota County residents to find transportation means, parking and space at their Sarasota County beach?"

No pulling punches: Siesta Key residents strongly oppose new hotels on barrier island

Citizens of Sarasota County: Wake up and contact your commissioner to get this ridiculous proposal shut down and the current codes for Siesta Key density and intensity preserved to the benefit of all.

Frank Jurenka, Sarasota

Report on results of school choice

The state chose to experiment with our children with the movement to school choice. We taxpayers, including parents, want to know the effects of the change.

Therefore, I suggest publicly available monthly and yearly reports that include:

• How many students have returned to the public school system?

• How long have they been out of public schools?

• What school were they attending or were they homeschooled?

• Why did they return?

• What did grade level and discipline assessments indicate before leaving and upon return?

• What funding is returned to public schools upon the students’ return, and how quickly?

Issues such as these in the next elections will determine our future. Note that our local legislators didn’t offer us the opportunity to bring up our concerns.

After more than 100 of us presented our concerns last year with no results, Gov. Ron DeSantis got all he wanted, including limited financial transparency.

One must wonder who is working for us.

Vicki Nighswander, Sarasota

Plastics in bottled water could be harmful

Studies show that the average liter of water bottled in plastic contains nearly 250,000 pieces of microplastics and invisible nanoparticles of plastic (NPP).

Here's a question that must be asked: Do our bodies absorb and retain NPP?

That question is worth asking because we have found that fish store those particles in their flesh.

And here are more questions that must be asked:

• If absorbed and retained, are there any bad effects?

• Are the NPP created during the manufacturing process – and/or do they leech out over time?

• Are humans smart enough to stop using plastic bottles if NPP are bad for us?

• Or will manufacturers of plastic and bottlers of water convince us that there are no problems?

• If NPP are harmful, do we wait for water bottlers to switch to glass/aluminum?

• Or do we just have to ban plastic?

Bringing back deposits on cans and bottles would reduce the cost of those containers, reduce waste that is clogging landfills and give some people a source of revenue.

And what about soda bottles and gallon jugs of milk?

What about other types of plastics that are made into containers?

Babies should be absorbing nutrients, not plastics.

Rodger Skidmore, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Retain Ziegler as reminder of GOP arrogance