Letters to the Editor: June 12, 2022
New ordinance will prohibit the sale of domesticated animals in pet stores
How our government conducts our business is more important than the decisions it makes. There is a sentiment amongst the electorate that the government works for the government — not the people. In politics, “perception is reality.”
For years, Martin County residents have had loud concerns about whether supplemental tax dollars have gone to the stated cause; residents have often admonished staff and commissioners alike for excessive cost overruns on bid projects, and as of late the proverbial bell has been rung about the use of consent agenda items for major decision-making processes.
In a nation that fashions itself as a government “of the people, by the people and for the people,” it has become clear that in Martin County: “the people” are limited to those either paid by tax dollars, or a beneficiary community partner thereof.
On June 7, the Martin County Board of County Commissioners approved a countywide ordinance that makes illegal the sale of domesticated pets (dogs, cats and rabbits) from “pet stores” in Martin County. With a six-month transition period, the two existing pet shops in the county will have to either transform their business model or simply fold up shop. A monopoly has been created in favor of “not- for-profit” animal service organizations for the sale of pets.
This ordinance was spurred at the request of several not-for-profits in Martin County; was crafted with considerable influence and direction of the Humane society (which has an $8.8 million contract to receive funds from the county), and most egregiously failed to include directly affected business owners in their planning stages.
Ironic how little effort was made to publicize this “public hearing,” when the public would likely support the idea.
Though this ordinance may be (questionably) legal, its provenance is morally wrong.
Mike Syrkus, Palm City
IRC school board member Rosario takes hits for raising difficult issues
I’ve heard it said that you know you’re over the target when you’re in other people’s crosshairs. It appears Indian River County school board member Jackie Rosario must be spot-on. It’s very uncomfortable taking incoming flak, but when you’re a strong individual, confident in your principles and faith, you can weather any storm and be stronger for it.
While her fellow board members sit comfortably by unscathed, Jackie takes the hits from another local publication. The reporting seems to please the other board members; they fit right in.
Typically, many members of our community are concerned about the national education scene when it comes to critical race theory and pornography in schoolbooks, diminishing parent involvement on every aspect of students’ health and education, co-ed bathrooms and locker rooms and co-ed competitive sports. But those topics are ignored or downplayed by the school board.
Until this was brought to our attention by Jackie, the school district superintendent was all in and has received little to no challenge from the comfortable school board members. For Teri Barenborg, who struggles to find a soft, happy medium, it’s difficult knowing where to stand during election time.
It’s time for parents, residents and taxpayers to take these matters seriously before we don’t recognize our amazing community any more.
Chris Kebbel, Sebastian
Port St. Lucie’s trash problem is not merely unsightly, it's dangerous
As a rising freshman in high school, I am deeply concerned with the amount of garbage left unattended in Port St. Lucie. Garbage trucks rarely come by any more, leaving us with trash cans filled to the brim. The average American outputs 32 pounds of trash a week. That is 128 pounds of trash weekly from a family of four. With the rocky pickup schedule, we are left with all our garbage piling up.
Not only is it unsightly, it is also dangerous. A smooth garbage collection schedule is one of the reasons diseases spread less easily. Issues such as the passing tropical storm also cause concern about trash bins falling over, resulting in streets coated with the garbage we produce. Spilled garbage also leads to pests, rodents, and other critters emerging from the wild, lured out by our waste.
Jakob Dobrin, Port St. Lucie
Compassion for the woman and the child: We can learn from history
In Ponta Delgada in the Azores there is a Roman Catholic nunnery. In the back of this 16th century nunnery is a spinning room. It’s not really a room. It’s more like a covered alleyway with a wooden box in the back wall of the nunnery where women could place their newborns in the box without being seen and spin the baby to the nuns for their care.
Five centuries later, I think we can learn from how the Azoreans dealt with unwanted pregnancies. As a society, we need to care for a child that the mother chooses not to keep.
As a Christian I assume God has as much concern for the woman who seeks to abort a child as for the aborted child. My wife and I lost our second child at birth. At 4 in the morning when our baby was struggling, the medical team failed to check for conflicting Rh blood types until the baby became brain-dead. The doctor apologized.
I believe the God who created the universe and who, we are told in the Old Testament, knows the baby even before the baby is born, is fully capable of caring for our second son and an aborted baby. I also believe that God also is compassionate and forgiving of women who decide to abort their baby. We too as a society need to be similarly compassion and kind to women who feel they need to abort their babies. But more importantly, we need to provide a spinning room where the privacy of women is respected and we as a society care for the babies.
Stanford Erickson, Vero Beach
To stop massacres, schools must identify dangerous young men earlier
I see an example of feel-good legislation being thrust upon a concerned, yet naïve public. We are all know the Gun Free School Zone Act of 1994 is the deciding factor here. A crazed, evil young male (in the Uvalde case) is not the issue. Crazies will steal guns, use another method, etc. But knowing no one in schools is armed gives them a cloak of safety (as in Sandy Hook, Parkland and the latest in Texas).
As the left attacked religion and family structure by removing God and prayer from schools, increased the number of males living in "single-parent households," usually meaning "no father present" (credit the welfare departments, the MeToo movement and so forth).
No, the problem is obviously not guns. "Something is rotten in Denmark," as the old saying goes. It is, indeed, rotten when disturbed young males feel safe to enter a gun-free zone to kill. Schools must pinpoint these males when younger — in elementary grades — and evaluate, diagnose and prescribe the special education services and social/emotional support required.
Only then will we put a stop to school massacres like Sandy Hook, Parkland and now Texas.
Audrey Taggart, Hobe Sound
President Biden’s mistakes have led to one costly crisis after another
On President Biden's first day in office, he canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, stopped new drilling leases on federal lands, and tightened regulations on U.S. oil companies. These and subsequent sanctions dramatically reduced the domestic supply of oil and natural gas. Meanwhile, Congress poured unneeded funds into the economy with no audit to make sure that the payments were spent properly. The results were an increase in demand with an untold amount of waste (and immeasurable fraud). Reduced supply; increased demand. What does this lead to? Economists Democratic Larry Summers and Republican Larry Kudlow sent out inflation warnings in early 2021.
Now the president and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen are blaming inflation and high energy prices on Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, price-gouging by oil companies and anything else except themselves. No, Mr. President, you and your advisers started it all.
In February 2022, Abbott Labs. the major manufacturer of baby formula in the U.S., self-reported a problem at its plant and voluntarily recalled potentially contaminated product. Shortly thereafter, Abbott reported that they had cured the problem. But the FDA did not did not allow the plant to reopen until June 4, apparently because they didn't have the staff available to inspect it. The result — a shortage of baby formula nationwide. Is there any pre-planning? Or must we have crisis after crisis?
The mistakes keep coming. Afghanistan, excessive spending on COVID-19, prospective spending for Build Back Better, new restrictive regulations, the southwest border, proposed tax increases, surging gas prices, woke training for kids, rising interest rates, crime in the cities, rising drug overdoses, prospective food shortages.
Take the responsibility, Mr. President. Stop doubling down on what hasn't worked. Plan ahead and concentrate on what will work. We need more leadership and less politics.
Tom Miller, Vero Beach
Elections do have consequences, but not always for the better
President Obama famously said that “elections have consequences.” Sen. Chuck Schumer said that if the Democrats control the Senate, the House, and the presidency they “will fundamentally change the U.S” (they do, and they have!). They now control everything. How is that working out?
The first thing President Biden did upon taking office was cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline (thus throwing thousands of workers out of work), and enacting hundreds of new laws and regulations that hindered oil and gas production in the United States. This was the first step in the Green New Deal that started inflation spiraling upward. This to pay off those few in his party that got him elected. Next, Biden stopped the migration policies (and wall) that Donald Trump enacted to keep illegal immigration to a trickle (now a flood!). This to satisfy the small “No Borders” wing of his party. Not once did he consider what the American people wanted.
The major cities in our country are controlled by Democrats. How is that working out? Crime is out of control! Murder, robbery, car theft, and every other aspect of crime is up substantially from years before. Yet, Black Lives Matter pushes for defunding the police, and Biden won’t confront them either.
His hand on the Bible, Biden swore an oath to uphold, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of this country. He has violated every one of those commitments. If that’s not an impeachable offense, I can’t imagine what would be. When Republicans regain the House and Senate after the November election, I hope they will push for impeachment with the same vigor the Democrats did when Trump was in office. Biden might not even be in office by then, but inflation will still be raging.
Wig Sherman, Vero Beach
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Letters to the Editor: June 12, 2022
