Letters to the editor: Postcard on Gainesville mayoral candidate Ed Bielarski is deceptive

Letters to the editor present the opinions of readers on news stories and other pieces published by The Sun.

Deceptive postcard

The Democrats sent out a deceptive postcard against Ed Bielarski during the August non-partisan mayoral campaign. Checking their references, one finds it actually highlighted Bielarski’s accomplishments and integrity as a human being. Here are their claims vs. the facts:

Taking “Right-Wing PAC money”: Bielarski received $500 from a PAC but donated it to a charity for needy Gainesville Regional Utilities customers, matching it with his own money.

“Raised your GRU bills”: The City Commission (Harvey Ward) votes on and approves the GRU rates. Bielarski helped lower base rates by eliminating the $2.1 billion biomass non-purchase contract in exchange for the $750 million purchase.

“Opposing rooftop solar”: GRU limits individual solar installations to 2 MW (300 times typical residential rooftop solar array), protecting our electrical grid.

“Dumping toxic coal ash”: This harkens back to late 1990s when Bielarski was winning awards from the Environmental Protection Agency for creative solutions to handling coal-fired plant effluents.

“Fighting the city’s Covid vaccine push and spreading right-wing misinformation”: Bielarski simply did his job, informing the commission that a vaccine mandate would (and did) have dire consequences to providing essential services, resulting in high staff vacancy rates at the Gainesville Police Department, Gainesville Fire Rescue and the line crews at GRU.  

Thanks, Dems!

Gary Ihas, Gainesville

More letters to the editor:

Hurricane Ian showed 'mind boggling' GOP hypocrisy on climate change

New solutions needed for Gainesville's massive cat population

Single-member districts could make officials earn votes in district

Contrast in character

In this time of unprecedented destruction and devastation in Florida we should remember that our governor, Ron DeSantis, one day after taking his congressional seat in 2013, voted against aid to the victims of Hurricane Sandy calling the bill "fiscally irresponsible."

The bill passed in a 354 to 67 vote, which included scores of reasonable and empathetic Republicans. DeSantis wasn't one of them.

Now he comes calling for Democratic President Joe Biden for help. He'll get it from one of the most empathetic and caring presidents the country has ever had. What a contrast in character.

Hal Cohen, High Springs 

Foolish decisions

I have always thought our government was incompetent at all levels. But it never ceases to amaze me that some of the same people who brought you the biomass plant and have drained the life blood out of GRU for years are still in power.

I wonder if all those complaining about the cost of utilities are the same ones that voted for these politicians. I give some blame to the media. The Sun should have taken a stronger stand against the reelection of these politicians

It is small consolation to learn that western Europe is managed by the same incompetents. Here is a triangle of foolish decisions made recently.  

They outlawed fracking, cut down on oil exploration and refused to build liquified gas terminals. They went off the deep end by spending millions on green energy and driving up the cost of electricity to near unbearable is some areas, Worst of all, against all advice, they decided to buy Russian energy.

Of course, they had to decide between two unreliable suppliers of energy: the USA and Russia. After Joe Biden’s election, Europe probably is thinking it wouldn’t have made a difference which provider they choose.

Jonathan Berger, Gainesville

Sanctuary hypocrisy

"A place of refuge or protection" is Webster's definition of the word "sanctuary." A number of American cities/states have declared themselves to be official sanctuaries for immigrants who enter our country without permission. Yet it seems as though the leaders of these sanctuaries are far from thrilled when they find a number of these non-Americans have actually arrived in their hometowns.

Instead of instantly providing for the needs of these surprise visitors, these "leaders" scream and yell about the way in which these individuals have come to be where they are, as though that really matters. Perhaps these places are sanctuaries in name only.

Claiming compassion does make for good "advertising." Or, perhaps it's more about a different Webster definition: "a pretending to be what one is not." You know — hypocrisy. (There seems to be a lot of that going around. Perhaps a vaccine is called for.)

Leonard C. Young, Keystone Heights 

Popular president

According to Nate Silver’s 538’s average of the latest polls of registered voters, President Biden’s popularity stands at 43.5%. It is logical to assume that Trump’s base, estimated at 20% of the U.S. population over 18 years of age, automatically answer "disapprove" when asked in a survey if they approve or disapprove of Biden. This means 80% of that population produced the 43.5% Biden approval rating.

If we divide 43.5% by 80.0%, we get 54.3% as the Biden approval rating non-Trump base members had to vote to offset Trump’s base’s disapproval vote.

Conclusion: President Biden’s approval rating among non-Trump base registered voters is higher than he gets credit for. He is a popular president among the majority of registered voters

Larry Jaffe, Gainesville

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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Letters on Gainesville mayoral candidate Ed Bielarski, DeSantis, Biden