Letters to the editor for Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Letters to the editor should be 250 words or less. Include your name and city or community of residence. Guest opinions should be 600 words or less and include a brief summary of the author’s credentials relevant to the topic. Guest opinions may include a head shot of the author. For the Fort Myers News-Press, email submissions to mailbag@news-press.com and for the Naples Daily News to letters@naplesnews.com

Common sense idea

Have you ever heard of a Collier County commissioner actually wanting to put a one year moratorium on new applications for land use plan amendments? Private parties (developers) want these amendments to change the zoning of the present Growth Management Plan in order to increase density for their area of interest.Burt Saunders (District 3 commissioner) proposed this moratorium on December 12, 2023 at the regular meeting of the Collier County Commission. He wanted to have an evaluation first of how the increase in traffic on Immokalee Road from I-75 eastward to Oil Well Road and on Vanderbilt Beach Road eastward to its current end will be affected. Commissioner Saunders wants implementation of traffic improvements before decisions are made on the amendments. What a logical and common sense idea.An important meeting will be held for county residents on January 23 at 5 p.m. to give needed support to the moratorium and learn about the traffic funding issues and other related topics. Let your commissioner know your thoughts. The meeting will be held in Suite 303 on the third floor of the Administration Building at the Collier County Administrative Services Government Center.It is important to show up and support this moratorium. Two commissioners actually voted against even having a meeting for the residents! The developers must be ready to go. Know how your commissioners vote! It will make a difference.Tim Diegel, Naples

Clean water petition

It may be a new year, but the water issues in Florida remain. Over-development, fertilizer and septic runoff have degraded our water quality and diminished our sea grasses. The health of our manatees and aquatic life is impaired. Thanks to the hard work of hundreds of volunteers, close to 100,000 Florida voters signed a petition in 2023 asking for a constitutional right to clean and healthy waters in Florida. We need almost 900,000 signatures to get a petition on the ballot, so this will not happen in 2024.But we remain undaunted. You will soon see notices of upcoming fundraising and awareness-raising events. We hope to have another petition available for signatures in February. If you signed it before, please do so again. If you didn't sign it the first time, now is your chance. Every citizen of Florida deserves the right to clean and healthy waters. We do not have this right now. We can change that on the 2026 ballot, but we need your help and most of all your signature if a registered Florida voter. For info: floridarighttocleanwater.org. Contact: LeeRighttoCleanWater@gmail.com.

Mary Tracy Sigman, Fort Myers

Alzheimer's Disease legislation

During the 2024 Florida legislative session, it is imperative that SB 208/HB 801 pass into law.  These establish a continuing education program on Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias for our law enforcement officers.  This program will provide information about behaviors, and how to communicate with people suffering, with the goal of calming the situation and avoiding restraints.

We are fortunate in Collier County to have a registry available through our local sheriff's office. This is due to 2023 legislation, and is an important first step. However, more is needed. We need to ensure that all law enforcement officers have the training and resources they need to properly handle a situation involving an individual with Alzheimer's disease.

I am a long time volunteer with and advocate for the Alzheimer's Association. Alzheimer's Disease has not spared my family. And for the past 50 years I have worked to improve the lives of the diagnosed and their care partners, sometimes on a personal level and often on a mission level.

I am asking Representative Lauren Melo to co-sponsor this critical bill, in support of the 580,000 Floridians diagnosed and living with this awful disease and their hundreds of thousands of care partners.

Patricia Gibbs, Naples

Democracy's destruction

Recently I read a letter wherein the writer agreed with the action by judges in Colorado and the secretary of State in Maine to keep Trump off the ballot. The writer believed that potential Trump voters needed to be protected from themselves. Believing that government must protect the people from themselves is the true beginning of democracy's destruction.

James Thomas, Bonita Springs

Pro-choice amendment

Abortion rights advocates in Lee County and all around Florida have officially collected enough signatures to put a pro-choice amendment on the ballot in November.Signatures came from everyone and everywhere, proving once again this is not a Republican or Democratic issue — it’s about freedom, health care, and safety, No woman and no doctor should fear imprisonment over abortion care. No woman or mother should face death because she can’t get proper care. That’s what this fight is about, and that’s why we will win.”

Geri Gallagher, Estero

Marco water quality

“Downstream” water quality improvement projects attempt to mitigate the “impacts” of pollution. This is where most of Florida money is spent to “improve” water quality. Same for Marco Island. Marco water quality improvement projects attempt to treat the impact of pollution, and do not address the root cause. As one example, $17,000,000 for the San Marco Road culverts will not reduce any sources of pollution. Downstream projects are easy – there are no special interests to oppose the projects. Just taxpayers who do not understand what is going on. Gives the appearance of doing something with “Other People’s Money (OPM).”

“Upstream” water quality improvement projects reduce or eliminate the actual sources of pollution. These projects reduce nutrient inputs to the ecosystems from the actual sources of pollution including agriculture and sewage treatment plants. Upgrading the Marco sewage treatment plant to reduce nutrient pollution is an example of an upstream project. These projects are a benefit to the environment. Upstream projects are hard – the special interests complain and make the politician's life difficult. Nothing is accomplished. This is the Florida problem.

When the City of Marco Island is accused of doing “nothing” to improve water quality on the island, this refers to an absence of “upstream” pollution reductions. The city responds by saying that they are implementing “many” projects to improve water quality. Of course, the city is referring to “downstream” projects, where there are no actual pollution reductions.

Reducing nutrients at the source is more cost effective and efficient than restoring ecosystems after they have been impacted by nutrients. Politicians feel the need to appear to be doing “something” about water quality, even though they are actually doing nothing at all. The public does not understand the difference.

Eugene Wordehoff, Ian McKeag, Collier Citizens Council

Cape council stipends

Three cheers for the Republican party. The Republican Party taking on the moral issue of how the Cape Coral council and mayor got a a doubling of salary with the back pay for already time worked is a great start.

The moral issue is great that the party took notice and is planning on taking whatever action they can to keep these folks off the ballot for re-election. But for those of us that were elected to any office in Florida and carried around the Government-In-The Sunshine Manual from The First Amendment Foundation we know that this is not just a moral issue. Looking over the the manual tells us that all staff and those working are ministerial workers and can only follow the the orders directed from the council and mayor. There are no other marching orders allowed. Staff and the attorneys cannot make up stipends and how much the council members get paid. Period. Also staff and the attorney cannot figure out that the council members and mayor deserve back pay for old work that they took on in October, November and December.

So if staff and the attorney cannot determine back pay and stipends who determined it?  Someone wrote it up and obviously all the council members and the mayor knew about it. So how did all this happen behind close doors?

That question begs to be answered by our local State Attorney’s Office.

I would offer up that if the state attorney doesn’t get involved with all these civil issues that are going on in the Cape Council and mayor, that the state attorney also be added to the Republican list of folks not supported in the next election.

The sunshine needs to come back into our government.

Leo Amos, Matlacha

Border policy

There is a single and overwhelming reason why Biden should not seek or be elected to a second term as president: The southern border crisis. It has been documented that since January 2021 there have been 8 million illegal immigrants crossing our southern border into the United States. And that’s the number that has been counted. No one knows how many others came into our country during the past three years. And the composition of these illegal migrants is additional cause for alarm. Historically migrants have come from Venezuela (failed economy), Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador ( gang and drug lord wars ) and more recently from the Middle East and Europe. Many U.S. cities such as New York and Chicago have begged the Biden administration to stop the migration as they are unable financially and physically to handle the migrants. In addition, many caught by U.S. Customs and Border Protection have proven to be criminals and/or terrorists. It is not productive to compare the Trump and Biden border policies. Illegal migration at our southern border increased during the final months of the Trump presidency. Very productive would be a significant change in the current administration’s border policy to make it much more difficult for asylum seekers and massive tides of illegal migrants to cross into our country. Three thousand shipping containers formed a wall in Arizona and brought on a lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Dept. Bundles of razor wire installed in Texas as a deterrent brought a Biden administration order for the Border Patrol agents to cut the wire fencing. Fed up, the border states have taken the illegal migration problem into their own hands only to be met with severe opposition from the Biden administration the latest manifestation of which is Biden asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a federal appeals court order barring federal agents from cutting the razor wire in Texas. Finally, as he returned from St. Croix the president was asked about the border crisis and he responded, “. . . Congress won’t give me the money to handle the border.” Ridiculous!  The policy of a wide open border must be changed and Biden simply refuses.

Read McCaffrey, Naples

Republican follies

Is gas prices keep going down Chevron will have to lay off 270 Republicans in Congress. The "absolute immunity" claim by Trump's lawyers is so asinine even Rudy is laughing. So if a president sells secrets to an enemy or shoots and kills someone he can't be prosecuted. Why did Gerald Ford pardon Richard Nixon? Trump's attorneys make My Cousin Vinny look like Clarence Darrow. When asked about slavery Nikki Haley refused to mention slavery and Trump told his followers the Civil War should have been negotiated. These are the same people who pushed the Birther Hate so it's clear that to win the Republican nomination you have to pander to white grievance and promote the Great Replacement Theory. Oh, and defend Confederate symbols of slavery while, with a straight face, insisting you are the party of Lincoln.

Happy J6 days Republicans.

Bill Linehan, Naples

Intimidating influence

Some of my friends, family and clients have told me they support my Democratic ideals and the sincere belief that former President Trump should never be our president again because of his anti-democratic ideals.

But they also say they would never be so reckless to wear a Democrats Care T-shirt or have Democratic bumper stickers on their car or truck and I completely understand. Some of these friends, family and clients are Republicans and some are Democrats. Some of them own businesses which might be hurt if they alienate their customers that might disagree with their politics, I understand. They don't want their car or truck vandalized because they show their support of a candidate, I understand. They won't put a candidate's yard sign in front of their home because their home might be vandalized, I completely understand. However, what the people that would vandalize, intimidate or take their business elsewhere don't understand is they can't change their right to vote in free and fair elections privately and without any intimidating influence. They will not be swayed from their convictions and their constitutional right to chose the candidate that they believe will serve WE THE PEOPLE and not the party or themselves.

John Mark Simon, Cape Coral 

Trump appeals to base instincts

The Trump that Evangelicals are adoring is 4 years old. They don't get it. We are lost if Trump succeeds in reclaiming the Oval Office. He wants to demolish the Constitution, roll women's rights back to the dark ages, and thinks it's cool to cheat on your wife. His supporters love him because he mirrors exactly who they are, tells them it's great to have no morals. He appeals to their basest instincts. Only 10% of the world population has any smarts at all. I am sorry to say I think they all live here in the U.S. I am in awe of the way Trump postures for the camera. Watch it. It's zoo time.Harriet Stanton-Leaffer, Matlacha

DeSantis' positives

A mailbag writer recently ask why this paper never said anything good about Governor DeSantis. I'm not sure what the answer is, but I thought I could provide some positives just to cheer up that depressed person.

DeSantis brought millions of Floridians to the Republican Party, creating a solid red state in just four years. He went from winning in 2018 by 32,000 votes to winning in 2022 by over 1.5 million votes.

Furthermore, among the large states, we are number one in economic growth and have the lowest per capita state tax and state debt burdens.

Most important to me was his promise that there would be no open borders!  He will enforce our immigration laws and deport illegal immigrants.

He seems to know how to get things done. Perhaps it's because he's a Navy veteran. He's also a family man − married and has three children. Last, but certainly not least, he's handsome − and I hope all this cheers up the disappointed writer.

Jan Ganter, Fort Myers

Our governor

A letter writer was upset that The News-Press only prints negativity about our governor. Well let’s look on the bright side. You can now purchase guns without training or license. Books that are deemed unsuitable, especially the classics, are removed from libraries. We are leading the nation in home and auto insurance rates. He’s eliminated union dues check offs for teachers, breaking the back of their union. As a right to work state they can be fired at whim. Ronny subscribed to the it’s not really a pandemic response pushing alternative meds. He’s arrested released prisoners who were told they could vote but were nabbed by a Catch-22 for voting. He’s established a personal military force that can be used for? He’s made it impossible for undocumented farm and service workers to remain in Florida without fear. We can now have the benefit of picking our own crops before they rot in the fields. He’s taken on the most powerful man in the world, Mickey Mouse, and spent millions of Floridians tax dollars for personal vendettas. Benito would be proud. So you see it’s not all bad.

Laurence Jacks, Estero

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Wednesday, January 10, 2024