Letters to the editor for Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Recipe for disaster

I find it amazing that the Collier County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) would actually spend time to consider an ordinance and a resolution that ignore scientific evidence proving the efficacy of preventive health practices. Florida has received national news coverage in a very unflattering way for just such unreasonable positions that are in these proposals, and our surgeon general has been discredited by his peers as reported in The Lancet.Encouraging people to ignore safeguards against becoming ill is irresponsible. However, it is one thing to make a decision that is not in one’s own best interests, but it is criminal to make decisions that puts others at risk.

Most of us would not wish to see the return of about 14 diseases prevented by vaccines such as polio, smallpox, diphtheria and other potentially fatal illnesses. One person’s freedom ends where it infringes on the freedom of others.Language in these proposals making unsubstantiated claims that our state and federal health agencies are not acting in the interest of the public is a dangerous attempt to spread misinformation. Add the ridiculous stipulation that the BCC make the decision as to what health actions be taken rather than qualified medical and health professionals and we really have a recipe for disaster.Collier County has many other problems that the BCC should be trying to solve, not some fabricated health care non-issue.E.E. Schwartz, R.N., Naples

Reverse this petty act

Meeting Don Eslick in 2018, I immediately realized that I had encountered a very special person. A passionate advocate, yet never one to raise his voice. A man of strong opinions, but who politely heard you out and could adjust his thinking. Above all, a man of integrity and commitment. He was a pleasure to deal with – I, representing Women For a Better Lee, he, the voice of Lee Future. We wanted the same thing for our community – an improved quality of life – and shared a deep-seated belief that Lee County was headed in the wrong direction. And while we adopted different strategies, tactics and messages aimed at accomplishing our goals, we both realized that rather than compete we needed to complement one another. It turned out to be one of the best collaborations I have ever experienced.

Don was a selfless individual; he worked solely to better the lives of others. His work was recognized, in part, when a new Estero bridge was named after him. So when Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass led the successful – and surprising – effort to remove Don’s name, the ever-humble, ego-less Don just shrugged his shoulders because he knew the work wasn’t about him.

With Don’s passing, it is now time to reverse this petty act and honor a man who spent his time demonstrating kindness and caring for his neighbors. Let’s hope our county commissioners will do the decent thing and rename the bridge for Don Eslick, community advocate par excellence.

Charlotte Newton, Fort Myers

Excessive congestion

Has anyone in Collier County government considered traffic monitoring systems to assess morning and evening traffic on Immokalee Road as Lee County has done. Approved development on Immokalee Road continues and current proposed solutions will not resolve the excessive congestion. If they did I believe they must stop development until additional solutions are in place. When will our commissioners put the horse in front of the cart?

Bill Mason, Naples

Cape city manager issue

Former Cape Coral City Manager Hernandez accuses Cape Coral Council of retaliation for blowing the whistle on what Hernandez calls discriminatory employment practices and is suing for $550,000 dollars.Hernandez’s contract gives Cape Coral the right to fire him, and they must pay him his severance package in a “lump sum payment.” Twenty weeks of pay comes to nearly $100,000.When they hired him, I thought he was a not a good fit for the Cape Coral job. Planning issues, lack of communication and incomplete answers at city meetings, the Hurricane Ian response, Yacht Club permits, not looking into buying the old Cape Coral golf course for a city park. Most of all he was very "pro-developer.” He wanted developers to build the kind of housing that was not beneficial to Cape Coral, like four story apartment buildings, disregarding the problems with the need to improve the infrastructure first in our city. He wanted this city to be more like Tampa or Miami. Most people moved to the Cape because it was not a high-density city.It seems that in today’s world if your employer thinks you are not doing the job or a bad job you cannot fire them, and they will sue if you do and usually claim some type of discrimination because it’s not their fault. Guess that’s why there are more lawyers in the U.S. than doctors.

Lou Walker, Cape Coral

Developing a moral compass

When I was ten and learned about the treatment of Native Americans, I was uncomfortable and should have been. When I watched the mini-series "Roots" on TV, I was uncomfortable and should have been. When I learned about the Holocaust, I was uncomfortable and should have been. Now, I am seeing books being banned, LGBTQ rights being taken away, women's decisions about their body being controlled by government, and I am uncomfortable. I am thankful that I was allowed as a child to learn history as it happened so that I can view what is happening today and know that we are on a dangerous path. Protecting children from history that makes them uncomfortable prevents them from having a moral compass.

Judy Lindstrom, Naples

Paper follows Woke religion

Devotees of the Woke religion, including this newspaper, have coined the term “Don’t Say Gay“ to mean the Parental Rights in Education legislation championed by Governor Ron DeSantis. This is the law that prohibits school personnel from teaching sex and gender identity matters to children in grades K-3. Folks, these are children 6 to 9 years old. If you have a child or a grandchild that age, do you think it is appropriate for school personnel to teach them about sex and gender identity?

Nowhere in the legislation does it say “gay“ or mention homosexuality, yet the Wokists have invented a term to imply that it does and this newspaper weaponizes it with a top, front-page headline (3/24) screaming “DeSantis to expand ‘Don’t Say Gay’?” It seems to me that your only reason to do this is to inflame liberals and conservatives alike. I know it frosted my onions.

A real newspaper using established principles of objective journalism would have printed “DeSantis to expand ‘Parental Rights’?” But that would be asking too much of The News-Press of Wokism.

Gary Marsh, Estero

Governor's false lesson

Governor DeSantis and his minions who support the 'Stop WOKE Act, are doing terrible harm to school children by teaching them a false lesson, i.e., that they are not in control of, and therefore not responsible for their own feelings and emotions. According to DeSantis, if students feel "discomfort, guilt, anguish," etc. upon learning about certain historical events (racial or otherwise), these feelings are caused by these events and are the responsibility of their teacher. Students have been emotionally victimized and are impotent to do anything about it.

Obviously DeSantis, a Yale history major, never learned the wisdom of Marcus Aurelius and the Stoics from 2,000 years ago, that "people are not disturbed by events, but the views they take of them." This simple assertion is supported by empirical research, and is the basis for most of the therapeutic benefits of Cognitive Behavioral Psychology today.

What we should be teaching students is how to take responsibility for, and self-manage their negative emotions, rather than teaching them to blame other people or events for their "discomforting" experiences. If not taught, children will grow to become emotionally immature adults, who not only can't manage their feelings but see themselves as victimized by events and persons beyond their control. As a result, society will ultimately pay the price for the governor's false lesson.

Ed OKeefe, Bonita Springs

Costly regulatory rollbacks

There have been a trio of notable disasters in three different parts of the country in the past few weeks: the derailment of the Norfolk Southern train in Ohio, the collapse of SVB Bank in Silicon Valley, and the tornado this weekend that tore into portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and adjoining Georgia, wiping out towns while killing and injuring dozens of people.

The first two of the threesome share a commonality: they both were attributable in large part to rollbacks in regulatory oversight brought about by Republican administrators and lawmakers.

The relaxation of regulations that led to the toxic environments, literally and figuratively, on the Ohio rail track and for the California bank were taken from the Republican playbook and accompanying mantra of reducing governmental regulation, rather than managing and monitoring it properly.

Undaunted, Republicans will undoubtedly roll it out again in 2024. Voters here in Florida and elsewhere ought to remember this ruse. With the GOP, what you see (and hear) is what you get, or, put differently, don’t ask for something you want — less regulation — you might not like what it begets.

The tornado desolation is different. That was an act of God. Can’t blame that one on the Republicans; he doesn’t belong to their party.

Marshall H. Tanick, Naples

A shame for our republic

They like to call themselves the law and order party, but they are far from it. They do nothing about gun control that has killed so many people. They concentrate on restricting freedom, such as gay rights, which do not kill any people. Law and order party, that's a joke. The GOP attacks prosecutors that are doing their job, FBI and the justice system. They back a former narcissistic president who has gotten away with criminal acts for decades. Pro life, that's another joke. Hunters OK, but who needs an automatic weapon that fires multiple shots per minute?

When Richard Nixon was involved in the Watergate scandal, Republicans did the right thing and advised him to resign. Donald Trump has committed way more crimes than Richard Nixon, and is far more a deplorable man yet elected Republicans today back him. What has happened to our country that so many people support such a vile person? What a shame for our republic and the world. It's never the right time to do the wrong thing and it's never the wrong time to do the right thing.

Tom Beck, Naples

Give taxpayers a choice

The pendulum swings, but doesn’t ever return to its former position. Gravity is the thief. So it is with the myriad of educational reform programs foisted on our public schools and the political waves that seem to drive them. They come and go.

Before the Industrial Revolution took its toll on children, most every school was privately owned and only for the wealthiest of Americans. Jumping ahead decades, since WWII, few can argue the public school movement is not largely responsible for most all progress in the U.S. So the pendulum swings.

Today public education is under attack by the Right, the conservatives, while the liberals, the Left, are busy defending various forms of controversial, political and social engineering programs that are, many think, being conducted in our public schools to the detriment of our society and its social order. I agree.

Personally, I have no idea what liberals think they’re doing, but I see conservatives are suggesting “school choice” is a viable educational alternative: take public tax moneys, tie them to the student and let the parents put their children in whatever (hopefully accredited) school they choose.

Fine, but shouldn’t taxpayers also have a choice as to which system they want their taxes to assist, that is, “public” or “school choice?” I say, “Why not give taxpayers a choice as to where they want their taxes spent?” Put a box on their tax forms: “Public Education” or “School Choice Schools.”

For me, that would end the controversy.

Ed McCoy, Bokeelia

Stop misguided pandering

In the oath of office taken by all elected Florida State officials, each swears or affirms that they will support, protect, and defend the Constitution and government of the United States and of the State of Florida; that they are duly qualified to hold office under the Constitution of the state, and that they will well and faithfully perform the duties of the office they are about to enter.

Yet, each legislative session, we see laws that, on their face appear unconstitutional or in conflict with existing federal law, passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor then, after an expensive legal battle, paid for by taxpayers, found unconstitutional or put on hold while more legal battles are undertaken. We have also seen actions taken by the governor, like the removal of the Hillsborough County state attorney, determined to be unconstitutional. I believe we; the citizens of Florida, should expect a higher standard of performance from both the governor and the legislators. They or their staff should do the minimal research needed to determine whether a law is constitutional before putting it to a vote, thus avoiding a costly court proceeding. Furthermore, an elected politician should not be using the legislative process to simply garner support from a particular sector of the voters for a chance at higher office.

It is time for us to demand that our elected officials start paying more attention to what the state needs and stop pandering to those who would push agendas that cause divisions in our state. Do not blame the school or public library for what children see or learn from their phones, laptops, TVs, or video games. Parents have control over screen time, just as they have control over what their children read. Parents have the right to opt their children out of sex education classes, so there is no need for laws that impact other people's children. Children have the right, and we have a duty to assure that they learn the true history of this country and of this world. Some of that history is not pretty but has always been taught in an age-appropriate manner. Let us make Florida truly free, and free the minds of all its citizens young and old to think, to learn, and to grow.

Mark Delligatti, Naples

Mail-order orthodontics

It’s time to bring awareness and responsibility to mail-order orthodontics in order to protect Floridians from potentially harmful and irreparable damage. By filing legislation this session, Senator Jim Boyd and Representative Kim Berfield have demonstrated that the time is now.

Currently, some online orthodontic companies market their aligners as safe and easy alternatives to traditional orthodontic practices or Invisalign, which is doctor directed through a local dentist or orthodontist office. An at-home kit is sent to the consumer who then makes their own impression or molds their teeth. Lack of oversight by a licensed professional throughout the process of moving teeth and bone has caused a range of issues, including severe pain, expensive dental procedures, damage to and loss of teeth, and sometimes permanent injury. Without seeing the patient in person, the supervising practitioner cannot obtain crucial information that is needed before treatment in order to provide safe and successful treatment that meets the standard of care.

The legislation would add an accountability measure by requiring mail-order orthodontic companies to provide a dentist of record to consumers upon use of the product. If you provide dental services, you should be held to the same health standards as a traditional practice.

Senator Boyd and Representative Berfield should be applauded for taking this vital step to protect consumers from potentially harmful and irreparable damage, and I encourage you to contact your state lawmakers to support this legislation for patients’ rights.Neal Singh, Fort Myers

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Wednesday, March 29, 2023