Readers comment on Gator athletes getting paid, Gainesville housing proposals and more

Buying athletes

Nice full-page letter from new head football coach Billy Napier in last Sunday’s Sun. Napier wrote, “As we enter a new era of college football with Name, Image, and Likeness, we are fortunate to be at a place that is not only rich in history and tradition on the football field, but also at a top 5 public institution with more than 470,000 living alumni and incredible resources. We believe that NIL will be a strength at the University of Florida.”

Translation: The Gators can buy athletes with the best of them! Friends, alumni and boosters, this is your call to open your wallets. Let’s have the best team that money can buy, and teach our teenaged athletes that selling out is the American way. So sad.

Jeff Montgomery, Gainesville 

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Alternative urban centers

In his recent column, Lauren Poe predicted that Gainesville's population will grow by 60,000 in the next 10 years, which is highly improbable since it took the past 40 years for the city to grow by that amount. And then, having set up that straw man, he warns that we must accommodate all of them within the city to avoid catastrophe — thus his urgent call to do away with single-family zoning. Such sly tactics are not persuasive.

Nevertheless, I do agree that high growth is continuing and should factor into planning — and zoning laws. But that does not mean single-family zoning should be eliminated in Gainesville.

Newberry's population today is very similar to Gainesville's 100 years ago. Alachua's population today is similar to ours in 1930. Whatever he and the commission do about zoning will have virtually no effect on the reality that Newberry and Alachua will become 2022-Gainesville-sized cities within the lifetimes of some youngsters alive today.

Decisions should be based on such long-term inevitabilities. The city and county should aid Newberry and Alachua as they become alternative urban centers instead of trying to make Gainesville like Miami/Tampa/Orlando.

Geoff Pietsch, Gainesville 

Pure speculation

For those who didn’t read Matt Howland’s departure letter, he spent most of it praising the outgoing commission for making tough decisions and spoke disparagingly of those who disagreed, calling them “old.” This same disregard for their constituents has been obvious for anyone who has been keeping up with current commission meetings.

These commissioners feel they know better! This is the group who brought us free-the- nipple, spot zoning, high taxes, the highest utility rates, a lower bond rating that is resulting in higher interest payments, biomass, no planning and no building design standards.

We all know how to read census reports. Making a 10-year forecast based on two years of data is pure speculation. Speculation also brought us the biomass plant. These commissioners have lost sight of why people would want to move here. Now, they think it’s wise to abolish single-family neighborhoods. Our mayor is using the word racism for effect while he gentrifies neighborhoods.

Based on their voting records, none of the outgoing commissioners should be elected to any office. They have all displayed ineptness, arrogance and poor judgement. Just because a candidate seems likeable does not mean they are able to make good decisions.

Curtis Cooper, Gainesville 

Plea rings hollow

My first thought when seeing Lauren Poe's byline was, "Why would I read anything written by a primary driver of and voter for the biomass debacle when he was a commissioner some years ago?" Every month my Gainesville Regional Utilities bill reminds me of the colossal mismanagement of our municipal utility, with — as yet — no one held accountable.

Poe's column poses, however, an issue of moral ambiguity; Poe seeks via zoning to redress what he perceives as systemic racism in Gainesville's housing structure and culture. The moral ambiguity is not the historical influence of racism in post-war housing developments and mortgage access. That is widely known. Rather, the ambiguity cants toward people who have made what for many is the largest investment they will ever make in buying their home.

Will Poe's desire to unravel single-family zoning cast each of these as closet racists because they purchased a single-family home and do not want to have its value diminished by fiat? And will racism be used to justify what will basically be government confiscation of personal property under the guise of zoning reparations?

Poe's plea for affordable housing rings hollow given the proliferation of high-rent apartments permitted in Gainesville during his tenure as commissioner and mayor.

Thomas Lane, Gainesville 

Democrats share blame

I am a registered Democrat, and I am asking the Dems to stop blaming Republicans or the Supreme Court for the striking away of Roe v. Wade. There had been many times when the Dems were in complete control of the Congress and the White House. Why didn't they make it a federal law then?

At the time of his confirmation hearing in the Senate, Brett Kavanaugh had told the senators that Roe v. Wade is the law of the land. All those who voted to confirm Kavanaugh believing his words were either naïve or hypocrites.

And for the general public, there is no use in protesting. The election is only a few months away. Protest at the balloting by voting out the anti-abortionists, the rightists, the supremacists and all those who are bent upon destroying democracy in America and turning America into the land of the oppressors rather than the land of the free.

Nand Sharma, Gainesville 

Sun safety      

Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S., with one in five Americans estimated to be diagnosed in their lifetime. Worse yet, experiencing at least five sunburns can increase your risk by up to 50%. Given that we live in the Sunshine State, those odds are not in our favor.      

While skin cancer is deadly, the good news is that it’s preventable. As we start the summer, I urge us to be cognizant of the amount of time we spend outdoors as just 15 minutes in the sun can damage the skin. I encourage the use of sunscreen and wide-brim hats along with seeking shade as often as possible.

Join me this summer in getting to know your own skin through the #SkinCheckChallenge and become comfortable with identifying anything new, changing, or unusual. You can start by learning more at www.skincancer.org or contacting your dermatologist.    

Grace Hingtgen, medical student, University of Florida

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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Letters on Gator athletes getting paid, Gainesville housing, more