Thursday's letters: Thanksgiving blessings, SMH vaccinations, Bobby Jones easement, more
On Thanksgiving, count community blessings
On this Thanksgiving Day, we should be thankful for so much.
We live in an area with more than beautiful beaches. We have theaters, education and many competitive events, including speedboats, rowing and runs.
Our community is one of great compassion and regard for those less fortunate, especially when it comes to feeding the hungry.
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As we grow bigger both in terms of new developments and an abundance of new citizens, our local area is truly blessed to have so much of everything and so many willing to share their good fortune.
This is why it is a very “Happy Thanksgiving.”
Rich Unger, Sarasota
Kudos to SMH for requiring vaccination
The recent decision by Sarasota Memorial Hospital to comply with the federal COVID vaccination mandate is to be applauded (“SMH updates vaccine policy,” Nov. 20).
Our public hospital has made the right decision to mandate vaccinations for all employees, vendors and contractors. By doing so, the organization has demonstrated a commitment to caring for the health and safety of our community.
David Kotok and Christine Schlesinger
Educating community about Bobby Jones land
More than 150 people participated in Bobby Jones Day on Nov. 13.
They went birding with an Audubon expert and walked the trails with experts from other conservation organizations. They learned how the parkland improves water quality, restores wildlife habitat and mitigates red tide, and how conservation easements work.
Everyone was thrilled to hike city-owned land that previously was accessible only to golfers.
Plan 3, adopted last year by the Sarasota City Commission, will rehabilitate the golf course (18 standard holes and nine executive holes), mitigate red tide in Roberts Bay to protect our economy and create new parkland. Everyone wins.
From wetlands to playgrounds, trails to golf and birds to butterflies, the city’s plans for these 300 acres will preserve the quality of life in Sarasota long after residential and commercial development is completed.
It’s time for the Bobby Jones property to be protected in perpetuity with a conservation easement. Until the easement is in place, it may be developed for residential and commercial use. We have plenty of that underway.
It’s time for the Sarasota City Commission to finalize the conservation easement with the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast. No reason exists to delay it.
Conserve Bobby Jones now.
Edda Post, Sarasota
Local Republican-Democrat effort futile
Zac Anderson, in his column Nov. 21, reported on meetings between Longboat Key Democratic and Republican clubs (“Effort made by Longboat Key GOP and Dems”). Their goal was to do something about America’s political quagmire, according to him, “engaging in thoughtful dialogue … embracing differences” and “securing the survival of our democracy.”
The talks required the assistance of a conflict resolution expert, resulting in their “miracle on the key.”
These talks do nothing to address the current threats to American democracy. Our escalating political divide has been turbocharged by former President Donald Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.
No audit or court challenge in any state supports his claim, but sadly, 68% of Republicans believe the election was “stolen,” according to a November poll by the Public Religion Research Institute.
Legislatures across the country, including Florida’s, are passing laws to fix the nonexistent problem of rigged elections. Their actual purpose is to restrict voting access for citizens who are not inclined to vote Republican.
Most frightening, some states are passing legislation that would enable them to overturn election results and choose who won their election.
Republican senators have blocked consideration of legislation that would protect the integrity of our elections. If this real problem is not fixed, our democracy may end with the 2024 election.
F. Lowell Curtis, Longboat Key
Republicans offer nothing but ‘no’
I am a member of the Democratic Party. Nevertheless, I am saddened by the lack of vigor and intellectual vitality in the Republican Party because a vigorous opposition offering interesting and plausible alternatives to the party in power is good for a free government.
The GOP marshaled its members in Congress to oppose President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better program. Fine; the party out of power should not be a rubber stamp.
But what alternatives are offered by the GOP to deal with the problems left by a severe pandemic causing many fatalities and untold misery to many citizens? If the best the Republicans have to offer is to become the party of “no,” do you think they deserve to be voted into any office?
Sigmund Tobias, Sarasota
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Count community's blessings, raising awareness of Bobby Jones parkland
