Wednesday's letters: Health hazards, poor planning, danger on the road, more

Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·4 min read
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As Florida surgeon general and health director, and medical school professor at University of Florida, Dr. Joseph Ladapo earns about $430,000 a year. He is seen here with Gov. Ron DeSantis.
As Florida surgeon general and health director, and medical school professor at University of Florida, Dr. Joseph Ladapo earns about $430,000 a year. He is seen here with Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Ladapo leaves Floridians vulnerable

Why aren’t we hearing from our state public health director/surgeon general about the outbreaks of listeria, monkeypox and other communicable diseases in Florida?

Maybe it’s because Dr. Joseph Ladapo doesn’t know his job, or he’s been hired to be a political pawn of Gov. Ron DeSantis, not to do health promotion/disease prevention.

Floridians are left vulnerable to imminent health hazards with a guy heading the Department of Health who is not committed to the principles of public health. Since it is DeSantis who is really directing health efforts in Florida, all one can witness is a reactionary approach catering to those who make large donations to his campaign.

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We are left on our own, folks!  We have the freedom to pass disease to anybody.

We are paying over $400,000 in taxpayer funds to Ladapo for this freedom. As part of his job, Ladapo even has a tenured teaching position at University of Florida’s medical school, where he is impacting future doctors.

I hope UF’s medical credentialing department checks into this as the doctor’s motto is to first do no harm.

Vicki Nighswander, Sarasota

Block plan for Business Park in east county

Allowing marketplace pressures and profit to dictate land use leads to poor planning decisions.

On Thursday, July 21, the Sarasota County Planning Commission will review a proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment to designate a Business Park overlay “corridor" on miles and miles of Lorraine Road extending south from University Parkway to Fruitville Road and then from Clark Road to the State Road 681 Interchange.

Lorraine Road is predominantly populated with residential homes, ranches and farms.  If this amendment is approved, developers could potentially apply for Business Park zoning to develop 35-foot-high buildings, warehousing, light industrial, manufacturing, freight movement, wholesale distribution, and supporting retail and offices – all incompatible next to neighboring residential communities.

“Light” industrial/commercial uses can carry health and environmental risks, such as increased traffic, noise pollution, dust, safety issues, air, soil, and water pollution, heavy diesel truck traffic, storage of toxic substances and hazardous materials.

It is irresponsible to scatter this type of land use among residential communities, exposing Sarasota families to potential pollution and environmental degradation.

Ask your county commissioners to protect our residential community and vote no to CPA 2022-F.

The Planning Commission will meet at 5 p.m. July 21 at the Administration Center, 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota.

Chris Bales, Sarasota

Bicyclists, pedestrians are in danger

Re “Sarasota among deadliest areas for pedestrians,” July 14: As an active cyclist, the most frequent dangerous situation I encounter is drivers waiting to turn right who are looking left for an opening in traffic, and then pulling out without again looking right.

I know to watch for these situations, but I’d guess nearly half the time drivers don’t look again before proceeding.

There is a related factor here that the city or Sarasota County could do something about.

In a fatal car-bike crash last spring at Clark Road and Colonial Drive, and in a nonfatal pedestrian accident last summer at Clark and Nutmeg Avenue, walls around the parking areas at apartment buildings blocked the view for both the drivers and the people on the sidewalks. Prohibiting walls taller than three feet within 100 feet of an intersection would be a good start to eliminate these blocked view situations.

Jim Stahl, Sarasota

Desperate seniors turn to ombudsmen

A guest column published July 8, “Florida's forgotten seniors need our attention – and our help,” was right on.

The value of volunteers in the Florida Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, who serve out of selflessness to assure proper care in our assisted living facilities, is immeasurable.

As a resident of one such facility, having personally experienced the lack of concern for the frail and elderly and the tireless effort of the Ombudsman Office to make this facility overcome those shortcomings, I join in the acclaim those volunteers deserve.

Their service for the otherwise defenseless members of our senior population living in assisted living is vigilant, protective and continuous.

The Herald-Tribune’s reporting on the Ombudsman Program helped assure that residents did not have to sit quietly and tolerate mistreatment from dysfunctional facilities.

All residents have a friend they can go to for help with uncaring facility management, ill-tempered staff and unsanitary living conditions. Call (888) 831-0404.

Richard Tanner, University Parkway

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Floridians uninformed about outbreaks, rethink proposed Business Park