Disappointed in Editorial Board decision

I was extremely disappointed to read TCPalm’s Editorial Board piece on Aug. 30, 2022, titled “Did you miss letters to the editor spanbout cspanndidspantes?” The board spent a great deal of time defending its decision not to publish any recommendation letters about candidates running for political office. However, the editorial board published its own recommendations or opinions for almost every local race.

The board failed to mention in its Aug. 30 editorial that the only recommendations of candidates leading up to the election would be those of the Editorial Board. As if its opinions are the only ones that matter!

I don’t think we, the public, should only listen to the board. The editorial gives the impression and supports the stereotype that the media tries to control what messages Americans receive in an attempt to control them by telling them who and what they should vote for.

If TCPalm decided not to print opinion pieces relating to political candidates, they should have also refrained from publishing their recommendations and opinions.

Gov. DeSantis not the politician to campaign for Herschel Walker

Who is doing the thinking in the Republican Party and suggesting Gov. Ron DeSantis would be the best politician to help put Herschel Walker over the top in the Georgia runoff in December? The man is not qualified and is as useless as a screen door in a submarine.

DeSantis is a Catholic who has signed the most restrictive abortion law in modern Florida history. Do the Republicans in charge think he got where he is today being an idiot? How many Georgians with an ounce of intelligence are going to believe anything DeSantis would say concerning Walker’s character or that he is the ideal candidate for the Senate after having four children out of wedlock and in other instances allegedly paid for abortions for women with whom he was in a relationship?

No more money for beach erosion

The idea of cities and towns trying to rebuild beaches, shoreline and seawalls and using taxpayer dollars to do it is ludicrous.

Mother Nature is going to win. The seas are rising. The weather is warming. The frequency and intensity of these storms is increasing. We have known it for decades, but we live in denial, and yet there is no solution that is palatable to the greenest of people.

We are burning fossil fuels at an increasing rate and will continue to do so. Let the chips fall where they may as far as the losses go. Let the course of nature continue, but please do not spend my hard-earned money trying to fix a problem that (for now) has no solution.

Spend the money tearing down the damaged structures and return the land to nature. At least we can enjoy that part.

Thankful for her many blessings

I am thankful for the candidates who devoted great amounts of energy and time seeking to serve the needs of the people.

I am thankful to a great elections office in St. Lucie County for running a more than competent set of elections this year.

I am thankful for the poll workers who courageously gave their time to our voting process, our most cherished of all American rights.

I am thankful for the electorate who came out in record numbers to vote, who, despite long lines and inclement weather, remained calm. orderly and courteous.

I am thankful that women’s rights ruled the day.

I am thankful that Social Security and Medicare will not be on the chopping block.

I am thankful that insulin will be capped at $35 for seniors and that burn pit victims will get the relief they need.

I am thankful that we will have better roads, bridges and internet due to federal funds on the way.

I am thankful for the imminent resurgence of the “Made in America” label (specifically computer chips) producing good-paying, middle-class growing jobs.

I am thankful every day to have a wise, kind, decent, hard-working leader of our country.

I am thankful we still have a democracy.

Happy Thanksgiving, America.

Congratulations to Jackie Rosario

We saw an all-out war against a local candidate in this year’s school board races. From a fellow school board member to three local media pundits, their long knives were out for Jackie Rosario. 

While her opponent in the November runoff was endorsed by Charlie Crist, the LBGTQ lobby, Equality Florida, and the teacher’s union, the world was going to end when Gov. Ron DeSantis and the local GOP endorsed Rosario.

Regularly she picked up the phone only to have a journalist asking her to comment on another lie. They failed, but are now nitpicking her campaign mailers. The truth is Jackie doesn’t have deep pockets, consultants, or a vast campaign committee.

She drafted most of her own mailers, used existing address lists, bought stamps, and stuffed envelopes. Did she get every word right? Maybe not, but to make a big deal out of a mailer makes the whiner look petty — it’s over, you lost.

The big question is what are all of these people afraid of? A woman who spent years in education, a mom, and a wonderful person, why is she so fearsome these desperate people tried to take her out?

She fought for our shared values and wanted our schools to stick to traditional education. She admires teachers and wants the best for our students. That made her hated.

They built a campaign against her on rumors and innuendos and should all be ashamed. Thankfully, the electorate saw through the lies, respected her record, and want her to stay on the school board. She had the courage to stand against them — bravo!

Human re-engineering of the environment doesn’t work

If nothing else, the history of a Florida tells us that human attempts to re-engineer the environment seldom end well.  We usually just make things worse in the long run. For example, human re-engineering of the natural flow of water through the Everglades has resulting in a critical ecosystem near total collapse. 

Closer to home, we keep spending millions of dollars dumping sand on the beach, rebuilding boardwalks and repairing washed out roads.  We do it over and over again. 

Some argue that we must continue to protect ocean front property owners. Why? Anyone who built or purchased property on the oceanfront assumed the risk. The taxpayers of Indian River County have no legal or moral obligation to continue to bail people out from their own foolishness. 

Others will argue that we must have beaches to attract tourists to support our local economy. We will. Our beaches are not going away, they are just moving. We simply need to accept that fact and move with them without a lot of expensive, fixed infrastructure. 

A useful model is the Canaveral National Seashore just north of us.  Those beaches are doing just fine with minimal human interference.  Approximately a million people per year visit the Canaveral beaches.

Our elected officials have an obligation to spend our money prudently. There is nothing prudent about continuing to fight the same losing battle with Mother Nature over and over again.  When will the madness end?