Gov. DeSantis, just do your job: Kick Bridget Ziegler off Sarasota's School Board

Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Updated ·4 min read
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Governor must kick Ziegler off School Board

A letter May 21 criticized the Herald-Tribune and the Sarasota Police Department for shining a light on the aggressive sexual behavior evident in the texts between Christian Ziegler and Bridget Ziegler, his wife and a member of the Sarasota County School Board.

While that reader tried to bend what you read in the police information and the Herald-Tribune into what many might consider normal sexual proclivities, the text messages told a different story. They suggested the Zieglers trolled local bars seeking targets for their somewhat twisted exploits.

Christian and Bridget Ziegler listen to arguments Thursday, May 16, 2024 during a hearing in front of Judge Hunter Carroll in Sarasota. The Zieglers filed suit against the City of Sarasota, Sarasota Police Department and the 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office to stop the release of records obtained during closed criminal investigations into video voyeurism and sexual battery by Christian Ziegler. Ziegler was not charged in either case.

More: Bridget Ziegler is still pretending to be a tough culture warrior. How pathetic is that?

While it would be crude of me to lay out what the Zieglers’ communications were about, suffice it to say there is no way Bridget Ziegler, a willing participant in seeking out threesome partners, should be on our School Board.

Did the Zieglers consider sexually attractive girls who might be underage? What if one of our 17- or 18-year-old high school students passed the Ziegler screening test? The “what ifs” are many.

What we should all be upset about is our governor looking the other way when a School Board member has failed our schools and students in such a material fashion.

The education of our kids is at stake. Bridget must go!

Lynn Johnston, Sarasota

Preserve mid-century modern that matters

Need a haircut or a new dress? Enjoy art? Like lasagna? Love modern architecture?

Visit the one-story 1954 mid-century modern retail building at 1260-1272 N. Palm Ave. It has it all.

You’ll see angled exterior beams perfectly lined up. Floor-to-ceiling glass allows you to window shop, or wave to others. Open doors invite you in.

In March 2024, Architecture Sarasota recognized the building’s value by selecting it as one of “Sarasota 100” “Moderns That Matter.” 

Yet the owner of the 1954 mid-century modern at 1260-1272 N. Palm Ave. proposes to destroy it to construct a noncompliant, incompatible, tallest-ever Sarasota skyscraper.

A photo of some of the shops located in the 1950s-era building on 1260-1272 N. Palm Ave. in downtown Sarasota.
A photo of some of the shops located in the 1950s-era building on 1260-1272 N. Palm Ave. in downtown Sarasota.

More: Herald-Tribune: How to send a letter to the editor

Here's a better choice: Preserve or renovate it like the owner of a similar one-story 1959 mid-century modern at 46 S. Palm Ave. recently chose to do. That's a winning solution.

Linda Haller Sloan, Richard Donegan, Alan Kasow, Lesley Morris, Barry Langdon, downtown property owners

Don't compare Netanyahu, Hamas warlord

Prosecutors for the International Criminal Court are seeking arrest warrants for both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ military leader. This moral equivalency is wrong.

True, in the West Bank, the Palestinians have been peaceful, and instead of rewarding them, Netanyahu has allowed Israeli settlers to seize more land.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a ceremony marking Memorial Day for fallen soldiers of Israel's wars and victims of attacks at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl military cemetery on May 13, 2024. Israel marks Memorial Day to commemorate fallen soldiers and victims of attacks recorded since 1860 by the defense ministry, just before the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of its creation according to the Jewish calendar.

But Gaza is a separate issue. Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005 and gave it to the Gazans, and all they’ve done since is fire rockets into Israel, and then, on Oct. 7, murder 1,200 men, women and children.

Hamas must go, and the only way to overthrow an evil government is to go to war. War is not a war crime.

As bad as Netanyahu has been, he doesn’t come close in evil to Sinwar.

Mark Weston, Sarasota 

Biden quietly gets things done

During another news cycle filled with MAGA drama outside the Manhattan courthouse, where former President Donald Trump is on trial for allegedly paying a porn star to keep quiet about their affair, President Joe Biden was quietly, calmly doing the right thing.

President Joe Biden toasts Kenyan President William Ruto during a State Dinner at the White House on May 23, 2024 in Washington, DC
President Joe Biden toasts Kenyan President William Ruto during a State Dinner at the White House on May 23, 2024 in Washington, DC

Biden recently declared seven counties in Texas as major disaster areas due to “severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding beginning on April 26, 2024, and continuing.”

The people in Texas are hurting and Biden has taken action.

Especially noteworthy is the fact the emergency declaration focused solely on the causes and victims of the disaster. Unlike similar declarations during the Trump administration, there were no calls for Texans to pay homage to the president.

It is great having a president who does “boring” things like do the right thing for Americans even if they live in a state with different political leanings.

Nancy Haines, Punta Gorda

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: DeSantis must do his job and kick Bridget Ziegler off School Board