Letters to the editor on renters' rights, the Gators' QB changing positions and more
Letters to the editor present the opinions of readers on news stories and other pieces published by The Sun.
Renters’ rights
Alachua County Commissioner Raemi Eagle-Glenn made uninformed statements in The Sun about the rental ordinance that the County Commission recently passed.
The Alachua County Labor Coalition developed and shepherded this ordinance for three years through multiple meetings that the city and county commissions held to address rental properties and the need to maintain safe/healthy rental housing stock. The Labor Coalition met with Eagle-Glenn and the other county commissioners to talk about any revisions to the ordinance that county staff were advocating for.
The county is not "creating" a new code enforcement office. The county already has code enforcement officers. Now, instead of code enforcement officers having to wait for a hesitant renter to call about unsafe living conditions, they will inspect rental housing stock every four years on a rotation basis.
Eagle-Glenn writes that, “Landlords will be forced to purchase new energy-efficient appliances before offering rentals.” Not true. This is not in the ordinance. I would hope that Eagle-Glenn would read the ordinance before making statements. The ordinance includes low-cost, high return on investment efficiency upgrades, not required till 2026.
To see the ordinance, go to http://laborcoalition.org/ac-rr-ordinances/.
Renters in this community are due the same basic right to a safe place to live as property owners.
Sheila Payne, Gainesville
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Wrong position
If Anthony Richardson really wants to have an NFL career, he needs to set aside his pride and switch to tight end. He has the size, the speed, the strength and the quickness to become a good one, if he works on it. His skill set is much like Kyle Pitts and maybe he has more talent.
Frankly, I would be surprised if Coach Billy Napier considered such a move, having banked upon Richardson as his quarterback. And I know that it would be very difficult for Richardson to swallow. Sometimes, however, making the hard choices does make sense.
The fact is that the Gators are not going to win the Southeastern Conference east this year, probably because their current passing attack frightens no one. However, even from the little that I have seen, Jon Kitna might be the answer. Even if he did not blaze a fiery trail this year, then probably for next year. In such a case, they might even have a threat next year similar to the one they had with Trask and Pitts.
Richardson seems like a really great guy and it would be sad if playing the wrong position ruined his chances to have a long and very profitable NFL career.
George Barnett, Micanopy
Insurance crisis
An issue facing the people of Florida in our November election is an insurance crisis. Most of us may not be aware of how serious this issue is until we have a policy cancelled and seek insurance. This happened to me this summer.
Citizen's Property Insurance Corporation insures the people of Florida when no other insurance company will provide insurance. Floridians were facing an insurance crisis before Ian, and it is only going to get worse, according to many insurance agents, because insurance companies are leaving Florida. Brandon Peters correctly describes this insurance crisis in his column in The Sun on Oct. 3, "It's time to chart a new path forward for Florida."
If a candidate has held office, such as Chuck Clemons, voters can check the legislative bills by going to the Florida legislature site. Clemons was on the Banking and Insurance committee when he was first elected. Perhaps he can share his perspective on the insurance crisis facing Florida. Our state has been a Government in the Sunshine, meaning we can look at what our elected representatives have done for us, and we can cast our votes based on issues that concern us directly.
Diana Mathews, Gainesville
Controlling climate change
Societies' reactions to threat: denial, new weapons, demonizing opponents, authoritarian leaders and encouraging population growth. Don't work against climate change. Better technology won wars, but we falsely rationalize that it will save us. Demonizing anyone means less cooperation on climate change.
Authoritarian leaders are addicted to power and focus on themselves, not the future. Encouraging population growth is fuel to the fire. Overpopulation causes climate change and its devastating consequences.
Individually we can do three easy, powerful and cost-saving actions to slow climate change: 1. Vote for pro-choice candidates. (Charlie Crist has a 100% positive record with Planned Parenthood, while Republicans desire to eliminate access to abortion and have ignored climate change.) 2. Eat fewer animal products. 3. Have fewer babies.
Jim Funk, Gainesville
Deadline for election letters
Sunday, Oct. 23, is the deadline for submitting letters to the editor advocating for the election of candidates running in the upcoming election. Only letters endorsing candidates that are submitted by Oct. 23 will be considered for publication before the election.
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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Letters on renters' rights, Gators' QB changing positions and more
