Thursday's letters: Harder to make ends meet, vote on rezoning Aug. 30, Florida's thought police

Higher expenses wipe out income gains

All through 2021 our expenses slightly trailed income, leaving a comfortable cushion.

At the end of December, when interest, dividends and capital gains are paid by most mutual funds, it was like a dream come true.

By the end of January, the great slide began. Not only are we losing all that was gained but by April we paid federal tax on the income, wiping that out too.

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Now, with increases in the cost of gas, food and other necessities, our monthly expenses exceed (retirement) income.

Not only that, but I just received notice of an increase of $889 for homeowners insurance, rising from $1441 to $2330 for a one-story single-family home. I am sure there is more to come.

Henry Casimer, Sarasota

Rezoning Lorraine Road makes no sense

On Aug. 30, the Sarasota County Board of Commissioners might make a huge planning blunder that would adversely affect open land adjacent to 10 miles of Lorraine Road, in the northern part of the county.

About a month ago, the County Planning Commission examined the same rezoning proposal and recommended – in a stunning 6-1 vote – that the Board of Commissioners drop the idea of designating a "zoning overlay" for large chunks of Lorraine Road that would allow a wide variety of businesses to operate in areas that had not previously permitted such uses.

If the county commissioners approve the use of this overlay concept along two separate portions of Lorraine Road – currently a gorgeous, open, green roadway that winds through attractive residential areas – it could change the character of the road forever.

Essentially, this rezoning concept along Lorraine Road makes no sense because:

The need for such development space adjacent to Lorraine Road has never undergone a detailed analysis by the county's planning staff.

The proposed zoning change would promote the development of an ugly hodgepodge of noisy, dirty and unrelated businesses.

Such businesses could cause environmental damage to adjacent properties.

Jacob Goodwin, Sarasota

Freeze-out of dictionaries unbelievable

Oh, for Pete's sake! Did I just actually read that the Sarasota County Schools administration has failed to quickly accept the hundreds of dictionaries donated by a local civic group ("Sarasota County School District rejects donated dictionaries amid book freeze," Aug. 19)?

Gov. Ron DeSantis' thought police are disrupting the free flow of information, contrary to the U.S. Constitution, the First Amendment and freedom of speech. Since when does an unenlightened policy/law outweigh the U.S. Constitution?

Are school administrators not as committed to education as I had hoped? Will administrators restrict pupils' laptops from access to dictionaries? Will teachers be required to notify parents if a student looks up a "forbidden" word?

Come on! Will somebody please come to their senses, accept the 300 dictionaries and send a sincere apology and "Thank you" to the Venice Rotary Club?

Really!

Deborah Marqua, Sarasota

State breeding ground for authoritarianism

Florida is the perfect political environment for the rise of an authoritarian like Gov. Ron DeSantis. Republicans control everything in our state.

Recently, DeSantis suspended a district attorney, duly elected by the people, for publicly disagreeing with him, showing DeSantis' disregard for the will of the voters.

Also, the governor and his buddies in Tallahassee are telling the teachers what they should teach, lest they hurt someone's feelings.

Send in the Feelings Police! Send in the clowns! Send in the end of democracy.

Michael McGuire, Sarasota