After receiving my preliminary tax bill, I did some serious thinking about our tax dollars.
My new tax bill will be 5.3% above this year. That’s not too bad considering inflation, but look deeper.
Multimillions more in new building values have been added to the tax roll in the past three years. What was the net tax increase of that?
Now look at Fort Lauderdale’s new police station on Broward Boulevard. The change orders and cost overruns are extreme. Didn’t the city realize that changing the roof from metal to concrete during construction would require a much stronger structural system? Why was that change made from the original plan?
Please, city commissioners, be fiscally responsible. And just think: Construction of a new City Hall will start soon.
Joe Piechura Sr., Fort Lauderdale
Save our innocent bears
Florida bears are innocent, sentient creatures who’ve committed no crime, yet they face the possibility of being hunted and killed. These animals, including mothers raising cubs, could soon be the targets of violence in what should be their safe, natural habitat.
By nature, bears are not aggressive. They avoid conflict with humans whenever possible. The rare incidents that do occur are almost always the result of human encroachment and habitat destruction.
We have disrupted their ecosystem. Why should they now pay for that with their lives?
Allowing a bear hunt sends a dangerous message that violence against wildlife is acceptable. Studies show that cruelty to animals can desensitize people and is correlated with other forms of aggression. Rather than teaching respect for nature, a bear hunt encourages fear, domination and violence.
Please show courage and compassion. Do not allow the bear hunt. Choose to protect Florida’s wildlife, preserve our natural heritage, and lead with empathy, not violence.
Jeannie Yermes, Boynton Beach
Ruling through fear
If it wasn’t clear before, the recent meeting between President Trump and President Putin made it crystal clear that Trump’s America has ceded its role to Europe as leader of the free world.
America has become a bullying autocracy, dominating its own people and its allies with fear — fear of being primaried, arrested, being subject to crippling tariffs and losing federal funds.
Where’s Congress? It has abdicated its role as a co-equal branch of government, allowing Trump to do anything he wants, no matter how destructive of American norms or constitutional constraints.
And what happened to Marco Rubio? He went from Russia hawk to potted plant in the blink of an eye, regurgitating whatever Trump’s policy of the day happens to be.
Stand up, everyone, before we irretrievably lose our democracy.
Margery O’C. Resnick, Boca Raton
Famine and starvation in Gaza
Where is your editorial on the famine in Gaza?
More than a million Palestinians, half of them children, are facing the final stages of starvation. People are dropping on the streets from hunger. Parents are watching their babies die. The United Nations and more than two dozen countries have called this what it is: man-made, preventable and deliberate.
What are you waiting for — mass graves of infants? Your readers demand responsible journalism. Use your voice to demand that the siege end and famine be stopped before it finishes its brutal work.
Your silence helps normalize this atrocity.
Fazia Abrahim, Sunrise
(Editor’s Note: We addressed this topic in the July 30 edition with an editorial, Starvation as a weapon of war, which said in part: “The starvation must stop. Gaza’s borders must be opened to reputable aid organizations. Israel must provide safe corridors and distribution locations.”)
Please submit a letter to the editor by email to letterstotheeditor@sunsentinel.com or fill out the online form below. Letters may be up to 200 words and must be signed with your email address, city of residence and daytime phone number for verification. Letters will be edited for clarity and length.
