OPINIONS

10700 Stringfellow Road, Ste 60 Bokeelia, FL 33922 Phone: (239) 283-2022 Fax: (239) 283-0232

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Publisher Raymond M Eckenrode reckenrode@breezenewspapers com

Executive Editor Valarie Harring vharring@breezenewspapers com

Editor Paulette LeBlanc pleblanc@breezenewspapers com

Advertising Director Laurie Ragle lragle@ breezenewspapers com

Advertising Sales Charlene Russ cruss@breezenewspapers com

Design & Layout Chris Strine cstrine@breezenewspapers com Obituaries Debbie Carletti obits@breezenewspapers

DeSantis – the right man for Florida

To the editor: Ron DeSantis won by the largest vote majority for Florida governor since 1982 when Bob Graham won his election

Bob Graham was a different kind of Democrat from those of today He was a great negotiator and understood compromise and fairness He had integrity and it was on display in his daily routine which included his “workday” program where he would work 100 days a year with the citizens he represented in their particular job

Governor Graham did not have to deal with COVID or ANTIFA or Black Lives Matter He delivered solutions for Florida without dividing our state and he did not teach h i s c o n s t i t u e n t s t o t o t a l l y h a t e a l l Republicans He governed before Obama’s & Biden’s Globalism, “One World Order” and “Wokeness ” He, unlike today’s Democratic politicians, did not subscribe to Sol Alinsky’s “rules for radicals” and he believed in the United States Constitution

He did not make up lies about his opponents to seek an advantage nor did he believe in the mantra of the Dem party of today to “win at any cost ” He won by his actions and his deeds and not by empty promises or fostering hatred against his opponents

Governor DeSantis has governed much the same way but in a different time Most Democrats will never vote for him for the simple reason that he is a Republican and they have all been taught to hate and despise any and all Republicans since 2008

The Eagle is published every Wednesday

Letters to the Editor

Only Rationale For Their Vote

Would DeSantis make a great president?

Maybe so, but he’s definitely been a spectacular governor

Max Christian St James City

Maybe a lesson in civics is necessar y

To the editor:

Vivek Ramaswamy believes our country needs to redevelop civic pride by instilling civics in schools as well as in adult education

We should all look at the civics test that all new U S citizens must pass I agree with Vivek Ramaswamy after reading a recent letter written by a Cape Coral resident The letter writer mistakenly believes presidents pass bills when our Constitution clearly states all spending bills must originate in the U.S. House of Representatives Therefore, the increase in national debt the letter writer spoke of originated with Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House from 2007 to 2023

Kevin McCarthy is the current Speaker of the House effective 1/7/2023 The current U S House passed a bill to increase the debt limit and to slow the growth in federal spending A basic civics class would have told the Cape Coral writer that it is now the responsibility of Chuck Schumer and the U S Senate to pass a comparable bill and then send it to t h e H o u s e a n d S e n a t e C o n f e r e n c e Committee The process of passing bills is an elementary concept in U S civics that is required in order to have an informed opinion

Mike Downing St James City

His ideals, his incredible resume, his evenhanded fairness will never see the light of day in the Socialist Democratically controlled m e d i a T h i s s a m e “ m a i n s t r e a m m e d i a ” propped up Andrew Gillum in his narrow loss to Gov DeSantis Gillum seemed to have the MO of the favorite candidate profiles of the Democratic Party of today.

Web Poll

Question:

Gillum did not possess any of the characteristics of a governor or a statesman or even a person you would trust to babysit your children or grandchildren, but the mainstream media did such a hit job on Gov DeSantis and ignored or hid the facts of the real Andrew Gillum, that he almost won an election that he should have lost in a landslide

Wouldn’t it be nice if Democrats could put aside their “vote early and vote often” “win at any cost” attitude and take a close look at who the candidates are in a race and decide their choice on the merits of that individual instead of only their party affiliation?

One look at our current president and it’s clear nobody that voted for him thought he would make our country a better place Their hatred for the other guy and their loyalty to a party that has betrayed our country was their

Talk about wasted money

To the editor:

Gary Lane wrote, honestly, in a recent issue of The Breeze, that he’s a boater and wants the Chiquita lock removed because it’s a pain to deal with He mentions the anecdotal environmental evidence he and his wife have observed and it’s nice to hear the manatees like the canal he lives on and they don’t have red tide or algal blooms

The letter writer goes on to complain about the cost to the taxpayers of Cape Coral, in operating and maintaining such an old structure, which leads to my “What?!?!?”

What did the City of Cape Coral spend to purchase the parcels of unincorporated Lee County land west of Burnt Store Road a few years ago? What are they paying Lee County in taxes on those parcels each year?

What could be done with all that money that’s just sitting there while the city waits to sell it to some “deserving” developer (who will probably buy it at a loss to the city) and make a pile of loot in the end?

What’s in it for you, the taxpayer in Cape

We want your opinion

Coral? Certainly not tax relief!

It seems that you citizens of Cape Coral believe if projects are “implemented” and some problems “eliminated” that you should get what you want, and shouldn’t have to abide by previous commitments, even if there was no improvement in the overall environmental situation

Dan Herfurth Matlacha

Local bans or not, fer tilizer use affects our waterways

To the editor:

Because most decisions made at the broadest level can best reflect the feedback from the people most affected, granting local authority some autonomy just makes good sense Local control or home rule is generally preferred for governing decisions that affect the locals the most But DeSantis’ GOP legislature passed a broad swath of legislation ranging from anti local control, to just plain disrespectful of Floridians

Locally we have lost the right to rent control; virtually the only mechanism that keeps housing affordable They have also passed a state law that overruled our local ordinance that prohibited fertilizing your lawn in the spring to prevent dangerous toxins from exacerbating red tide in our water Talk about fixing something that was not broken!

Red tide is a neurotoxin (neuro for brain, toxin for poison) As we see the remaining few panthers in the wild unable to walk straight, do we really think more toxins in the water are good for the local wild life? Is there anyone in Southwest Florida that thinks we need more smelly slime in our water? Only those in the slash and burn real estate market, who need neon green curb appeal to flip the property, could see a profit from the rest of us choking from impassable Cape Coral canals

Please refrain from using fertilizer during the spring and summer, when your water ways are the most vulnerable

Ellen Starbird Cape Coral

From the Firehouse

Hurricane season is here, the M/PIFCD will be ready

With another hurricane season upon us, your fire department is ready again to protect and serve our community Crews once again will be preparing the department's equipment and stations to be ready for this year’s hurricane season Follow us on Facebook @MPIFCD for important information.

Hurricane Ian taught us many lessons, but the most important one was that our community is resilient and never gives up

Fire Chief Ben Mickuliet