100 Central Florida
Our panel of 100 influential leaders discusses the most important issues affecting you.
To read responses from more Central Florida 100 participants, go to OrlandoSentinel.com/cf100 TOP STORIES FROM LAST WEEK
TRUMP TRAFFIC JAM, Dick Batchelor, president, Dick Batchelor Management Group: State Rep. Anthony Sabatini has filed a bill to rename Highway 27 to the Donald J. Trump Highway. I wanted to suggest how such a road might be designed: first, no left turn lanes (only right turns); Elephant Crossing Ahead signs (no donkeys allowed); Stop (for any Proud Boys loose in Lake County). When the bill is filed, he must find a Democratic co-sponsor. In other words, this bill is a Wide Load Ahead and will require caution. Just trying to direct this legislative traffic (in a helpful way).
PPP, ROUND 2, Carlos Carbonell, CEO/ Founder Echo: Tech Strategy & Apps; adviser, Converge Strategies: Applications for Round 2 of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) became available through all lenders. This crucial loan is designed to help businesses keep their work force employed during the COVID-19 crisis. The first time around, recipients included big corporations. There was plenty of fraud as well. Small business owners often lack the resources or don’t have the banking relationships to speed up the loan — especially minority and women-owned businesses. In Central Florida, the Orlando Economic Partnership’s BRACE (Business Recovery Assistance and Collaborative Engagement) program can help answer questions related to COVID-19 assistance.
THE POWER OF SONG, Rudolph C. Cleare, executive vice president, The Negro Spiritual Scholarship Foundation: … and then there was Lady Gaga. Singing America’s national anthem as if her very life — and all of ours — depended upon its veracity and its challenge. Turning to face the flapping tricolor pennant atop a lately besieged dome to note that it “was still THERE!” Casting her gaze liberally across the assembly as she sang of “the free” and “the brave.” This inaugural reminded us in no uncertain terms of the power of the human voice raised in poetry and prose, in song and in exhortation. Truly, we need more days like this.
HIGH EXPECTATIONS, Camille Evans, managing partner, Virtus LLP: The high expectations facing the new Biden-Harris administration are the biggest story of the past week. We rightfully expect to see everyone benefit from significant progress. However, just as we have high expectations for the new administration, we too must have high expectations for ourselves. The improvements we seek are greatly dependent on broader-based prosperity for every soul on American soil. Thankfully, it is in the accomplishments of hardworking Americans like Stacey Abrams, Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Rep. Val Demings that we find the trodden path of Amanda Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb.”
DON’T ROCK THE BOAT, John L. Evans Jr., consulting unit chief for a global investment firm; former congressional staffer: “Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” So said Thomas Paine, major influencer of our republic’s Revolution. As the loyal opposition endured President Biden’s inauguration, some impulses come to mind about our nation’s future. There are 74 million people who believe fervently in Mr. Paine’s comment. Ergo, major government initiatives to alter our lives are not going to sit well. Say what you will of President Trump’s antics; what matters were his policies. He wanted power at your dining-room table, not at the U.S. Senate Dining Room tables.
ONLY IN FLORIDA, Jane Healy, former editorial page editor and managing editor, Orlando Sentinel: In the mayhem of the past few weeks, the astonishing Georgia Senate race that elected two Democrats has been overlooked. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff beat the two GOP incumbents. The election showed Florida approaches can’t necessarily be duplicated elsewhere. Both Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis employed the strategy of labeling their Democratic opponents as socialists. It worked because so many Floridians or their families have lived under socialistic regimes and despised them. Republicans tried the same tack in Georgia — where few voters have lived under such regimes — and it failed. This may well be another “only in Florida” phenomenon.
NO MORE MUSLIM BAN, Muhammad Musri, president, Islamic Society of Central Florida:
On his Inauguration Day, President Joe Biden issued a flurry of executive orders reversing some of Donald Trump’s policies. Among them was ending the Muslim travel ban that Trump issued four years ago, which led to family separations for many Muslims here and across the country. Trump’s Islamophobic order denied many American Muslims the opportunity to see their family members in the last four years or prevented them from being with their loved ones before they passed away with COVID-19. Ending Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and racism should be the president’s top priority.
FIGHTING RACISM, Joanie Schirm, GEC founding president; World Cup Orlando 1994 Committee chairman: When influential organizations start admitting a wrong and developing action steps for meaningful change, good things happen. The Orlando Economic Partnership deserves kudos for providing leadership in what can and should be done about systemic racism. Over 70 CEOs and executives signed a pledge acknowledging the issue and vowing to do something about it. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, systemic equity is a complex combination of interrelated elements consciously designed to create, support, and sustain social justice.