LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK
COMMUNITY RESPONSE, Ben Friedman, attorney and community advocate: Today, the Orlando Police Department will begin a one-year pilot program to send trained mental health professionals from the newly created Community Response Team to service calls that don’t require police officers. The program is designed to manage nonviolent situations and connect people to muchneeded support and social services. Hopefully, at the end of the pilot program, the data will show reduced arrests and better managed services for residents. This is a great move by OPD, Mayor Buddy Dyer and the City of Orlando. Kudos to everyone who helped make this new policy a reality.
LEGISLATIVE LOOK AHEAD, Tim Giuliani, president and CEO, Orlando Economic Partnership: As we look toward the legislative session that begins Tuesday, the Orlando Economic Partnership’s top priority continues to be economic recovery. We strongly support the reinstatement of the Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund (QTI) program and are closely watching bills filed by Sen. Joe Gruters and Rep. Chip LaMarca. We’re also following bills related to civil liability for damages relating to COVID-19 and specifically for health-care providers; a bill that would create the Film, Television and Media Program Targeted Rebate Program; and one requiring out-of-state e-commerce companies to collect Florida’s sales tax. These bills are poised to impact our business community.
A RAISIN IN THE SUN, Cole NeSmith, executive director, Creative City Project: Beginning Wednesday, an iconic piece of African American literature comes to the Garden Theatre in Winter Garden. “A Raisin in the Sun” takes place in South Chicago, where a poor Black family struggles as they search for stability and a place to call home. The show debuted on Broadway in 1959. Two years later, it was adapted into a film starring Sidney Poitier. Director Roberta Emerson notes that this play “is a story that very much forces people to accept what’s happening outside or to others while also looking within themselves.” The Garden Theatre has reduced their capacity and implemented distanced seating to keep guests safe.
WATER WOES, Brendan O’Connor, editor in chief, Bungalower.com: The Suwannee River Water Mis-Management District Governing Board just approved a permit allowing NestleWaters North America to drain 1 million gallons a day from the aquifer. Over-extraction, sea-level rise, and an ever-increasing risk of saltwater intrusion are straining the state’s already taxed fresh water supply. SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP, Joanie Schirm, GEC founding president; World Cup Orlando 1994 Committee chairman: For years, Central Florida business associations have held many forums around the same topic: “Let’s diversify our economy well beyond tourism and hospital sectors.” It’s OK to appreciate the industries that have put Orlando on the world’s map. But the vulnerabilities stemming from that over-dependence have been laid bare during the pandemic. On Feb. 23, the long-term community goal received a meaningful kick-start with Orange County Commissioners’ agreement to spend $2 million to stimulate and diversify the economy with an investment in “social entrepreneurship.” It will ensure underrepresented groups of entrepreneurs and residents receive creative help from organizations that can nurture equitable innovations.
THEME PARK MASTERS, Beverly Seay, chair, UCF Board of Trustees: When you experience a unique, immersive story on a theme park ride or at a museum, you can probably thank professionals in the themed-experience industry for designing and producing it. This fall, UCF will become the first university in the nation to offer a Master of Science degree in Themed Experience. Students will learn the creative and production skills required to produce themed environments, which often are based on popular books or films. They will graduate well-prepared for careers that deliver new experiences for you at theme parks, theaters, retail stores, museums, zoos and more.
CRUISE LIMITS, Michael Zais, political blogger for thedrunkenrepublican.com: With Key West residents voting to limit visiting cruise ship capacity to less than 1,300 people, they are effectively accepting only the smaller, boutique-type cruise lines like Crystal and Regent, who cater largely to a much older, affluent crowd. While not necessarily old or affluent, I have sailed on both of those lines, and can tell you that for a variety of reasons, many of those folks won’t even get off the ship in Key West. I suspect the law of unintended consequences will rear its ugly head here vis-à-vis the effect on small businesses, still struggling to crawl out of the COVID-19 abyss.
ATTACK ON VOTE-BY-MAIL, Gloria Pickar, president, League of Women Voters of Orange County: Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Senate Republicans want to restrict by-mail voting by requiring voters to request vote-by-mail ballots more frequently. This is despite praise from former President Trump, DeSantis, and elections supervisors that Florida’s elections are “safe and secure, tried and true,” to quote Trump. Currently, by-mail ballot requests are good for two general elections, typically for four years. SB 90 proposes voters request these ballots every year. You see, too many Floridians voted by mail in Florida and most were Democrats. Disguised as voter fraud prevention and necessary for voting security, this bill is clearly voter suppression. Oppose SB 90.