LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK

Lamar Fisher,

member, Broward County Commission. Next week, I’m looking forward to the Broward County Commission hearing about an exciting partnership between the county and the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation at our very own Deerfield Island Park! The partnership will allow the Guy Harvey Foundation to use a portion of the park for a marine sciences and environmental education program geared toward school-aged children. This project, while in its early stages, has the support of many community organizations, and I’m thrilled that children will be able to engage and learn from South Florida’s amazing ecosystem.

George Hanbury, president, Nova Southeastern University. It has been a long time coming — 12 years in the making — but the new HCA Florida hospital, integrated into NSU’s campus, is nearly completed. This hospital will help take NSU to the next level with health care rotations for students and residencies for our medical graduates, while providing South Florida and beyond with its newest state-of-the-art hospital. NSU has a tradition of providing excellent academic, research, and health care opportunities and HCA expanding our partnership with its newest hospital is a central part of our vision to build an Academical Village where theory, research and practice are integrated, making South Florida a medical destination hub with bench-to-bedside research, clinical trials and treatment.

Jason Hughes, executive director, ArtServe . Broward County has mailed 2021 property tax bills and payments can be made starting Monday. Discounts are given for early payment in full. The deadline is March 31, 2022, to avoid financial penalties. Notably, Broward Property Appraiser Marty Kiar has worked to educate Broward property owners on the importance of registering for a free new program that monitors real estate fraud. Criminals can record phony deeds transferring ownership and then try to mortgage, sell or rent the property. Kiar’s program helps stop unlawful acts by notifying owners if there has been an ownership change on their property.

Daniella Levine Cava, mayor, Miami-Dade County. This coming week, I’m honored to represent South Florida at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference

(COP26) in Glasgow. Our community is on the leading edge of climate change, and the eyes of the world are on us as we work to adapt and mitigate. This week we launched our updated Climate Action Strategy — our roadmap for cutting greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, as we work to achieve net zero county emissions by

2050. I’m proud to travel to COP26 to present our new strategy before a global audience, share best practices with leaders worldwide, and connect and learn from like-minded innovators.

Rob Pacienza, senior pastor, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. There’s a dangerous trend on the horizon. Last week, the Washington Post ran an opinion article entitled “Parents claim they have the right to shape their kids’ school curriculum. They don’t.” Earlier this year, Virginia gubernatorial candidate and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe said he does not believe parents should tell schools what to teach during a discussion about sexually explicit materials in schools. Broward County Public School employees have shared these same sentiments. It is a tragic moment in our culture when the value of the government is greater than the value of the family.

Kerry Ann Royes, CEO, YWCA South Florida. This week, voters all over Broward and Miami-Dade communities are set to decide on important issues in their local elections, yet history suggests less than a quarter of eligible voters — perhaps as few as one in nine — will participate. In Miami-Dade’s off-year, nonpartisan, low-turnout municipal elections, mayors and commissioners who make major decisions like setting taxes, passing laws and hiring police are voted in by a fraction of the voting base — and they often owe their positions to voters who on average are older and more conservative than the communities they are elected to serve. I encourage all of South Florida to participate in Nov. 2 elections. Your vote is critical to the future of our state.

Howard Simon, retired executive director, ACLU of Florida. It may seem unimaginable, but thousands of Floridians and visitors to our state may be recreating in water polluted with fecal bacteria — stemming from poorly functioning sewage treatment plants, leaking septic tanks and animal waste. Sen. Lori Berman and Rep. Yvonne Hinson have introduced The Clean Waterways Act to require county health departments to post warning notices on beaches used for swimming. The Legislature must act on this urgently needed proposal. If the state continues to refuse to enact enforceable regulations to curb pollution, the least it can do is provide warnings so the public can avoid serious health risks.

Matt Willhite, member, Florida House of Representatives. Due to a backlog of ships anchored off the coast of Southern California, businesses are suffering from a shortage of goods. Although we have heard talk that these ships can be rerouted to Florida, that is not the case. California’s ports lead the North American container trade with a combined volume of 8.8 million 20-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo capacity and represent 28.6% of the overall North American inbound container trade. For comparison, in 2018, PortMiami’s volume was 455,277 TEU. Moreover, while one must be found, there is no simple solution. Ultimately, there may not be a government solution to a primarily private sector problem. However, let’s hope that we find a solution that keeps our businesses thriving and flourishing.