Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Looking ahead to this week
Though the context and historical timing may be different, I recall our former President Ronald Reagan ringing “Tear Down That Wall” which underscored those fleeting American exceptional values of freedom, goodwill, respect and prosperity. We are slowly losing our global standing of how and who we project ourselves to be. Walls divide. Walls separate. Walls obstruct. Walls rebuff. We can be secure and safe without a wall. There are so many other priority needs that $24 billionplus could solve. Build schools. Fix water quality. Repair bridges. Create more public spaces. Mr. President, tear down that thought.
Sen. Frank Artiles’ resignation epitomizes the false stereotype which many blacks have of white Cuban-Americans. I personally know many who consider Artiles’ racist comments disgusting and not reflective of South Florida’s Cuban-American community or leaders. Given the Artiles debacle and embarrassment, members of the Cuban-American legislative leadership and the Legislature’s Black Caucus should have a sit down, or series thereof, to have frank discussions to bridge the Black-Cuban-American ethnic/ racial divide in South Florida. The same could be said of the unspoken similar divide between African-American and Caribbean-American blacks in Broward politics.
In our criminal justice system, state attorneys have the discretion to make decisions about how best to seek justice in the criminal cases they are responsible for prosecuting. State Attorney Aramis Ayala is well within her right to make her own determination that the death penalty is a broken system resting on a crumbling legal foundation — and that justice would be swifter and more certain if punishment for brutal homicides were a sentence of life imprisonment. The Florida Constitution gives that authority to the elected local prosecutor. She is now challenging the governor’s intrusion into the criminal justice system.
Legislators should start talking about what public schools could accomplish if alleviated from some of the onerous rules and regulations that charter schools don’t have to follow. Public schools are boxed in by needless bureaucracy that keeps them from running a fair race. Last year we managed to move 21 schools off the D and F list in Palm Beach County. Imagine how much more nimble, innovative and strategic we could be with dollars allocated to us if our hands were untied. The Legislature needs to acknowledge they’ve overregulated public schools instead of turning to for-profit charters for solutions.
Republican lawmakers in Tallahassee are attempting to undermine the most direct form of democracy in our nation. Ignoring its obligation to voters, the Legislature has advanced bills that ignore the results of overwhelmingly popular state ballot initiatives. For example, 73 percent of Floridians said loud and clear that they want the Sunshine State to capitalize on solar energy. Instead, the Legislature is considering proposals that will make it harder for homeowners to transition to clean solar energy. This puts the Republican-controlled Legislature on a dangerous course of working to silence the voices of their own constituents.
This coming weeks marks an occasion in Israel called Yom HaAtzmaut — Israel Independence Day. The celebration of a free, democratic and egalitarian society in the Middle East is definitely a reason for joy and thanksgiving. Further it is indisputable that there is no more dependable, stronger or more loyal friend of the United States than Israel. The State of Israel has as its guiding values in the Hebrew Scriptures. Home to a free people in a free land which arose out of the ashes of the Holocaust, Israel always attempts to abide by the highest principles of its people and its faith. This is all worth celebrating.
Florida is the only state that charges sales tax on commercial leases, which would include that of your doctors, accountant, hairdresser, etc. For the past several years, professional organizations recognizing the unfairness of this tax — which is currently 6 percent — have been encouraging the Legislature to abolish, phase out, or, at least reduce the tax. If you agree that this is discouraging new business from coming into the state and is an unfair burden on our businesses, please contact your Legislature and ask them to support the current reduction that is under consideration during this legislative session.
Broward-based Chewy.com and Citrix are both in merger and acquisition news which is good for our region — it shows South Florida can produce substantial and valuable engines of innovation. Our challenge is to keep the momentum going — do we have a pipeline? Having judged both the FAU Business Plan Competition and FAU TechRunway proposals this past week I am optimistic that we have the entrepreneurial and engineering spirit here in South Florida to create more companies of value that will create jobs, know-how and prosperity.
The Sun Sentinel reported that job growth in Broward County is among the highest in Florida. The March 2017 economic numbers show that over the year Broward County has added 27,800 jobs, including 9,600 jobs in professional and business services; 5,800 jobs in education and healthcare; and 3,500 jobs in trade, transportation, and utilities. Broward County’s overall unemployment rate has fallen to 4 percent — the lowest since Oct. 2007 — and remains the best in the tri-county region. These encouraging numbers are further proof that Broward County fosters an economic environment that is business-friendly and geared toward job creation.
Broward County residents and visitors could enjoy lower taxi fares in the future, under a proposal advanced by the Broward County Commission. Currently, taxi rates are regulated by county law, but transportation network companies (TNC’s) like Uber and Lyft can charge less. The proposed changes would allow taxis to charge less — but not more — than current rates to be more competitive with TNC’s. Another proposal mobile devices to be used instead of traditional meters, which would help enable the reduced pricing. The changes are good news for passengers, and may help taxis recover riders they have lost to TNC’s