The top stories last week

Gary Resnick, mayor, Wilton Manors

During Pride Month, Wilton Manors proudly takes front and center as the heart and soul for the LGBTQ community and our friends. We welcome thousands celebrating our annual Stonewall Festival. June also reminds us of Pulse, and the hatred and gun violence that plagues our nation. Our Commission read aloud, again, the names of the 49 murdered. We thrive as neighbors and friends and treat one another with respect and an open heart. It remains my hope that our little corner of the world expands as a shining example to everyone.

Katie Edwards, member, Florida House of Representatives

The safety and security of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, party affiliation or faith, are constant reminders that we are all united in our desire to live in peace and to enjoy simple pleasures like a concert, a baseball game, an evening with friends at a dance club, church and college classes. The events across the globe to mark the one year passing of the Pulse massacre followed by the senseless attack on members of the U.S. Senate and Congress playing baseball have us all asking: What is the world coming to? Will we ever feel truly safe again?

James Donnelly, chairman, Broward Workshop

I visited Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello estate this week. I found myself thinking about how much our country has changed since Jefferson’s time. Three observations; i) the dichotomy of Jefferson’s role in freedom from Britain and his role as slave owner, ii) The courage and selflessness of the Founding Fathers; iii) Jefferson’s intellectual accomplishments from his architecture to his inventions, to speaking five languages. I concluded that we have a way to go on race, our leaders in Washington need more courage and selflessness, and we need less distraction from today’s technology and more time to think and learn.

Paul Castronovo, host, Paul Castronovo Show

It’s hard to find anything funny in this political climate, but this one cracks me up. I swear this is true: “President Trump Blocks Author Stephen King on Twitter!” Apparently, Stephen gets his jollies trolling the president’s Twitter account. That’s his right as an American — I think we can all agree on that. What I can’t believe is that the president actually finds the time to A) read his tweets and B) block people who annoy him. Part two: Author JK Rowling (Harry Potter) said, “Don’t worry, Stephen, I’ll retweet your tweets so that POTUS sees them.” Third grade’s fun, isn’t it?

Earl Maucker, commissioner, Lighthouse Point; former editor, Sun Sentinel

Although it hasn’t received the bulk of attention, the real champion in the Donald Trump - James Comey tussle is the established, main-stream press. Consider: When a high ranking government official is so intimidated and concerned at the lack of honesty by the president, where does he turn? In this case, the New York Times. It demonstrates once again, as it has throughout our history, when it’s critical to get out the truth, the news media plays a vital role. A free and open press is not the enemy. It is the cornerstone of our democracy.

Scott J. Israel, sheriff, Broward County

After a six-year battle, the controversial Florida gun measure known as “docs vs. glocks” is dead. The absurd law essentially banned doctors and health care workers from asking, discussing or recording anything about their patients’ gun ownership practices. It put thousands of families, especially those with children, in danger. Upholding Second Amendment protections is both admirable and necessary to the degree in which those measures balance the right to bear arms with public safety. But this law was flat out inconsistent with what our nation’s founding fathers intended and flew in the face of common sense.

J. David Armstrong Jr., president, Broward College

Kudos to Gov. Rick Scott who explained in his message and rationale for vetoed Senate Bill 374 this week the importance of our state colleges, including Broward College. In his letter, the governor explained the negative implications the legislation would have had if it passed. “This legislation impedes the State College System’s mission by capping the enrollment level of baccalaureate degrees and unnecessarily increasing red tape.” Gov. Scott also underscored the importance of our institutions noting that “state and community colleges have played a tremendous role...in the lives of countless Florida families, providing them with an opportunity to succeed.”

Anna Fusco, president, Broward Teachers Union

Floridians overwhelmed the governor’s office with calls and emails to veto HB 7069, a bill that allows for-profit, privately owned, out-of-state charter school corporations to take over struggling traditional public schools, siphoning away needed tax dollars from those schools and requiring no performance accountability and no teacher certification requirements. Negotiated “in secret” behind closed doors by legislative “leaders” mere hours before the regular session ended, it cynically included “sweeteners” such as recess and sketchy teacher bonuses to mask the fact that it will devastate our schools, penalize teachers, and cheat our students out of the education they deserve.

Steven Geller, member, Broward County Commission

Port Everglades is a vital economic engine which is important to the security of South Florida. At last week’s County Commission meeting, there was an item to approve a Port lease with Citgo. Citgo is owned by PDVSA, controlled by the Venezuelan government. Worse, PDVSA, which has low junk bond ratings, has pledged 49.9 percent of its Citgo stock to Roseneft, an oil company majority-owned by the Russian Government. I don’t believe that Russia should control our vital Port assets, so the County Commission amended the lease saying that we would have to approve any change of control of the lease.