Not a Florida man anymore

Re “Why people are moving out of California,” March 10

I read with interest your article examining Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ remarks on Californians moving to his state, since I was one of the Californians who moved to Florida five years ago.

We ended up moving back to California because of DeSantis and his minions running the state. Sure, there’s no state income tax, but everything else is almost as expensive as in California — food, utilities, dining out and so on.

Add to that the Trump fans driving around with Confederate flags on their trucks along with ugly antisemitic or anti-gay stickers plastered on the windows, and it was enough to say it is time to return to California. We are extremely happy we did, as we feel safe now.

Joe Kaiser Santa Rosa

Along with many friends, we are moving to California from Florida because freedom is in peril under DeSantis.

Under his Florida freedom watch, nearly 87,000 of us were free to die of COVID-19, something that he bizarrely touts as a victory. His corporate protective policies will lead to astronomical rises in insurance rates, where coastal citizens facing sea level rise are free to lose their homes.

His anti- “woke” rhetoric has created a chilly climate for businesses wanting the freedom to be honorable and honest. Once the battle cry of the “don’t tread on me” class, local control is a freedom you can kiss goodbye with DeSantis.

And does no one find it ironic that the guy overseeing a book-banning frenzy is making money off his personal book tour? And, just as Proposition 13 in California wrecked higher education, the DeSantis wrecker ball is aimed at academic freedom.

Yep, moving back to California never seemed so good. Time to say goodbye, Florida man.

Val Marmillion

Alachua, Fla.