100 Central Florida

Our panel of 100 influential leaders discusses the most important issues affecting you. To read responses from more Central Florida 100 participants, go to OrlandoSentinel.com/cf100

TOP STORIES FROM LAST WEEK

NEVER-ENDING HOUSING CRISIS, Mary Lee Downey, CEO, Hope Partnership: The story that I keep talking about this week is Trevor Fraser’s article on rising rents in Orlando. Rents are up over 24% in less than a year and could reach $2,000 by 2025. I want to be clear about this: our work to get everyone a safe place to call home already feels impossible. Our region is in a housing crisis, and we all need to be talking about this. Housing should be a human right. Instead, our workforce is scrambling to keep a roof over their heads so that someone far away can boost their investment portfolio.

SECRET SCHOOL SEARCHES, Jane Healy, former editorial page editor and managing editor, Orlando Sentinel: Are we really going to go through this again — legislators attempting to keep university presidential searches a secret? Apparently so. Once again there’s a bill pushing this, with only the names of finalists being made public. But the arguments against it are the same as they always have been — keeping searches secret means we don’t know what good candidates were eliminated before the finalists were named. This would lead to political shenanigans. It’s bad enough in Florida that pols have too often been named president. But at least we knew which candidates were eliminated. Plus, any Florida university president needs to understand from the get-go that openness is a hallmark here.

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD, David Leavitt, former Seminole County Libertarian Party chairman, CEO of Refresh Computers: It’s incredible but not surprising to see that one local Seminole County commissioner who was in favor of mask mandates announced in his recent re-election campaign that he is against vaccine mandates. The 2022 primary election for Seminole County Commissioner for the District 2 and District 4 seats will be on Aug. 23. Currently, only two sitting commissioners have filed to run. You also have until June 13 to file and qualify to run for office. Whether you support these mandates or not, let your voice be heard in Seminole County.

BRIGHTLINE ARRIVES, Anna McPherson, past president, Junior League of Greater Orlando: Last week, Central Florida’s first Brightline train arrived. Bright Blue 2 is now housed at the vehicle maintenance facility just south of Orlando International Airport. Railway fans are in for an exciting year as the training runs between Cocoa and West Palm Beach have already begun and passenger service from Orlando to South Florida is slated for early 2023. The positives include a new transportation system that connects Central Florida to South Florida. Negatives will continue to be track crossing safety and the typical issues with railways including new track locations and which destinations can jockey for a stop. All aboard? Next stop, Orlando.

CRAZY POLITICS, Kathleen Oropeza, co-founder, FundEducationNow.org: Of the top 10 largest school districts in the nation, Florida has five and Orange is one of them. When COVID was at its peak, 12 of our largest school districts bravely and appropriately put safety first, following the advice of experts and the wishes of many parents. So why do Rep. Randy Fine and Gov. DeSantis want to cut $200 million from these 12 districts to fire 1,600 needed professionals across the state? Orange alone will lose $16.5 million. If it sounds crazy, it’s politics.

TRAILBLAZER, Beverly Paulk, founding member, Central Florida Foundation and The Orlando Philharmonic: Ingrid Burton Nathan is being honored with the STEM wing of a Seminole County magnet school named for her. She bravely was the first and only Black student to enter Seminole County Middle School in 1964 or any Seminole County school restricted to white students. After college she had a distinguished 38-year career teaching Spanish at Lake Brantley and Lake Mary High School, retiring 2012. In the mid-1980s our daughter had only white teachers in her three years at Lake Brantley and remembered few Black or minority teachers on campus. Ms. Nathan continued to be a trailblazer her entire career.

POLARIS DAWN, Larry Pino, attorney and entrepreneur: Apparently, billionaire Jared Isaacman is pairing with billionaire Elon Musk, CEO and founder of SpaceX, for a new space-bound mission designed to achieve the highest ever Earth orbit, the world’s first commercial spacewalk — all conducted through Starlink’s (also Muskowned) laser-based communication system. I am not sure how to process this week’s announcement. Is it about St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the financial beneficiary, or a partnership of billionaires designed to create the future; or the inauguration of a new Age of Discovery — this time, extraplanetary? These are exciting times indeed and it helps to have one or two billionaires leading the way!

DISNEY COSTS NO SHOCK, Michael Zais, political blogger for thedrunkenrepublican.com: I was a tad shocked at Scott Maxwell’s apparent naïveté vis-a-vis his column lamenting (gasp!) stratospheric prices at the Mouse House. Notwithstanding the fact that eye-popping prices, generally speaking, are no more eye-popping at Disney than at other theme parks — Disney is a business, like any other, that endeavors to maximize profit for shareholders. If they can get folks to pay $28 for a seafood pot pie, guess what they’ll charge? Would we expect Lockheed Martin to knock 25 percent off of some missile contract price just to be good guys and give the taxpayer a break? Maybe in Disney’s Fantasyland, but not in the real world.