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

SPREAD THE CHARITABLE SPIRIT, Martha Are, CEO, Central Florida Commission on Homelessness: It’s that time of year when people open up their hearts and electronic wallets to charity. And that’s a noble thing. Last year on Giving Tuesday, the philanthropic counterpart to Black Friday, et al., Americans donated a staggering $2.7 billion during that single 24-hour period. But so many people also want to volunteer their time during the Thanksgiving-to-New Year’s stretch that few nonprofits can accommodate them. We certainly don’t want to dissuade anyone from helping. Just remember that hunger and homelessness aren’t seasonal. Consider scheduling now, while you’re in the spirit, to volunteer or donate throughout the coming year.

TRUMP DIDN’T MAKE THE CASE, Francisco Gonzalez, host, Agents of Innovation podcast: Whether or not the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, he and his advocates failed to make the case to the American people, mostly because no real evidence has ever been produced. Certainly no smoking guns. The American people are tired of these claims. Yet, Trump mostly pushed losing candidates who continued to make these assertions in their 2022 campaigns. It’s time to “move on” from these theories. Of course, we must make all future elections safe and secure, with higher standards. But we also need to get back to solving the issues most Americans actually care about.

DISNEY HOUSING, Jane Healy, former editorial page editor and managing editor, Orlando Sentinel: It’s encouraging to see that Disney is building an affordable housing complex close to its theme parks. For way too long, Disney has been far away from places where its employees could live. It has meant long commutes, and early on, public buses didn’t even go there. This complex will have 1,300 apartments on 80 acres. Most importantly, they will all have income restrictions for applicants, which will include Disney employees as well as the public. With Orlando’s incredible increase in rents, it’s great to see Disney stepping up. Other tourism businesses should do so as well, even if it means forming conglomerates to get it done.

TIME FOR DIAZ TO GO? Ken LaRoe, Founder, Climate First Bank: After the recent election results, it’s clear Florida’s Democratic Party is in flames. As we face the worst Democratic outcome in this state ever, it makes me wonder how effective Manny Diaz’s leadership is as chairman for the Florida Democratic Party, or how he performed as mayor of Miami. If Diaz wants to regain control of the state, then it’s clear he needs to stop being incompetent and get his act together.

ARTEMIS LAUNCH, Muhammad Musri, president, Islamic Society of Central Florida: On Wednesday morning, NASA’s Artemis moon rocket successfully launched from Kennedy Space Center on its way to the moon carrying the crew capsule Orion with a test mannequin. In this 25-day test flight, Orion will orbit the moon at only 80 miles above the lunar surface and come back and splash into the Pacific Ocean. Congratulations to NASA for the success of this historic launch, which will be followed by a second trip with human astronauts orbiting the moon, and a third trip by 2025 with humans landing again on the moon including the first woman and first person of color.

GOODBYE, RADIO SHACK, Brendan O’Connor, editor in chief, Bungalower.com: Orange County’s first (and last) Radio Shack will close its doors in mid-December after roughly 52 years of business just south of downtown Orlando. The property, which is located at 2001 S. Orange Ave. in the SoDo District, was listed for lease on LoopNet this summer and has already landed a tenant — an unnamed smoke shop scheduled to take the keys in January 2023. The shop opened in 1970 at the peak of Radio Shack-fever. They’re offering 20% off until they close in mid-December.

SCOTT’S MISTAKES, Jim Philips, retired longtime radio talk-show host: Maybe that Navy cap Rick Scott wears is a little too snug and messes with his brain. Sen. Scott thought it was a grand idea to challenge Mitch McConnell as Senate minority leader. He lost. This all happened after the GOP failed to win control of the upper chamber during the midterm elections despite predictions of a “red wave.” Remember it was Scott who was in charge of raising campaign cash for political hopefuls. Now Scott faces questions about how the money was spent and why he issued policy papers that called for reforming Social Security and Medicare. Debates about reforming Social Security are fine unless it’s just a month before an election. Scott needs a reminder when asked how many seats the GOP gained in the Senate. In the words of Dean Wormer from the movie “Animal House” ... “zero-point-zero.”

STARTUP WEEKEND ORLANDO, Larry Pino, attorney and entrepreneur: While thousands flocked to Orlando for the Electric Daisy Carnival and to Winter Park for the Cows ‘n Cabs Annual Event, there was another very different setting attracting its own unique audience. Startup Weekend Orlando (SWORL) took place at UCF’s freshly built downtown campus, with Friday night’s festivities staged at Rollins College. Stax, Central Florida’s first-ever “Unicorn” — a startup achieving a valuation of $1 billion — was one of the sponsors after being pitched at a prior SWORL event by Suneera Madhani. As noted by Techstars, another sponsor, 12% of the ideas at SWORL turn into real companies; perhaps, some future Unicorns were prancing among them.