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 SAVE PROPERTY INSURANCE,
Tom Dyer, attorney, founder of Watermark: In his inaugural address, Gov. Ron DeSantis offered a preview of his likely 2024 presidential campaign. But, remarkably, he ignored the crisis impacting millions of his constituents. Florida homeowners pay on average more than $4,200 per year for property insurance, an alarming amount that’s doubled since DeSantis took office. Recent steps taken by the Legislature will prop up insurers but won’t protect homeowners from more backbreaking rate increases after another brutal hurricane season. The governor’s war on the “woke mob” doesn’t matter to most Floridians. Will he continue to sidestep a badly broken property insurance system that does?
DESANTIS’ MOMENT, John L. Evans Jr., business consultant, promisingpeople.com: Trajectories matter in the human experience. I can attest, after the inaugural for him, our governor’s trajectory is unmatched in Florida political history. His speech last Tuesday was impeccable. Remember, it’s not just what you say, but how you say it. Ron DeSantis spoke with thunderclap force. The man is on a mission and welcomes his dates with history. I counted hearing the word “Camelot” in countless conversations. An iconic pic buttresses the notion, with glamorous wife Casey, tending two of her children, as an F15 soared over the proceedings. Where this is all going, only heaven knows.
REJECT ANTISEMITISM, Mark Freid, immediate past president, Holocaust Center: The antisemitic message projected onto the downtown office building on New Year’s Eve left me feeling a whole lot less celebratory and significantly less optimistic about the new year. I believe Orlando is a welcoming and accepting community, but these hate-fueled antisemitic acts, (yes, along with bigotry against many other groups), are becoming way too frequent and frightening. Let me assure you, the message is clear. There are people in our own community, the City Beautiful, who see their Jewish neighbors as different, as “less than,” and, in their eyes, unwelcome. History tells us that silence amplifies these messages of hate and accelerates the danger to their targets. So, how will we respond? What will we do? What will you do?
AMTRAK EXPANSION, Glenton Gilzean Jr., president/CEO, Central Florida Urban League:
Amtrak is set on expanding its service throughout Florida in 2023, with a potential to run trains all the way from New Orleans to Miami via Orlando. The service would connect the Panhandle to stops in Central Florida and along the East Coast, giving locals and tourists a much needed alternative to travel across our beautiful state. This is welcome news to begin 2023 and I look forward to riding the rails later this year.
DIVERSIFY THE BED TAX,
Jane Healy, former editorial page editor and managing editor, Orlando Sentinel: If there’s one major accomplishment Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and the commission should do this year, it’s expanding the use of the hotel tax. When it started in the late 1970s, it generated $2.4 million a year. Now it produces about $24 million a month! It made sense to spend money on a convention center at first to bring more business travel here. And the downtown venues are a huge plus this community deserved. But there’s no need for yet another addition to a gigantic convention center. But there is huge need to help tourism workers by using tax for things like free Lynx passes or affordable housing. They should take this on even if it means standing up to Disney, particularly if Disney wants help in reviving its self-governing Reedy Creek.
HATE CRIMES’ FLAWED REPORTING,
David Kay, chair, Interfaith Council of Central Florida: It sounded like good news — the FBI just said hate crimes were down in 2021. But there’s a catch. Less than two-thirds of the nearly 19,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide reported hate crime data, down from over 90% the year before. That means hate crimes likely went up, perhaps as much as 25%. Only two of the 757 agencies in Florida provided data to the Department of Justice, reporting just a single hate crime. Considering we rang in the New Year with an antisemitic message projected on a downtown building, that doesn’t seem like a reliable number.
VISUALIZING HOMELESSNESS,
Anna McPherson, past president, Junior League of Greater Orlando: Lately, I’ve experienced a new urgency in conversations surrounding homelessness in our community. People are seeing a new level of crisis: recently, a local social media account posted a picture of human fecal matter smeared under a highly trafficked underpass; two weeks ago a neighbor witnessed someone relieving themselves next to a residential sidewalk after spending the night on a park bench; aggressive panhandling is proliferating at interstate exits downtown. Tents abound. Orlando and Orange County have resources to help those in crisis. We as citizens need to start asking more questions around what policies, procedures, programming, funding sources, individual actions and personal donations effectively move people out of dangerous street living situations and into shelters and permanent housing.
A LESSON IN NFL TRAGEDY, Joanie Schirm, GEC founding president; World Cup Orlando 1994 Committee chairman: The week reminded us the football game we love is a dangerous sport as we watched Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, after a routine tackle, collapse to the ground. The NFL halted the game, followed by a national outpouring of humanity for Hamlin, his family, and the distraught players on both teams. The Sentinel editorial “Florida can lead in cardiac arrest response” suggests a unique opportunity. Use a tiny sliver of the huge settlements in Florida from drug manufacturers and retail pharmacies. The state should invest millions toward public education and additional CPR training while equipping and training staff and volunteers to use automatic external defibrillators to save lives.