South Florida 100

Our panel of 100 influential leaders discusses the most important issues affecting you.

TOP STORIES FROM LAST WEEK

Conor Delaney, president and CEO, Cleveland Clinic Florida. This week, Cleveland Clinic announced an important new study to understand why millions of people around the world suffer from brain diseases. Ultimately, the goal would be to pinpoint disease biomarkers early, before clinical symptoms are presented. The new Cleveland Clinic Brain Study — the largest clinical study ever for brain disease — will collect data from up to 200,000 neurologically healthy individuals over a 20-year period to identify brain disease biomarkers and targets for preventing and curing neurological disorders. The study, launched at Cleveland Clinic’s main campus in Cleveland, will be expanding to additional Cleveland Clinic sites, including Florida.

Lamar Fisher, vice mayor, Broward County. This week, the federal government announced its efforts to provide free at-home COVID19 tests. A much-needed resource, these free at-home COVID-19 rapid tests are available for order and shipment through the United States Postal Service. Each order contains four tests and there is a limit of one order per residential address. Orders can be made through covidtests.gov, tests will ship for free within 7 to 12 days. At-home testing kits are a great first step for individuals that may be experiencing symptoms.

Lois Frankel, member, U.S. House of Representatives. Thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure law and the leadership of President Biden, Florida will be receiving $1.1 billion of federal funding for Everglades restoration — the largest allocation this project has ever received and the largest environmental restoration project in the world! The Everglades is a beautiful and delicate ecosystem that provides drinking water for more than one third of all Floridians, is home to hundreds of endangered plant and animal species, and is a critical driver of tourism and economic activity for our state. This new funding will help preserve this unique and vibrant River of Grass for future generations.

Michael Gottlieb, member, Florida House of Representatives. For three years, I have been in the Florida Legislature and heard “Florida Leads” as a motto. Today in committee, when asked why Florida picked 15 weeks as a scientific basis for an abortion ban, the answer was because Mississippi did. Mississippi ranks No. 50 in health care in the U.S. Our governor constantly pushes Florida as a bastion of freedom without mandates and irrational public policy. Florida ranks 41st in health care. Why we would model any health care policy after a state with a worse ranking clearly calls into question the soundness of this policy. Freedom in Florida is a one-way street.

Belinda Keiser, vice chancellor, Keiser University. For decades, Florida has kept its best and brightest students in state thanks to the EASE Grant, which is provided to Florida residents who attend one of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF). These graduates are vital to Florida’s workforce, with 77% staying in state and each graduating class adding $21 billion to Florida’s economy. ICUF graduates, many of whom come from economically challenged backgrounds, have proven their commitment to Florida by becoming contributing members of their communities. Continue to support ICUF students and EASE. Support for EASE is support for Florida’s families, communities and economic future.

Wayne Messam, mayor, Miramar. I led a city delegation to lobby our state legislators in Tallahassee during Broward Days. In addition to our funding requests for Miramar, I urged senators and state representatives to oppose SB 620 and HB 569. These bills allow businesses to seek damages from municipalities if the government enacts or amends an ordinance or charter provision that will cause a reduction of at least 15% of the business’ profit. The bills are arbitrary, overreaching and further state lawmakers’ quest to preempt your elected officials from making local decisions. We will continue to oppose these bills in an effort to protect home rule.

Frank Ortis, mayor, Pembroke Pines. The more “interesting” bills are starting to be heard in the Florida Legislature. Our lawmakers moved a bill forward that would connect playing the national anthem at sports events to state and local dollars. It would require Florida professional sports teams receiving government money to play the national anthem before every home game, and if they don’t, they’d be required to repay government money they received. Some believe this is government overreach while others are looking to ensure it is played. Is this really an issue now? I love our country but am worried about other issues at the moment.

Andy Thomson, member, Boca Raton City Council. Boca Raton values good communication. That’s why we recently introduced a new communications initiative to build a stronger connection with our residents. Besides a new website, the city also developed a new smartphone app, MyBoca, to check beach conditions, pay your water bill and discover things to do. Even better, it allows residents to report concerns and submit service requests with pictures/videos and detailed descriptions. Reported issues are sent automatically to the city department that will perform the work, and progress can be tracked. Download the free MyBoca app by searching “City of Boca Raton” in your app store.

LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK

Lori Berman, member, Florida Senate. This week, Gov. DeSantis proposed a partisan and racially gerrymandered congressional map to be considered by the Legislature. But the Senate handily rejected his proposal and instead passed its own redistricting plans that more closely abide by our constitutional requirements. Under the proposal, Florida would have 28 congressional districts following the 2020 Census, with the newly proposed seat situated along the I-4 corridor. The Florida House will be weighing in on this map as well before the final version is voted on and sent to the governor.

Kathleen Cannon, president, United Way of Broward County. Tax season is here, and the certified tax professionals at Broward Tax Pro are providing free tax preparation services once again for Broward residents with an annual household income of less than $66,000. United Way of Broward County is so proud to partner with this wonderful program! Last year, more than 1,660 Broward families had their taxes completed through Broward Tax Pro, bringing them an amazing total of $1.9 million in tax refunds. Broward Tax Pro volunteers speak English, Spanish and Haitian Creole, so there’s no reason not to participate. For details, visit UnitedWayBroward.org/financial-prosperity.

Dan Gropper, dean, College of Business, Florida Atlantic University. The inflation rate for 2021 was 7%, the worst in America in more than 30 years. There are both macroeconomic and microeconomic causes. The rapid creation, distribution and massive spending of money by the federal government is the primary macroeconomic cause. Restricting the supply of American oil, shutting down parts of the economy, restricting labor supply through vaccine mandates and other rules and new regulations have helped drive up prices of fuel, labor and other inputs that make production more expensive. Higher prices and sustained inflation results.

Chip LaMarca, member, Florida House of Representatives. This week, I was honored to chair my first committee meeting in the Tourism, Infrastructure and Energy Subcommittee. We passed five bills out of the committee, including my own bill to name part of A1A through the Galt Ocean Mile after Pio Ieraci. We lost Pio to COVID-19, and he was the Galt Mile HOA president for 30 years. He was a friend and a great leader in our community. I am happy to say the bill passed unanimously out of its first committee stop! I look forward to dedicating this memorial in honor of Pio.

Peter Moore, president, Chen Moore and Associates. There are a series of bills related to the Surfside tragedy that will be considered over the next couple weeks. Many are backed by leadership, so they will flow through the committees and floor votes easily. Hopefully, this will bring clarity to a situation that has had as many opinions as condo units that were lost. While the situation was absolutely tragic, there needs to be a measured response for new construction and inspection of existing buildings. Annual inspections, destructive testing or other extreme measures aren’t in anyone’s best interests.

John “Jack” P. Seiler, former mayor, Fort Lauderdale. Ghislaine Maxwell, who was Jeffrey Epstein’s long-time companion, just petitioned the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for a new trial based on a juror failing to disclose that he was a former victim of sexual abuse. Maxwell, who was accused of recruiting girls to be sexually abused by Epstein, was recently convicted of five counts of sex trafficking minors following a month-long trial. Now, her lawyers seek a new trial based on information discovered from post-conviction interviews with jurors, and a new trial is unfortunately likely to be granted based on legal precedent.

Michael Udine, mayor, Broward County. Ever look up at the night sky — a full moon, stars, planets and just be amazed by it all? This past Saturday evening, I visited Markham Park, a 640-acre gem in Broward County. Why at night you might wonder? It’s because I went to visit our very own Fox Observatory. This observatory is run by the South Florida Amateur Astronomers Association and is open to the public every Saturday night and for special events. Thanks to incredible staff and volunteers, this is a free and fun outing for the whole family to enjoy.

Chad Van Horn, founding partner attorney, Van Horn Law Group, P.A. Now that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules have been updated to allow debt collectors to contact consumers via modern methods, consumers should expect debt collectors to contact them via email, text message and social media, in addition to traditional communications like phone calls and U.S. mail. Debt collectors can send private messages and friend requests on social platforms, but cannot post or comment publicly. They also must identify themselves and give consumers the option to opt out. Plus, social media opens up the process to scams, so it’s important to verify the debt collector’s legitimacy. Go to consumerfinance.gov for more information.

To read responses from more South Florida 100 participants, go to SunSentinel.com/100