The 'Love Florida or leave it' crowd can lump it: I'm staying - and I'm voting for change.

Fed up with Florida? Vote for change

A letter dated March 17 responded to a previous writer’s concern that Florida is not as attractive as it used to be. His response to that letter is concerning (“Fed up with Florida? Pack your bags”).

First, the letter writer claimed that our gun laws are making people safer.

I would argue that with so many guns available, we are less safe than before the current governor took office. I believe more people are inclined to stay closer to home than be in large crowds.

Second, the letter writer stated that the No. 1 job of Gov. Ron DeSantis is to bring more people to Florida. Really? Have you been on U.S. 41 lately? The traffic is horrendous, and the drivers are the most discourteous ever.

Low-income people can’t afford to live here and do the work you don’t like to do. Plus, DeSantis is bringing in more people who want to end our democracy.

Third, the letter writer stated that some laws are being passed because the GOP is in power, and it can do what it wants. Nonsense! Vote them out.

The letter writer declared that if you don’t like it in Florida, then leave. Sorry, but I will do what I hope everyone does who loves this country and our democracy in a republic: Vote in every election.

Sandra Brinker, Sarasota

Chance to save historic McAlpin House

Orange Pineapple, LLC owns a reported 3.1-acre development site across two prime blocks in downtown Sarasota, bounded by Ringling Boulevard, Orange Avenue, South Pineapple Avenue and an alley.

The historic McAlpin House is located within that development.

The owners applied for a demolition permit last fall and were turned down by the Historic Preservation Board. They appealed that decision to the Sarasota City Commission, which to its credit recognized the historic value of the 1912 McAlpin House and gave the developer six months to find an alternative to demolition.

The owners will be back before the city commission on April 1, and they are likely to plead that there is no viable alternative to demolition. However, it is viable to move the house by about 70 feet to the western portion of the site that they control.

McAlpin is a rusticated concrete block house, originally owned by the contractor who built the original sidewalks and seawall in Sarasota. If we preserve it, we get to keep our history and maybe provide some much-needed light and air to the downtown core.

Write to the city commissioners and/or attend the meeting at 9 a.m. Monday to push back against the unnecessary destruction of the McAlpin House.

Tom McArdle, secretary and treasurer, Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation

Don’t take away our open spaces

Your article on possibly allowing an amusement-type development at Ken Thompson Park brings to mind a song in the terrific Florida Studio Theatre show “Take it to the Limit”: “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”

Please, allow Sarasota County to keep some of its beautiful open spaces!

Joan Hastings, Sarasota

Echoes of past in Trump, MAGA rhetoric

In July 1932, Joseph Goebbels gave a Berlin campaign speech titled “The Storm is Coming."

It came shortly before national elections that saw the Nazis achieve their highest vote totals before they eventually took over Germany in January 1933. These were the last German elections for 17 years.

The language in Goebbels' speech bears a chilling resemblance to the rhetoric we now hear from former President Donald Trump and MAGA extremists, including calls for revenge against those with whom we disagree, denunciations of globalism, hateful rhetoric concerning Jews and migrants, and more.

The Nazis may have promised strength and prosperity, but they ultimately failed at the hands of determined allies who fought bravely for democracy.

This November, we voters will have the opportunity to preserve freedom by selecting candidates – up and down the ballot – who are committed to preserving our 248-year experiment in democracy.

Bill Welsch, Punta Gorda