Paynes Prairie Updates
Like many of us who love Paynes Prairie, I loved the prairie photos and R. Bruce Anderson’s column, “Florida’s Parks Need A Big Old Infrastructure Bill.” However, I wonder when the author last visited our visitor center. He wrote that it “looked downright shabby the last time we were there”.
I would like to invite him to come back because in the past few months our visitor center has been dramatically rebuilt, modernized and renovated. We have new interactive exhibits, incredibly interesting displays, a video filmed with drones and a film telling the story of the prairie, educational materials and hands-on exhibits for young people.
We are proud of the tremendous contributions and efforts our park staff and volunteers have made to improve our visitor center and hope that the author may return. I am sure he would be surprised and pleased.
Soon we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the purchase of 22,000 acre prairie by the state of Florida and the creation of our Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. The celebrations will last all day and as the day approaches, the dates and details will be published on our social media platforms.
I hope everyone, including Anderson, is considering attending or visiting us beforehand.
Jeffrey L. Forbes, President, Friends of Paynes Prairie Inc.
Further letters:
Hold reallocation negotiations
You probably know about the Erica Thompson debacle in town. Unfortunately, there are stories of the State Department of Corrections (DOC) showing a similar disregard for human life. The Sun Sentinel has printed reports of inmates who did not receive the COVID-19 vaccine on time and were wrongly attacked by officials.
The source of these developments is the leadership of the DOC director or secretary. There is a way for the Gainesville area to have better guidance. The secretary will be ratified by the Florida Senate, which will shortly be redrawing its maps. A properly drawn Senate map is Gainesville’s best chance of preventing situations like what happened to the Thompson family.
Unfortunately, there are currently no legislative plans to hold hearings or town halls in this area. That can not be. I respectfully ask readers to consult with Sen. Keith Perry and the Reps. Chuck Brannan, Yvonne Hayes Hinson, and Chuck Clemons and ask them to request them.
Tony Anthony, Tallahassee
Unwanted changes
Moving to Florida recently from Los Angeles was a breath of fresh air. We enjoy a lot of freedoms here that we didn’t have there, such as the ability to make our own health decisions. It seems Alachua County would like to change that.
We live in downtown Gainesville and watch the homeless and the crime rate grow slowly and express ourselves through a city commission that represents almost none of the city’s real residents (non-college students).
Shame. I hope the signals of virtue are worth losing a beautiful city.
James Roth, Gainesville
No drains required
I encourage readers to refer to Jonathan J. Shuster’s most recent column, Revise Florida’s Vote System. This column is filled with great ideas and thoughtful discussions.
One of the ideas put forward is to allow, but not require, a voter to call a second election in races with three candidates for a single office. If neither candidate won a majority of the first-place finishers, the second-choice votes would be added to the first-place finishers to determine a winner: no runoffs required.
David A. Drake, Gainesville
Join the conversation
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The post Letters to the editor of Gainesville Sun for August 29, 2021 first appeared on Daily Florida Press.
from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/letters-to-the-editor-of-gainesville-sun-for-august-29-2021/
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