DeSantis extends freeze of evictions | June 2

Landlords’ expenses aren’t gone

I am a landlord and I support the moratorium on evictions for those affected by the pandemic who lost their jobs because of the government mandate. However, some people have not been affected at all by the closing of businesses, by losing their jobs or by illness, and are using the eviction moratorium as a way not to pay their rents for months, taking advantage of another general mandate that keeps being extended. The law is on their side, and it is the landlords who end up paying the price. The issue should be judged on a case-by-case basis—maybe then you will have real justice. Landlords still have to pay dues, insurance, mortgages, taxes, but they do not get a break. Shame on Gov. Ron DeSantis for extending the moratorium.

Rafael Jimenez, Gainesville

The fault lies within us | Column, June 2

This is anti-racism

Ultimately, if we want to help in the struggle for racial justice, white people need to ask what it means to be good allies—not stopping at “not racist” but plumbing the depths of what it means to be anti-racist. We need to find ways to share genuine human-to-human support for black friends, neighbors, and fellow-citizens not inflected by our own senses of guilt, fear or discomfort with our own history. The road to ending racism is a long one, and many of us are just now finding our way to walk it, but every step, whether small or large, helps us dismantle racism both within ourselves and outside ourselves. Every step counts.

Amanda Hagood, Gulfport

After fiery weekend, message gets tested | June 2

Looting is not the answer

What happened to George Floyd was a travesty. Police brutality, racial profiling and bigotry are older than all of us.

But violence, looting and burning down buildings are not the answer. Peaceful, intelligent and informative protesting is the answer. All races should join hands during a set time each day and say a prayer for all who have wrongfully died due to police brutality. Working together we can be heard.

Stuart Rosenblatt, Clearwater

Neighbors fuming over pesticide | May 31

The lesser of two evils

No one loves pesticides, but treating the Babe Zaharias Golf Course with them in order to control nematodes is in the best interest of the course, the golfers who play there and the Forest Hills residents who live near and play on the course. With respect to the views of my friend and neighbor Robert Lawson and others who share his opposition, the nematodes will destroy the grass. If the grass dies, golfers stop playing and the course fails.

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The course is the centerpiece of our neighborhood. It provides recreation for golfers and for the hundreds of non-golfing residents who walk their dogs in the evening, and play with their kids on the course.

The health threat of the pesticide dissipates in 72 hours; the threat of the nematodes will gnaw away the economic and personal health of our community for years. Forest Hills is a thriving neighborhood with an improving housing stock and rising values. Good health is more than just avoidance of pesticides. Avoiding the course for a few days while the pesticide dissipates is a small price to pay.

Rex Henderson, Tampa