Letters to the Editor: 2.23.16

Fruitville Road plans confound resident

I read in disbelief and amazement the article on the Fruitville Road disagreements (Feb. 16). My husband and I live in the Rosemary District. I walk Fruitville Road sidewalks every day, where I very seldom see anyone walking. We use the Fruitville Road bike lanes, which they want to eliminate.

They want to turn Fruitville into a one-lane street (as if it were Main Street) for two blocks. I have experienced this in my own town up north, where the traffic, because of this idiotic design, is always backed up, and sends drivers to neighborhoods.

Do these city staffers live in this area or walk? Probably not.

But they want to treat this major road like it’s Palm Avenue. I offer my thanks to the Longboat Key staffers, who have more sense than the planners of the city of Sarasota — the city of unchecked development, no setbacks for new construction, a homeless problem run amok, traffic ignored or added to the present congestion, with suggestions like this.

Katherine White

Sarasota

Opinions of today’s youth should matter

Throughout the country, there is a common belief that those in grades K-12 need not worry about politics because it “doesn’t apply to them” or “they’re too young to have an opinion.” The youth is the driving force of this country and its future, so why shouldn’t they have an opinion? Everything from labor regulations to environmental efforts to education reform has an impact on how this generation lives and thrives.

Education has been a particularly important subject recently with the confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of education. Teenagers from around Sarasota County rallied together and voiced their opinions to Sen. Marco Rubio in defense of a safe and affordable education. In the end this proved to be unsuccessful, but if the activism of the youth in Sarasota against Trump’s education secretary had been reflected across the nation, there could have been a different outcome.

Pine View School has promoted activism by offering political clubs, such as the Young Republicans and Young Democrats, to students. Sarasota High School has the Junto club, in which male students discuss local and global issues to help raise their awareness on political viewpoints from all angles. La Sertoa is a female equivalent of the club.

Sarasota is a model community for political activism. Anywhere from anti-Trump protests recently to Clinton and Trump rallies during the campaign season, our community is a hotbed for politics. All we need to do is listen to the muted voices of the youth, and we can help make our future more educated and more aware than ever before.

Evin Beede

Sarasota, 11th-grader
Sarasota High School