To the editor:

Because most decisions made at the broadest level can best reflect the feedback from the people most affected, granting local authority some autonomy just makes good sense. Local control or home rule is generally preferred for governing decisions that affect the locals the most. But DeSantis’ GOP legislature passed a broad swath of legislation ranging from anti local control, to just plain disrespectful of Floridians.

Locally we have lost the right to rent control; virtually the only mechanism that keeps housing affordable. They have also passed a state law that overruled our local ordinance that prohibited fertilizing your lawn in the spring to prevent dangerous toxins from exacerbating red tide in our water. Talk about fixing something that was not broken!

Red tide is a neurotoxin (neuro for brain, toxin for poison). As we see the remaining few panthers in the wild unable to walk straight, do we really think more toxins in the water are good for the local wild life? Is there anyone in Southwest Florida that thinks we need more smelly slime in our water? Only those in the slash and burn real estate market, who need neon green curb appeal to flip the property, could see a profit from the rest of us choking from impassable Cape Coral canals.

Enough.

Please refrain from using fertilizer during the spring and summer, when your water ways are the most vulnerable.

Ellen Starbird

Cape Coral