Don't remove Sarasota parking spaces. Get rid of the 'genius' behind this idea.
Less parking would hurt businesses
Having read the Herald-Tribune article of Feb. 6, both my wife and I are stunned that someone has proposed removing 105 parking spaces downtown.
We recently ate dinner at Beso on Lemon Street. There were no available spaces on Main Street, so we parked in the State Street garage, which was at capacity.
One of the garage's two elevators was out of service again and an attendant was stationed at the exit to deal with the device that opens the exit gate.
There were literally hundreds of people walking on Main Street and a constant flow of cars on Main and Lemon within eyeshot.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Unless a new parking garage is built or additional lots are created, it's senseless to remove 105 existing spaces.
If you reduce the parking, you have reduced the number of visitors.
If you reduce the number of visitors, you reduce the amount of money spent – and if you reduce the money spent, then the merchants will suffer and potentially go out of business.
Please, hire a qualified urban planner and rethink this terrible proposal.
Dave Potenza, Sarasota
Happy ending for Trooper, tragic for Dexter
I read with anger, 'Abandoned dog suffers a health scare,' on Page C3 on Feb. 8.
Trooper, a bull terrier, has had several misfortunes in his life but has bounced back with a smile. Dogs are amazing.
I wanted to highlight Jessica Ellen Ospina's comment that 'If you choose to take responsibility of an animal, then you take responsibility of that animal just as you choose to take responsibility of a child.'
Trooper's previous owner, who is accused of leaving him tied to a fence as Hurricane Milton approached, should be sentenced to the highest extent of the law if found guilty of abuse and abandonment.
Also, I would like to alert readers to another dog abuse case, this one much more tragic.
Dexter was an adorable pup who was adopted in May 2024 from Pinellas County Animal Services. Several days later, sheriff's deputies found Dexter decapitated at Fort De Soto Park in a plastic bag.
The adopter (also the accused) goes to trial Feb. 19. Please show your support for Dexter by following the Facebook page 'Justice for Dexter.'
We need to start taking more serious action against those who abuse animals.
A prison sentence may be more appropriate than a slap on the wrist.
Lisa Tongue, Bradenton
Way to avoid in-office mandate nonsensical
'Tis the season to be − coffee badging?' An article that ran in the Herald-Tribune's Business section Feb. 10 is difficult to believe ('Workers are coffee badging to get around return-to-office mandates').
It describes how some workers resist being called back to the office.
Supposedly, they swipe their ID badges at the office to record their arrival, make a few social visits and then head back home.
The article characterizes the practice as 'a powerful statement by employees' and 'a positive trend.' What? How do they swipe their ID badges at quitting time? How do they get away with it?
Only the final line of the article makes sense to me. At one company, after being told 'coffee badging' was not an option, 'Employees invariably began staying full days.'
Richard L. Mizell, Sarasota
Trump has no right to act unilaterally
While Donald Trump won the 2024 election, he won only 49.8 percent of the popular vote; 50.2 percent of Americans voted for someone other than him.
Why do we allow the president to act like he has a mandate to do anything he (or his partner, Elon Musk) wants?
Steve Callaway, Osprey
Only Democrats, workers oppose cuts
The only people upset by the Trump administration's attempt to reduce the incredible waste in our government agencies are Democrats, who count on government workers for votes, and government workers, who count on Democrats for their pay.
The rest of us are quite happy. Or should be.
As far as waste goes, the administration should also take over Super Bowl halftime shows.
Lee Hoffman, Lakewood Ranch
President's misplaced priorities
Renaming a mountain, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, reinstating plastic straws, creating a park full of statues, pardoning traitors who attacked police officers and blocking food shipments and medical assistance to starving people:
All addressed by executive action by President Donald Trump, along with a whole bunch of other stuff.
But not a peep about eliminating the income tax on Social Security.
Remember that promise?
It's too late for this year probably. Maybe Trump will hold out the carrot right before the midterms, and then still not do it.
But what I do know is when it comes to his priorities, plastic straws are more important to Trump than I am.
James Jackson, Venice
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