Your editorial board should take a second look at Lauderhill’s $65 million proposed bond program.
The city is already in trouble because of excessive debt. I am sure they have a below average credit rating and will have to pay a higher than average interest rate for new borrowing. Lauderhill is built out, and its only steady source of income is property taxes. All items that the new borrowing is intended for should have been bought and paid for from the annual budget.
They can only increase their millage rate from 7.5 to 10 mills, the limit. Lauderhill needs to reduce payroll and benefits to employees and set a budget that will include funds for road improvements, public safety and other ordinary municipal expenses. If $65 million in general obligation borrowing is approved, I believe there will be a default and Lauderhill will be forced into involuntary bankruptcy.
Anthony Titone, Parkland
The writer is a former Lauderhill city attorney.
Editor’s Note: City Manager Kennie Hobbs Jr. responds: Lauderhill maintains a strong financial position, including reduced operating and debt service millage rates in recent years accompanied by an affirmed A+ bond rating from Standard & Poor (November 2025). This reflects sound fiscal management, stable reserves and responsible long-term planning. The proposed bond is structured within the city’s established debt service framework to ensure continued financial stability … Assertions regarding financial distress or risk of default are not supported by the city’s current financial indicators or credit standing. Lauderhill remains committed to transparency, prudent budgeting and responsible governance. We encourage continued engagement and invite the community to review detailed information about the RISE Lauderhill GO Bond and the city’s financial reports at lauderhill-fl.gov/home.
Progress and preservation
Developer Jimmy Tate’s Feb. 16 letter regarding Bahia Mar omitted critical facts about the site’s documented history. Most notably, Tate submitted a letter to the Fort Lauderdale Historic Preservation Board less than an hour before a recent hearing, asserting that “no findings” were documented to support historic designation.
That is factually inaccurate. A Level I archaeological survey conducted by the Archaeology & Historical Conservancy documented archaeological material, which was reported to both the city and state of Florida. Under city preservation guidelines, an application need meet only one eligibility criterion for designation. City staff determined this application was eligible under two.
Historic designation does not obstruct routine park improvements or public use. It ensures that any earth-disturbing activity on public land proceeds with appropriate consideration of documented archaeological resources associated with the Third Fort of Fort Lauderdale. Progress and preservation are not mutually exclusive. Responsible stewardship requires that public decisions be informed by accurate history and sound science.
Michaela M. Conca, Fort Lauderdale
The writer is president of the Broward Trust for Historic Preservation.
White supremacy, alive and well
A Trump favorite, Elon Musk, posted on 26 of 31 days in January how the white race was under threat, made allusions to race science or promoted anti-immigrant conspiracy content.
Byron Donalds, a candidate for governor, shows “a lack of respect for people of different nationalities and different religions … citizens exercising constitutional rights … a fundamental contempt for democratic principles.”
A judge in Philadelphia reinstated a historic display commemorating the enslaved people held by President George Washington, removed under the administration mandate aimed at “ending DEI programs and gender ideology extremism and restoring truth and sanity to American history.”
But there is hope. Students in West Palm Beach schools staged a walkout on President’s Day to send a message, even if it risked discipline. Their protest signs read “We are skipping a lesson to teach one,” and “Education, not deportation,” and “ICE Out!”
Some deportations have left children and teens without one or both parents. With Trump escalating the war on American life, do we sit back and watch?
The choice is ours. Will we act on it? Time will tell. What do we tell our children as this unfolds? It looks like our children will tell us!
Sylvia Whiting, West Palm Beach
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