We have a fantastic opportunity to continue to save the mangroves (a critical part of a larger ecosystem). In 1989, a forward-thinking Broward County Commission worked to save Environmentally Sensitive Land (ESL) by designating certain acreage as such.
Now a developer wants to strip this ESL designation from a landlocked mangrove parcel to build a 14-bay warehouse — a monster in the mangroves.
Susan Stocker / Sun Sentinel
Dr. Jennifer Jurado is Broward County’s chief climate resilience officer.
The developer bought the parcel in 2019 in Dania Beach with this ESL designation. We see no reason to remove it, and we see countless reasons to keep the ESL designation.
In a nutshell, the parcel is environmentally sensitive land. This is substantiated by exceptionally talented Broward professionals, including the esteemed and nationally recognized Dr. Jennifer Jurado, Broward’s chief climate resilience officer.
We implore our county commissioners to honor those who have served before them, recognize the fact that the parcel is environmentally sensitive land (ESL), and leave this parcel on our ESL map.
The County Commission will vote on this issue Tuesday, March 3 at 10 a.m. at 115 S. Andrews Ave., Fourth Floor, Fort Lauderdale (Agenda Item No. 30). Be there! Be a part of this village determined to Save the Mangroves.
Brenda Lee Chalifour, Dania Beach
A call for impeachment
We demand the impeachment of Donald Trump. The list of abuses of power is long.
We highlight here what seem most harmful, though new and more extreme abuses keep coming.
The president has mocked and begun to destroy the hard-won post-World War II international order, violating treaties and contracts, damaging decades of friendships, using the military to gain territory. His economic policy, including the fluctuating tariffs, only benefits himself and the wealthy while punishing workers and taxpayers.
ICE has become his militia. The justice system is a tool of retribution. Finally, he and his cronies are in the midst of dismantling federal agencies tasked with the true purpose of government — managing the health, safety and welfare. This July, we hope to celebrate 250 years of our democracy. To make that possible, we need to impeach Trump now — and this time, convict.
June Cussen, Sarasota
Co-signed by Floridians Terrie Brackett, Barbara Brownell, Jo Butstein, Mollie Cardamone, David Cussen, Leslie Drinkwater, Susan Erhart, Andrea Ginsky, Ann Hankinson, Sue Jacobson, Christine Jennings, Carolyn Johnson, Robert Johnson, Kathy Killion, Marty LeBrun, Holly Miklautsch, Eileen Normile, Isabel Norton, Dr. Sarah Pappas, Marjie Peter, Thomas Peter, Susan Renfrew, Felice Schulaner, Eileen Scudder, Sara Golding Scher, The Honorable Alex Sink, Nancy Turner, Wendy Walker, Ann Wayne, Jeff Wayne and Barbara Zdraveck.
Clueless on energy
It is encouraging that wind, solar and other renewable sources overtook coal as the world’s leading source of electricity in 2025. But it’s truly disappointing that China led this charge, not the U.S.
Instead, the fools who run this country are leading a sputtering retreat into the coal mines by embarrassingly clinging to the anti-climate change hoax. The rest of the world scoffs at Trump’s imperious demands that they follow his clueless lead.
In the U.K., coal has practically disappeared as a power source as wind now provides more than a third of its energy demand. While we rail against reality, China invests heavily in renewable sources and dominates what looks to be a lucrative energy-based economy. Nature abhors a vacuum. As Trump dithers over Venezuela and Greenland instead of more critical concerns like Ukraine, patient, ever-vigilant China quickly fills the void.
Shakespeare’s fairy Puck got it right: “What fools we mortals be!”
John Kelly, Parkland
Welcome to Broward
On Feb. 20, about 10:15 a.m., I was driving west on Oakland Park Boulevard when a car hit the side of my car and sped away. I chased the hit-and-run driver onto North Andrews Avenue where he pulled over.
I called 911, but was not prepared for the lack of assistance and jurisdictional mumbo-jumbo from the dispatcher. She said the incident occurred in Oakland Park’s jurisdiction and I was then in Wilton Manors. But Wilton Manors police would not respond because the incident happened in Oakland Park, and Oakland Park would not come because I was in Wilton Manors.
She suggested we return to Oakland Park and report it to the appropriate precinct. I remain flabbergasted. I dropped a line to the “Ask the Sheriff” page on the Broward Sheriff’s website, but haven’t gotten a reply. I’ve been wondering: What if this involved hotheads, and somebody started shooting? Certainly, there would have been a massive police response from both cities.
Darren Edwards, Fort Lauderdale
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