A round-up of Sunday editorials from Florida’s leading newspapers

A round-up of Sunday editorials from Florida’s leading newspapers:

Tampa Bay Times — Open up Florida primary elections

Florida’s political system is broken. Few congressional or legislative districts are competitive for both Democrats and Republicans, and the closed primary elections shut out voters with no party affiliation, the fastest growing group of voters. The system discourages centrist candidates and encourages extremism from members of both political parties in Congress and the Florida Legislature, and the time is ripe for reform.

A proposed constitutional amendment to change Florida’s primary elections is a well-intended effort to involve all voters and encourage more mainstream candidates from both political parties who could better reach consensus in Washington and Tallahassee. The All Voters Vote amendment would allow all voters to vote in primaries for Congress, the Legislature, governor and Cabinet. There would be one primary ballot for each office and the top two finishers, regardless of party affiliation, would advance to the general election. In the primaries for state offices, candidates receiving more than 50 percent of the vote would be elected.

The amendment has some attraction. It is supported by former Florida State University president Sandy D’Alemberte and by Jim Smith, the former attorney general and secretary of state who held elected office as both a Democrat and a Republican. It would benefit centrist candidates such as Smith, who was well-qualified to be governor but too conservative to win the Democratic nomination in the 1980s, and too moderate to win the Republican nomination in the 1990s. It would raise voter turnout in primary elections, which would be open to all voters and now are too often low-turnout contests that attract only the most partisan party activists.

But it also is far from clear that the so-called blanket primary is the best election change for Florida and that the amendment could win the required 60 percent voter approval if it makes the 2016 ballot. Only California, Washington and Louisiana are using this pure top-two primary system for all of these state and federal offices. It would be a dramatic change for Florida that the political parties would be sure to fight, and it could result in general elections where the two remaining candidates are from the same political party.

A more gradual step would be to maintain primary elections for Republicans and Democrats but let all voters decide which primary they want to vote in when they cast their ballots. Nearly two dozen states use some form of this open primary system, which also should increase voter participation and produce more centrist elected officials from both political parties. In the general election, there still would be the familiar choice between a Democrat and Republican, who each might be attractive to crossover voters. At the very least, Florida primary elections should be opened to voters with no party affiliation.

The Bradenton Herald — Manatee County commissioner seeks ordinance to ban sales of pets from puppy mills

Manatee County suffers from an over-abundance of homeless pets, especially dogs, most dramatically witnessed by overcrowding at the shelter operated by Animal Services. The various rescue organizations help tremendously by taking pets out of the shelter and serving as key facilitators for animal adoption.

So it comes as welcome news that Commissioner Carol Whitmore seeks consideration of an ordinance that prohibits pet stores from obtaining animals from puppy mills.

Seventy-eight jurisdictions across the country limit pet stores sales to only animals from shelters, rescue groups, humane societies and hobby breeders. Federal court decisions have upheld these regulations. In June, a federal judge spurned a Broward County pet store’s claim that the city of Sunrise ban on the sale of commercially bred puppies and kittens was unconstitutional.

Particularly egregious are the pet stores that import these “commodities” from outside Florida, simply aggravating the problem of homeless animal overpopulation as new owners regret their purchase and abandon their pets over time.

A Manatee County ordinance will be discussed during a commission work session on Sept. 15, the first step in a long and hopefully successful process.

Rescue animals make great loyal and loving pets, as countless testimonials indicate. This is a highly recommended route toward acquiring a pet. Giving a homeless, abandoned animal a forever home also teaches children a valuable lesson in compassion, something that can never be had with a puppy-mill pet.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal —Keep refining approach to homelessness

At two public forums last week, dozens of Volusia residents turned out to hear about a proposed central shelter for homeless adults. Audience members posed tough questions, but seemed generally positive.

That’s good news for the public officials who have been working hard toward a solution to the endless cycle of vagrancy, incarceration, victimization and petty crimes tied to homelessness in many local cities. And the proposal currently on the table appeals to many: a shelter for up to 400 people, which would offer food, housing, educational and job counseling, health care and mental-health/addiction services — all aimed at getting homeless people back on their feet and in stable living situations.

It’s a laudable goal. But if it can’t gather enough support to make it fiscally feasible, local leaders need to be ready to identify a Plan B.

The stakes are high. The central-shelter proposal, backed by a report by Texas-based consultant Robert Marbut, relies on financial support from the county — which has pledged land and up to $4 million in construction costs — and $1.6 million in annual operating costs from local cities. Last month, Deltona officials said they weren’t interested in participating in the shelter discussions. Other cities, including Port Orange and DeBary, seem poised to follow suit.

Deltona’s position is understandable; the city doesn’t have a visible problem with panhandling or vagrancy. While poverty is high in the city, it’s likely that when Deltona residents become homeless, they leave to be nearer services like food banks, low-cost hotels and shelters.

That doesn’t mean these cities should bow out of countywide talks. It does mean, however, that their concerns should be taken into consideration. That can’t happen unless cities agree to participate in the discussions of homelessness.

Last week’s meetings were valuable in another way. They offered an opportunity for people in Volusia County who are interested in this problem to step forward and offer their insight and concerns. That discussion should continue, offering opportunities to business owners worried about the image of homeless people sleeping on their doorsteps, faith leaders wanting to provide meals, clothing or shelter, and residents in rural areas who have seen campsites on their property.

There’s no doubt that homelessness is a countywide problem. Residents across the county pay more in taxes when local emergency rooms become shelters of last resort. Jail capacity and police time are taken up by people committing low-level offenses tied directly to homelessness — or when homeless people become victims of crime because they are vulnerable. Local schools are tracking thousands of children who don’t have permanent, reliable shelter.

The Florida Times-Union — Cheers: Barbers help out city’s infants

Cheers to barber shops for teaming up with the Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition on the “Barbers for Babies Infant Mortality Awareness Back to School” event.

During the event, held at the Woodland Acres Boys and Girls Club, barbers from six local shops helped supervise a basketball competition for kids and passed out 175 book bags filled with school supplies to children. A plaque was also unveiled to recognize the late Winston Thompson, a popular barber who helped launch the Barbers for Babies program in 2009; Thompson was shot to death earlier this year.

In the days leading up to the promotion, the barber shops distributed information on numerous topics — including infant mortality, safe-sleep techniques for babies and advice on being a good father — inside their establishments.

The barber shops participating in the event were:

• The Cut Above.
• Main Connection.
• Duval Cutz.
• Jax Cutz.
• Center Stage I.
• Center Stage II.

Let’s applaud the barber shops for their community spirit.

WOMEN’S CENTER CELEBRATION

For two decades, the Women’s Center of Jacksonville has provided extensive and critical services to women, and its great work should be celebrated.

And that’s exactly what will happen Aug. 21 when the Women’s Center holds a cocktail bash at the Deerwood Country Club to commemorate both its 20th anniversary and the retirement of Shirley Webb, the nonprofit’s founder and executive director.

The Women’s Center of Jacksonville and Webb deserve huge praise for making such a lasting contribution to our city.

Florida Today – Train-load of questions about a train

If you’ve got some extra cash lying around, here’s an idea:

Sink all your hard-earned dollars into tax-free bonds for All Aboard Florida, the high-speed passenger train service that will supposedly run between downtown Miami and the Orlando airport.

Or, for the same return on your investment, take all your cash, dump it in a bucket and light it on fire.

Every passenger rail service in the United States loses money, but All Aboard Florida last week was approved to sell $1.75 billion in municipal bonds to finance its 235-mile fantasy. The private firm promises to put up about $700 million in equity and assume all debt.

The bonds will be unrated because of the absurdly high risks, which required a couple dozen pages to explain.

Bottom line: It will be impossible for the train project to ever make a profit. If your broker calls up and tries to sell you some of these bonds, fire the fool.

Here’s the pitch you might hear: When the project is finished, All Aboard Florida will be running trains between Miami and Orlando 32 times a day at speeds exceeding 100 mph.

The company won’t say what the price of a ticket will be, yet it predicts yearly revenues of $300 million. No less rosy is its ridership projection of 5.4 million passengers annually by 2020 — about 14,000 riders daily.

Whoever cooked up these numbers must have been heavy into the mushrooms. It sounds like they basically sat around listening to Pink Floyd and making stuff up. Clearly they paid no attention to historical rail-use data.

The Gainesville Sun – Cheers and jeers

While a technological revolution has transformed the way we communicate, work and perform countless other tasks, not everyone is sharing in the benefits.

A digital divide exists along racial, geographic and income-based lines. Poor, minority and rural households are less likely to have high-speed Internet access, Census data has shown.

That limits opportunities to members of these communities, as having Internet access is increasingly important to doing school work, finding a job and accessing services.

Cheer: A coalition of local residents and government and business officials, for working to close the digital divide in our community.

As The Sun reported this week, their latest initiative is securing free high-speed Internet service in three east Gainesville recreation centers. Alachua County government worked with Gainesville’s GRUCom Fiber Optic Communications operation to provide the service. The Plum Creek Foundation provided a $2,000 grant to buy 10 new computers.

A Digital Divide Task Force has worked to bring high-speed Internet access to more members of the community. Last year, Cox Communications helped the Gainesville Housing Authority open computer labs at three public housing complexes.

Local NAACP President Evelyn Foxx, who spearheaded the task force, told The Sun that its goal is expanding Internet service to all of the county’s public housing complexes and then into rural areas lacking service.

Jeer: University of Florida officials, for plans to cut down Bert the Tree and several other heritage trees to make way for a new engineering building that isn’t even paid for yet.

The Lakeland Ledger — Legislature needs to do its job, finally

We have learned a couple of things now that the Legislature has wrapped up the first week of its third attempt to draw Florida’s congressional boundaries.

The first is that it’s still too early to tell where many voters will end up. The news out of Tallahassee just before lawmakers split for the weekend was that our elected leaders may tear up all the proposed changes discussed during the week, which meant considerable shifting of lines throughout Central Florida, and go back to square one.

The second thing we have learned, which may be more important, is that representational democracy is hard — so hard, that some people don’t want to do it.

Recall how we got here.

Good-government-types, such as the League of Women Voters and Common Cause, sued the Legislature for failing to abide by the so-called Fair Districts Amendments that were adopted by voters in 2010 and mandated contiguous, compact voting districts. Last year a judge determined lawmakers ignored the will of the voters — and that some high-powered Republican legislators colluded with a GOP strategist from Gainesville to draw the congressional lines — and violated the law. This year, that ruling was affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court, which found eight districts out of kilter and told the Legislature it had until late September to get the maps right.

The Miami Herald — Cuba’s slow walk to freedom

The symbolic hoisting of the Stars and Stripes by U.S. Marines — the same men who lowered the flag more than five decades ago — over the newly proclaimed U.S. Embassy in Havana on Friday will signal the start of a new era in U.S.-Cuba relations that holds the promise of a better future for the Cuban people.

When President Obama announced Dec. 17 that the two countries had embarked on a path to restore the full diplomatic relations that were broken more than a half-century ago, we labeled it a “roll of the dice.”And so it remains — a work in progress that has been painfully slow on those issues that mean the most.

Mr. Obama said the new policy was based on the belief that, “We can do more to support the Cuban people and promote our values through engagement.” It was gamble, but one worth taking in an effort to break the stalemate that has kept Cubans frozen in an economic and political time warp that stifles their freedom, self-expression and creativity.

To date, dictator Raúl Castro has shown no sign of relenting on the human-rights front. According to Cuba’s Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, there have been more than 3,000 political detentions since the thaw. There will be more, no doubt, because Cuba’s people feel emboldened to challenge a regime that dares not loosen the restrictions of a police state lest it all come tumbling down suddenly.

But the new relationship will give American diplomats greater leeway to reach out to dissidents. Instead of asking permission to travel around the island, diplomats simply have to notify the government of their travel plans. Not ideal, but then Cuba is not a free country. That’s the whole point of the new policy, to achieve by engagement — soft power, if you will — what hard power could not achieve during the Cold War and beyond.

Secretary of State John Kerry has insisted that human rights will remain at the top of the agenda. The United States must show it is keeping up the pressure, especially in the face of criticism that Cuba’s regime hasn’t given up much, if anything. But let’s not kid ourselves: It took six months for the United States and Cuba to negotiate the relatively straightforward matter of restoring full diplomatic relations. It will take much longer to make progress on those issues that so deeply divide us.

The Orlando Sentinel — Keep concealed weapons off Fla. college campuses

Opponents of the gun lobby notched a rare victory earlier this year when they defeated bills that would have lifted Florida’s ban on carrying concealed weapons on college and university campuses.

Now, like a stubborn weed, the bills are back.

Legislators need to stamp them out again, and prove they put more faith in the higher education and law enforcement leaders who oppose this loopy idea than the National Rifle Association leaders who have been pushing it.

Allowing guns on campus would inject deadly weapons into an atmosphere already swirling with academic pressure, romantic rivalries, youthful impetuousness, and alcohol and drugs. What could possibly go wrong?

Supporters of the bills claim guns would make campuses safer because concealed permit holders could defend themselves and others from criminals without having to wait for the police. They cite last year’s shooting at Florida State University, in which a lone gunman wounded three people at the library before police arrived and shot him dead.

But when the bills were considered during the last legislative session, every public university president — including FSU’s John Thrasher — and police chief registered his or her opposition. At a summit this past week organized by the League of Women Voters, Valencia College police chief Paul Rooney, a former Orlando police chief, advised legislators to pay special attention to the opposition from campus law enforcement. “Let’s listen to the folks who know best,” Rooney said.

Concealed-weapon permit holders must be at least 21 years of age, but training requirements are notoriously lenient. Permit holders are not even close to being qualified as surrogate cops. Those holders who respond, guns blazing, to a campus crime are more likely than police to shoot innocent bystanders, or be shot themselves in the confusion after police arrive.

Even if some permit holders happen to be unusually skilled, their weapons could fall into the hands of others on campus without any training whatsoever. Guns also would heighten the risk of suicide, already the second leading cause of death for college-age adults.

The Ocala StarBanner — Guns have no place on campuses

Guns and college campuses are a dangerous combination, and members of the state’s higher education and law enforcement communities need to work to defeat a renewed effort to allow firearms on state college and university campuses.

Earlier this month, two Republican state lawmakers filed bills that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to carry guns on campuses. Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman Greg Evers, R-Baker, and Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, proposed the measures for consideration during the legislative session starting in January.

Critics aren’t waiting around to rally the opposition. The League of Women Voters of held a statewide gun safety summit this week to address the bills and another proposal that would allow guns to be carried in K-12 schools by designated employees.

The League should be lauded for taking on such important but controversial issues. The National Rifle Association will surely demonize the group for daring to suggest that guns on campus are more likely to be used in a confrontation that escalates rather than in preventing a mass shooting.

“Young people are more prone to act impulsively,” Patti Brigham, chairwoman of the League’s gun safety committee, told the Miami Herald. “You’ve also got the issue of drinking on campus, and firearms and alcohol over and over again have been shown to be a really bad mix.”

We are reminded of the tragedy involving a 20-year-old Florida State University student who was shot to death at a fraternity house in 2011 when a gun was accidentally discharged.

The Pensacola News-Journal — Government gone to the tattle tales

I just learned that an anonymous government official called my mom. Here’s the totally fictional transcript:

My mom: Hello?

Government official: Mrs. Marlette?

Mom: Yes?

Official: I’m calling to inform you that your son is involved in bullying poor, innocent government officials.

Mom: Oh my!

Official: Yes, Mrs. Marlette. He and the publication he works for have been spreading false reporting and vindictive lies about the government. As his mother, I thought you should know.

Mom: Well, as a child, he could be a pain in the butt sometimes…

Official: Mrs. Marlette, I’m just trying to do the right thing here. When I see something that I know is wrong, I’m so noble and honorable and forthright that I have to do something about it.

Mom: Who are you again?

Official: That’s none of your business, Mrs. Marlette. But your son’s behavior is. I would suggest you correct it.

Mom: I’ll call him, but he never answers his phone. Is there anything else?

Official: Yes. Your son is a meany-face poop head. And he’s bald. Click!

The Palm Beach Post — Act now and help stop Palm Beach County youth violence

Palm Beach County is not Chicago. Not yet.

In Chicago? It’s been another summer of violence. Over the Fourth of July weekend 55 people were wounded and 10 killed, many of them children, all from gun violence.

Thank God that’s not happening here, right?

Not so fast.

Last weekend, as the Post’s Lulu Ramadan reported, there were three shooting incidents involving five victims in Palm Beach County within 24 hours. It was the ninth straight weekend of fatal shootings, most involving young people.

Meanwhile, at Boomers in Boca Raton, a teen at a birthday party accidentally shot his pal while transferring a stolen gun into his back pocket so he could ride the go-carts.

This isn’t happening in one concentrated spot. It’s happening from Jupiter to Boca Raton, from Dixie Highway to Lake Okeechobee, clustered mostly in pockets of poverty — fertile ground for gangs.

The Post’s Julius Whigham II and Michelle Quigley have created an important interactive map that shows details of all county homicides, athttp://www.palmbeachpost.com/homicides/. Especially disconcerting are the photos of the victims. So many of them are young African-American men and boys.

There are a few different ways to respond to spasms of youth violence like this. You can shrug and say, “Thank God I live in a gated community. Not my problem.” Lots of people do just that.

You can buy your own gun. Get a security system. Say, “Lock ‘em up. These kids are no good.” Lots of people do that, too.

The Panama City News-Herald — Keeping guns off campuses

Guns and college campuses are a dangerous combination — as shown by an incident last month at the University of Florida.

On July 27, a gun was fired on the UF campus after an argument at a nearby bar. University police reported that the argument escalated into a fistfight in a campus parking lot, ending when a 25-year-old man allegedly pulled out a gun from his girlfriend’s purse and fired it into the ground.

A UF police spokesman told The Sun that he couldn’t recall a previous shooting incident on campus. To keep it that way, members of the university community need to work to defeat another effort to allow firearms on state college and university campuses.

Earlier this month, two Republican state lawmakers filed bills that would allow people with concealedweapons licenses to carry guns on campuses. Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman Greg Evers, R-Baker, and Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, proposed the measures for consideration during the legislative session starting in January.

Critics aren’t waiting around to rally the opposition. The League of Women Voters of Florida is holding a statewide gun safety summit to address the bills and another proposal that would allow guns to be carried in K-12 schools by designated employees.

The League should be lauded for taking on such important but controversial issues. The National Rifle Association will surely demonize the group for daring to suggest that guns on campus are more likely to be used in a confrontation that escalates rather than in preventing a mass shooting.

“Young people are more prone to act impulsively,” Patti Brigham, chairwoman of the League’s gun safety committee, told the Miami Herald. “You’ve also got the issue of drinking on campus, and firearms and alcohol over and over again have been shown to be a really bad mix.”

Certainly the UF incident shows that to be the case.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel – Broward needs tough look at tourist tax spending

The tourist tax is an easy way for Broward County to make money. As a new report suggests, however, the county needs a hard look at how it spends that money.

Not since Broward first imposed a tax on hotel and motel rooms in 1980 has there been such a critical time in the county’s tourism and marketing effort. Though tourism is at record levels, Broward needs a larger convention center and an accompanying hotel. The Florida Panthers want about $5.5 million more annually in tourist tax revenue over the next 14 years for the team and the BB&T Center, which the county owns but an entity of the Panthers manages. The County Commission seems set on raising the tax from 5 percent to 6 percent, as Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties have done.

But how would the county spend that extra $10 million to $12 million per year from the sixth cent? Is the county getting the best return on the roughly $53 million from the current tax? Should one cent still go toward reserves?

Seeking answers, the Broward Workshop a year ago commissioned Chicago-based Johnson Consulting to study Broward’s tourist tax policy. The workshop represents 100 of the county’s leading businesses and industries. The report has been released, and it makes many good points.

The most important: The current system gives too much discretion to the County Commission and county staff. The tourist development council, the report concludes, “is not being used to advise the county sufficiently, and return on investment is not always being used as a guide.” The council can make only recommendations to the County Commission on spending.

As one example, the report cites last year’s $1.4 million cultural grant program that Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce President Dan Lindblade points out was created “outside of the tourist development council,” continuing a pattern of “undermining” the council. Estimates of how many hotel rooms the attractions would fill were not vetted. As the report notes, “Cultural arts are instrumental in the beautification of the community, but they typically do not attract overnight visitors.”

The Tallahassee Democrat – Wrong lesson learned

Leon County School Board member DeeDee Rasmussen correctly called Lincoln High School’s removal of a novel from its summer reading list “a teachable moment, and we will learn from it.”

We hope school officials get the right lesson.

“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” drew the ire of several parents, who objected to foul language and some characters in the book expressing doubts about the existence of God.

Principal Allen Burch responded by jerking the book from Lincoln’s summer reading list. He explained that he sought to “give the opportunity for parents to parent” their teenagers.

He undoubtedly meant well, but he was wrong. He should have listened politely, explained that there are things in this world people will find offensive, and perhaps offered an alternative reading assignment for those who felt morally compelled to boycott “The Curious Incident.”

And, he should have told the parents, if they choose some other book for their kids, that one might also contain some language or characters they don’t like.

The Tampa Tribune — Port Tampa Bay’s excellent blueprint for growth

Port Tampa Bay has delivered a big boost to Tampa’s burgeoning downtown with its plans to make 45 acres of mostly waterfront land available for a mix of residential and commercial development.

If fully realized, the plan will bring as much as $1.5 billion in private investment money into an area of downtown that may finally reach its fullest potential.

A hotel, residential towers, an open-air market and public park are envisioned by the port, which would generate revenue by leasing the land to developers.

Of course, the plan could mean a major disruption for the port’s established ship repair industry. Maintaining our maritime industry is critical. But officials are confident the affected businesses could relocate elsewhere along the waterfront, away from the development.

The plan would also affect the cruise terminals. One would be demolished and the other expanded to continue to accommodate the ships, which bring nearly 1 million passengers through Tampa. That signals a sensible decision by the port to continue serving the smaller cruise ships rather than attempt to relocate the terminals beyond the Sunshine Skyway Bridge or raise the bridge height to accommodate the mega-ships now serving the industry.

Port officials say they expect a drop-off in cruise passengers over the next 10 years but that the development plan will compensate for the lost business.

With this plan, the port continues to prove itself a responsible steward of the land it owns along the downtown waterfront. It weathered a difficult legal battle to win control of the Channelside retail complex, an effort that proved key in getting Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik to pull the trigger on his $1 billion development plan for 40 acres near the Amalie Arena where its hockey team plays.