In multiple sectors: business, government, non-profit, there is a notion of misapplying anything really called ready, miss, aim. Governor DeSantis proposed legislation yesterday targeting violent protest, protects people driving vehicles into protestors and punishes municipalities for reallocating police funds.
The panhandle was just hit by a Cat 2 hurricane punching well above it’s weight class. We’re in the middle of a pandemic in highly polarized times. Roughly 1 million Floridians are out of work and Florida’s unemployment system that is supposed keep people afloat until better times has been grossly mismanaged through 2020. We’re facing a potential housing crisis as home owners/landlords will eventually find their mortgages due and renters face eviction should the eviction moratorium be lifted. We’ve lost over 13,000 fellow Floridians on the Governor’s watch, and we have run out of names for Tropical Storms and Hurricanes.
One thing we don’t seem to have is rampant violent protest in Florida. In Okaloosa County we have had at least four Black Lives Matters rallies with no incident. There have also been vigils in Escambia County and Walton County to my knowledge with no incident. Potential constituents who I’ve spoken to have expressed little desire to defund the police here in Florida HD4 but agree that we need more mental health support in the area, certain tasks may be better relegated to social workers. This legislative proposal by Governor DeSantis does not address any of the real conditions being faced by Floridians, particularly those of us who are vulnerable to falling into crisis in these difficult times.
In times like these, I would expect to see grants associated with overdue infrastructure projects to help people get back to work and strengthen communities. I would expect to see support for small businesses to weather these times and keep sales tax revenue flowing to government coffers. I would expect to see support of job training initiatives and educational initiatives, but focusing on crises that do not seem to be affecting Florida, calling for a special legislative session for this purpose is missing the mark.
Originally posted: https://medium.com/@johnforflorida/ready-miss-aim-during-a-pandemic-in-florida-the-combating-violence-disorder-and-looting-ddc5307b52c5