Issues and Solutions

Combat Flooding and Protect the Environment

I am passionate about protecting our environment, especially our Florida treasures, the beaches and the Everglades. Governor Ron De Santis has worked tirelessly and with great success to secure federal funding and build miles of the Tamiami Bridge over Everglades National Park.  We are already seeing the restoration of the natural water flow in the Everglades which substantially reduces the excess water flow around Lake Okeechobee that is responsible for the increased levels of phosphates and nitrogen from fertilizers ultimately ending up our oceans. These pollutants are a main cause of algae blooms such as red tide and sargassum seaweed invasions of our waters and beaches. The Tamiami Bridge is allowing for rehabilitation of habitats and protection of endangered species.

One of my top priorities is addressing flooding through improvement of our storm drainage and sewage systems to protect the environment and our property values.

Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed into law the first-ever statewide plan for addressing the growing threat of flooding and sea level rise, to be overseen by a newly established Statewide Office of Resilience.

The measure builds upon legislation approved last year that set aside millions of dollars for infrastructure projects and called on the state Department of Environmental Protection to compile flood and sea level rise data for a vulnerability assessment, among other things.

The new measure goes further, codifying into law the position of Chief Resilience Officer and situating the position within the Executive Office of the Governor. It also specifies the resilience plan must include a ranking of projects submitted by local governments and a narrative of how the plan was developed. The state Department of Transportation also must produce a resilience plan for Florida’s roadways.

Coordination is the name of the game … to effectively increase Florida’s resiliency and to help ensure that actions taken by cities and communities are additive rather than competitive. Rather than just draining flood-prone areas upstream, which could aggravate flooding downstream, the plan has to be comprehensive.   

Another issue that I intend to focus on is the removal of plastics from our oceans and off of our beaches. The wildlife and marine life are now found to have ingested significant quantities of plastic. Not only is the plastic a dirty, eyesore in our oceans and on our beaches; it is dangerous to human health as we consume fish and other seafood. I would support a small tax of a few cents on every single use plastic container sold in the state which would be used directly to remove plastic from the ocean and beaches and send the refuse to recycling facilities.