Are we getting our money’s worth?
To the editor:
At present the Lee County Commissioners are paid an annual salary of $104,000 plus benefits by Lee County citizens. Do we get full value for our money? They treat the job as part-time even though they are compensated for a full-time position. One of the commissioners, Brian Hamman, has so little respect for the citizens he is supposed to be representing that he has accepted an additional well-paid position as CEO of the Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce while retaining his position as County Commissioner. (Notwithstanding the fact that if one was to look at the membership list of the Chamber, it is easy to see numerous possibilities for conflict of interest.)
We can go from here to the developers who contribute just under 70% of the campaign contributions collected by this year’s incumbents. (See for yourself at http://www.lee.vote/Campaign-Reports/Campaign-Finance-Reports) And Mike Greenwell is well on his way to matching the amount of their campaign contributions. And speaking of those developers, they receive a far greater return on their investment than the citizens of Lee County do. The commissioners routinely give the developers the green light in spite of multiple ways developments contravene the Lee Plan and other land use regulations which were put in place to protect the citizens and Florida itself. The commissioners also aid and abet the developers by severely limiting public input. (Is this constitutional? I don’t think so.) When I questioned this during a conversation with one if the commissioners, his response was “that it did not matter how much time was given to the public, the outcome had already been decided.” I have seen this kind of disdain and arrogance on display quite often but this is the first time I have heard it stated so bluntly by a commissioner.
You might ask yourself where the $400,000 in campaign contributions collected by the incumbents who are running virtually unopposed goes.
Unfortunately, the citizens do not speak to this and as long as the citizens remain acquiescent, the commissioners will continue to operate as an oligarchy.
Get involved!!! Start attending meetings in person or virtually. Call the commissioners. Write the commissioners. E-mail the commissioners. Demand that they schedule their meetings in the evening when a working person can attend. Let them know that you expect them to represent you!!
Norman Cannon
Fort Myers