A room for two, please

Oct 23, 2025 2 min read

To the editor:

Thanks for telling us that the taxpayers of Cape Coral are gonna pony up $2.7 million for the Marriott Hotel that’s gonna be built in the Northeast Cape. Our share is gonna be 8.3 % of the total investment of $29.1 million. In case our City Council has forgotten, the government has utterly no right to spend our money this way. This project is a private venture for private profit.

FYI, the platform of my party (the Libertarian Party of Florida) says, “… VII Economy … We reject favoritism in any form to any industries, companies or other organizations. We oppose all grants, loans, loan guarantees and investments in business by any state or local government and all regulatory schemes that create privileges for disadvantages to any business or industry …”

However, I’m a reasonable guy, so let’s compromise. In return for 8.3 % of the profits every year, they can have our money. (We’re their co-investors, remember.) Additionally, we want our investment to be secured as a first lien on the property, ahead of all creditors and ahead of Marriott . Otherwise, they can borrow it from a bank, at current rates, the way the rest of us do.

Live Free or Die.

Larry Gillis, Cape Coral

Director-at-Large, Libertarian Party of Florida