We’ve been talking about the homeless problem on Fort Myers Beach on our Saturday morning show for years now. Now this. A homeless man, who was sleeping on the patio of the Sandcastle Beach Club, wakes up and uses the bushes as his bathroom IN BROAD DAYLIGHT!
Clearly frustrated with nothing being done locally, the owners of the Sandcastle sent surveillance video of the man’s morning routine to the local TV stations. How’s that look for promoting tourism? Imagine being the person that has to clean that up.
The homeless situation on Fort Myers Beach is an issue the town council has never seriously tried to deal with. The last time the issue came up at a council meeting was when residents spoke up during public comment about how the homeless population was growing at Newton Park. One resident, who lives close to the park, spoke about how a man tried to enter his home. Others find homeless people regularly sleeping in their yards.
The homeless issue was the top public safety issue according to a Beach Talk Radio poll conducted just a few short months ago. It has clearly only gotten worse.
Everyone knows beloved Fort Myers Beach Librarian Leroy Hommerding was killed by a homeless man.That was over two years ago. 
A homeless man lit a fire behind Mango Rita’s to keep warm this past winter nearly torching the entire restaurant. Who knows how many other building would have caught fire if the owner of the restaurant didn’t show up when he did.
One of the reasons Suzi Bahan joined the public safety committee was because of a scary encounter she had while alone outside her business.
It’s time this council stopped looking the other way and started taking the issue seriously. It’s time they stop pretending the problem isn’t real. It’s time they stop saying nothing can be done or it’s a Lee County problem. Someone on the council should step up and show some leadership on this issue before someone else gets killed.
Lee County and the City of Fort Myers are finding ways to deal with their homeless problem. It’s time Ray Murphy’s town council showed that same kind of leadership. It’s time the council establish a committee, with experts in this field, to consider real solutions to help the homeless, prevent them from using beach hotels as porta-johns, and keep residents and visitors safe. Telling your voters to dial 911 isn’t an effective strategy.
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