Why are we even here? That was the question Fort Myers Beach Public Safety Committee member Dawn Thomas asked. Thomas said she was frustrated and dumbfounded by the way the town council negated them and threw the committee to the side.
Thomas’ criticism of the council was unanimous from the public safety committee, just as their vote was when they recommended the council move forward with hiring at least two LCSO community police officers. And that’s what the committee members were angry about. Not only did the town council vote down hiring the officers, the months worth of work the public safety committee put into researching the issue and presenting it to the council was totally ignored.
Public Safety Committee Chair John Goggin said he’s been frustrated more than once with the disconnect between the committee and the council and in an upcoming meeting he plans to go to the council and ask them to answer yes or not if issues they are working on are a priority so committee members are not wasting their time.
At a previous town council meeting Mayor Ray Murphy said he had no idea what community police officers would be doing. He must not have been paying attention to Goggin’s committee report to the council. Goggin gave a 20 minute detailed presentation on exactly what community police officers would be doing if hired. “I explained to him how it worked,” Goggin said this week.
Committee member Heidi Jungwirth said it’s like they don’t listen to us. “Why should we waste hours researching this stuff. They don’t care if we do it or not. They’re going to do whatever they want to do.”
Committee member Jim Knickle, a former police officer in Ohio, said this would have been an investment in the community. “No-one is listening to the residents right now. This was a big opportunity missed by this council.” He said he was extremely disappointed.
Knickle made one other point in saying that while this issue may be dead now, it may not be gone forever. While community policing will not happen in 2022, it could come up again as early as the next budget cycle. The terms of two of the three no votes (Murphy and Hosafros) are up for election in 2022. Nobody knows yet if they will run again or who else may run for those two seats, however, with Dan Allers and Jim Atterholt firmly behind community policing, all it takes is one more council member who believes in the issue to make change. Perhaps Knickle was sending an early message about his plans for November 2022.
[…] on September 24th we reported on the frustrations the Fort Myers Beach Public Safety Committee members expressed when they put […]
We need to remember this at election time. Murphy and Hosafros do not serve the community, they do not listen to our concerns.
👍
The council and it’s manager did the same to three years of work by the Bay Oaks Advisory Board.
Island voters need to pay a lot more attention, ask a lot more questions at election time and refuse to accept the spin, evasion and non-answers too often offered by candidates who have no clue how to government.
Press them, insist, demand clear answers to their positions. And do a lot better due diligence in backgrounds. Stop accepting popularity contests in elections..
Perhaps form a voter’s committee to do the work in every election.
If a candidate is foggy on business background or prior public office call the paper where they’re from and check for any violations, lawsuits and ethical lapses. Dig. Become investigators..
Why hasn’t any person investigated Roger
The town council is truly inept! Watched their meetings and clearly have no clue. It’s time for a change
Just because he was an officer in Ohio, that does not necessarily make him an expert.
I never understand why people think they know better than the experts. Good grief, all the research and the good fortune of having a career expert like Jim Knickle.
Comments are closed.