Every Friday in our newsletter from today until the Friday before election day, we’re including a feature called “Weekly Question With Your Candidates.” Fort Myers Beach voters will fill three open seats in November. There are five candidates Here’s our first set of questions…
Fresh off the budget discussions Wednesday night, are you in favor of: Raising the resident parking pass from $50 to $65 per year? Raising the hourly parking rate from $6 to $7 per hour? Raising the parking ticket from $100 to $150? Including $60,000 in revenue for the pool for 2027? Are you comfortable with the financial position the town is in today?
ANITA CERECEDA
Are you in favor of raising the annual resident parking pass from $50 to $65? YES.
Are you in favor of raising the hourly parking rate from $6 to $7 per hour? NO
Are you in favor of raising the parking ticket from $100 to $150? YES
Are you in favor of including $60,000 in revenue for the pool for 2027? NO
Are you comfortable with the financial position the town is in today? NO
“For me, your most significant question is whether or not to include sixty thousand dollars in revenue for the pool, a pool that isn’t built. It begs the question whether it SHOULD be built, at least right now. Although there is a grant in hand for the reconstruction, the operating costs in excess of $500,000 per year could make this an unwise choice. It’s much like being given a fancy car as a gift but being unable to pay for the gas or the insurance.
A fifteen dollar increase for a parking pass is negligible, and honestly, quite a value. Raising the parking ticket fine brings us on par with Sanibel. Raising the per hour charge to park at a meter would make us the most expensive parking in Lee County and could impact the revitalization of our downtown.”
TOM BRADY
“I don’t have access to the town manager and staff to be able to drill down into why and how they decided to come up with these increases. Much of the information was first presented Wednesday night and will take a while to digest. In my case, the staff is not at my disposal to deep dive.
“The Town Manager stated that he was directed to look at ways other than ad valorem to solve the revenue side of the equation (who told him that?). He did a good job laying it out.
“I believe in market pricing for the services that are not mandated to be cost neutral (like permitting). What was not presented was what is the competitive landscape in parking fees. I have heard that Sanibel and Marco charge much less, I am waiting to see the data from the town showing that is not the case.
“Town Councilors, in making their tradeoffs, will provide solutions / alternatives to get to their target budget not just “I will not support any increased taxes”
“I provided a reel on my FB last Saturday describing the need for services-based budget and levers to allow council to make trade-offs. I think Will did make a good first pass at that.
“Regarding the new pool, although the revenue may be optimistic given the construction timelines, I am confident the town can time (delay) this amount expenses in 2027 to coincide with the revenues.
“I expressed some of my concerns about the budget at Wednesday’s meeting. Do transformational projects and school investigation remain in the budget?
“Comfort with the budget – not yet. If we don’t have funds for matching projects we miss out, and of course reserves are quite low.
REBECCA LINK
Because I currently serve on Town Council, these are more than campaign questions—they are budget decisions I must make on behalf of our community. I am still reviewing information and asking questions of staff. I also want to give residents time to share their thoughts. These decisions should not be based on my opinion alone, but on the facts and input from the people I represent. For that reason, I am not yet prepared to give responsible yes-or-no answers.”
John McLean
Please note John McLean has been away on vacation and unreachable when we sent the candidates these questions.
ED SCHOONOVER
Are you in favor of: raising the resident parking pass from $50 to $65? YES.
Are you in favor of raising the hourly parking rate from $5 or $6/$7 per hour? NO.
Are you in favor of raising the parking ticket from $100 to $150? YES
Are you in favor of including $60,000 in revenue for the pool for 2027? I find it unlikely that the pool will be open in 2027. Although this figure is just a projection, I doubt that the revenue or expenses for the pool will be realized in the 2027 fiscal year.
Are you comfortable with the financial position the town is in today?
I’m OK with the town’s financial condition. I believe some fees can be adjusted more to make up for the shortfall. With new projects and builds coming online, I don’t believe the sky is falling scenario will play out. As for the kicking the can down the road argument, it’s hard to gauge that as the finance staff was struggling to project this fiscal year’s overage or underage when questioned. I hope the council can move forward and identify additional areas to cut costs and increase revenue.
The NEW FMB Town Council must bring back the LEAN GOVERMENT spending that we have had in prior years. Upon reviewing the Candidates reply, ANITA CERECEDA clearly stands out as the number one trustworthy candidate as she did answer the questions and understands the importance of standing up for our taxpayers and delivering results. Anita’s vast knowledge of over three Decades working to make Fort Myers Beach Great Again is priceless. She is currently the chair of the LPA, and former Mayor of Fort Myers Beach for at least TWO times. She is known as ” THE VOICE OF THE TAXPAYERS “. May God Bless you! VOTE – VOTE – VOTE .
As a resident, I have always felt our town taxes were low compared to the fire stations, library and county taxes. The 30% increase is very small in relation to the rest of our taxes. Do people realize that 30% is only on the town tax and not on the full property tax tax bill.
Attention to all Candidates :
After hurricane Ian, this Island will never be the same. The only way it can be “salvaged” now, unfortunately, is through BIG corporations and all those TALL buildings who can afford the FMB resurrection and yearly up keep, like the Margaritaville type major projects.
There Will Be MORE Hurricanes, Tropical Storms, and/or just typical bad weather with Storm Surge flooding because of the horrible storm drain design on Estero Blvd. It’s inevitable and Who is going to keep paying for it ? These long time residents who can’t afford it every year ? The true answer : NO, it’s the deep pockets of all those billionaire corporations of those high rise hotels and condos owners to get their businesses up and running again ! All those small town quant memories of FMB 🏝️ are over now. SO, quit whining and fighting the inevitable, and start embracing the island change of the next : MINI – MIAMI 👍, cause it WILL happen, sooner or later !
Will any of these candidates drive real action to get our financial house in order?? The first budget meeting was too focused on raising fees and not enough on cuts….. look at the overall headcount numbers and its growth – TC seemed satisfied to move headcount out of the general fund and call it a savings!! We continue to pay big dollars for Bay Oaks, the mooring field and the Mound House and those items were barely discussed beyond the discussion of increasing some fees. We need real leadership that is willing to do what needs to be done. Which of these candidates would do so???
It’s a good start with question but they need to evolve into better questions about where the island is and where the island is going into the future. Do they want hotels and business to thrive in the island? Are they pro-business ? Pro environmental? For increasing or decreasing Taxation and on what services? Resident representation questions? The ones that dodged the questions in the interview are very concerning right of the bat, voter beware…….