Fort Myers, FL
Stoneybrook resident David Lethem has announced he's running for the Gateway Services District seat now occupied by El Presidente' Roberto Nielson. He's finishing up the paperwork for the Lee County Board of Elections and will soon be looking for the signatures needed to avoid have to pay a filing fee.
People of the Great Gateway, the countdown to the end of Bob Nielson's reign over us has begun. We only have seven months left to endure before the man is voted into early retirement. Lethem is the President/Owner of Audit Management Solutions, Inc. The company performs technical accounting, internal audit, and process improvement functions for public and private companies and government agencies.
Here's the first interview with Lethem.
Why did you decide to run for GSD?
I see so much untapped potential for this community being squandered by a somewhat divided board. Poor leadership has a lot to do with this, along with only a couple board members taking a "global" perspective on how to make this community a better place to live. I also see so much money wasted in a lot of areas that could be better spent elsewhere or not spent in order to reduce taxes for residents, who are already paying too much.
As a current Stoneybrook board member, we have a cohesive board that keeps the cost benefits of the residents in the forefront when making decisions. The Gateway Board needs this mindset. Tough decisions need to be made, but they are not. Look at other government agencies..they are reducing staff, cutting back employee hours, making smarter decisions on services..all in an effort to save money. This needs to be done and done now.
What are your thoughts on wetland 47?
After you sift through the rhetoric on both sides, at the end of the day the country club is responsible. They hired Friendly Fire, they are responsible to ensure Friendly Fire performed the work according to the rules, and they didn't. Improper management of this issue by the Board gave the country club the leverage it needed to sit at the table and negotiate with the Board. At the end of the day, the taxpayers footed the bill for this, which is just plain wrong.
Do you think the GSD employees should be paid a pension?
The whole benefit structure (salary, health insurance, perks, time off, pensions, etc) needs to be addressed. A lot of businesses and government entities are being forced to cut back personnel, hours, benefits, etc. to reduce their budgets since revenues are down. There are cheaper and better alternatives to pensions for employees which should be looked at, such as a 401K/403B retirement plans.
What are your thoughts on the way this board spends money on engineers and attorney's
We spend way too much money on engineers and attorneys. While there are times they must be utilized, it is clear to me that this area of the budget is poorly managed. We've already exceeded our annual budget on engineering fees, and we are already over budget on attorney's fees. I attribute this to a reactive management style of the board.....it seems there are only a couple board members who are actively managing our budget. The board must be proactive in all it does and assess the economic impact of its actions before they act.
The comment from Board President Nielsen regarding the wetlands 47 issue of "how did we get here" is typical of a reactive style of management...you waste money doing damage control due to mismanagement..you spend money wisely and prudently when you are proactive with issues.
