I put down my fancy foot shaver thing and turned up the volume. And there he was trying to stumble his way through explaining how he did it. I was waiting for him to show his cement trowel to the 7 of us watching the live stream.
It was an item not even on the agenda. Heck...I didn't even think it was a story. But leave it to our troubled little leader to take something small and turn it into a huge twisted deal. In their ongoing attempts to discredit yours truly, Supervisor Bob Nielson and his sidekick Tonto Bill Knight shocked the residents by claiming their efforts fixed the Gateway Boulevard sidewalk, not the residents. El Presidente reached a new low and Tonto was right by his side to cheer him on.
Nielson said "the sidewalk was fixed two days after I called WCI". Dude! You have awesome super powers. You snap your finger and WCI comes running. Or did you click your heels? You're stretching the truth but why should that matter to you all-of-a-sudden. It's an election year and you need to say you did something, even if you really didn't do it. The bad news for Bobby Brady is that only 7 people heard what he was saying last night and about 2,000 are going to read the truth today.
NEW POLL!!! - WHO REALLY FIXED THE SIDEWALK??? - PLAY NOW - LOOK LEFT
Here are a few facts. The broken sidewalk has been broken for months if not a year or longer. It was broken - and dangerous - many months before the Piper 5K. We had to put cones over the sidewalk during the race to prevent injury. Oh, Bob, by the way, the Piper 5K was held right here in Gateway. 850 runners ran right by your backyard.
Nielson has been on the board for many many years. So, he's had all that time to fix the sidewalk. Where have you been Mr. Bob Villa? The broken piece of sidewalk is almost directly behind Bob's house. When we initiated our plan to raise money to fix the sidewalk, Tonto and his team didn't even know which sidewalk we were talking about. So, we sent them a picture with directions. And, wouldn't you know it, just by some crazy coincidence there was a Bob's Barricade on the sidewalk the next day. In fact, the GSD then told us quote "we've been asking WCI to fix that sidewalk for years and they haven't done it". Last night, Nielson said "there's been a lot of publicity about the sidewalk". Publicity Bob, whatever could that be? Could that be in the Gateway Gazette. Say it Bob...Gggggggg....spit it out. It's on the tip of your tongue. You can do it.
Below you will see all of the e-mails we exchanged with WCI about the sidewalk. Bill Knight then went on to say the Gazette likes to take credit for certain things in the community. For example, he said, "the bike path along Gateway Greens". Huh? What? What in the world is this guy talking about? Did I take credit for a bike path? Is there a bike path in Gateway Greens?
Hey Bob and Bill if you want to take credit for the sidewalk repair, have at it. If that makes you feel like you've finally accomplished something for all the money residents pay you then enjoy. If either of you were just a tad bit honest with yourselves you would admit the sidewalk would still be broken if it weren't for the efforts put forth by the residents. The sidewalk wasn't even on your radar screen until we produced pictures and the residents took action. Not government action. People action. For them to do what they did last night was ridiculous, pathetic and a slap in the face to the residents.
This November, Bob Nielson will have to face the residents for what he says and what he does. See Team Bucar story below.
E-Mail String Between WCI and Gazette (the residents).
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Subject: Sidewalk repair 3/15/2010
Dave:
If residents wanted to raise money and hire a contractor to repair a piece of sidewalk on Gateway Boulevard that is in extreme disrepair would WCI work with us on the permits and or liability issues for the contractor?
Thanks
Ed Ryan
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Subject: RE: Sidewalk repair
Do you have a location/map showing where the “bad” sidewalk is located? Nick needs to go look at it and determine what should happen.
David Caldwell
Project Manager- CDD Finance
WCI Communities, Inc.
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Subject: Sidewalk repair
Dave:
Nick and I are playing phone tag so I'll get with him and hopefully move forward.
Jesse has also placed a traffic barricade on the broken sidewalk so it's easier to find.
The donations for repairs are starting to pick up as well. Thanks for your help.
Ed Ryan
Fort Myers Fitness at Gateway
www.getfitin8weeks.com
www.fortmyersfitness.com
www.thegatewaygazette.com
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Subject: RE: Sidewalk repair
Nick knows where the problem is now and will get it repaired.
David Caldwell
Project Manager- CDD Finance
WCI Communities, Inc.
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Subject: Re: Sidewalk repair
Dave:
Thank you. It looks great.
Ed Ryan
Fort Myers Fitness at Gateway
www.getfitin8weeks.com
www.fortmyersfitness.com
www.thegatewaygazette.com
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Were those the initials “ER” in the cement?
David Caldwell
Project Manager- CDD Finance
WCI Communities, Inc.
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