Fort Myers, FL
Thursday night Supervisor Ed Sichel requested a committee be formed to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of having a Community Development District (CDD) here in Gateway. It's an appropriate question and long overdue. And maybe its easily answered.
Government should always evaluate what they are doing and why they are doing it. If not checked, Government will simply grow, collect our money and FIND ways to spend it. Sensing his power would be diminished, Chairman Bob Nielson chimed in "I understand we need 100% of the landowners to dissolve the CDD. I'm a landowner and I say no so do we really need to go down that path?" Relax Bobo, in less than 200 days you'll have plenty of time for Tennis and you won't have to worry a lick about this.
What Sichel was looking to accomplish was a simple pro and con list of advantages and disadvantages to being in a CDD. And, to take that information and push it out to the residents. That's a brilliant idea, especially if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.If the CDD did not exist, in all likelihood, but don't hold me to this, Pelican Preserve would be part of Fort Myers and Gateway part of Lee County.
Operations Manager Bill Knight said something last night that, if true, should put this question to rest, at least for awhile. He said the amount of money Gateway residents save on water (compared to Lee County) pays for the entire G.S.D. operational budget, by far. If that's true, let's have it and let's get it out to people. And, if there are other advantages let's get that information out to residents, up on the website, out in an e-mail, etc. It seems that information would shut a lot of people up. If we belonged to Lee County Gateway residents would be paying this. Now, Gateway residents pay this. If that one fact is presented and there are other advantages why waste time with a committee. Keeping taxes down is a great reason.
It may just be that being in a CDD is better than being part of Lee County. Perhaps the only problem we have is the wrong people in office and the wrong people running the district.
