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Debate held for City Council candidates

14 min read

The four candidates running for City Council faced off last Wednesday at a debate at the Community House held the by the League of Women Voters of Sanibel.

Robin Cook, president of the League of Women Voters of Sanibel board of directors, said Feb. 6 is registration deadline for those who are not registered to vote on Sanibel.

The election will be held March 7.

Three City Council incumbents, Mayor Kevin Ruane, Vice Mayor Mick Denham and Councilman Marty Harrity are running for reelection. For the first time in eight years, they have a challenger, Jason Maughan.

The debate included an hour of eight questions the league submitted, and the second hour included four questions from the audience. Dr. Roger Green, chair of the Florida Gulf Coast University department of political science and public administrator, was the facilitator.

Each of the candidates had three minutes for opening statements, a minute for closing statements and two minutes to answer each question.

Denham started with stating that it has been both an honor and privilege to serve the citizens of Sanibel for the past 12 years.

“In the future, if given the opportunity, I will continue to battle to improve water quality, which affects the economy, property values and the way of life through building on the strong relationships that we have developed with our partners on the federal, state and local level. I will work with the community to address the traffic situation for more affective communication with residents and visitors and evaluate the changes necessary to improve traffic control. We will continue to ensure Sanibel is fiscally sound. We will give our full attention to hometown issues with immediate focus on addressing the Center 4 Life building dilemma,” he said.

Ruane said he came to the island 13 years ago, two weeks before Hurricane Charley. When at Holiday Inn he raised his hand and asked how he could help.

“The reason I sit up here today is because I watched the community come together as a whole,” he said.

Ruane, who went to school in New York for accounting, came into office in 2007, when the city had the highest millage rate, $100 million in debt with $15 millionjust from Hurricane Charley and a pension system funded at 48 percent.

“I got into office and there was three feet of algae on the beach. Oddly enough I said I would remove it, a month later it went away. It was a really interesting time and honestly it has been about relationships. We had just gone through a tough division with Lee County and the bridge. Obviously there were a lot of issues, we sued Lee County,” Ruane said. “Obviously building relationships is really important and looking at our fiscal structure and looking at how we deal with this. Over time we have actually reduced your taxes 24 percent, paid the debt down by $62 million and actually restored the pension plan from 48 percent funded to 86 percent today.”

He went on to say with only 5,000 votes as a community, it was apparent that the city needed relationships and other mayors to help in endeavors. Those relationships have helped with the water crisis from 2013 to 2016.

“I was able to take a baton from my partner Mick Denham, who did a great job talking about the environment. But, we had to flip the argument about the economy,” Ruane said. “The reason I would like to continue on the endeavor is to ensure our fiscal path is stable and more importantly to make sure that water quality is solved for generations for the future. We have an opportunity right now to leverage 163 cities. We have an opportunity to act to have storage north, east, west and south.”

Harrity said more than 32 years ago he first came to the islands as a tourist, tarpon fisherman, resulting in becoming a resident 25 years ago.

“You ask why are you doing what you do, this is my home. Over 25 years we have raised our family, grown our business. Like you. we chose this community for its beauty, the water, the unique quality of life that only Sanibel provides. Representing you on the council has been an amazing privilege. Together, the members of your current city council have done a great job dealing with finances, the water issues, traffic management. We work as a team, we work together. We don’t always agree, but we are a team,” he said. “I am proud of the things we have accomplished together, as a city and there is still more we can do. I will continue financial oversight, and business minded approaches we can ensure Sanibel’s fiscal stability for years to come. The fight to protect our quality of life must continue in order to keep Sanibel the unique and special place that it is.”

Maughan, who currently does not sit on the City Council, said he is not running against the incumbents for the job, but rather running for the job. He began by discussing the recent fight over the water quality this past summer.

“I mortgaged my house for $250,000 and poured it in to prove that when I was fighting for water it wasn’t fighting for something for myself, for my legacy, it was to back up and support the community that I grew up in,” he said.

In 1960, Maughan’s aunt came to the island, in 1976, he came with his brothers and family and bought a house on Pine Tree Drive. In 1986 he “immigrated” to the island at 16 years old.

“Sanibel is my America. This is everything to me. I have no where else in America, except here,” he said.

Maughan said when he heard that the water quality issue had gone beyond just a political matter to include higher cancer rates in the county, he had to do something.

“When I saw that the Sanibel School had a child die of some unique cancer on the spine and we have another child sick, I have had enough. It is up to us to defend our community,” he said. “And that is the second reason I am running. It is about this community. It’s about balance in the community to make sure that it remains the community and not a destination. We love our tourists, we need our tourists, but we need to make sure there is a balance between young people, old people and families.”

In 2000, 52 percent of owners occupied residences on the island and in 2010 it declined to 36 percent, Maughan said.

“We need to keep families here and we need to keep the life blood on the island. Those people that care about it and those people that don’t know any better than loving and living on the island and defending everything that gives us not only joy, but financial and fiscal safety utilizing the Sanibel Plan for a community, not a destination,” he said.

Many of the questions addressed topics that are of concern to residents – such as water quality, the Center 4 Life, traffic, and what the city learned from the recent Civic Core project.

All four candidates agreed that water quality was among one of the most important issues in the coming year. Financial stability was another issue the candidates addressed. Other priorities included the Center 4 Life, traffic, millage rates and the community.

n In terms of protecting water quality, what things should the city be doing, or at least be doing better?

Ruane said the city has gone through an education process to understand water quality, which also included the sources that affect water quality. He said they built a resolution regarding fertilizer that went statewide.

Last year, he said they were successful in getting funds from Tallahassee to remove nitrogen from the reclaimed water, so it could be reused on golf courses. The city is also 98 percent connected to a sewer system.

Ruane said he is proud to be one of 163 mayors that represent 18 counties regarding water quality because it is an opportunity to speak as one voice. He said they educate other communities on best practices regarding water quality.

“We need to walk the walk and talk the talk,” Ruane said. “We actually affect the environment and we can protect the environment.”

Maughan said the people they are keeping in office are the people that are wasting time to reach real solutions. He said it’s talk about it, but never act.

“We need to act and act now. The closest place we need to look after is ourselves, so we can maintain the moral high ground that we currently hold looking after our water supply,” he said.

Harrity said the greatest thing they can do is lead by example. He said in the late ’70s, and ’80s, they made a decision to get off septic systems, which helped the water.

“That was something a small little community said a long time ago because it was right for the environment,” he said.

Harrity said because of Denham, all over the state of Florida, people are looking at the kind of fertilizer they use.

“You have no idea how proud I am to be a part of this because when Sanibel talks, people honest to God listen,” he said.

Denham said what they have done over the last three years is engage in the problem, a detailed study of where the water runs to, where hot spots are to discover what the situation is on the island. The study has enabled them to discover what other things they have to do to improve the water quality.

He said they are also coming up with a program, Community Lakes program, where they can identify the nutrient loads on all of the lakes on the island. Denham said they will use a community education program with other communities to further share information.

“We are now beginning to see the benefits of all the work we are doing and quite frankly it will encourage us to continue to do the work and solve the problem with the polluted Sanibel River,” he said.

n There is wide spread agreement for the Center 4 Life, a city owned facility, is in need of serious renovations, or some would argue in need of a replacement. At its current location it is less than ideal because of limited parking and lack of space generally. Do you have a plan in mind that would renovate or replace the Center 4 Life?

Ruane said the City Council looked at the Center 4 Life, a nonconforming building, more than four years ago. He said he has promised the seniors that he will build a new senior center.

“It’s an opportunity to not only come up with a new center, but an opportunity to do it while we have a low interest rate environment. It’s an opportunity to go and talk to Lee County and leverage the relationships we have. We have paid $500 million to Lee County over the last 12 years. It’s our responsibility to go and get money from those taxes we pay to bring it back here to reduce your burden,” Ruane said.

Maughan said the Center 4 Life is very close to his heart because senior citizens were his heros when he immigrated to the island.

“Now is the time for this community to pay back,” he said. “The Center 4 Life is an extremely important thing.”

His suggestion was that underground parking has to be the wave of the future. Maughan said he would rather see the building replaced in its centralized location because it is close to doctors, pharmacies and social services.

Harrity said bulldozer was the first thing to come to mind because why would they repair something that is not conforming. He said the Center 4 Life used to be the old library.

Denham said they need to do something urgently for the seniors. He said personally, as they sat in the newly renovated Community House, it provided a perfect example how it should be done.

“We are living here, sitting here in an example of what can be done. I think we need to rebuild the Center 4 Life and we have this as an example and we also have an example of the Rec Center,” Denham said. “We should use the same sort of example and model that the SCA used for the development of a new Senior Center. We need to do it as rapid as we can and we will find the money to do it.”

n As we all know, during high season traffic on Sanibel can be nightmarish. The city has recently come up with a number of initiatives to ease the current traffic problem. What would be your top priorities for managing traffic in the future?

Ruane said traffic is an issue that has been on Sanibel for 40 years, which has resulted in trying many initiatives.

“We are not going to solve the traffic issue,” Ruane said. “We have gone into an aggressive campaign, come early, stay late.”

Technology has afforded the city to put up signs, and create a smartphone application, Sanibel Bound, that will go live soon.

He said hardscapes are the biggest challenge because the city does not own the road or causeway, resulting in many partnerships. Ruane said hardscapes are a long time away and very expensive to implement.

Maughan said restoration of a balance of having 70 percent of their houses not being occupied by residents has created a market that automatically draws people to the island.

“I think we have had enough of Lee County dining out on this island by advertising us to come here and go there,” he said. “They are making great money on that and we need to turn them around and say that is not the case.”

Maughan also touched on the signs located on McGregor Boulevard and Summerlin Road stating that parking is limited just gets people to drive over the bridge. He said there is no parking, so the signs should point out how many parking spaces there are and those will be taken by the time the car in front of them makes it over the toll bridge.

“We have hit critical mass and now people are leaving the island because they can’t stand traffic. We are driving our own people away, which just makes the problem worse,” Maughan said. “This is a community, not a destination.”

Harrity said traffic is an issue that will be around for a long time. He said he thinks the fixed span bridge has done wonders for traffic, as well as the electronic initiatives that are in place.

“It’s important that we build relationships with people downtown and at the state level, so we can walk in there and discuss what we need to discuss and get the answers we need because of the relationships that we have,” Harrity said.

Denham said the city owns the verbiage that appears on the signage that provides an advanced warning. He said they can make that message much more extreme.

“I believe that will be a very powerful means to control things,” he said.

Denham said they have considered a roundabout, another shared use path on the other side of Periwinkle Way, and additional left turn lanes.

“All of these hardscape solutions are very expensive, but I think we will consider them,” he said.

n The recent effort to develop a Civic Core to serve as the focal point of the city’s cultural activities was unsuccessful for a variety of reasons. In hindsight, what is did the city learn from this experience?

Denham said he personally did not think carefully enough about the three components of the Sanibel Plan – the sanctuary, community and not having attractions on the island.

“I think I lost track of that to be quite honest. In reflection, what I have learned from this is the Sanibel Plan is important to all of us. Sometimes, to be honest with you, we don’t think about it carefully enough. The sanctuary, community and not having something to be an attraction is something I didn’t think carefully about enough,” he said. “Some of these questions associated with the Sanibel Plan were not asked and deliberated early enough.”

Ruane said the two questions were always the same throughout the two years of discussion – moving environmentally sensitive lands and a bond. He said he wished the community spoke earlier.

Maughan said his only question was there a traffic study that was done. He said he expected the city to answer the question because that is the same question they would ask citizens.

“I was not against it, but that we would bulldoze land in order to build something we already had as opposed to creating something new to add to the city and the community,” he said.

Harrity said they could have done a better job of putting information together.