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Four running for three City Council seats in March 7 election

7 min read
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Mick Denham MEGHAN McCOY
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Marty Harrity MEGHAN McCOY
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Jason Maughan MEGHAN McCOY
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Kevin Ruane MEGHAN McCOY

There are four candidates vying for three Sanibel City Council seats in the Tuesday, March 7 election.

Mick Denham, Marty Harrity, Kevin Ruane and Jason Maughan are running for the open seats.

“The biggest thing the voters should realize, we have accomplished a great deal and we need to finalize the things that we put in place,” Ruane said.

Ruane said he is running for re-election because he wants to continue on the current path, which is to keep the local economy going, continue to lower taxes and to come up with the final solutions for water quality and water quantity. He said he believes the relationships established locally with the county, state and federal will allow them to come up with long term solutions for water quality.

“I believe the relationships are key to Sanibel successes,” Ruane said.

If re-elected he said the most important priority they have is to come up with the necessary storage for water quantity to flow south to treat, store and convey.

The second priority, Ruane said is to keep taxes, which are at a historical low in Sanibel history, down, continue to pay down debt and to have the “best product, the best town in Sanibel.”

“You need to have a balance to help our local economy,” he said.

Denham said during the last 12 years he has served on the council they have reduced the city’s debt by $40 million, reduced and kept taxes flat, reduced the millage rate from 2.5 to 1.91 and salvaged a financially troubled pension plan, all while keeping the island a desirable place to live. He said although looking in the past is helpful, it is much more important to look at what the future holds.

The plan, Denham said is to continue to do a good job with finances, further reduce debt, as well as enhancing revenue and services.

“We will continue to live within our means,” he said.

Denham said the residents of the City of Sanibel do not bear any of the tourists’ expenses, due to revenue collected from beach parking for the Beach Parking Fund. He said the traffic guards, security cameras and cleaning the beaches of garbage all comes from that fund.

The incumbent also plans on continuing the relationships already developed on the state and federal level for water quality issues. Denham said residents can also expect the council to support projects to treat, store and contain water south of the Everglades, as well as reduce the water releases that impact the island estuaries.

Local water quality issues will also continue to be a focal point to improve nutrient pollution, or nitrogen pollution in the waterways. Some of the projects include the Jordan Marsh Water Quality Treatment Park, nitrogen removal from the water treatment facility and introducing a lake management program.

“We have done extensive research over the last three years to understand the root causes of nitrogen pollution,” Denham said.

Redevelopment is another topic of importance for Denham. He said the City Council will work with BIG ARTS in regards to building improvements and create a resolution for redevelopment work for the Center 4 Life building.

The most difficult problem for the current council member is traffic. Denham said they will continue to develop technology alerts and signage alerting people of the traffic situation off island.

He currently sits on the Metropolitan Planning Organization and is reviewing the possibility of a roundabout. Denham said the Federal Department of Transportation has shared that before putting in a roundabout, some of the Periwinkle Way problems need to be solved first, as well as how the flow off island can be increased.

“These issues have to be resolved before we can move forward. The roundabout is under close review. Any decision is probably going to be 10 years away because the funding has to be approved by MPO and Periwinkle is owned by Lee County,” he said.

Harrity said the overall message he would like to tell citizens is the current City Council is a great team.

“We have all worked well together and I just think we need to keep this team together,” he said due to them decreasing debt, decreasing taxes and building relationships with other municipalities. “In general we take care of the budget and make sure we spend the taxpayer dollars wisely. I run it like a business. I am a business man and that is what I do.”

There are two big issues that Harrity would like to continue to address if re-elected – water quality and traffic.

“We have done a marvelous job working together. We have had more press about water because of the contacts and relationships we have developed over the years,” he said.

Traffic, which Harrity said has been a problem for a long time, is an issue that they have to manage better because it is not going to go away. He said every year around this time the island experiences problems with traffic from President’s Day until after Easter.

“We installed cameras to inform people on a real time basis what traffic looks like on different roads. We have put signs up on the other side of the causeway. We are doing lots of good things here,” Harrity said.

The challenger, Maughan said when it comes to experience; he has been working with every department with the City of Sanibel on behalf of citizens for 20 years as a lawyer.

“I believe the city role is to find solutions for citizens and not hurdles,” he said.

Balance is a huge concern for Maughan in terms of the tourists needed economically and the residents needed to help preserve Sanibel. He said he is not suggesting he does not want tourists to come to the island; but rather wants balance in the community.

“They are invested in making the tough decisions in moving the island forward,” he said of the residents.

According to Maughan, the island’s guests are out numbering residents three to one increasing the density to the point of having a negative impact. Those impacts are environmental issues, traffic, lack of involvement and young families residing on the island.

“In 2000 we had 52 percent owner occupied residents . . . half here year round and half are visitors injecting money into the economy,” Maughan said, adding that in 2010 it went down to 36 percent. “We are probably down to a quarter of residents that live here year round. No one knows their neighbors. Corporations don’t care about who is in their house. The price point starts dropping because they want to fill the house and then that brings in people that are not concerned about the environment.”

Instead of focusing on the island as a destination, he wants the focus to return to Sanibel being a community.

“Sanibel Plan doesn’t mention the word destination. It always talks about community and looking after ourselves,” Maughan said.

Some of his ideas for improving the community are examining the feasibility for development rules for small lots to help families add amenities, create some turn lanes on Periwinkle Way for traffic relief and changing messages through technology.

“When people stop coming here because traffic is so ghastly, Lee County is not going to be thrilled with the drop off of tourism,” Maughan said.

The top three vote getters will win the seats.

The three polling precincts are the Center 4 Life, 2401 Library Way, Sanibel Community Church, 1740 Periwinkle Way and Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ, 2050 Periwinkle Way. The polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.