Schindler, Morris lose fire board seats
Two long-standing Fire Board members lost their seats in last week’s election.
Theodore Schindler III, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, served on the board since 2010, when he was elected with no prior political experience.
He lost seat 5 to John Bennett, who took an early lead as soon as the polls began reporting, and ultimately won with 68 percent of the votes.
Carol Morris lost seat 3 after 12 years of service on the board, in a tight race with Jacki Liszak, Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce President and owner of the Sea Gypsy Inn.
Liszak won with 56 percent of the vote.
“I want to thank everyone who assisted and helped me and supported me and voted for me. The folks who stood outside with signs, I appreciate it and I couldn’t have done it without all their help,” she said.
Robert Raymond was the only incumbent to hold on to his seat, beating out Forrest Crister and Bill Santomas with 51 percent of the vote.
Schindler said he feels disappointed that he was not re-elected, but also a bit relieved.
“I’ve worked pretty hard for eight years, and now I can relax a little bit,” he said, adding that he has concerns about the future of the board that he has nurtured from its early years.
His greatest accomplishments, he said, were keeping the department from going bankrupt, and hiring Fire Chief Matthew Love to lead.
“In the past, we were lucky if we got two years out of a chief, and now he’s on his fourth year, and he’s changed the entire department,” he said.
“The beach fire department, we were the lowest on the totem pole so to speak, we had less respect, we had low retention rates, our chiefs came and went, and now under the leadership of the new chief and the guidance of the board, the department is now setting the benchmark for the entire county,” he said.
“That’s a heck of a legacy, and I don’t want to see that squandered.”
Morris echoed that sentiment.
“My concern is for the district, not for me. I debated running again anyway. I didn’t get out and do a whole lot of campaigning… the only reason I think the three of us ran again was because we started a lot of good things and we wanted to be sure they didn’t get turned around,” she said.
Liszak is optimistic about the fire board’s future.
“I think that those of us who were running for new positions were pretty clear that we wanted to continue the good work that the past board did. It’s exciting, and it’s given other folks a chance to serve their community, which I think is very important.”