Botana behind mailer bombardment on beach merger referendums

State representative transferred $150,000 from Conservatives for Clean Water to fund new PAC FreeLee which is blasting households around Lee County with mailers urging them to vote for merger referendums that he first introduced

By now, thousands of households around Lee County have received the mailers from the group FreeLee telling them to vote for merging the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District and Iona Fire District, and to vote in favor of merging the Fort Myers Beach Mosquito Control District into the Lee County Mosquito Control District.

The cost for producing those mailers is anything but free and the chair of the FreeLee Political Action Committee is none other than State Rep. Adam Botana (R-Bonita Springs), the same state legislator who originally proposed the mergers. The mergers, which have been opposed by the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District commissioners and Fort Myers Beach Mosquito Control District commissioners, are on Tuesday’s ballot.

The funding for FreeLee comes in the form of a $150,000 contribution from Conservatives for Clean Water, a political action committee chaired by Botana, and $100,000 contributions from Tiffany for Florida, a political action committee chaired by State Rep. Tiffany Esposito (R-Fort Myers) and Friends of Mike Giollambardo, a political action committee chaired by Rep. Mike Giollambardo (R-Cape Coral). Giallombardo ultimately filed the mosquito control district merger referendum bill last year after Botana’s original filing did not make it through committee in 2024.

Botana is not hiding his actions to start FreeLee and spend money on the mailer advertisers. “I am the chairperson of the political action committee. I created it to send the mailers and raise money in order to educate the people,” Botana said.

The merger referendum bills were first approved by Lee County’s state delegation, which includes Botana, Giallombardo, Esposito, State Sen. Jonathan Martin, State Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, among others. The bills then went through committees in Tallahassee to get on the ballot.

Botana initially said in 2023 that he proposed the bills originally after he was asked by leadership to find ways to consolidate government. On Monday, Botana said he did so after being asked by firemen and by people “bit by mosquitoes.”

Botana said on Monday that “I listen to the people. Not just the special interests.”

A third mailer being sent out by FreeLee urges voters to vote in favor of single-member districts, another bill that was carried by the Lee County delegation. The bill would restrict voters to voting for county commissioners only in their districts, and not any other district.

FreeLee has reported more than $350,000 in contributions, according to filings. They have reported spending more than $97,000. Of those funds, more than $96,000 went to TM Strategic Consulting, the consulting firm run by Terry Miller.

Conservatives for Clean Water, which donated $150,000 towards FreeLee, has raised more than $2 million since 2020. The organization, which is chaired by Botana, has received $10,000 and $20,000 donations from interests as diverse as energy, health care, and real estate. The organization has also reimbursed Botana for car rentals, food, lodging, and airfare. This year alone, Botana has been reimbursed for more than $20,000 in expenses by Conservatives for Clean Water.

The mailer urging voters to vote for the mosquito control district merger tells them a merger will “save taxpayer dollars” even though Fort Myers Beach Mosquito Control District voters would end up paying a higher millage rate since the current millage rate in the Fort Myers Beach Mosquito Control District is half of the Lee County Mosquito Control District’s rate.

The FreeLee mailers also promise voters better response times and better services if the mergers go through.

Fort Myers Beach Fire Chief Scott Wirth takes issue with the wording of the flyers sent out by Botana on the fire district merger proposal.

“The false statements are not substantiated by any source,” Wirth said. “In fact, the statements are contrary to the only study completed on the issue, and to the stated facts provided by the Fire Districts.”

Wirth challenged the mailer’s language that the merger would lead to faster response times. “He cites no source. If the merger doesn’t add fire stations or vehicles, there won’t be faster response times,” Wirth said.

Wirth also took issue with the claim on the flyers that there would be savings. Wirth said he expects costs to go up as Iona pays its firefighters more, which means Fort Myers Beach firefighters would need to be paid more.

Wirth said a merger study funded by both the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District and Iona Fire District “found no compelling reason either financially or operationally to merger these two fire districts. Generally, consolidation makes sense when it eliminates redundant services such as having fire stations in close proximity to each other, that scenario does not exist between Fort Myers Beach and Iona McGregor.”

Wirth said he spoke with Botana last January. “Representative Botana and his PAC know for a fact that the claims on their flyer have no factual basis in truth and the community being deceived should also be aware,” Wirth said.

Fort Myers Beach Fire Chief Scott Wirth. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

“A lot of the Fort Myers Beach community has been educating themselves and understands the value we provide. We trust the Fort Myers Beach community,” Wirth said.

Botana and the state legislature appropriated approximately $14 million to the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District after Hurricane Ian to replace lost revenue and to pay for a new fire station, making the timing of Botana’s merger proposals that much more surprising. Unlike the $11.9 million bridge loan the state gave the Town of Fort Myers Beach, the approximately $4 million in revenue replacement funds the fire district received, do not have to be paid back. Botana did not attend the unveiling of the new Fort Myers Beach fire station earlier this year. Botana said he is hopeful he can get the $11.9 million bridge loan the Town of Fort Myers Beach owes forgiven in the next couple of years.

Botana’s opponent in the Nov. 3 election for the State House, Bill Moskal, said he opposes Botana’s use of those funds to send mailers to the homes of residents urging them to vote for the referendums. “He has a lot of influence money that if he needs it he can use it to change people’s minds. To me, that’s wrong. That’s not how you represent the people in your area,” he said.

Botana is also a supporter of Amendment 3, which would raise the homestead exemption up to $250,000. That move could potentially lead to higher taxes on commercial properties and the loss of that revenue for the Iona Fire Control District and Lee County Mosquito District, if the mergers go through, could lead to massive losses in tax revenue.

Botana is not shy about his support of the merger bills. “Bureaucrats and administrators are getting in the way of firefighters. They only care about their jobs,” he said. Botana said firefighters won’t lose their jobs if a merger happens.

Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District Commissioner Ron Fleming argued that Fort Myers Beach firefighters would in fact lose their jobs and the town would also lose emergency medical services personnel. Fleming called the mailers being sent out by Botana “very misleading, some would say it is a 100% lie.”

Fleming said the merger of the fire districts “would not result in any (financial) savings nor service delivery advantages, just cuts.”