Former mayor questions “Ulterior Motive?”
I was the Mayor when Scott Janke was hired as Town Manager. The council selected Colin Baszinger’s firm to conduct the search for our Town Manager. This is the same firm that Lee County recently hired to conduct the search for County Manager Don Stilwell’s replacement. During the selection process both Mayor Larry Kiker and Vice Mayor Herb Aken were adamantly against conducting any type of search for replacing our Town Manager. At that time they wanted to just give the Town Manager’s position to, you guessed it, Jack Green. Fortunately they were out voted, the search was conducted and Scott Janke was hired as our Town Manager. In my humble opinion, Mr. Janke has so far done a very good job of managing our Town.
When I decided not to run for re-election, I told Mr. Janke to watch his back and be careful because Mr. Kiker and Mr. Aken wanted Jack Green for the position and they were not happy that he was not appointed.
The actions of this Town Council have been an embarrassment to each and every resident of the Island. The feeble excuse they used to terminate Mr. Janke is a joke. They said it was to avoid any distraction to the Town, any negative publicity, and to protect the reputation of Fort Myers Beach as a family-friendly Town. They sure succeeded didn’t they.
This Council under the guidance of Mayor Kiker -besides being a national embarrassment- is going to cost each and every resident a considerable amount of money. Not only will we be paying Mr. Janke his salary and benefit for the next six months, but we will also be paying Mr. Green as the interim, (most likely to be permanent probably without a meaningful search) Town Manager. This on top of the largest tax increase in the history of the Town last year and an even larger one being proposed this year. This does not include the very large amount of money Mr. Janke will be awarded should he choose to sue the Town.
The profession of Mrs. Janke has no bearing on the job performance of Mr. Janke.
Mrs. Janke is an entertainer. There are many forms of entertainment and, while many people do not approve of this type of entertainment, it is legal. Obviously, enough people do approve or it would not be such a successful business. Would Mr. Janke have been fired if he had married someone like Sally Fields or Kim Bassinger. They are also entertainers. I think not.
Since the Council is making moral judgment’s should we not judge our Councilwoman on her profession as well. She is also an entertainer. She is a barroom singer. While many people approve there are many people who do not approve of this form of entertainment. She claims she voted to fire Mr. Janke to avoid all the press. That worked well, huh? And by the way, she’s a self-proclaimed journalist and, apparently, one who doesn’t think the press should be nosing around government.
Bottom line is they are both entertainers. What makes one any better than the other.
And, where was our Town Attorney during this whole fiasco. It is her job to advise and guide the Council to keep them from getting into this type of legal and very costly situation. It is very possible they skirted the Sunshine Law by holding an “emergency” meeting. What was the emergency? How very convenient to have an Attorney who would go along with such a ruse.
Mr. Janke and his wife are not the distraction. The Town Council made itself the distraction when it made this terrible decision. If they had any integrity and wanted to protect the reputation of the Town -which was the reason they gave for Mr. Janke’s termination and to avoid any more negative publicity- they should do the right thing. Each and every one of them should immediately resign and take their Town Attorney with them.
Dennis Boback
Former Mayor
Town of Fort Myers Beach