Resident speaks out on Town government
To the editor:
The Town of Fort Myers Beach should learn the lesson that is being driven home on the International and National stages; continued increases in government size and budgets will lead us to economic ruin.
Just drive by our Town Hall and look in the parking lot. Notice how many vehicles we now have? Or take a look at the Tidelines this month. As much as I personally disagree with the editor of that publication, this time he hit the nail on the head by publishing the names of our current Town employees and their salaries. The growth has been ridiculous when you consider our population and revenue streams. It seems government from the entire US to our tiny island just can’t resist increasing spending and expanding their roles in our lives. We are over governed and over regulated and it is eroding the entrepreneurial spirit that built our great Nation.
At a time when we are just waking up to the myriad of problems created by ever expanding monolithic government, our Island seems bent of treading the exact path that now threatens our National and State economies with downgrades in credit and a spreading consumer fear that some days paralyzes our markets. If the Town of Fort Myers Beach does not learn these lessons from history they will, in the words of one famous historian, be “doomed to repeat them” and it will be to the chagrin and angst of all who live here.
It seems so few speak out and it also seems even fewer are willing to let go of their favorite “project” or special interest even as they bash the overall macro economic climate of unsustainable government growth. It also appears that the implied and sometimes outright implemented threat of losing a battle to Town Hall or any other governmental authority has frozen many a would be activist like a deer in the headlights. It is my opinion we should wake up, let go of our own interests for preservation of the general good or we will wind up as road kill. Cut spending, shrink government and taxes can come down. Of course so will the clout of those who currently benefit from the use of your tax dollars and therein lies the rub.
Carl Conley
Fort Myers Beach