Town can’t get it right with advisory committees
Town can’t get it right with advisory committees
To the Editor:
Recently the Fort Myers Beach Town Council passed an Ordinance which established guidelines for membership on advisory committees. The Town has had a multitude of such groups of people over the years who are assigned specific topics by council to investigate and report back to the council members with suggestions to improve or change things on the island. This latest Ord. 18-06 sets up qualifications for board members.
What I first noticed, is that in section 2 of this Ord. it states Council: . “shall give preference to a registered voter within the Town’s jurisdiction or a property owner within the Town’s jurisdiction.” Then in section 4 it reads: “In the event that any member is no longer a registered voter within the Town’s jurisdiction or a property owner within the Town’s jurisdiction, . the Town Council shall terminate the appointment” Now in the law, the word “shall” is mandatory, there is no discretion, so if non-registered voters must get removed, the only people who CAN be appointed are registered voters, there is no opportunity for “preference”! Likewise people who are not property owners within the Town will not be able to be on these committees at all, there is no “preference”, it will only be property owners! Who wrote this Ord., a lawyer or a staff person?
Well it doesn’t matter, because the saddest thing is found at the bottom of the Ord., where all similar Ord. are repealed. Can you believe, it lists 33 different Ordinances that had dealt with these committees over the past 22 years, all revoked now, because this momma is queen of them all? How sad this town can never seem to get it right!
Leon Moyer
Fort Myers Beach