Town priorities askew
To the editor:
I attended the Feb. 4 Town Council Meeting where the Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno spoke and answered questions from the Council. I commend all parties involved, the Council, the Beach Ministries and the Sheriff’s Office for collaborating in regards to the homeless population. Public comment that followed was just as enlightening though, as victims of confrontational panhandlers and other vagrants, aired their personal experiences. I came away from that meeting feeling like there is going to be action taken with follow-through regarding this out-of-control situation. Compassion aside, what about the issues that were not mentioned? Where do the homeless release their bodily functions? Where do they put their trash? Where do they sleep when it is breaking the law to sleep in the out-of-doors on public or private property? Where do they get their cigarettes? (I know where their cigarette butts go). Why is public intoxication allowed here on this island but not in other communities? We must as decent human beings, feed and clothe the poor. But nowhere in that is allowing laws and ordinances to be broken. Instead of Town Code enforcement creeping around looking for someone replacing a window without a permit, perhaps their time would be better spent enforcing laws and ordinances that benefit the entire community at large.
Christy Hennessey
Fort Myers Beach