Lee County legislators to consider strong mayor for county

State legislators representing Lee County are floating around the idea of having voters elect a county executive or mayor to run things.  

Next Thursday, they plan to meet for a discussion about whether they should change Lee County’s form of government.  

However, the current five commissioners are unanimous in their opposition to this idea. They clearly like how things are now, but state lawmakers aren’t so sure, and they want to talk about making a change.

There’s a method to the Lee County government. The board of five commissioners hires a county manager, and that person runs day-to-day operations.

During the meeting by state representatives, they will consider whether or not to propose a bill to elect one person to run the county, instead of hiring someone to do so.

The current commissioners already passed a resolution during a special meeting to oppose any changes, calling it a bad idea.

Commissioner Brian Hamman went on the Drew Steele show on 92.5 Fox radio and admitted that there are some benefits to having a county executive or mayor.

“I think an elected person being in charge during the times of an emergency would be really beneficial … you would need somebody who you could hold directly accountable in the times of an emergency,” Hamman said.

Hamman said it doesn’t matter what he or any of the other commissioners want because if state lawmakers pass a bill and the governor signs it, the measure goes on the ballot, and Lee County voters will decide.

Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass is trying to stop that before it happens.

“It’s really important to protect Lee County that we bring this up now,” Pendergrass said.

On Wednesday, he sent a letter to every local city manager from Cape Coral, Fort Myers Beach, Fort Myers and more.

He asked them to write to their delegation and even gave them a sample message to send. He stressed any change would put a big financial burden on taxpayers. He said, if passed, the measure would have “a negative impact and forever change Lee County.”

At this meeting next week, state legislators also plan to talk about doing away with electing at-large county commissioners. Right now, everyone in Lee County votes for every commissioner. Lawmakers want to discuss whether voters should have single-member districts and vote for just one commissioner.