Will you be governed by elected or appointed leaders in Lee County?

The big question in Lee County is who will run the government and make the decisions that impact your life. An elected official or an appointed one?

WINK News has been on this story since the first whisper about the possibility of a new form of rule, and now, we have answers.

The future of the Lee County government is going to look like it has for the last three decades, but that doesn’t mean change is off the table. Think of it more like it’s on hold.

State lawmakers are not backing off their push to have Lee County voters decide whether they want to elect a mayor and/or single district commissioners.

Instead of passing a law creating a referendum, they’re going to hold a series of public meetings with the commissioners starting as soon as next month, but getting to that point proved to be a bit testy.

State Representative Mike Giallombardo wanted to set the record straight with Cecil Pendergrass.

“So, you don’t want people to be able to vote on how they elect county commissioners?” Giallombardo said.

“Well, they did that in 1996 with our current charter,” Pendergrass said.

Lee County’s current charter says voters elect five at large commissioners. Giallombardo thinks that’s outdated and doesn’t work for a county growing as quickly as Lee County.

He thinks their commissioners should represent specific districts like Lehigh, Dunbar, Cape Coral, Fort Myers Beach and Estero.

Pendergrass likes things the way they are. That’s why he sent Giallombardo and the rest of the Lee County delegation to Tallahassee a resolution opposing any changes.

“What you did essentially say that you don’t want the people that we voted on to have an opportunity on these issues yesterday,” Giallombardo said.

“Not at all. We have the opportunity, with the resolution, know the opportunity to do their charter review commission. We have a meeting monthly. Anybody can come speak on any subject,” Pendergrass said.

Pendergrass said state legislators shouldn’t be in Lee County’s business. If the voters want to elect district-only commissioners, they can petition. They can work through the charter review commission or the current commissioners to put the question on the ballot.

“Why would you want to increase government and at the same time suppress people voting? You can only vote for one commissioner in a single-member district,” Pendergrass said.

“If you look at how the system is set up, we have five commissioners voted at large, and they’ve got to campaign countywide. They cannot focus and help with the constituent services that is needed,” said Giallombardo.

Thursday’s meeting was packed with people who wanted to get their points across.