(Listen to My Story and why I want to serve as your Councilperson here)

Like so many residents, I have grown more disappointed with the management, lack of citizen input and fiscal irresponsibility of our city. Equally astonishing is the continuous loss of our local culture and historic value. We have been fortunate to have the leadership of Councilman Anderson for the last 2 years to start bringing us out of the dark. We need strong leadership that will continue pulling us forward and not settle for status quo. We need a leader to address the disrepair in our neighborhood parks, the fishing pier falling apart, inadequate street lighting, and missing or broken sidewalks that put our families at risk.

The families have lost their voice in the decisions of the city, and would greatly benefit from representation by a resident like them. My heart and passion is for creating a level playing field so that all people and all businesses are treated equally and given the same opportunities for success.

My Priorities:

Water is Essential.

I will stop pushing the problems down river and rebuild our watershed. Our city needs to clean up Manuel’s Branch and Billy’s Creek and provide fresh drinking water to the residents. I will work with the city and Calusa Waterkeeper to conduct source tracing, repair or replace the failing pipes, lift stations and septic tanks.

Responsible Growth.

I will support development for high density infill and affordable housing. Taxpayers should not be supplementing growth along the riverfront.  For blighted areas in need of support, the city should be prepared to assist with tax incentives.  In thriving areas of development, we should allow the market to dictate necessary growth.

Community Safety.

I will advocate for enhanced support of community policing efforts, for our police officers to be paid at a competitive rate, and given the training and tools needed to keep our families safe. I will support for all neighborhoods to be brought up to equal safety standards for streets, sidewalk, lighting, utilities and services.

Transportation Solutions.

I do not support larger roads as a method to mitigate traffic. Our city currently defers to state agencies for our busy roads like McGregor Blvd; the focus of FDOT is to move traffic and not to preserve or keep neighborhoods intact. I will work on enhancing neighborhood safety with more traffic calming devices for residential roads.

Making our City Council meetings fair for all.

• We need to eliminate “rushed items” on the City Council agenda for non-critical items.
• The agendas should be available midweek so that interested parties have the time to make accommodations to attend the Monday 4:30pm meetings.
• We must present complete projects instead of bits and pieces, this enhanced transparency will allow residents to see the long-term and full picture of a project without any surprises.

Re-evaluate the CRA, their effectiveness and future.

Millions of dollars are going to big developers while our streets, street lights and sidewalks are in need of repairs. The city shouldn’t need to borrow funds when we are giving away tax incentives.

Protecting our heritage while planning for a future Fort Myers.

As families have moved into the area, they moved here because of what Fort Myers is. Our history doesn’t need to be paved over, entangled in roundabouts and commercially demolished. We don’t need to become a JustAnyWhere USA. Our brick streets, palm lined boulevard and family neighborhoods have value and need to be preserved while meeting the needs for our children and generations to come.

Vote for Connie Bennett Martin for Fort Myers City Council Ward 4.