Obama coming to Lee County Tuesday
Joe Whalen, the CEO and president of the Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce, said today that if President Obama comes to the Fort Myers area as scheduled for next Tuesday, Feb. 10, he would love to have the opportunity to talk to him – especially after a negative article about Lehigh Acres as being the slums of Lee County that appeared last Sunday in the New Yorker magazine of the New York Times.
The new President may visit Lehigh Acres, according to some news sources. Officials say it could be by helicopter so the President can see empty homes that have been vacated due to foreclosures. Sometime Tuesday morning, Obama is expected to be at the Harborside Event Center which houses about 1,500. Those who get in will have to have tickets. How tickets will be distributed will be decided Saturday morning, officials said.
Obama is expected to hold a town-hall meeting to spread the word about his economic recovery plan and Whalen thinks the people of Lehigh should try to be there to become involved and let the President know of the problems, not only in Lee County, but Lehigh Acres where thousands of homes have been foreclosed upon and lots of people have lost their jobs.
“I’d love to see a concentrated effort for Lehigh for some of the stimulus funds,” Whalen said.
Obama’s trips across the country next week will include visits to towns and areas that have been especially hit hard by the downturn in the economy.
The Greater Fort Myers area, including Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres, are at the top of list of the number of foreclosed homes in the nation.
Bo Turberville, chairman of the Lehigh Acres Community Planning Corp. (LACPC) said today he thought it was great that the President was coming to Lee County.
“It would be wonderful for President Obama to tour Lehigh. He could listen to the people here. There are a lot of people without jobs here and it would be a great opportunity for him to hear what these people have to say,” Turberville said.
The jobless rate in Lee County is hovering around 10 percent.
Sheriff Mike Scott today told The Citien he was meeting today with Secret Service agents and other agencies to plan security details.
Obama did not campaign in Lee County during the presidential campaign, but his wife, Michelle Obama, did. Obama will be hold the town hall type meeting at Harborside, the same venue that Vice President Joe Biden attended during the campaign. The visit to Fort Myers was announced earlier today at a press conference in Washington, D.C.