A Lehigh Acres man wants to get the Florida Legislature to create a special taxing fire district within the boundaries of the present fire district in Lehigh.

Steve Baker, who lives at the Majestic Golf Club community, and a few others are going door to door in that area of Lehigh and asking residents to sign a petition asking state legislators to form a new independent tax district with volunteer firefighters.

“The citizens of Lehigh Acres, who live at Majestic Golf, have the right and the possibility to become their own independent tax district without an additional cost to them. We would eliminate the $100 flat tax, and lower the $3 to $1 (millage fee). In this regard, real estate taxes of a $200,000 home would only be $200. In this example, there would be a savings of $500.”

The idea to ask residents to vote on a $100 special assessment was turned down at a recent fire board meeting.

Baker said a newly created Majestic Fire Commission will have the citizens’ best interest at heart than the local union. he said it would be a volunteer fire department with Lee county providing emergency medical technicians and that homeowners’ real estate taxes would be lowered … and our fire service will be better off. In the event of a fire, Lee county requires that the regular fire department respond as mutual aid,” the petition states.

Baker tells those who are being sought to sign a petition that funding for a new fire department could come from a Safer Grant program from FEMA.

Already Baker has talked about his idea to Rep. Nick Thompson who said he would look into the idea and the requirements to form such a district. Baker said he is talking to other elected leaders about such a plan.

Baker didn’t know how many people had signed the petition because eight people are collecting names now to be submitted to legislators.

“They have not come back with the names yet,” Baker said recently.

Whether or not Baker could get such a fire district within a state district is questionable. It would require a bill from a state senator and a state representative and it would have to not violate state statues already on the books.

“I know this is grassroots stuff, but I believe it can be done,” said Baker, who said he had been a volunteer firefighter in North Carolina before he moved to Lehigh.

Baker doesn’t like fire departments filled with union employees and isn’t afraid to say so.

He said the firefighters union in Lehigh gave very little concessions and the chief of the Lehigh Acres Fire and Rescue District had to lay off around 37 firefighters last month to meet budget requirements.

Baker, who has lived in Lehigh now for six years, says he is semi retired in the solar power and education solar energy business and was a volunteer firefighter in the Concord, North Carolina area for several years.

He said he does not believe members of the board should be paid firefighters who are union members. He specifically referred to Joel Guzman and Jeff Berndt, who belong to the firefighters union, but are employed at other fire departments. Last year, Sonny Haas, another member of the firefighters union, was defeated by a few votes by political newcomer, Julie Barrett, the wife of Desmond Barrett, a member of the board of supervisors of the East County Water Control District.

Baker says unionized firefighters in Lehigh make among the highest salaries in the country, saying the average firefighter in the nation earns $42,938. He charged that at elections, unionized firefighters show up at polling places to pass out what he called “false information.”

“Most people have no idea about the facts about the Lehigh Acres Fire Board,” he said. Few people attend meetings except when the budget workshops were held and mostly those who attended were firefighters and their families,” he said.

He believes a fire department that covers the size of Lehigh Acres could work with volunteers and said that through his research, he discovered that there are 58 special taxing fire districts in Florida and that 14 are in Lee County alone.

“I backed the chief when he made a management decision but I told him that he needed to get more concessions from the union.

“The union took the tactic that they were in shock when the funding problems came up because of less tax money coming from ad valorem taxes,” Baker said.

He noted that nearby Alva has a volunteer fire department and that Bayshore has both paid and volunteers. He said Hendry County fire departments were made up of all volunteers

“We have the manpower here in Lehigh. I talk to people; there are a lot of semi retired volunteer firefighters here, more than I thought,” he said.

Majestic Golf Club has 202 homes located within its borders.

“We want our own special taxing district and we will form a volunteer department,” Baker said. “And we will be calling it the Majestic Fire Control District.”

“We have our ducks in a row with our grass roots movement. We know the nuts and bolts.

As for obtaining signatures, Baker said they are soliciting homeowners in southeast Lehigh.

In a prepared statement, Baker said that he couldn’t understand why the fire board was not seeing the necessary changes laid out by the fire chief.

“After an investigation on my own, I was surprised to find out that the fire board is in the majority connected to the fire union. Is that the reason, when compared to other districts, our fire board is not passing the economic necessary changes?

“Is that the reason why our firefighters earn much more money and benefits than in other districts. Sounds to me like the fox is guiding the hen house,” he said.

He went on to say that as an ex-firefighter, he is all for paying firefighters well because they do a very important job.

“But when we have to close stations and therefore increase the response time in some areas significantly, than I would rather pay the firefighters the average pay and benefits in the state of Florida and don’t have to wait 30 minutes until help arrives.

“Is greed more important to the fire union then the security of the citizens they are supposed to serve. I have some alternatives how to fix the problem.

“I don’t think Lehigh Acres can afford this fire board with their own agenda and a disrespect toward the citizens of Lehigh Acres anymore,” he said. Baker asked others for their opinion by listing his email address as Sbaker8186@live.com.