The issue of single member district (SMD), one in which Lee County is divided into defined geographic districts and each district votes for their own representative to the Board of County Commission has been elusive in Lee County for more than 50 years.

Prior to 1956, Lee County’s election was

conducted along the lines of local district representation. Commissioners were elected to the Commissioners Board from defined districts.

Of course, the electorate and the district representative were all white. This form of

district representative government served Lee County’s citizens well.

Citizens had local district elected representatives who were accountable to district citizens. A political environment existed in which big money and special

interest lobbying did not overly pollute the political landscape.

This occurred at a time when the county’s population was less than half of Lee’s population today. Despite its success, single member district was however

voted out by the same locally elected Board of Commissioners in 1956. And in its place, the Board adopted the “voting at large” system of government for Lee County.

Why, one may ask. In 1956, the electorate was all white, the representatives were all white. Against the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision on Brown vs. the Board of Education and the 1956 Supreme Court ruling to desegregate Interstate transportation, Florida as a state and counties within

the state took preemptive steps to maintain a “whites only” dominated political system and Lee County was no exception.

So in 1956 Lee County became an “at large” county and has remained so through today.

Now today you vote for five “At Large” county commissioners. They all represent you, but they do not represent you.

You may vote for a candidate who is an outstanding citizen in your local (area) district and that candidate may garner enough votes to win that district, but alas, that candidate could potentially loose the election.

Due to the “at large,” countywide election system, voters outside your district may overwhelmingly support another candidate who is clueless about your local community needs.

Lee’s electoral results are replete with these skeletons. To make matters worse, “at large,”

countywide campaigns are very expensive to contest. Did someone say “money”?

Yes. In today’s climate, it cost approximately $200,000 to run an effective countywide campaign for elected office. Most of this is acquired through

lobbyists and special interests groups.

What are the odds that your elected at large “commissioner” will champion the issues of your “local district”? Is this truly local representative government?

Each geographically defined district, e.g., Lehigh Acres or Cape Coral, should have the opportunity to vote for their locally elected representative to the

Board of County Commissioners. As such, each commissioner would be accountable to the voters of their district, putting the responsibility for representation in each district where it belongs; local district representation.

After years of resistance, earlier this year the late Commissioner Bob Janes had a change of heart and switched his opposition to a referendum (public voting) to one in favor of giving the voters of Lee County the right to choose their form of representative government.

Janes became the potential swing vote to allow for a referendum on the issue this upcoming election.

Let the voters choose to continue with an “at large” system or let the voters choose a “single member” representative system.

Give the voters the right to choose.

Commissioners Frank Mann and Brian Bigelow are the other two in agreement. Commissioners

Ray Judah and Tammy Hall are strenuously opposed to the voters’ right to choose for themselves.

Unfortunately, Commissioner Janes’ death has stopped the forward progress in the interim. Gov. Charlie Crist in speedily naming a replacement for

Commissioner Janes position on the court can use Single Member District as one of his “litmus tests” for the appointee. The governor can and has used litmus tests in making appointments to various governing boards.

Now is the time for the governor to demonstrate to the citizens of Lee County that he is in fact “the people’s governor.” Commissioners Ray Judah and Tammy Hall can also seize this opportunity to honor Commissioner Bob Janes’ legacy by abandoning their paternalistic, selfish opposition to single member

district and allow the referendum on the issue to go forward.

Let the voters of Lee County decide for themselves the type of county government they want.

Lee County voters can write, call, or email Gov. Charlie Crist urging him to appoint a replacement to the Lee Board of County Commission that supports

Single Member District voting. Alternatively, write, call, or email Commissioners Judah and Hall urging them to preserve Commissioner Janes’ legacy by abandoning their opposition to the referendum.

The issue is on the Commissioners’ meeting agenda for Monday, April 6 at 9 a.m. The Board of County Commission meets on the second floor of the old Lee County Courthouse in downtown Fort Myers. Please make an effort to attend this critical meeting.

Norm Scott lives in Lehigh Acres. – Ed.