SOS: Save Our Slips

STOP the City from Selling the Historic Fort Myers Yacht Basin
• Some City officials want to sell the Fort Myers Yacht Basin (FMYB) to SUNTEX of Dallas Texas. This company plans to demolish parts of the facility, which could cause an environmental nightmare by releasing lead and other toxins drifting down the Caloosahatchee River towards Sanibel. Complete control of the downtown riverfront would be given to Suntex.

• The alternative community approach is to place the FMYB into a self-funding not-for-profit entity similar to the Edison Ford Estate. Repair the docks as is. Manage the facility properly, including providing good paying jobs, avoiding environmental risk, and massive overbuilding. Keeping the riverfront and the FMYB control and profits in the community.

• There are several problems with how the decision was made to divest the FMYB. Normal procedures for a City justifying the divesture of such an asset which is worth a minimum of $60 million, have not been followed and include:
Neither the City Council members nor the public has ever received:
• A 3rd party appraisal documenting the value of this historical Fort Myers asset.
• A detailed report by a licensed Civil Engineer documenting that the FMYB is not in economically repairable condition.
• An economic evaluation by the Economic Development Board or another objective 3d party justifying the City divesting the FMYB.
• A risk assessment stating that if there are environmental damages from Suntex's demolition approach and the City is found liable, how would this affect property taxes, budget reductions, and bond ratings?
• An explanation of why the City has not hired a permanent FMYB manager, cut maintenance and upgrade expenses, not enforced dock rules allowing unsafe sunken boats in the facility, and why slip rental rates were not increased to keep up with expenses. Was this done by design to further sell the idea of divesting the FMYB to companies like SUNTEX?
In addition:
On April 15th, City Councilmembers voted to narrow the selection down to Suntex and Safe Harbor Development and for the city staff to evaluate both before Council members made a final decision.
The financial records that are obtainable by the public show that the FMYB revenues are more than $3 million annually before paying operating expenses of just over $2 million. No details have been available on how these operating costs are being spent. The City is not spending monies on the maintenance and repair of the FMYB. Where is the money going?
As per the City of Ft. Myers website, the City has more than $400 million in debt obligations. Much of this City's Government debt is caused by developers who support political campaign contributions in order to seek favor. “This is an election year”
Please contact your City Council members and encourage them to vote no to Suntex. Evaluate all the options.

Street Protest Stop Suntex
Don’t forget this is working: We need you just for one hour, if you don’t have a Stop Suntex T-shirt just wear a red shirt. This Friday 8 am. See below

Many of us have received positive feedback on our streetside protest. Therefore, we have planned to protest next Friday again, September 16th at 8:00 am for one hour. Let's meet at the Lee County Tax office at 2480 Thompson St, Fort Myers, FL 33901. Let’s get our red Stop Suntex shirts on and bring a friend.

Councilmember Teresa Watkins Brown is most likely going to be the swing vote on whether or not the City enters into a contract with Suntex to wreck the FMYB. She is an educated and kind lady and is very suspicious of the politics and political contributions concerning the City divesting the FMYB.
Suntex is very anti-union. Recently, Suntex posted a help wanted ad for their Fort Myers Beach marina trying to hire people for $10/hr, no benefits ect ect. This gives me a preview of how Suntex treats its employees and the quality of service we can expect if Suntex takes over our FMYB.
The local Union has heavily supported councilmember Teresa Watkins Brown’s election. If anyone knows Richy Jones the union rep, remind him to speak to councilmember Brown about we have too many large companies in the area paying below living wages and that taxpayers are subsidizing food and housing cost for these people. This Suntex crap has to stop