Three candidates for Sanibel City Council talked about recovery and lessons learned from Hurricane Ian at a forum Thursday evening.
Holly Smith, Richard Johnson and Troy Thompson answered questions at a forum event at the Big Arts center Thursday night. The League of Women Voters, which sponsored the forum, said it had received an email from a fourth candidate, Jude Sincoskie, saying she had a schedule conflict and could not be at the forum.
The four are running for two seats on council. The election is non-partisan.
"We will rebuild, and I want to continue to serve," Johnson said. He and Smith are current members of the council running for re-election. The City of Sanibel Island allows the five council members to select one person to act as mayor, and another as vice mayor. Currently Smith is the mayor and Johnson the vice mayor.
"I am not going to Monday morning quarterback the two people up here," Thompson said, refusing to criticize the government response to the catastrophic damage from Ian. "If you are happy with the response, vote for the two people up here," he said to the audience. If not, he added, vote differently.
Thompson said he was born and raised on the island, and is trying to revive several small businesses his family operates on Sanibel.
"There was no playbook for Ian," Mayor Smith said. 'We do the best we can every day. We have Facebooked to communicate. The council works well together, and we look strategically at every decision to be the best for everyone on Sanibel."
Johnson agreed there was no way to handle so many feet of water surging over the island. "There are efforts underway to bolster our shoreline, to preserve mangroves to absorb all the water," he said. "We will do better in the future."
Thompson did raise one concern - the lack of a dock or bulkhead for a barge or ferry. "Not being prepared for the loss of the causeway was not good," he said, referring to the bridge wash-out that cut off the island from the mainland.
Smith agreed. She said the city will look at building a ferry dock in case the bridge washes out again. Johnson said that is a lesson learned from Ian.
"We can't afford to be cut off from the mainland." he said. "We need that (access) for medical care and other resources."
All three candidates refused to support an increase in building height restrictions. They acknowledged that there has been some discussion that Sanibel needs to raise its four-story limit to enhance the rebuilding opportunities. Each said no to that.
The most emotional part of the forum occurred in a discussion of the mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thompson said he received death threats after having to enforce a mandate at one of his businesses. He said negative comments on social media hurt his businesses badly.
"I will never support a mask mandate, or a vaxx (vaccination) mandate," Thompson said.
Each candidate was allowed a closing statement.
"I am willing to listen to each of you and help with your problems," Thompson said.
"We have accomplished a lot as a team on city council the past four years, and I want to continue that," Johnson told the audience.
"We need a continuation of proven leadership, and continuation of relationships we have with others during recovery," Smith said.
The election is March 7.
Mike Walcher is a visiting assistant professor in journalism at FGCU. He also works as a reporter and editor for WGCU News. He can be reached at mwalcher@fgcu.edu