Welcome to Fort Myers Beach Life! We are a new voice for the voices that have been silenced. Since the hurricane, we have had very few sources of the local news and only one source to respond to topics to let our voices be heard.
Unfortunately, if our opinion isn’t in agreement with the editor or the politicians that he is friends with, then the comments are removed. If there is a topic that needs to be addressed, it is ignored if it’s not the agenda that the editor and his politician buddy wants to address.
Additionally, we have homeowners that have no voice through voting because their FMB home is not their primary residence, but a renter who has no skin in the game can vote and decide who are the Town Council members and the policies we have to adhere to. This needs to change.
Our election is coming up in November and there are 3 seats up for grabs and 4 people vying for those positions. The reshaping and rebuilding of this island is at stake so we must hear all the voices. Not just the voice that on news source is pushing on us.
We have a mayor who is a renter and has zero skin in the game and yet he is making decisions that will raise our taxes and will change the value of our homes. Additionally we have a news platform that is owned by someone who doesn’t live on the island. He is deciding what we are allowed to talk about, what we can say and who he wants to promote. That is all about to change.
Additionally, there are some very vocal voices on that platform that post constantly and they are not owners, not FMB residents and as a matter of fact, they don’t even live in the state, yet they are allowed to silence home owners who post a comment they don’t agree with. They will mock homeowners and for some reason are allowed to do that and the owner of the platform never removes their comments.
On this platform, each person will need to identify themselves as a homeowner, a renter or an out of state visitor. This way when we have people making comments demanding bathrooms on the pier and they are a tourist from out of state, their voice will not have the same power as a homeowner who is paying taxes.
If at any time you have something that you want to be discussed with the public, please let us know. We will be open to posting articles that are written by contributors of the platform.
We look forward to this opportunity to be the voice and platform for those of us that have been ignored and silenced for too long.