With the recent bills in Tallahassee local leaders in Lee County have been vocal when it comes to protecting, what is often referred to as, “home rule”.
For Sarah Wilson, with the Lee County NAACP, the breaking point is a bill that would make it illegal to remove or destroy historic monuments.
“Municipalities have the right to say what happens in their city or in their county,” Wilson said. “This is more authoritative government by our state trying to seize power from local government.”
For Fort Myers City Councilman Johnny Streets says it’s a state bill that would ban citizen police review boards. The city of Fort Myers is one of a handful of cities in the state with these boards to look at law enforcement interactions with the public.
“Those who are in Tallahassee, doing this stint in session–stop trying to take things away from the local counties and cities to to do their own business,” Streets said.
For former Fort Myers Beach council member Bill Veach, it was the new law that forced local elected officials to disclose their personal finances. He left the council over what is referred to as “Rule 6”, requiring transparency of most assets and liabilities more than $1,000.