Judah: united citizens — not politicians — needed in battle for water improvements
Unless citizens become engaged into what is happening concerning Lake Okeechobee, the real problems will never be solved since most area politicians are taking money from Big Sugar to help fund their campaigns.
That is what former county commissioner Ray Judah told members of the North Fort Myers Renaissance Committee last Tuesday during its monthly meeting at the Road 41 Grille.
Judah was there to discuss the problems with the lake and its runoff into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers east and west of the lake, the problems with the Everglades and solutions to the problems.
Judah said it is critical for the state to purchase land to the south so the natural flow of water could return to the Everglades and rebuild the health of the dying area.
Judah said the natural runoff of the water from Lake O was south into the Florida Everglades, but with the state going broke in the 1880s, developers decided it would be good for commerce if they drained them by diverting the waters east and west.
The result has been the slow destruction of the Everglades and polluted water running down the rivers during rainy season and into the gulf, causing algae blooms and death of the habitat and animals that live there, Judah said.
In North Fort Myers, it has meant the constant closure of North Shore Park because of polluted water. It also has meant the pollution of the beach areas, which snowbirds don’t typically see because much of the rain comes in the summer.
This year’s rainy winter has brought the issue of the polluted river to the forefront.
The cause of the polluted water; the backpumping of pesticide and fertilizer-tainted waters back into the lake, a practice that will not likely be stopped, Judah said, since area politicians have taken campaign contributions from Big Sugar and so allow the practice to continue.
“Because of the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court in 2010, corporations are treated like people and there should not be a cap on what flows through the political action committees,” Judah said, adding the money is used to undermine those in office in favor of those who support their special interest.
Judah said claims made by politicians that the cause of the pollution of the river is from septic systems, tannins, bird excrement and other things are not true.
Judah said there are those who have become part of this “unholy alliance” by taking Big Sugar’s money and “corrupted the system,” including the Lee County Board of County Commissioners and municipal boards.
Among those Judah listed by name were State Reps. Matt Caldwell and Ray Rodriguez, State Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto and commissioners Frank Mann and Brian Hamman, the latter of whom had a representative at the meeting.
Attempts to call Hamman for comment were unsuccessful.
“We need to become more politically engaged. Politics isn’t a spectator sport. People need to support measures that will challenge the status quo and the special interests,” Judah said.
Judah said by purchasing the land so a filter marsh can treat the water to remove the pollutants, preventing the backpumping of water into the lake, and the treatment of the lake by the Southwest Florida Water Management District as such and not a “cesspool” will create the solution to the problem.
Judah said he hoped people got the message.
“People got an accurate understanding of the need to enhance the management of Lake O and the critical need for the state to purchase land to the south for storage, treatment and movement into the Everglades,” Judah said.