Island residents urge support for several candidates
To the editor:
Pine Islanders should support Judah, Manning, Mann, Pendergrass, Cochran, Grant and Goss.
Every election, Pine Islanders ask ourselves who has been (or promises to be) the best friends of Pine Island, and therefore deserve our vote.
All five of the existing county commissioners have an outstanding record as friends to Pine Island. All five have consistently voted to protect our Land Plan and our delicate environment, including restoration of the Hurricane Charley-damaged Ceitus Barrier on the Cape Coral North Spreader. We therefore endorse the re-election of all three that are now running for re-election, which are Ray Judah (the unquestioned leader in environmental matters in Lee County), John Manning (who has kept every promise he made to Pine Island), and Frank Mann (whose ties to Pine Island go back to his childhood).
After hours of interviews with the candidates by the undersigned, we have decided to recommend Cecil Pendergrass as the new District 2 Commissioner. He understands the Ceitus Barrier issue and promises to fight to get it restored, and he opposes single-member commissioner districts (under which Pine Island would vote for only one commissioner to directly support us instead of the five that now support us).
We also endorse Les Cochran for the School Board. He is an experienced professional with a lot of good ideas. For the same reasons, we also endorse Michael Grant for House District 76. He has a great record and deserves being elected; but perhaps more importantly, he is running against Ray Rodrigues, who recently published an article explaining why he thought Pine Island should be a part of Cape Coral (as least for political representation).
We also endorse Chauncey Porter Goss for Congressman. He is the only candidate that knows (or appears to even care) about Pine Island issues.
Phil Buchanan and Noel Andress
Pine Island