Guest opinion: Is Kingston the Next ‘Stadium Naples’ Scandal?
Twenty-five years ago, Collier County suffered the worst public corruption scandal in local history. It determined that developers of the gluttonous ‘Stadium Naples’, pitched by ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen, were enmeshed with local politicians, public officials, business leaders and attorneys.
Originally only one commissioner was implicated; however, it was revealed that county officials were accepting gifts, incentives and key pay raises. Mike Carr, Republican state committeeman and former judge, lead the calls for outside investigation. Judge Carr summarized, ‘Roads weren’t being built. Developments that shouldn’t have been built were being built. Zoning decisions were not based on merit but who was being paid off; taxes weren’t being collected on fancy golf clubs. The saying around here was, ‘To get along, you go along. It was a cess pool.’
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The Stadium case led to convictions and new ethics ordinances. Former Commissioner Fred Coyle explained that this helped sensitize elected officials to how the public perceives their interaction with developers, closed loopholes and prohibited officials from engaging in activities that could even be viewed as unethical.
In hindsight, it is easy to see how the culture of corruption took root. Golf communities were springing up, driving the economy and tourism. The interests of the developers were over-represented in county dealings and their failed businesses, posh life-styles and blind ambitions were hidden from the public.
Today, the stakes are even greater. After calamitous algal blooms following Hurricane Irma, water quality became a rallying cry uniting all facets of our community around a singular issue. The piles of dead marine life on the beach, the smell, the tickle in the throat and coughing are a collective painful memory. And, then we forget.
Yet, instead of following through with infrastructure to protect our water near the coast and west of I-75, our leaders are enabling urban sprawl. Inland environmental enhancements and legal settlements bolster the illogic. Developers and Collier based investors are joyous! Long positioned in the region, they are seizing the opportunity to urbanize Estero’s Corkscrew Road and other rural areas county-wide. At issue is the proposed city on the Lee-Collier line. Par with the population of Naples, Kingston with >20,000 residents, is under legal review to settle a Bert Harris claim
Will the great swaths of land held by agricultural and mining interests be given the greenlight for development? The inequity is obvious when residents living nearby the Estero River lack sewer or water utilities, but our county leaders collaborate with developers and ignore science to supply these to a new city on the county line.
Meanwhile, long-standing residents in the isolated rural areas and new residents living at existing developments along Corkscrew and throughout Lee County, jam 2-lane rural highways daily. On-going construction diminishes failing levels of service and traffic backs up onto the interstate. Nutrient loading near and at the coast continues to be ignored. Money and resources critically needed to fund infrastructure projects in urban centers abutting imperiled waters are being diverted to the new developments in the outermost stretches of remote areas. At stake is a sustainable economy, food security, wildlife, water resources and common sense that has prevented Lee County from suffering Collier’s fate.
In the end prosecutors charged 10 Stadium Naples co-defendants with conspiring to deprive the citizens of Collier County the honest services of public officials. Judge Carr concluded that to maintain integrity the county has to take the stance that corruption is unacceptable. ‘If we keep in mind what’s happened before, we can make new mistakes.’
Marsha Ellis represents Inner Loop Working Group, Inc., Southeast Lee, DRGR.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Corkscrew development: Is Kingston the Next ‘Stadium Naples’ Scandal?
