Lee County Commission Chairman Cecil Pendergrass to President Biden: Don't forget about us
Lee County Commission Chairman Cecil Pendergrass was the tour guide as President Biden viewed parts of Lee County hard hit by Hurricane Ian this week, urging the president to deploy enough personnel, supplies and equipment to make sure Southwest Florida is able to fully recover from the devastating storm.
Pendergrass accompanied Biden in an aerial tour of the county and the communities facing a painful period of rebuilding their part of paradise.
The president also visited with local political figures and state leaders such as Gov. DeSantis and his aides.
"I had been talking with the president, probably since the day after the storm, daily, or with his staff, emphasizing that we need to get every resource available to our area," Pendergrass said Thursday.
By the way: 11 helpful links to help you navigate Ian recovery, relief
With a dozen years as a member of the commission, Pendergrass, a Republican, is the senior member of the five-Republican board. The duties as chair usually rotate from year to year.
Pendergrass said that Biden had given assurances in a prior conversation that the federal government would work to help the hurricane recovery in Southwest Florida.
"'I was clear. I said, 'Mr. President, I'm glad you showed up for the photo moments, I'm sure everybody complied, but I need you for a day, a week, and years later — this is a long road for us to recovery.'"
The aerial tour included Pendergrass pointing out places where the Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and local communities were working on ways to bring back the county's coastal area.
"From day one I have been trying to build a relationship with the president, the governor, to work to make sure we get resources to our citizens," Pendergrass said.
A tour of Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island and Pine Island
During the flight, Pendergrass said the president got a good look at the north end of Fort Myers Beach where homes and hotels were lost to relentless battering by the strong winds and rapidly rising seas.
"We went across the bay to Sanibel," Pedergrass said. "I gave him the history of Sanibel Island and the lighthouse. He said he had been there, him and his wife, who remembered their own visits."
"Who has not vacationed in Sanibel Island?" Pendergrass reported Biden saying. "Anywhere you go in the world, people have been to Sanibel Island."
Pendergrass said the coastal flight gave the president an idea of the damage done along the Southwest Florida coastline: "He saw devastation there, he saw to Pine Island, the (destroyed) road in Matlacha."
The visit came with the president making it clear he did not want to be a disruption as planning begins for replacement bridges and connecting roads, Pendergrass said.
"I want to come there," Pendergrass quoted Biden saying. "But I don't want to be too disruptive."
The commission chair described the president as very easy to talk to, over the phone and later one-on-one.
"He asked a lot of questions, he was very concerned about our area, he was really happy," Pendergrass said. "To me he said, 'You know every inch of this county,' and I said I lived here all my life, I know every inch of it."
After the air tour ended, Biden moved on to speak with other political figures, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds and Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy, with whom the president had a conversation that included the president using the "f-word" to illustrate his resolve.
"I was behind him when he said that, but I didn't hear him," Pendergrass said. "He and (Murphy), they were standing in some dirt talking.
"I personally, as an elected official wouldn't express myself that way, but I don't care what he says or does," Pendergrass said.
He added that he wants the president "to have the staff direct his secretaries and all the department heads to make sure they get all the resources to us."
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Hurricane Ian: Cecil Pendergrass shows Biden the coast
