Smart Growth & Developers

Wayne Daltry, Director of Lee County's Smart Growth program, was the featured speaker at our April 26 meeting, but if you thought instead that you were watching a hilarious episode of Saturday Night Live you are not alone. This guy belongs on TV or at least on radio. A native of Lee County, he ran through a laugh-inducing history of the county beginning in the early 1950s when it was still part of the Old South though not the romantic South that we may think of as depicted in Gone With the Wind, but instead the un-romantic South as depicted in Tobacco Road. A time of rural poverty, poor health care, and social injustice did change with the coming of World War II, though Lee County was the least advanced of all the surrounding counties, which meant a little farming, gladiolus fields, and a few tourists. Gradually the officials saw what was occurring around them and decided to try to emulate these nearby efforts to change the county environment. People did arrive from the north, chiefly due to the TV ads by the performer Arthur Godfrey who urged northerners to come on down, buy a parcel of swamp land called a homesite, and stop shoveling snow every winter. They did come down in droves and the county grew 150% by 1960, though services to the population lagged. For instance, 70% of high school students did not graduate. So it dawned on the officials that more services were necessary, more teachers, firemen, police, but how to afford them? The only idea they could think of was to sell even more swamp land to the Yankees. And they did! And still do! The county now is home to 1.5 million people and services still lag.


Smart Growth has as its mission to deal with (a) climate change which requires that homes not be built on the shore line or hurricane surge line, (b) energy and the rising cost of fuel and electricity, (c) national and international debt since debt load forces cuts in dealing with issues like services, (d) globalization which in its good aspect has prevented another major war and created a middle class worldwide, and finally (e) the baby boom from the end of World War II to now. Smart Growth seeks to sustain our sense of community. It requires the efforts of all its citizens. Chief among these efforts is to encourage elected officials, to show them how proud we are of our community and how proud we are of their cooperation. Why? Because now the only people our elected officials see on a daily basis are developers!

Lee County Planner to Speak

The Director of Lee County Smart Growth, Wayne Daltry, will be the featured speaker at our April meeting of the Club. Mr. Daltry has been Director since 2002 and prior to his appointment he was Executive Director of the Regional Planning Council for 20 years. He was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners in 2004, the highest national honor for a planner.

The Smart Growth mission is to shape the future growth of Lee County through a proactive, inclusive community effort that continuously improves the quality of life by reaching a harmonious balance between economic development, environmental sustainability, and community livability to provide a legacy for future generations.

If you are driving to Shell Point drive west on Summerlin Road toward Sanibel. After passing the intersection of Summerlin and McGregor Blvd. stay in the right lane and exit at the next traffic light (Shell Point Boulevard). Proceed past the Comfort Inn and Suites and Golf Course entrances and turn right at the Woodlands guard station. Tell the guard that you are going to a meeting in the Grand Cypress Room in the Commons. He will direct you where to park.

Ruth's List

No, I did not make a mistake and this is not Craig's sister's list, but uniquely and solely Ruth's List which is an organization of Democratic women who seek to elect in Florida a group of progressive, pro-choice women for public office. The above pictures were taken by Helen Moe, our volunteer photographer, at the first Fort Myers meeting of the group at the Palm Dinner Theater on April 3. From the looks of the food on the tables this couldn't possibly have been a dinner meeting unless everyone was on a diet. In the bottom photo are Sallie Soule, Director of our Club, seated on the left with founding President of our Club Betty Bainbridge. The center photo shows former President Mandy Johnson on the left and current President Joan Walton looking rather addlepated. In the top photo is a sign nailed to a black door which reminds me of the sign one might have seen during Prohibition Days when you knocked three times and announced "Joe sent me", but in this case, "Ruth sent me".