A Taxing Dilemma

JULY 30, 1993 VOLUME 22 lbC 61U! i o u NUMBER 31 ISan( . "*' ..r..; ;r \ 3 SECTIONS, 40 PAGES REPUK 11=R SANIBEL AND CAPTIVA, FLORIDA A taxing On guard! dilemma Price opposes policBy MaryJeanne eMcAwar merged r Staff Writer Sanibel City Manager Gary Price is crying foul over a proposal to place the Sanibel Police Department under the command of the Lee County Sheriffs Office. Price said Lee County Sheriff John McDougall's offer to consolidate the police departments of the three cities within the county skirts the primary issue of dual taxation. The plan came as a result of Lee County Commissioner Doug St. Ceniy's investigation of pulling sheriffs road deputies out of Sanibel, Fort Myers and Cape Coral as a possible solu- tion. •please see page 2A Two arrested for attacking women at bar By MaryJeanne McAward Jail Thursday in lieu of $150,000 speeding on the Sanibel Causeway unfolded this way. The 21 -year-old Staff Writer bail. ..:.•.. , vv, vv •••••• :. late Tuesday. The woman, te^feil woman and her friend, a 33-year- Two Naples men were arrested Edmond James Morse, 29, was and distraught, told the officer she old woman also of Fort Myers, were for reportedly attacking two women charged with one count of battery had just been sexually attacked in at the Jacaranda and went to the in separate incidents at the and also remained jailed yesterday, the rear parking lot of the restroom located In the back hall- Jacaranda Restaurant late Tuesday in lieu of $10,000 bail. Jacaranda just moments before. way of the lounge. Karterouliotis night, July 27. A routine traffic stop led to the She led the officer back to the and Morse were standing in the Chris Toni Karterouliotis, 32, men's arrest. restaurant, where she identified hallway. was charged with sexual battery One of the victims, a 21-year-old Karterouliotis as her assailant. Morse reportedly pinned the 33- and remained in the Lee County Fort Myers woman, was stopped for According to police, events •please see page 14A Island club helps child enjoy summer camp By Dawn Grodsky will return from her first time away camp, but unlike normal summer say does an enormous amount of Editor from home tomorrow. camp, Betsy's is special and was good. Eight-year-old Betsy Armstrong Betsy has spent the past week at made available to her through a Children with cancer can feel $750 donation from the isolated from their peers; bringing Sanibel/Captiva Kiwanis Club. these kids together and providing a Betsy attended ROCK camp, forum to discuss their feelings is which stands for Reaching Out to also what the camp is all about. Cancer Kids and is a program of "I like ROCK camp because it the American Cancer Society's taught us how to love and to fight Florida division. for our lives and how to love kids Betsy, who lives in Buckingham with cancer," wrote a 10-year-old with her mother, Donna camper. Armstrong, and two-year-old sister, "You do a lot of things and it's a Jamie Lyn, has what's known as a lot of fun...I also like ROCK camp Wilm's tumor, a juvenile cancer of because it is only for kids with can- the kidneys. cer and there is nobody to make She was diagnosed almost a year fun of you if you don't have hair or ago and since then has had her whatever," wrote another camper of right kidney removed and is still her experience. undergoing chemotherapy. She is "We get to meet new friends, currently in the third stage of the share experiences and have a lot of disease and, according to her fun. I feel that we are like a big mother, has been through some family in the wilderness of nature," tough times since October. wrote another. What started out as a diagnosis Armstrong has yet to hear from of appendicitis transgressed into a Betsy and wished her daughter living nightmare, Armstrong said. would call. Still, the mother said But this week Betsy was not she was sure her daughter was thinking about her cancer. Instead, having a good time. she went horseback riding, fishing, "She's a tough kid. She has her canoeing, swimming and enjoyed good days and bad days, especially all the summer camp activities of with the chemo. But she's a fight- children without cancer. er," Armstrong said. Betsy also got to spend the week Mother noted she has learned a with other children afflicted with lot from her daughter's disease This young camper enjoys a surprise visit from Minnie Mouse. Other the disease, a gathering organizers famous characters have been known drop in at the Brandon site. •please see page 8A 2A • JULY 30, 1993 • ISLAND REPORTER -MERGER ment"—unincorporated areas of developing a formula whereby Fort Myers Police Chief Donna •from page 1A Lee County—"should pay the lion's municipality tax dollars currently Hansen said she looked over the Sanibel residents and those of share of taxes," Price said. earmarked for the sheriffs office sheriffs proposal for law enforce- the other municipalities are being Municipalities like Sanibel, Fort would be returned to the munici- ment services for her city and said unfairly taxed for services, such as Myers and Cape Coral should pay palities. it apparently mirrors her existing those of sheriffs road deputies, fpr those sheriffs department ser- But McDougall said he doesn't budget. which they do not receive, or vices they utilize, such as use of believe this would work. She said the mayor and city receive on a very limited basis, the jail, court, bailiff and process "I believe it would be highly council would have to act on the Price said. service, and the SWAT team and improper, and perhaps illegal, for proposal, but she is prepared to do Sanibel residents are taxed near- trained dogs, he said. the Board [of County further analysis, as directed. ly twice as much for the sheriffs "Our people utilize these ser- Commissioners] to allocate funds She said the proposal does not department as they are for their vices, and there's a portion of that as requested by the cities. I have seem cost-effective and added the own city police department. $3 million we should pay," Price made a good faith offer to mitigate city would lose $1.5 million in rev- McDougall met with Price, said. the problem," he said. enue from the police department if Sanibel Police Chief Richard Plager Price sees the dual taxation McDougall claims the issue of the proposal is accepted. and mayors and police chiefs from issue as a question of fairness. dual taxation comes up every year, In addition, the proposal does Fort Myers and Cape Coral to dis- "I think this [consolidation] is all and cited Florida law, Statute not include provisions for the cuss the dual taxation issue last a diversion. The point is, we should 125.0101, in upholding his answer department's much-admired styles Thursday, July 22. not have to pay for services we're of consolidation to the problem of of policing—community policing dual taxation. and pro-active policing, she added. But Price said consolidation "These components would be would violate the very foundations lost," Hansen said. She added on which Sanibel was founded. He these changes to traditional polic- noted Sanibel was incorporated for ing in Fort Myers have proved suc- two reasons: to get added police cessful and gained great respect for protection via its own island police the city. department and to get a handle on Price's concerns and questions growth. were similar to Hansen's. "When people incorporate, they "Will the sheriff have a station take on another level of govern- on Sanibel? Will he pay rent for the ment. They have to pay for it," one-third of city hall the police McDougall said. department occupies? Part of the additional layer "Will [the sheriff] have the man- municipalities take on is local law power so when we're gridlocked, he enforcement, he said. can have five people out directing McDougall likened it to the fact traffic? What about removing while people pay federal taxes and snakes from garages and our alli- complain about paying state taxes, gator program? Will these be but still must do so. included in a service agreement? "By statute, the sheriff has con- "Can I call him, like I do Chief stitutional powers throughout the Plager, and ask him to do some- county. If people want to avoid thing? dual taxation, under Florida law, "Will I have to go through an If Lee County Sheriff John McDougall has his way, the Sanibel Police extensive bureaucracy to get my Department will become a sheriffs substation under his jurisdiction. their only recourse is consolidation. The courts have already ruled request handled?" Price asked. Price said while consolidation not getting. It's basic fairness," on this. According to McDougall, the may be an option that should be Price said. "If they don't want to consoli- Sanibel Police Department would looked at, he believes it is an But McDougall sees the situa- date, they still have to pay those become a sheriffs office substation. entirely separate issue from dual tion differently. taxes," McDougall said. None of the concerns voiced by taxation. "Fairness for all will be achieved The mayors of Fort Myers and Price would be a problem, "I think [McDougall is] trying to when I receive adequate funding for Cape Coral received letters from McDougall said.

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