Marco's defeated anti-sewer candidates moving on with lives

Andrew Guidry

MARCO ISLAND — Andrew Guidry’s doctor’s office sits in the shadow of Marco Island City Council’s chambers, the room where he had hoped to spend the next four years.

In January, Guidry and three other candidates running primarily on their opposition to the city’s $100 million-plus sewer program lost a bitter election to four pro-sewer candidates by an overwhelming 20 percent.

The four defeated candidates spent the past year in-and-out of the news, popping up to challenge various city policies and coming to terms with their defeat.

For Guidry, the division between him and the city has gone away both literally and metaphorically.

After the election, Guidry placed a barrier between his parking lot and the city’s, contending the city hadn’t compensated him for insurance premiums that rose after growth at the city government campus.

This month — after a discussion where Councilman Rob Popoff compared the barrier to the Berlin Wall — the city agreed to pay Guidry about $20,000 over the next five years.

“The wise members of the City Council voted to reimburse me for my increased expenses for the city using the lot,” Guidry said. “Everything is copacetic.”

The election, in other ways, has been a boon for Guidry, an internal medicine specialist. He estimated a 30 percent to 40 percent increase in his patient load this year.

“I have to say it’s because I ran for City Council,” he said. “I think that people on Marco are happy that someone tried to help them and they’re coming to me now.”

One of Guidry’s new patients is Joe Batte, another defeated anti-sewer challenger.

Batte, who tries to attend every council meeting, considers himself a leader in the city. He reached out to his four opponents after the election and to new City Manager Steve Thompson, who started work in May.

Batte, a retired federal law enforcement agent and consultant for security services, also applied for the city’s police chief job, which went to former city police Capt. Thom Carr.

Batte has “a responsibility to the 3,600 people who voted for me,” he said. “They don’t expect you to crawl back under the woodwork.”

The other two defeated candidates, Butch Neylon and Roger Hall, continued to submit letters to council and letters to the editor on city issues. They were both vociferous in opposing the now-waning city discussions to explore a takeover of the island’s electricity utility.

These days, Neylon is spending most of his time at his second home in Massachusetts, but plans to return to Marco “with gloves on,” and continue to speak out.

Hall now watches Marco council meetings at home so he can talk to the television all he wants. He’d be afraid he couldn’t stifle himself if he was there in person.

“I don’t want to go down as being an angry old man, ...” Hall said. “I’m trying to stay out of the limelight because I’m not an angry old man.”

All four defeated candidates found more time in the past year for personal pursuits. Hall is fly-fishing often and planning a trip to the Bahamas.

Two months ago, Guidry, the youngest of the candidates at 45, had his second child with his wife, Catherine, 30. The baby girl, Annie, joined her 1-year-old sister, Aubrey.

“It’s been a great year,” Guidry said. “The election thing was a great experiment. Everyone should do it.”