In the 10 years since incorporation, Marco Island’s city has survived battles over police coverage, sewer programs and spending caps.

With four City Council seats — a potential majority — up for grabs in the Jan. 29 election, decisions on a number of pivotal city issues could shift when a new council takes office.

Below the surface there are questions regarding whether Marco will remain a city at all.

Councilman Ted Forcht, who has two years remaining on his term, broached the idea during an October council meeting.

During a discussion of the city’s financial situation in light of potential cuts due to property tax reform, Forcht asked: “Can we afford to be a city anymore?”

Two weeks later, Councilman Glenn Tucker, who is term-limited against running in the current election, expressed concern after a meeting that should the four council candidates against the city’s sewer program be elected they might “bring the city to a halt.”

His statement, Tucker said in an interview last week, was a response to comments he heard during the public comment section of a council meeting around that time. He couldn’t recall more specifics.

But all eight candidates for office have maintained throughout the election season that disavowing cityhood is not on their agendas.

The four candidates running in favor of the city’s sewer program and the four running against it repeated a remarkably similar line about disincorporation: They do not support it; they do support Marco citizens’ right to petition the government about it; should such a petition go to referendum they would campaign vigorously against it.

The candidates, regardless of their sewer position, were equally as colorful in their dismissal of disincorporation.

From the pro-sewer side:

“To me it’s like going back to the 18th century,” candidate Frank Recker said.

“I took (Forcht’s statement) as a facetious comment more than something serious,” candidate Jerry Gibson said. “I certainly hope it was.”

From the anti-sewer side:

“I wouldn’t run with anyone, and I’m running with three other leaders, if they were against cityhood,” candidate Joe Batte said.

“What we have today is a government we can touch and feel,” candidate Butch Neylon said. “Sometimes they kick us and we can feel that, too.”

Collier County Deputy Manager Leo Ochs said he didn’t believe any senior county staff members have had contact with Marco officials about disincorporation.

Ochs added that the county hears about the matter from time to time from various associations on the island, but there’s been no recent information.

Collier County Commissioner Donna Fiala, who represents Marco Island, said she’s recently heard whispers in the community about disincorporation, but didn’t think they rose above the level of rumor. She too hasn’t had contact with any Marco officials about it.

“By the time you’ve got yourself a City Hall, a police department, a fire department and you see that it’s so safe there, I would think the overwhelming cry would be, ‘Leave us alone’,” Fiala said.

For his part, Forcht said he hasn’t given up on the matter.

He is thinking about revisiting the issue following the Jan. 29 vote on property tax reform. That vote, Forcht said, will give the city a better idea of where it stands financially.

He added that he would have brought the matter to Fiala already, but hasn’t been able to get in touch with her.

“It doesn’t seem like she’s as interested in Marco Island as maybe she could be,” Forcht said.

Fiala shrugged off the criticism.

“I never got a phone call from him,” she said. “Maybe he meant to get in touch with me.”

“If I wasn’t serving Marco Island really well, I would have heard a lot of complaints,” she added. “I don’t think they want to get rid of me.”

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