Comments by marcoobserver

Written on Marco City Manager review may segue to review of city charter :

Don't worry Monte, nobody has to make our government look bad. They are doing it all by themselves.

Written on Marco City Manager review may segue to review of city charter :

Sailor (RB) and you the other two city defenders need to shut up and let Dr. Recker do his job. Why are you so afraid of the truth? An increasing number of citizens are finally realizing how corrupt our former governance was and how wrong it is for Thompson to try and cover it up. If we can get a real audit, as opposed to the sham audit Thompson has set up, we all suspect a lot of misdeeds will be revealed.

We lost Dana Souza, our best city employee to the corruptness at Castle Bald Eagle. Let's not allow his loss to be in vain.

Written on Manager's Report: City’s finances change with the economy:

It is time to call a halt to all of the discretionary spending inc. the STRP. This unnecessary project is bankrupting our city! We are in a major recession/depression that is going to get a lot worse. We have squandered our reserves and our creditworthiness will only decline as the foreclosures increase. Wake up council before it is too late.

If we can get long term bonding now, we should nail it down. I doubt that we will be able to get it in the future. What happens when 5th 3rd pulls the plug on the 11 million 9 months from now and we can't secure replacement funding?

Councilman Waldack doesn't appear to have learned anything from his personal bankruptcy and he is leading the charge for continued reckless spending. Councimen Recker, Popoff, Kiester and Forcht are the only ones showing any sign of restraint. Stand up boys and call for a moritorium until the smoke clears!

Written on Questions are the answers:

Wayne, you didn't have any problem approving a $100,000 study to advance Acreri's LCEC takeover but when the $35,000 audit of the $40 million dollar Collier Blvd. project came up you argued against it asking "Where is the money going to come from?" Why didn't you ask the same question about the $100,000 LCEC study which is a complete waste of money. There isn't any more support for the takeover than there is for a toll bridge. You and Arceri's other shills are the only ones supporting it.

Written on Letter To The Editor: Assignment absurd:

Thank you Sayre for another well reasoned letter.

Written on Letter To The Editor: Thank you Mr. Keister:

Ed, you and the City of Marco Island are completely blind to the recession/depression that we are now and will be impacted by the foreseeable future. People are really hurting and the pain will continue to grow. While Marco Island is repainting its brand new police cruisers and providing $80,000 to provide two new racquetball courts for a club that has 200 members, our citizen's suffering increases.
We don't all make $500 per hour as Mr. Arceri claims to. Every nickle the city takes from many of us will mean some else will be missing under the Christmass tree.

Written on Marco councilor rejects committee member’s allegations of impropriety:

Marco Island is on the Arceri railroad train and Monte Lazarus, aka Monte, is pulling the whistle so you'all better get out of the way or they will run you over.

Written on Guest commentary: Tax notices should be reviewed carefully, thoughtfully:

The interesting thing about idiots is that they are not smart enough to keep their mouths shut so people won't figure out how dumb they are.

Written on Letter to the Editor: Tax relief?:

Bill, You are absoluely right. Marco Island is being run by a very sick group of people who will seek to destroy anybody that has the courage to challenge them. They use hate and insults to divert attention from the merits of the message. Unfortuantely, the majority of the citizens have appeared to have given up rather than subject themselves to the attacks. Keep the faith.

Written on Marco council unanimously approves tax relief:

No where else but Marco Island would anybody have the audacity to propose a 11% tax increase and call it tax relief because it could have been more. This is one sick city.

Written on Marco officials, past and present, respond to allegations of fraud:

It is clear that Arceri is running this committee from the background through Gibson so he won't be handicaped by the Sunshine laws. That is why Arceri resigned from the committee that he started. The committe will approve what Arceri wants it to approve. The committee is a sham designed to give legitimancy to Arceri's program. Anybody that doesn't understand that must be living in a cave. Typical sick Marco politics.

Written on Discussion on Marco takeover of electricity opens Monday:

I've read the e-mails on the marcoislandblogspot. Let's cut to the chase and fire Ronny Joel, Steve Thompson, and the council and coronate John Arceri King. He is running the island anyway. Look at the money we'd save. I am amazed that the citizens on this island tolerate such corruptness. It must be something he puts in the water.

Written on Letter to the Editor: More taxes? No! No! No!:

This council has four years to inflict their grand plans on us. Why would they go to a referendum on anything? They don't care what we want. They march to the drum of John Arceri and Resort Management. We just pay the bills.

Written on Letter to the Editor: ‘Caught in the middle’ for the record:

Chuck Kiester is the only councilman that has fulfilled the promises of his campaign. I wish we had 6 more like him. Marco would be a far better place.

Written on Letter to the Editor: Look into the future:

Ted Willis is one of the most intelligent people on the island and this assessment is right on point.

Written on Discussion on Marco takeover of electricity opens Monday:

This committee is a waste of time. Recently revealed e-mails disclose that John Arceri is running this program through Ronny Joel. Arceri will push this through just like he did the acquisition of Florida Water and use this committe as cover for not going to a referrendum since the citizens committee has studied and approved the LCEC acquisition. The e-mails document that Ronny Joel and Steve Thompson are the puppets and Arceri is pulling the strings.

Written on Guest commentary: Marco Island – Always a tight budget, always quality services:

Mr. Thompson is a good friend of Bill Moss. The tradition of distortion continues. You are going to see a lot more of this kind of spin. The first I observed was when he discussed the need to replace the "Hurricane raveged" East Winterbury Bridge. We all know the bridge was fine; it was just the sea walls that were impacted by Wilma.

Written on Letter to the Editor: Brains and commitment:

Thank you Mr. Blankman for an excellent article. I hope our council is intelligent enough to take note but I doubt it.

Written on Need for athletic fields brings Tract K back in play:

lilhalls is right. This property should not be utilized to benefit the president of the chamber of commerce. We undersand he played a major role in getting the current council majority elected but paying him back by cheating our children is unacceptable.

Written on Marco residents may soon see a new fee on water utility bills:

The condos control the council and the city. The condos will continue to get preferred rates for all services the city profides including the new electric company at the expense of the single family homeowners. There isn't any government agency that the citizens can turn to to protest the unfair rates that the council establishes. The current slate was elected to protect the water rates and add the new preferred electric rates the council will implement at our expense.

The current ad hoc committee is being established so that the city can claim that they don't have to go for a voter approved referrendum since the citizen's committee recomended acquiriung LCEC.

Arceri withdrew from the committee and installed Gibson as his shill so he can organize the whole process without being hampered by the sunshine laws.

John Areceri is the pied piper of Marco taking the residents over the cliff for the benefit of the resorts and the Cony Isand of the future.

Written on Letter to the Editor: Publicity stunt:

Who was it that labeled the councilman "My little idiot?" I guess we are now finding out why.

Written on Letter to the Editor: Column inspiration:

Issler is comic relief from the city's stupidities.

Written on Happy LCEC customers in Marco speak out against city-owned electricity services:

The city implimented the franchise tax to pay to place the lines under ground in 2004. After 6 months they decided to use the money for other purposes and have been doing so ever since. Why is it LCEC fault that the city is ripping off the citizens?

Written on Marco Island to raise taxes, add fire assessment, increase staff :

Issler, will you stop misrepresenting the facts. As was demonstrated by an earlier blog the vote was 60/40. The condos voted the Arceri/Resort Management candidates to protect their preferred water rates and their exclusive use of reuse water. The single family homeowners voted for the other slate.

Written on Guest commentary: Islanders input needed on fast-moving Marco issues:

Chuck, we applaud your efforts. Unfortunately, you are the only one on the council that cares what the people want.

Written on Water: What you pay depends on where you live:

Avenger, My single family residence base rate for the period 5/22 - 6/24 was $69.63 plus the $22.72 for the sewer for a total of $92.35 before I even turned on a faucet. You must be quoting the subsidized condo rates. In any event, the city manager's report should be using the real facts. It is like the head of Chevron going before congress and stating that gas is only $300 per gallon, what's the big deal? OH, by the way, that was 4 months ago.

Written on Water: What you pay depends on where you live:

The facts contradict the propaganda put out by our new city manager in his most recent weekly report. It looks like we have another spin doctor running our city.

Written on Marco Island to raise taxes, add fire assessment, increase staff :

As was demonstrated in the last election, Resort Management and John Arceri control Marco Island. Areceri makes sure the resorts get reuse water and reduced water rates subsidized by the homeowners and Resort Management uses their block of thousands of condo votes to make sure Arecei's candidates get elected. We will take over LCEC and Arceri's candidates will reward the resorts with reduced electric rates just as he did with the subsidized water/sewer rates. Wake up. Arceri controls the council and Arceri and Resort Management will tax and spend the homeowners off the island to make it the Myrtle Beach they all envision.

Written on Transportation officials to give presentation on status of Jolley Bridge, tolls:

So little time; so many citizens to be taxed; so much money to be spent. How can we spend it all? The Goodland Bridge is in much worse shape. Why aren't we worried about it? ANS Because the people that use the resorts don't use that bridge, dummy. We need a show case bridge for the Minozzi monument and to complete the grand entrance to the resorts that was started with the 27 million dollar Collier Blvd. renovation to be followed with the 20 million dollar Smokehouse Bay Bridge. The Yellow Brick Road to the resorts built on the backs of the dumb homeowners.

Written on Guest commentary: A rose by any other name is still a tax:

Thank you Mr. McMullan for a very well spoken analysis of the current state of our governance. Mr. Arceri is indeed running Marco Island through his shill council and spokesman Wayne Waldack. His vision is to create a west coast Ft. Lauderdale by taxing the existing residents to pay for it. The additional benefit is that he forces them to leave because of the resulting high COL. This makes room for the fat cats. It appears that the masses are dumb enough to let him pull it off.

Written on Letter to the Editor: Taking city, newspaper to task:

When the city took over Florida water we were promised no rate increases for 3 years. That proved to be a lie. The only entities that benefited from that takeover were the resorts. The condos now enjoy a much more favorable rate structure than the single family homes. If the city takes over the LCEC you can bet history will repeat itself.
There isn't any governmental agency that regulates the rates the city elects to charge for utilities. The condos/resorts have proven they have the voting power to elect councilmen that will give them exclusive use of the reuse water and give them preferred rates. If we add LCEC to the pot, we will be subsidizing their electricity as well.

Written on Letter to the Editor: We will lead the charge:

There are only 8 toll bridges in all of Florida. Marco certainly doesn't need to become the 9th. The proposed Minozzi Memorial Bridge is not needed but the core group of "good old boys" will continue to push it as a monument to their own self agrandizement.

Written on Five applicants remain in running for Marco Island police chief:

We need new blood. The outsider candidates seem very highly qualified. New blood = fresh look.

Written on Much of Marco Island under water and without power for six hours:

Good job LCEC! I thought our 27 million dollar renovation of Collier Blvd. was supposed to keep this from happening. It appears that much of the flooding was caused by a failure of our Public Works department to clean the storm drains befoe the storm.

Written on Combination of heavy rain, high tide caused extreme flooding on Marco on Wednesday:

Didn't Ronny just spend 27 million solving the drainage problem on Collier? This was the drainage effort that Gibson was so proud of when he ran for office. The promise of reduced rates is what drove the takeover of Florida Water. Reduced rates for the resorts and big increases for the residents. History will repeat itself if we are dumb enough to let them do it again with LCEC.

Written on Letter to the Editor: Mislead by misinformation:

When "My little idiot" became a councilman it didn't make him any smarter. He just thinks it did.

Written on Letter to the Editor: Not on Tract K:

Well spoken Beowulf! The fact that the "Good old boys" regard Marco as their personal treasure chest to be divided amoung themselves is becomming more obvious by this puppet council, controlled by Arceri and Lazarus through their shill Waldack. It is only a matter of time before the citizens wake up to these abuses.

Written on Editorial: For whom the bridge tolls:

Thank you for a well written article. It is interesting to note that there are so few toll bridges in Florida. The city justifies the bridge project on the basis that it has an 80 rating. What they ar not telling us it that 85% of all the bridges in this country have a rating of 80 or less. This whole project is nothing more than Mr. Minozzi trying to build his monument and have us pay for it.

Written on Former Marco councilor withdraws request for city attorney position:

By his support of Mr. Tucker, Mr. Waldack has demonstrated that:
1. He has no regard for the intent of the charter and no concern about upholding its provisions.
2. He supports a man that has lied to the citizens about having evidence of citizens committing a crime and a woman that as a judge was convicted of observing a crime and not reporting it; lied about the facts in the case to two investigators; and demonstated a complete lack of ethics and integrity.
3. It is understandable that Mr. Waldack would support new city attorneys that share his disdain for the charter and the rule of law and who have demonstrated complete lack of ethics. Who better to overrsee the activities of his council.
4. ln his rush to get his name in the paper by commenting on every issue on Marco Island Mr. Waldack has obviously never heard of the old admonition "If people are think you are stupid it is better to keep your mouth shut instead of proving them right."

Written on Letter to the editor: Another outrage:

Once again we see the city's spokespeople attacking the messengers when they can't attack the facts. There are a lot of attorneys that could serve as city attorney and save the city money without violating the intent of the charter and bringing a major bias to the position. The city's supporters would serve their masters better if they didn't feel the need to be so hateful. Tucker was responsible for hiring the current firm. If that was a mistake, why would we give continue to give that man a major role in Marco politics?

Written on Letter to the Editor: A first on Marco Island:

Well said Sayre.

Written on Fireworks a go this year on Marco, despite concerns of cost:

Why aren't the resorts paying a share as they do in other communities?

Written on Marco dock may get tied up in court:

The citizens of Marco voted to continue the pro growth and expansion mentality of our leadership in the last election. This lawsuit will fail. We have home rule and our council can do anything they want. Get used to it. As long as developers hire our "citizen of the year" to represent a project, it will be approved. Goodby tranquility; hello Myrtle Beach.

Written on Marco in need of a temporary replacement as interim city manager resigns:

Leroy, Hall is a very successful businessman that has made millions. He founded a major property management/development company and ran it for 30 years. He was twice elected president of the Squaw Valley water company. Seems to me he is far from an idiot and would be highly qualified to functon as an interm manger. In reading your posts it seems that all you are capable of is hate and insults. I suspect that someone with your outlook has a lot of built up frustration due to a lack of accomplishment with his life. Do us all a favor and take up golf. We are trying to be a positive community and all you try to do is bring us down.

Written on Pro-sewer candidates win Marco City Council election:

It is interesting that those that proclaim that they want to heal the island are still full of hate in victory.

Written on Letter to the editor: What happened to the blue shell crabs?:

If you visit the canals that received the contaminated water from the dewatering you will see that all the banarcles are gone. The dewatering of millions of gallons of contaminated water has destroyed the smallest elements of the food change and the impact is felt all the way up.

Written on Marco Island’s divisive campaign issue: Sewer system or septic tanks?:

I have been quietly reading the claims and blogs for the past few days in an attempt to find the truth. I have come to the conclusion that Ed Issler, Ray Beaufort, Monte Lazarus and John Arceri are all cut from the same cloth. Interestingly, they are transparent enough in their anger and disinformation that any reasonable person can see through their lies. These people appear to be devoid of conscience. They are also the best the special interest candidates can produce as spokesmen. I think they have discredited their cause and will be a major reason if their candidates lose tomorrow.

I will vote for Batte, Hall, Neylon and Guidry. They are quality candidates with real credentials. They represent the fundamental change we need in our leadership. We can do better than the Beaufort bunch.

Written on MICA: Which City Council Candidate should you vote for?:

Van, looks like you pretty much hit the nail on the head and put an end to the discussion.

Written on Elections complaint lodged against Celebrate Marco:

We have 6,500 septic systems on Marco Island. We have two failures a year. I think that everyone that has a failed or failing septic system should vote for the Trotter team. Everybody else should vote for Batte, Hall, Guidry and Neylon.

Written on Letter to the editor: Perversion of logic:

John Arceri was right when he said in his interview at the 10 year anniversary of Marco Island that we needed a fresh team to lead Marco Island. I know that we can't survive 4 more years of the same fiscal irresponsibility under Trotter, another attorney, a bartender and a bankrupt appliance salesman. I am going to vote for change and a hope for a better future for Marco Island. Batte, Hall, Guidrey and Neylon are honest, have proven business skills and are not indebted to the special interests. Let's see what they can do.

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