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BONITA SPRINGS — In the District 1 race for Lee County commissioner, there’s a wild card. Gerard David Jr. paints himself as the outsider in a contest with two-term incumbent Bob Janes and Cape Coral Mayor Eric Feichthaler.

“Some people think I’m goofy, that I’m not serious,” said David. “I’m serious as a heart attack.”

Besides being goofy or serious, the three candidates shared their views on many topics, several days before the Aug. 26 primary election. The winner of the Republican primary will take on A.J. Boyd and Carla Johnston, both of whom are running without party affiliation.

THE BUDGET

Janes said he expects taxpayers will see commissioners cut the property tax rate this year.

“I don’t think we need more money coming into the county,” he said. “I think we did what we set out to do, paring expenses and maintaining a sparse government.”

The county does face massive expenses, Janes said, like a $1 billion road-building shortfall. He said when the economy was good, the county rightly spent money trying to keep up with growth.

“It seems to me when you have good times, government needs to try to keep up with growth,” he said. “I believe in the maxim of growth paying for growth.”

Feichthaler said Cape Coral cut $13 million from its budget last year, even with property values down, and he thinks the county can spend its money better.

“When I see projects like the overpass at Summerlin and Gladiolus, I see the fisherman’s co-op property on Pine Island, where the county spent $13 million on maybe a $3 million property. I think the money needs to be spent much more efficiently,” he said.

Trimming the budget can be done by eliminating things that are not necessities, he said.

“We have to eliminate certain things we like but don’t need,” he said.

David said the county can save money on libraries.

“We have enough libraries,” he said. “There’s a library on every corner. And $40 million for a library? I think they should be bare bones. Just books. Get people reading again. That’s the purpose of a library.”

David said he disagrees with the county’s decision to set aside $25 million for economic development, saying he would recommend using that money to build a sound stage. He champions turning Lee County into an entertainment center like Hollywood, where he once worked.

“We’re sitting on a gold mine,” he said.

The entertainment industry could put thousands to work doing everything from acting to building sets, he said.

Feichthaler agrees the $25 million shouldn’t be set aside, but said the county should stand ready with an incentive program to lure business. As mayor of Cape Coral, he’s a member of the Horizon Council, the economic development group recommending the money be set aside, and said he’s the only executive committee member who opposes it.

“I think the $25 million should be infused into the economy today as a tax cut,” he said. “I think incentives should be less cash payment and more impact fee and tax deferrals.”

The county should reduce the tax bite as much as possible, Janes said, but it must also deal with needs like unemployment. Bringing in new employers helps taxpayers, too, he said.

THE DR/GR

Janes said he supports the Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource committee recommendation to steer mines toward the Alico Road corridor and away from Corkscrew Road.

“There isn’t really a balance you can strike between mines, residents and the environment,” he said. “Nevertheless, we have to try to do it.”

The solution that leaves none of the parties completely happy is likely going to be the right one, Janes said.

“Most of the trucks should be on Alico,” he said. “It’s designed and built for the heavier loads. But it does have an impact on trucks that would be using the other road. Maybe Corkscrew could take a minimal amount.”

Feichthaler said any DR/GR policy should make use of transfer of development rights, which would move potential development densities away from environmentally sensitive areas.

“The major cornerstone of growth management policy has to be TDRs anywhere we have density where we should have open space,” he said.

It will be hard to address the concerns of some residents who want zero truck traffic on Corkscrew, he said.

“Some people say concerned residents and some say special interest groups,” he said. “I look at them as people with legitimate concerns.”

Cape Coral is virtually all residential property, Feichthaler said. The city deals with commercial development with buffers, hours of operation and other conditions.

“For those who say they don’t want one more person moving in, that they don’t want one more truck on the road, that’s hard to meet,” he said.

David said he is against mining on Corkscrew Road. If that means landowners suing, so be it.

“God bless them,” he said. “It’s the county’s jurisdiction. They’re our lands. They’re our people.”

TRANSIT

David said he would push transit hard.

“If I was a county commissioner, I’d be securing buses,” he said. “You can buy charter buses and have rush-hour express buses.”

David envisions an express route running across the county, all the way from Veterans Parkway in Cape Coral to Lehigh Acres. He said he’s against an independent transit authority.

“We already have too many authorities and too little action,” he said.

Transit does need more funding, David said.

“Now gas prices are a little lower because it’s an election year,” he said. “After the election it’s going to be over $5 a gallon. In a couple years we’re going to need all the buses we can find.”

Feichthaler said that he doesn’t support an independent authority.

“Until the intelligent growth process catches on transit is not going to work,” he said.

He said he’d support park-n-rides, specifically along the Colonial Boulevard parkway that David mentioned, because that’s where the congestion is and where people need to travel.

“Land use practices have to come first before mass transit is a viable system,” he said. “If we keep spreading out over 811 square miles of the county, mass transit is never going to work.”

Janes said transit is never a money-maker or even a break-even proposition. He said it’ll take money to develop the options that will make the system work.

Even if light rail ran all the way from Naples to Port Charlotte, he said it wouldn’t be enough.

“The problem is unless there’s a transit system to syphon off the people at the train stations, it does no good,” he said. “We need to spend money to develop that as well, and we’re talking mega, mega-bucks. It’s hugely expensive, and to me, you can’t do it without a transit authority.”

BOSTON RED SOX

David said he wouldn’t spend any money at all trying to keep the Red Sox in town for spring training.

“Not another nickel,” he said. “If you can pay a baseball player $20 million a year, you can afford to build your own stadium.”

Any money spent for the team should be along the lines of a parking garage near the stadium or a shuttle to it, he said.

“There’s plenty more baseball teams where they came from,” he said. “And that stadium stands empty most of the time.”

Janes said he sees that as a problem, too.

“I think there are limits beyond which we can’t go,” he said. “We don’t really know what the Red Sox want, but if the demands are too far out there, we have to let them go.”

There are alternatives, Janes said, like the huge untapped potential of a soccer stadium.

“We could compete nationally or even internationally for soccer tournaments,” he said.

Baseball team subsidies should come from concession revenue and parking, Janes said, not from taxpayers.

Feichthaler worked hard in an unsuccessful effort to bring the Cleveland Indians to Cape Coral for spring training a few years ago. That would have been a winner, he said, because the state and the team would have funded virtually all of the move.

“Three years later, the money to keep the Red Sox will be significant,” he said. “If hypothetically it’s $30 million to keep them, in my opinion, the answer is no.”

The empty stadium bothers Feichthaler, too.

“We have to be absolutely firm,” he said. “We have to utilize the facility when they’re not. I want college tournaments there. I want Little League there.”

Janes and Feichthaler agreed any money to keep the team would have to come from tourist taxes.

ODDS AND ENDS

Feichthaler said he believes in government of the people, and would make sure people had their voices heard.

“I’m hoping to have office hours in south Lee County, and the same in Lehigh Acres,” he said. “When people want 10 minutes to discuss their issue, I want them to be able to meet face-to-face. I’ve had town hall meetings every two months as mayor. People should feel their government’s there for them.”

Janes said his government experience sets him apart.

“I’m aware of the alternatives and I can see how they work,” he said. “It’s like diversion programs. People say they’re boring, but 16 to 20 percent of the people in (Lee County) Sheriff (Mike) Scott’s hotel shouldn’t be there. If it’s $100 a night to keep them in jail and $30 a night at a treatment center, that’s $70.”

David said both his opponents have had their chances.

“They talk about what they’re going to do when they’re a county commissioner,” he said. “One’s been a county commissioner and the other’s been a mayor. Why are they not doing it already?”

---

Name: Bob Janes

Birth date: August 28, 1931

Born: Minneapolis, Minnesota

City of residence: Sanibel

Educational degrees: Washburn High School, 1949; University of Minnesota, B.S. degree in 1954; University of Minnesota, MAPA degree in 1958; Second masters degree and doctoral candidate in Public Administration from the University of Southern California (Washington, D.C.) in 1978.

Political experience: Minneapolis city alderman from 1961-1964. Hennepin County commissioner and chairman from 1964-1969. From 1969-1971, appointed first deputy director of the White House Intergovernmental Affairs Office, working as liaison between the White House and state, county, and city governments. Moved to Lee County in 1975 and became active on the Sanibel Planning Commission in 1986 and became chairman in 1990. Elected to Sanibel City Council in 1991 and elected mayor of Sanibel in 1996. In 2000, elected to District 1 seat on the Lee County Board of Commissioners, and was re-elected in 2004 without opposition.

Family: Married to Lynda for 54 years. Three daughters: Sandra, Mary and Susan Flinn.

Hobbies and interests: Enjoys reading, blues and jazz music, and sporting clays.

Name: Eric P. Feichthaler

Birth date: November 29, 1971

Born: Philadelphia

City of residence: Cape Coral

Educational degrees: BA, Honors Economics (University of Miami), Juris Doctor, Georgetown University Law Center; Master of Laws, New York University

Political experience: Mayor, city of Cape Coral; Lee County MPO member (chairman in 2006); chairman, Transportation Advisory Committee (Cape Coral)

Family: Married to Mary Feichthaler, director of Corporate Taxation, 21st Century Oncology

Children: Eric Jr., 3; Tyler, 2; Emily Reagan, 7 weeks

Hobbies and interests: Serving the community, golf, movies.

Name: Gerard David, Jr.

Birth date: September 24, 1953

Born: Brooklyn, N.Y.

City of residence: South Fort Myers

Educational degrees: Attended Suffolk County Community College (9 credits short for business degree)

Political experience: Just campaigning.

Family: Mom, Dad, sister, and lots of nieces and nephews.

Hobbies and interests: Reading, swimming, acting, TV/movies, traveling, politics, talking, eating out.