Two of the five Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District board of commissioners seats are up for a vote this November.
Up are Seats 2 and 5.
The board currently consists of Secretary/Treasurer Melissa Barry in seat one; Linda Carter in seat two; Robert Bennett in seat three, President and Chair Debra Cooper in seat four, and Vice President and Vice Chair Lucia Sherman in seat five.
The Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District began in 1963 and now provides services for a 142-square-mile area with six fire stations to serve a population of more than 120,000 citizens. The district’s 2021-2022 fiscal year total operating budget is $43,758,000. The total expenditures and reserves for the same fiscal year is $69,488,057.
All Independent Special District offices are non‐partisan and only appear on the Nov. 8 General Election ballot. Candidates are elected by qualified voters residing within the respective district.
The term for seats two and five, which are up for election, are four-year terms.
The candidates are:
Lehigh Fire Commission Seat 2
Linda Carter (Incumbent) https://thelehighacresgazette.com/news/2022/06/lets-meet-fire-commissioner-linda-r-carter
Age: Refuses to say
Years lived in Lehigh Acres: 29
Why are you running?
“To finish making sure the community gets what they need. To make sure everyone pays their fair share for fire taxes. The vacant lots never had to pay for anything. I was very instrumental in getting it done, so that every owner pays their fair share to support the fire department, so that we can build more stations, more people and more ambulances and make the fire department A1 plus. It’s a 50/50 split between the community and the fire department to get what they need.”
What do you hope to accomplish if elected?
“Keep the stability, so that we can add one or two more fire stations and add more equipment to cut the ISO times down in the 144 square miles. We are still five or six stations behind because years ago there was no building at the downturn of the market. We went without doing a lot, so now we are starting to build what the community needs to provide them the best safety and response times. I provide the stability of the worst times of the department going into the good times of the department. I provide a lot of logical input because I have a background in fire science, firefighting and emergency management. All of my background in emergency management and firefighting plays an important part in how to make things (happen) and bring ideas that are 50/50 split for the fire department and the community.”
Name: Taruas Anthony Pugh
Age: 40
Years lived in Lehigh Acres? 14
Why are you running?
“At age 7 years old, when I was a child, our house caught on fire when I was taking a bath upstairs. We lost everything and during that time my grandmother had a heart attack on the same night. We were displaced for months until we moved in with family. Everything was lost, our clothes, our shoes and lots of memories. About a month later my grandma passed away leaving me and my sister homeless with nowhere to go.
I am running to see that the department can focus more on educating parents and children about fire prevention and safety. So they can teach our community about the dangers of fire and smoke.”
What do you hope to accomplish if elected?
“When elected, I hope to accomplish having the department’s outreach program be more visible to our community families to educate them on fire safety and prevention. Thirty years ago, people had 17 minutes to escape a home fire, now they have about two minutes. With new construction practices and materials, as well as the furniture inside, cause fires to burn faster. Another hazard found in many homes is synthetic materials, such as rubber, plastic or foam. When those materials burn, they can cause cyanide poisoning. Most people who die in a fire die from smoke inhalation, not burns.
Fire safety and prevention is key to our Lehigh community.”
Name: Mohamed Yasin
Age: 69
Years lived in Lehigh Acres: 19
Why are you running?
“To be more accommodating to citizens and residents of Lehigh Acres. To not be a yes man, no man or a follower. To be more fiscally responsible, take care of the citizens and residents of Lehigh and listen to them. That has not happened.”
What do you hope to accomplish if elected?
“To reduce the increased tax rate again. To be more in touch with the people, what the people’s needs are, what Lehigh’s needs are and not what someone else’s needs are. To be able to facilitate and provide full services to accommodate the folks.
Seventy-eight percent of our budget is going to outside, personnel only. Only 18 percent is being used for actual running of the district. More than 60 percent, 70 percent of the people are not Lehigh Acres residents that are employed within the fire district.
I will bring full honesty and loyalty. That is why I served in the service for 23 years and taught at Lehigh Senior High School. Honesty, transparency and integrity, I will bring that to Lehigh Acres citizens and residents.”
Lehigh Fire Commission Seat 5
Name: Cia Gomez-Sherman https://thelehighacresgazette.com/news/2022/06/what-is-her-real-name-why-does-she-use-different-names-on-all-the-candidate-documents/
Age: 47
Years lived in Lehigh Acres: 13
Why are you running?
“I am proud to have had the privilege of serving the citizens of the Lehigh Acres Fire District for the last four years. In that time, we have made the fire assessment more equitable between empty lots and improved lots and financially fortified the department in the event of a market crash. We have also repaired three stations, built two new stations to improve response times, and hired more staff with the minimal turnover to enhance the quality of service. I earned my CDO (Certified District Official), furthering my education as a district officer to understand the unique needs of an independent fire district. Lehigh Acres still needs more stations to support our community, and the current chief has announced his retirement. I am running to continue this positive momentum and ensure we have the leadership the department needs to meet the increasing demands of the Lehigh Acres Fire District.”
What do you hope to accomplish if elected?
“If elected, I will build at least two new fire stations and ensure the department has what they need to properly address this community’s growing fire and rescue needs, providing the equipment and attracting and retaining the best personnel to protect our community. The next chief must be a strong leader, keeping us moving in the right direction. I would use my knowledge, experience, and education to ensure we select the best candidate.”
Name: Tyler Woodby
Age: 27
Years lived in Lehigh Acres: Entire life
Why are you running?
“I am running because I am tired of the board not actually changing, the faces may be different, but the overall attitude remains the same.”
What do you hope to accomplish if elected?
“Make the board of commissioners more accountable to the residents of Lehigh Acres.”
Name: Charles Edwards
Age: 63
Years lived in Lehigh Acres: 9 years
Why are you running?
“I (am) running for commissioner because I believe the department needs a person with enough business experience, with finance and personnel management background. I have 40 years experience.”
What do you hope to accomplish if elected?
“If elected, I would like to explore ways to eliminate the debt, while maintaining the excellent service to residents, while still taking care of our valuable employees. I believe this can be done while increasing transparency to the residents of Lehigh. I would also like to explore ways to recruit employees from the local area because currently a lot of the employees reside on the east coast of Florida.”