FORT MYERS, Fla. — A push to make the City of Fort Myers more unified. In this week’s “A Minute with the Mayor, Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson sits down with Fox 4’s Rachel Loyd and talks about his hand-picked Unity Task Force.
Rachel: You rolled out you unity task force. You announced who’s on that task force. And this is a short-term thing; only about six months. Now, considering that it’s so short-term, what accountability do you have for this particular task force, to make sure that things get done?
Mayor Anderson: Rachel, that was the purpose of actually putting an end-date. I felt like if I just said, hey meet until you come up with recommendations, they could possibly meet for years. They have to be focused. I totally understand that they may run out of time. This is a very - like the other issues, they’re all complex issues. There’s not simple solutions. So, they may very well run out of time, and at that point, we’ll reassess.
Rachel: Chantel Rhodes is a member who’s on the task force. She led some of the Black Lives Matter protests after the killing of George Floyd. When it comes to having her on the task force - after black people experienced a lot of pain this past year - with the killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, the shooting of Jacob Blake, why is it important to have someone like Chantel Rhodes on this task force?
Mayor Anderson: Diversity, not just in race and gender and political beliefs, but diversity in thought is very important. Diversity in life experience - those are important.
Rachel: Marc Collins is on the task force. He’s a philanthropist. He gives back to the community. He has “Lunch with Friends.” What does he bring to the table for this particular task force?
Mayor Anderson: Marc brings that level of commitment to this community. He’s an individual who wants to see Fort Myers be the best that Fort Myers can possibly be.
Here’s a full list of the unity task force members.
Dr. Phil Phillips, Marc Collins, Stacy Crespo, Dwayne Jackson, Chantel Rhodes
