FORT MYERS, Fla. — On September 23, the Fort Myers city council came together to vote on its 2020 budget. The document includes a clause that would cut funding to 26 local non-profit organizations.
The meeting went on for hours, with community leaders, parents, children and even Councilmen Johnny Streets and Kevin Anderson all speaking out on behalf of those groups. They filled the room to capacity, even flooding out into the lobby and outside of the building, to fight for the funding they've gotten for more than a decade.
Despite their pleas, in a 4-3 vote, the council decided to keep the budget cuts.
"I will probably shed some tears tonight before this is all said and done. "I know that it was not the right thing for us to do tonight," said Streets.
It's a move that surprised many, like the Executive Director of the Quality Life Center, Abdul'Haq Muhammed.
"The money that we got from the city, we're very grateful for it and we've made that public. But this is a sign for us, this is a signal and hopefully we'll get the message," said Muhammed.
His organization was the largest represented at Monday's meeting and they also stand to lose the most money of all the organizations. Over the last 12 years, received more than 2 million dollars from the city.
"I would have to cut staff, draconian cuts just to stay afloat. But we're not going to die, we're going to fight," said Muhammed.
Muhammed says members of the QLC will meet later this week to regroup and figure out how to move forward.
