Fort Myers, Fla. — Fox 4 introduced a new segment Friday night called “A Minute with the Mayor,” tracking Fort Myers newly-elected mayor’s progress during his first 100 days in office.
During this week’s segment, Mayor Kevin Anderson told Fox 4’s Rachel Loyd what he thinks of the events that unfolded in the Nation’s Capitol this week. He also shared plans to unify the Fort Myers community.
Rachel: First of all Mayor, thank you so much for sitting down and doing these “Minute with the Mayor” interviews with me. This week has marked your 50-day mark, so you’re halfway through your first 100 days in the Mayor’s office.
Mayor Anderson: Wow
Rachel: So, I just want to talk to you about some of the things that you mentioned that you want to accomplish in your first 100 days. So, those are housing, homelessness and unity. You want to set out and accomplish ways to tackle those issues in the city. I think that it’s fitting to talk this week about unity. So, first of all, what are some things that you’ve accomplished in your first 100 days to make Fort Myers more unified?
Mayor Anderson: Well, unfortunately, things are not moving as quick as I would like. I am still in the interview process for finding people to sit on this Taskforce. We hope to have that wrapped up within the next 10 days, and then getting that task force working on unity. As we discussed, it’s very important. Not just to this community, but any community.
Rachel: Just thinking about what’s going on in the country today. You can’t miss it. No matter where you live, I’m sure you’ve seen the chaos that happened in the U.S. Capitol. What was your reaction seeing that?
Mayor Anderson: Again, I am a big proponent of the First Amendment. It is the first Amendment. So, people have the right to protest. But that right includes protesting peacefully, and within the confines of the law. So, it’s very saddening. I was very disappointed to see that a percentage of that group stepped over the line, and went from being peaceful to committing criminal acts. I hope that’s not a sign of 2021, and I hope that as a country, we can get past this.
Rachel: There are people in Fort Myers who are upset about the election results. And some people from Southwest Florida went to the U.S. Capitol to express their frustration with the election results. Now what we saw yesterday as you already mentioned is, you know, it’s not acceptable. It was violence. It was destruction. But just going back to what you’re talking about, which is unity. The election results have already been certified, and there are still going to be people who are upset about those results. What would you say to them who are still upset so that they’re not taking matters into their own hands like what we saw in the U.S. Capitol this week?
Mayor Anderson: Well, first of all Rachel, violence begets violence. So, it’s not the answer. We as Americans, we have the right to protest. There’s nothing wrong with that. As I said earlier, it’s got to be done in the right way. It’s got to be peaceful. It can’t be violent. We need to accept - whether we like the results or not. We need to accept that these are the results right now. There are procedures. One of them is voting. If you’re not happy with how things have been handled, then vote for different people. Also, those elected officials who are responsible for our election results, hold them accountable to do their jobs. But, in the meantime, we’re not going to change it through violence.
Rachel: And if we were to see something like what unfolded in the U.S. Capitol here in the City of Fort Myers, how would that affect your plans to unify the city?
Mayor Anderson: It would probably put us a few steps back, but it’s not going to stop us.
What do you want to ask the mayor? Email any questions you have to Rachel Loyd at rachel.loyd@fox4now.com
