As Lee County’s population approaches 1 million, it already has a political debate about how its citizens will be represented.

Three members of Southwest Florida’s state Legislature delegation hosted a public forum May 1 at Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District, established by the state in 2015.

The debate is about whether to shift the county’s five-member commission from being elected countywide or with single-district voting. About 70 people filled the room for about an hour of discussion.

In November, the District 1, 3 and 5 county commissioner seat elections take place. Under the current setup, all county voters can vote for one candidate in any of the districts. Under a potential new setup that couldn’t happen this year, voters would only be able to elect the commissioner from their home district. Other ideas include shifting to four single-district commissioners while adding one at-large member or keeping five single-district commissioners and adding two at-large seats. There also have been discussions of electing a countywide mayor instead of having a county manager, who is appointed by the elected commissioners.

“This is a lengthy process,” said state Rep. Tiffany Esposito of District 77, which includes Lehigh Acres. “It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight.”

County commissioners declined to change the district policies themselves. But concerned citizens have been contacting state legislators asking them to explore changes. Others prefer the current setup.

Esposito and Adam Botana, a state representative from District 80, each said they see the need for changes. Ultimately, they said Lee County voters would get to decide if a referendum on the issue appears on a future ballot.

“I support single-member districts,” Esposito said. “I grew up here and lived in Lehigh for almost a decade. I’ve knocked on about 6,000 doors.”

“I’ve heard the concerns about going from five to seven,” Botana said. “We don’t have to go to seven. We can stay at five. It works in Collier County. It’s working in other counties.”

Lehigh citizens keep telling Esposito they would receive better representation from the county government with single-district voting.

“They keep approving the developments but not putting the infrastructure there,” said Cheryl Fischer, a Buckingham resident. “They’re putting the cart before the horse. Our commissioners are not listening to us.”

Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass of District 2 was the only current commissioner who attended the forum. David Mulicka and Matthew Thornton, Republican candidates running for the District 3 seat, and Amanda Cochran, a Republican running for the District 5 seat, which includes Lehigh Acres, also attended.

Pendergrass spoke from the podium in favor of keeping the current system. He handed out a county-produced flyer to attendees that highlighted almost $500 million budgeted for transportation improvements over the next 20 years, almost $30 million planned for parks and recreation from 2022 through 2029 and almost $34 million budgeted for 2023-24 on county-provided services, all in Lehigh Acres.

“I think some people are confused about what this means,” Pendergrass told WINK News afterward, noting citizens would lose their right to vote for the other commissioners if the change were to come to fruition.

“I think when they look at the big picture of how you would lose your right to vote, it’s not really a good thing as a voter. And why would you want to expand government? It’s always surprising to hear some Republican leadership here asking to expand government when we associate for smaller government.”

Marsha Ellis, a Lee County resident and frequent speaker at county commission meetings, said she favors a new system that doesn’t disenfranchise minority voters.

“I am in favor of a five-member district of approximate equal population as representative as possible for geographic and demographic representation, including empowering minority voices,” Ellis said.

Gwynetta Gittens, a former Lee County School Board member, said: “Politically speaking, candidates who are elected at large are beholden to their biggest contributors and their biggest voting blocks.”

State Sen. Jonathan Martin, Botana and Esposito each said they learned from listening May 1 and that they would continue to learn more about the issue.

Martin told WINK News afterward: “I’m looking forward to hearing from people throughout the county the whole summer, and finding out if, first of all, this is something that first of all needs to be fixed. Secondly, if it doesn’t need to be fixed, is this something where we’ve come up with the right solution, or is there another solution out there.”

The lawmakers plan on having several more public forums in other parts of Lee County before the end of the year.