Estero Village Council questions village board applicants on ethics, conflicts of interest

Estero council members asked pointed ethics questions of candidates who applied to serve on the village's two appointed boards that oversee growth and development in the area.

The council interviewed eleven applicants Wednesday for four open positions on the Design Review Board and three open positions on the Planning and Zoning Board. The seats are filled by current members with terms that expire March 31.

Some of the candidates who have applied for the unpaid positions are involved with companies that would be asking those same boards for approvals of multimillion-dollar projects with long-term impacts on Estero's future.

Among those candidates were a project manager at engineering and planning firm Agnoli Barber & Brundage and a vice president of land acquisition for homebuilder CalAtlantic Group, which is now a Lennar Corporation company.

In December, CalAtlantic Group closed a $27.5 million on nearly 706 acres to the east of Estero on Corkscrew Road. 

More:Homebuilder buys Corkscrew Road land for $27.5M

Over the last several months, Estero's Village Council has questioned whether its current village board members are too comfortable with the building industry.

The two boards are tasked with reviewing the appearance and zoning plans of new developments in Estero and have a lot of influence over how the village grows.

A number of candidates told the council it was possible they would have to recuse themselves due to their company’s business in the village.

Councilman Howard Levitan, who led many of the ethics exchanges with candidates, focused on the recusal issue.

“The issue gets complicated because it’s not just a recusal and not vote situation,” Levitan said to Thomas Barber, a candidate for the Estero Planning and Zoning Board. “The issue is can your firm earn money from a client that is presenting in front of the board if you are on the board?"

Barber, a project manager with Agnoli Barber & Brundage and a 12-year Estero resident, said his firm does not have any clients that are in the village right now, but it was possible he might have to recuse himself in the future.

“Of course I would be objective in any situation. This is where I live and where my family lives, so I want what’s best for the community,” Barber said.

More:Estero official: Don't let Design Review Board members lobby for clients

Two of the longest interviews Wednesday were for current members of the Design Review Board.  

Although all three current members of the Design Review Board with terms up at the end of March reapplied for the positions, only architect William Glass and landscape contractor Al O’Donnell submitted applications for another term on the Design Review Board.

Design Review Board members' repeated involvement in projects that come before them for approval did much to spur the ethics and conflicts of interest debate in Estero.

A Naples Daily News analysis in July, prompted by concerns raised by Levitan at a council meeting, found that Design Review board members Joe McHarris and William Prysi often lobbied before the board as private citizens for multiple development projects in Estero.

McHarris, who has served as chairman of the Estero Design Review Board and owns Bonita Springs-based McHarris Planning and Design, did not reapply for his volunteer position.

When asked why after a Feb. 14 Design Review Board meeting, McHarris denied that the added scrutiny from the village played a part in his decision but criticized the council.

“I just don’t think the council is doing their job and is putting their noses where it doesn’t belong,” McHarris said.

McHarris said councilors have commented on issues they have with colors in design projects and he believes that to be inappropriate.

During their Wednesday interviews, Glass and O’Donnell defended the Design Review Board and said the work they have done has helped shape Estero's look.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed being on the Design Review Board,” Glass said. “Whether it’s known to the council or not, you have a powerhouse group of people on that board."

O’Donnell praised the board’s work to raise the quality of Estero developments.

“The most satisfying part of it is at the end when you’ve changed a project from something that was substandard to what we have now,” O’Donnell said. “I think the involvement of active professionals is really important.”

Councilman Levitan said to Glass that he was concerned about the number of times Design Review Board members have left the dais and presented in front of the board for development projects.

Levitan said that it created a bad perception in the community.

More:Estero might tighten ethics rules for appointed boards, considers medical marijuana ban

“I don’t think, in my mind, that creates a feeling in the community that’s warm and fuzzy,” Levitan said. “It actually causes people to think maybe there’s a deal here or a fix.”

Glass agreed that the perception was an issue but said he didn’t know how to fix it.

“I think we’ve all made sort of a pact among ourselves to be more professional and try to make this less onerous from a perception standpoint,” Glass said.

Councilman Nick Batos also defended the Design Review Board by crediting its members with creating Estero's high-end quality.

“I think if it was a true conflict of interest and people were reacting because of their self-interest, we wouldn’t have developed the kind of appearance the city is recognized for,” Batos said.

More:Estero Design Review Board slams draft ethics ordinance

During interviews at Wednesday’s council meeting, O'Donnell, Glass and members of the council lauded McHarris's work.

Councilman Bill Ribble said McHarris was responsible for picking the current Estero Village Hall. 

"He did a lot of work on his own time, on weekends drawing up for me how this building worked and didn't work," Ribble said. "I want everyone to know that we're going to miss him as the chairman, but we'll get over it and I'm sure we'll do well."

No women applied to join the two village boards, which did not go unnoticed by Katy Errington, Estero’s only councilwoman.

Errington asked nearly every applicant why the village was failing to recruit women to apply for board positions.

Like McHarris, current Design Review Board member Anu Lacis chose not to apply for an additional term.

Lacis said in an email she did not reapply to the Estero board because of conflicting obligations.

Wednesday’s council meeting was the first round of interviews for applicants to the two boards.

Additional interviews will be conducted at the council meeting on March 7. The council will take action on board appointments on March 21.