Candidate: HOWARD J LEVITAN

I am Howard Levitan, and a candidate for the Estero Village Council from District 2. I have been working hard for Estero for the past four years as a full-time volunteer to the ECCL and ECPP. Here are some of my priorities and why you should vote for me. First my background. After college at Tufts University and graduating from Boston College Law School, I spent the first 25 years of my work career as a lawyer in Portland, ME and in Boston, MA. My specialty was real estate law and land use. At the age of 50, my wife and I bought a country inn and restaurant on the Coast of Maine, and we successfully ran this small business for almost 10 years. After we sold the Inn we spent several years owning and operating a business consulting practice for innkeepers around the United States. I retired from this business in 2010 when we moved to Estero. My wife continues to work as a successful real estate broker in this area. My Priorities for Estero: 1. To manage future growth to insure high quality, sustainable land development; 2. To create a fiscally responsible Village Government-Lite Model: • Lower property taxes, if possible, once transition costs and reserve requirements have been secured; • Build strong reserves to protect against downturns or calamities; and • Incentivize and grow the commercial tax base of Estero while balancing the budget. 3. To provide incentives for the development of the Village Center and Medical District Areas into higher density, walkable, compact and interconnected neighborhoods built to conform to Estero’s high standards. 4. To maintain and enhance the qualify of life in Estero by integrating the community park into the fabric of the community, continuing to create green gathering places, building enhanced road medians, and improving access to the Estero River. 5. To create a Village-wide bike/pedestrian plan; 6. To protect our natural environment and water resources by limiting development in the adjacent DR/GR and doing what is necessary to prevent flooding. 7. To make public participation in Village government a top priority by increasing public access and the opportunities to be heard at all meetings of the council and its advisory boards. Why Elect Howard Levitan? • 25 years experience as a land use lawyer which will be essential to managing growth in Estero; • Owned and operated several successful small businesses; • Proven track record of service to Estero on the ECCL Board as its Vice Chairman; • Fully experienced in the land development process as shown by work on ECPP; • Helped draft the new Estero Community Plan and represented the ECPP before the LPA and BOCC to see it adopted. • Fiscal conservative. Always will vote to balance the budget; • Not a politician and will make this a full-time job; • Will work to make Estero the highest quality municipality in SWFL; • Cares about the environment, and will fight those who would impact our high quality of life in Estero by wasting the resources of the DR/GR and seeking to develop, mine and drill in this important ecological resource; • Believes in a regional plan to economic development in SWFL, and will fully support Estero participating in such an approach; • Believes that building a community is the essence of maintaining our high quality of life. We need people to think beyond the gates to Estero as a whole.