Fort Myers council approves ranking of Wharton Smith for police headquarters; NAACP and community leaders press for enforceable local-hiring commitments

Fort Myers city council members voted to authorize negotiations with Wharton Smith Inc. as the top-ranked construction manager-at-risk for the planned police headquarters after a ranked-selection process by city staff and the selection committee.

The decision follows public comment from leaders of the NAACP and other community advocates who urged the city to attach binding local-hire, apprenticeship and minority-subcontractor requirements to any agreement with the winning firm. James Muwakeil, who identified himself as “president of the county of the NAACP” and southern regional director for the NAACP in Florida, said the selection process “does not include local contractors that work with the minority communities” and warned the project could send economic benefit outside Fort Myers.

The appeal was echoed by Mike Love, Lee County NAACP economic committee chair, who said the choice of Wharton Smith “is not just a failure of process. It’s a moral failure” unless the city requires enforceable equity benchmarks, apprenticeship opportunities and community benefit obligations tied to hiring local minority subcontractors.

City staff described the selection process to the council.…