FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Fort Myers City Council is trying to find a way to cut down on teen gun violence and solve the affordable housing crisis.
When it comes to the gun violence, the council is looking to decrease teen gun violence and keep them out of jail.
Councilman Johnny Streets wants to get the city, Fort Myers Police (FMPD) and the Lee County School District involved in the "School to Prison Pipeline Program."
Streets is urging the district to create different mentoring programs. He also says the city needs to track where students live and where crime is happening to see if there is a trend.
If there is a trend, he says that is when the city needs to step in with the mentoring programs to try and combat the issue.
City Council is also looking into a long-standing issue: housing.
The council is taking a close look at plans for affordable housing and how it will impact the people who need it most as projects move forward.
But with it all, cash is always a road block, so council is talking about how much money is in the housing assistance community trust fund.
When Fox 4 spoke to the city’s housing authority, they told us thousands are on a wait list for one of their programs.
Even before the housing crisis – the need has been here for years, including in Dunbar, where the city is working on its biggest housing project right now.
