LABELLE — At the regular meeting of the Hendry County Commission on Tuesday, July 28, Ashely Slovinksi, the owner of Short Cakes Sweet Shop and Eatery in LaBelle, stood before the board and asked to know why her lease would not be renewed.

“For the past 15 years I’ve had the privilege of serving this community,” Ashley began. “During that time, we’ve built more than a business; we’ve built relationships. We’ve watched children grow up, celebrated anniversaries, welcome visitors to Hendry County and became a gathering place for so many families. It’s truly been an honor to serve this community.”

Slovinksi explained that she received a notice of default on her lease and that she took it very seriously. “Every issue identified was corrected immediately,” she stated. “And we received confirmation that those defaults had been satisfied.”

Despite meeting these criteria, the county has chosen not to renew the lease, and Slovinksi and her family do not understand why.

“If there is something more that needs to be addressed, we are ready and willing to work with the county. With that in mind, I respectfully ask, what is the basis for the decision not to renew our lease?” she asked of the board. “If identified faults have been corrected and any remaining concerns can be addressed, I genuinely want to understand why the renewal is no longer being considered.”

Slovinksi went on to explain that the business was her family’s only source of income and she is also concerned about the employees who work there.

Ashely’s husband, Wayne Short, was also present at the meeting and spoke on her behalf as well. “My wife has worked extremely hard. Anybody who knows her, I don’t think there’s anybody in this room who doesn’t know how hard she works. If she’s not working at the restaurant, she’s working at home,” he stated. “For me to mention how hard I work, doesn’t even come into comparison.”

Wayne explained how difficult it would be for them to start over with a new location and that they only have two months to prepare and put in a bid on a new building.

He also said that they had corrected the things that were listed in the default on the lease. “The things that were in the default were very minor,” he said. “We corrected them very quickly. If there are other things, they’re not being laid for us - not being made aware of them. I have heard there are other things. We don’t know what those other things are. We don’t know how to correct things we don’t know about. We’re just asking for a chance.”

Wayne feels that this will put them out of business because they don’t have enough time to relocate.

Commissioner Wills stated, “For full transparency, my granddaughter works there. So I just want to make sure that everyone knows that.”

Nothing further was said on the matter by the board.