08/11/2026
An update on Short Cakes ❤️
Tonight, the Hendry County Board of County Commissioners will consider a 107-day extension of our current lease through December 31 while the RFP/bid process for the restaurant space continues.
❤️ If you would like to support Short Cakes TODAY:
📩 eComments are due by 12:00 PM TODAY:
👉 Submit an eComment here
https://www.hendryfla.net/government/county_commissioners/bocc_meeting_ecomments.php
📍 BOCC Meeting — TONIGHT at 6:00 PM
Clewiston City Hall Commission Chambers
115 W. Ventura Ave., Clewiston, FL 33440
We would be incredibly grateful to anyone who chooses to submit a comment or attend tonight. We only ask that everyone remain respectful and solution-focused. This has never been about attacking anyone. We simply want an opportunity to be heard and a genuine chance to resolve this.
No final decision has been made regarding who will occupy the restaurant space.
What continues to be difficult for us to understand is how we got here without ever being given the opportunity to sit down, have a meaningful conversation, and try to resolve any concerns first.
In 2024, when our lease was renewed, County staff told the Board in writing that they were pleased with Short Cakes as a tenant, that airport staff, pilots and restaurant patrons were happy with our service, and that our restaurant had been successful and benefited the airport.
Less than two years later, we were notified that our lease would not be renewed and the space would instead be put out for bid.
What changed?
Based on the public BOCC agendas we have reviewed, we have not found where the decision not to renew our lease or the decision to issue the RFP was brought before the Board for public discussion or a vote before the bid was released.
And through all of this, we still have not been given the sit-down meeting we have repeatedly asked for — not simply to talk, but to understand any concerns, respond to them, and have a genuine opportunity to resolve them.
I am a full-time restaurant owner, a mom of five, and we are heading into our busy season. Preparing an entire government proposal while continuing to operate Short Cakes, take care of our employees and raise our family is not a small undertaking.
If bidding is ultimately what we have to do to protect Short Cakes, we will do it. But I genuinely believe a conversation and an opportunity to resolve any concerns should have come first.
We are not asking for special treatment or asking legitimate concerns to be overlooked. If there are concerns, we want to hear them. We want the opportunity to address them, correct what can reasonably be corrected, and work toward a solution.
What has been so difficult to understand is why we were never given that opportunity before being required to compete for the space we already occupy.
I shouldn't have to win a bid just to earn the conversation — and the chance to resolve this — that we've been asking for from the beginning.
Tonight, we are asking the Board to hear us, open the door to that conversation, and give us a genuine opportunity to work toward a resolution.
To everyone who has called, messaged, prayed, shared our story, contacted commissioners, submitted comments, attended meetings, or simply continued walking through our doors — thank you.
The support our family and our Short Cakes team have felt from this community means more than we can put into words. ❤️
We are still hopeful that tonight can be the beginning of not only a conversation, but a real opportunity to resolve this and find a path forward. ❤️
Members of the public who are unable to attend the Hendry County Commission's Regular Board Meetings can share their opinions on agenda items with the Board through the "eComments" form below. Submit your comment once the agenda is posted online for the next Regular Board Meeting. The deadline to...
