Letters To The Editor

Mayor Gunter is one of the best mayors the city of Cape Coral has had

To the editor:

I have just read The Breeze article on the recall petition being circulated. Some thoughts that came to mind: If someone has proof that John Gunter committed a crime, the State Attorney should be contacted.  If someone has proof that John committed an ethical violation, the Florida Ethics Commission should be contacted.  

I served with John from November 2017-November 2020 and found him to be an excellent Council member.  He had always researched the issues and was usually spot on.  Evidently the Council thought so too, because in 2021 he was appointed mayor after Mayor Joe Coviello passed away. 

John is one of eight and it takes five to pass anything. He sets the agenda, but if a Council member wants to discuss something not on the agenda, it can be done during Council Member Reports.  A line item veto can be overturned with a vote of five. 

It seems a resident group wants to place blame somewhere and have decided the mayor is that point person.  Why not blame the city attorney, who advises Council… or the city manager who holds great sway with Council? In fact, I read that if the Consent Agenda were held late in the evening, City Manager Mike Ilczyszyn said he would not require staff to stay.  My thought was, he should not be calling the shots…. that's a Council decision. I will say that I believe moving the Consent Agenda to the end of the meeting was not a good idea, and fortunately it didn't happen.  A good compromise was having resident input 30 minutes before the CA and 60 minutes at the end of the meeting; but six people didn't agree.  That John should be blamed for this is a miscarriage of justice. 

I suppose the biggest error laid at his feet, is the stipend. The city attorney didn't caution them about the vote. They are underpaid if compared to other Florida cities…. but they did go about this decision, IMHO, incorrectly. The citizens should have had a voice and a vote in a referendum.  That issue is now history.

I will end by saying, I have lived here for 43 years and I believe John Gunter has been one of the best mayors we have been fortunate enough to have serving this city.  And I sincerely hope this petition goes down.

Marilyn Stout

Former Cape council member for seven years

Cape Coral