Rosado, MIA

For a second consecutive week City Council Member Rosado didn't show up for a council meeting. It seems Mickey is too busy or thinks he is just too important for the mundane duties he was elected to perform.
Update: News-Press Sept. 8, 2005 http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050908/NEWS0101/509080325/1003
Rosado had this to say; "I was working for the city. I think the majority of council understood what I was doing," Rosado said about his trip. "My objective is to seek resources that will help grow opportunity for the city."
Question: How could Rosado be "working for the city" or "majority of council understood what I was doing" when the rest of council didn't know where he went and didn't authorize him to go in the first place? In what capacity was Rosado at this meeting?

Have Builders Outpaced Services?

News-Press story Aug. 28, '05
The city is growing so fast that the demand for services in areas where there are sewer lines could outstrip the city's ability to treat sewage before the expansions are completed, according to a letter from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
A similar situation with wastewater treatment conditions occurred in the 1980's on Fort Myers Beach, said Cape Coral Assistant City Attorney Marilyn Miller. It amounted to a moratorium on new construction until Lee County added more capacity, she said.
Question, will the CC construction industry be faced with similar situation?

From the city web page: Home Building Slows Slightly in July
Home building slowed in July with only 481 single-family home permits issued. While the 481 permits seem low compared to previous months, a year ago, this total would have been a near record. In June, the City issued 711 single-family home permits. This is the third highest monthly total, surpassed only by the 858 permits issued in March and the 724 permits issued in May. The total number of single-family home permits issued for the first 10 months of FY 2005 is 6,187. This easily surpasses the 5,392 permits issued in FY 2004, and the City has two months remaining in the fiscal year

Boyd's misrepresentation

How many times has Council member Boyd say he has been "living here for the past 20 years?" It seems he has said this it a number of times..... over the past few years. In any event he said it again last night (Aug. 23) during the city council meeting as if there is some importance and or credibility associated with the length of time someone has been here.
Interestingly, A.J.'s Declaration of Domicile shows that Alan J. Boyd Jr. established Florida residency in Sept. 1988, meaning he's still a few years shy of being here 20 years......

America’s most conservative cities

According to the Bay Area Center for Voting Research in California, through an examination of voting in 237 U.S. cities of more than 100,000 people, Cape Coral is ranked as the 16th most conservative city nationwide and is ranked 2nd in the State of Florida. The City of Hialeah, FL is ranked fourth nationwise and comes in first as the most conservative city in Florida. Clearwater follows the Cape as Florida's third most consertative city. Interestingly, Hialeah has repeatedly reelected a Democrat, Raul Martinez as its Mayor. (Humm, does this suggest that Democrates can be conservatives?)
With such conservative leanings in Cape Coral one might question how such liberal spenders ever got elected. We even have some council members trying to spend money the city has yet to receive, as was the case with $10K pledged from Waste Management!

Cape Coral HR director fired

Last week City Manager Terry Stewart fired Human Resource Director, Phil Jackson under City Charter provision 5.04 (a) allowing the CM to remove any employee "for the good of the city." This action came about over a hiring issue dealing with a minority applicant.

Since Jackson was fired “at will” this means that even though he has been terminated he will receive a severance package of 4 months salary plus any aquired leave and vacation time. Jackson was making approximately $105K per year. Had Jackson been fired “for cause” no salary severance package would have to be paid.

There are some who believe the CM may have been under pressure by certain council members to fire Jackson and may have prompted his decission. Here are some comments that appeared in the news media, "Terry Stewart was very deliberate in the way he conducted his investigation," Day said. "We arrived at the same place. We just took different routes."
"I expected no less of Terry Stewart," said Rosado. The Hispanic community was upset about the case, he said. "This definitely leaves a bad taste," Rosado said. "When people come up to me and ask how to get a job with the city, I say, 'Trust the process.' "

The “at will” provision was added to the city charter (by the voters) back in the mid 1990’s when David Sallee was the city manager. Many believe this charter revision was added to give a weak city manager more control over his employees.

The question is, how do you feel about the “at will” provision that allows for termination of any city employee by the city manager with or without cause?

Civic Presents Plaque

At the City Council meeting on Aug. 15, it was an honor for me as President of Civic to present a plaque, on behalf of our the members to the municipal employees in recognition of their efforts and performance during the hurricanes last year.
As you recall, Hurricane Charley hit Cape Coral on August 13, 2004. The presentation was made to commemorate the anniversary of that event.
I also want thank all of the Civic members and board members who were in attendance for the presentation. Civic was well representated. Again, my sincere thanks for your support.
Ralph

Council pay raises?

Mayor urges council pay raise, Voters must approve city charter change before compensation can be increased. Don Ruane druane@news-press.com (Aug. 2)
Raising the salaries of city council members and the mayor could lead to better government, according to Cape Coral Mayor Eric Feichthaler. Higher pay would reduce the temptation of corruption and could attract more candidates for office who might be deterred by the current pay, Feichthaler said.
Council members get $14,570 a year; the mayor $17,150. Council members said that's not enough to attract good candidates and support their families if they have to take time away from or leave better-paying jobs to serve. No decision to pursue an increase has been made but the council has talked about the possibility at times, including last week's strategic goals planning session. Voters would have to approve a change to the city's charter to change how elected officials are paid, City Attorney Dolores Menendez told the council. Voters turned down proposed changes in 1998 and 2003. The charter calls for council members to be paid 17 cents per registered voter as of Nov. 1 each year. The mayor is paid 20 cents per registered voter. There have been proposals in the past to increase the amount per registered voter or to base the salaries on the city's population. The city has an estimated population of 142,000 people. Council salaries would jump to $24,140 and the mayor's to $28,400 if they were paid the current rate per resident.
"Every time you put it on the ballot it gets shot down," saidCouncilman A.J. Boyd. "I think it should go back on. The time I put in now compared to time I put in when I first got on (the council) has increased dramatically. The money, me personally, is not going to make or break me." Councilman Mickey Rosado agreed the pay issue should be placed on the ballot. But council members have to be able to explain to the public why they deserve the increase, he said. "That's our responsibility to take that to the community," Rosado said. "We're the third largest city in the state of Florida and we're working really hard."
Voters did change the way salaries were calculated in 1993. That's when they switched to the registered voter method. That change raised the salary from $5,000 to $7,902 for the council and from $6,000 to $9,296 for the mayor. Cities use different methods to determine pay for their elected officials, according to a memo Menendez sent to Rosado.
The Fort Myers city charter sets salaries at $25,000 for council members. The council sets the mayor's salary, but it can't be less than $67,912, her memo said. Council members generally agreed during the strategic planning session that they would support the creation of a committee to study the pay issue. But Councilman Richard Stevens said he doubts it will lead to a change. "I'm rather skeptical that people are willingly going to vote a salary increase," Stevens said.