Field of Honor

Civic thanks and salutes developer Don Hinks for his very generous donation to the City of Cape Coral. There will soon be a new monument located at Eco Park that thanks and welcomes home our armed forces service personel whose names will be electronically illuminated while home on leave in Cape Coral. Civic thanks Council member Alex LePera for her idea and initiative in asking Don to do this for the city.

Civic supports school impact fees

Sent to County Commissioners:
Please be advised that Cape Coral Civic Association supports the proposed increase in school impact fees.
School Taxes represents the greatest portion of property taxes. Increasing Impact Fees to help pay for growth and the burden that growth creates, will hopefully result in a lower mill rate for schools. In the absence of adequate impact fees the only option is higher taxes.
Thank you for your consideration.

Charter school chief gets raise

JWERMERS@NEWS-PRESS.COM Oct. 13, 2005. The Cape Coral charter school system's superintendent will bring home a noticeably bigger paycheck when the second year of his contract begins later this year. The city's Charter School Governing Board voted 6-1 Wednesday to give Patrick Mark a 5 percent raise, increasing his salary to $94,500. Two percent of the raise is based on merit. "The evaluation went very well," Mark said after the meeting. "The board's comments were very generous." The lone dissenter on the 5 percent raise was former City Councilman Paul Asfour. He had called for Mark to receive the contractual minimum, a 3 percent raise. "He's been the only administrator there," Asfour said. "Based on the same performance next year with other administrators present, my rating would be lower." Board Chairwoman Mary Margaret Embroli lobbied for a $10,000 "outstanding service award" on top of the raise, but that failed by a 4-3 vote. City Manager Terry Stewart, also a charter board member, said that while he supported the merit raise, the bonus would "subject ourselves, perhaps, to public criticism." Mark serves both as superintendent of the city's Charter School Authority and principal of its only operating school, Oasis Charter Elementary School. He soon will have administrative help. The authority is accepting applications for three principals. The first one hired, which Mark said should happen by December, will run Oasis Charter Elementary. The other two will run a second elementary school and a middle school, both of which are scheduled to open in August 2006.

* Board Chairwoman Mary Margaret Embroli lobbied for a $10,000 "outstanding service award" on top of the raise *

Note: City Manager Terry Stewart and former Council member Paul Asfour are members of the board. Asfour, during his report, became unnecessarly agressive, loud and disrespectful toward Stewart on an issue of who controls information aired on Cape TV. Some people never change!

Open mouth, insert foot

"Being a city council member is a step above being on mosquito control. If you want to be in Congress, you are in the wrong place."-- Tim Day, Cape Coral city councilman
Comment: Mr. Day is never at a loss for insults. When not insulting members of the public he has plenty to throw at fellow council members and other local elected officials as well. Day's comments speaks volumes as to the "respect" he holds for his elected office.
Most of the people I have known who served on city council did it for the community, and not as a stepping stone to Congress. RL

CCCA Anniversary

October 2, 2005 The Cape. Many issues remain same for civic group. Association addresses problems facing city, By Don Ruane News-Press. The future looks a lot like the past for the Cape Coral Civic Association, which is marking its 42nd year as an incor- porated organization in Florida. "When you look back at the scrapbook, the more things change the more the same issues seem to crop up," said association President Ralph LePera. "Sometimes part of the problem is there are so many issues you have to decipher what issues you want to go after," LePera said.

While the group was incorporated in 1963, it's actually been following the issues in Cape Coral since 1962, when the association formed and picked Verne Schlegel as its first president. Back then the association was the venue where residents discussed the issues of the day. Association leaders carried their issues to the Lee County Commission for attention. But that changed 35 years ago when Cape Coral was incorporated as a city, LePera said. The association's role changed from quasi-government to providing information and taking part in local deliberations before the city council. There still are dual taxation issues to debate, such as why Cape taxpayers support two police agencies -- their own police force and the county sheriff's office, LePera said. There are local budget issues, such as setting aside hundreds of thousands of dollars for a public safety building that hasn't been approved by voters, instead of using the money to reduce the tax rate, LePera said. "Quality of life issues remain very high on Civic's list," said LePera, who is married to City Councilwoman Alex LePera.
While city officials frequently speak about their areas of service at the association's monthly meetings, LePera said he would like to see more town hall meetings with council members to improve communications. "We're not trying to be troublemakers," he said. "It's supposed to be about presenting a point of view."
The association's board of directors usually decides which issues to pursue, although LePera doesn't hesitate to use the latitude he has to act. "The president is the spokesman for the association. It can get you into trouble," Le-Pera said. "I don't like to double-speak." LePera is a staunch defender of the organization. He said he won't tolerate baseless attacks against it. Those who try will get a response, he said.
While the association is older than the city, it hasn't grown as the city has. The city's population went from 102,000 in the 2000 census to an estimated 144,000 today. There were 350 members when the association first formed, but now its membership is around 250 people. Joe Curran, an avid letter writer to newspapers on various issues, said he's been a member since the 1980s. It was a good place for someone as curious as he is to "nose around." Curran said he's lost some of his enthusiasm for getting involved in city issues, but he still attends some meetings for the social side of the get-togethers. He was there last Tuesday when the association celebrated its anniversary with a party. It was attended by elected city and county officials as well as city department directors. About 90 people attended.
But times have changed and membership didn't keep up, LePera said. "You had people back then who weren't as apathetic," Le-Pera said. "People were more involved, more patriotic and more enthusiastic." People are busier today and some work two jobs, he said. It's not as easy to instill the enthusiasm about working for the good of the city. The association is trying to reached the plugged-in generation. It has a Web site where a monthly newsletter is posted along with contact information for city and county officials. There's also a link to a chat line where the association posts brief items and invites readers to comment. The board will consider posting items submitted by readers.
But the majority of members still are retirees who moved to the city during the 1980s and 1990s. LePera said he hopes more residents who moved to Cape Coral after 2000 will join, he said. More media attention to the group's activities would help, but it's also important for the group to be on the right side of the issues, even if that means being on the wrong side of the vote, LePera said. "Former president Larry Murphy had a saying," he said. "A 5-3 vote doesn't make it right."
More members will be attracted if the group properly expresses the thoughts of the city's grass-roots population, LePera said. Member Marci Gower, 39, joined about nine months ago. "It's really important for Joe Citizen to be involved. You don't want to be just an observer," said Gower, who became more involved in city issues after she received assessments for the installation of new utility lines to serve her southwest Cape Coral neighborhood. There's more tension and concern about being judged when speaking at a city council meeting than at the civic association's meetings, Gower said. "You find others with the same ideas about what's good for the city, Gower said. "It's a back-and-forth discussion." The civic association's goal, she said, is to act as a check on government so people can feel secure about their public officials. The association has been around for more than 40 years and should be embraced by the city, according to Gower. There should be a link to the association on the city's Web site, she added. Gower sees a bigger association ahead as members bring neighbors to meetings and talk about the group's benefits. "As the city grows, Civic will grow again," Gower said.

CAPE CORAL CIVIC ASSOCIATION PROFILE
¸ Founded: 1962
¸ Incorporated: 1963
¸ President: Ralph LePera
¸ Board of Directors: Sal Grosso, George Hopgood, Rillie Hickey, Ed Steinberg
¸ Trustees: Claire Lucibello, Artie Vitale, Nick & Betty Roberto
¸ Members: 250
¸ Meets: 7 p.m. fourth Tuesday, Cape Coral Yacht Club
¸ Online: capecoralcivicassociation.org
Note: It was nice of Senator Saunders to send us the note. Unfortunately on the local level City councilmember Day had to make some disparaging remarks about civic during a council meeting. See Civic response posted in comments.

Cape's Monitor Lizards

Some estimate there are are as many as 2000 monitor lizards in Cape Coral and increasing daily. Monitors, according to Dr. Todd Cambell a trapper and "eradication expert," can grow to 7 feet in length and weigh upwards of 30 lbs. They are carnivores, they are aggressive and they are a threat to our fragile borrowing owl population, domestic pets and yes, small children as well. Civic first became aware of this problem at our meetings in April when a guest brought up the problem of having sighted these lizards in her back yard. This prompted Civics first e-mail to the CM and Council on the issue. E-mails sent since have encouraged a more aggressive approach to eradicating this nuisance.
On Oct. 3, 2005 Cape's Nile Monitor Lizard problem made national TV on FOX NEWS Bill O'Reilly Report. O'Reilly featured this segment after hearing Paul Harvey talk about Cape’s lizard problem on the radio just a few days earlier. Having Cape Coral known as the lizard capitol just doesn't fit the image of paradise. We suggest you direct your concerns on this issue to the Mayor and Council.