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Cape Council puts city manager on notice

Contract will not be renewed

By Staff | Feb 1, 2023

Rob Hernandez

Cape Coral City Council voted today to put City Manager Rob Hernandez on notice that his contract will not be renewed past its expiration date.

In a special meeting called by Mayor John Gunter, the elected board voted 5-3 against extending Hernandez’s three-year contract past its Aug. 11, 2023 rollover date. The contract requires six-month’s notice of non-renewal by either party and no action by Council within the window would have automatically extended Herandez’s contract by one year.

Voting against renewal was Gunter and council members Dan Sheppard, Keith Long, Patty Cummings and Bill Steinke. Gunter, Sheppard, Long and Cummings cited areas of performance or problem-solving they deemed problematic. Steinke, who cast the deciding vote, said what was shaping up as a 4-4 deadlock was was, in essence, a no-confidence vote and that either way, Hernandez was not going to stay beyond his current contract period for that reason.

He then cast his vote for non-renewal.

Hernandez, who had taken a sick day, was not present for the meeting or vote.