Each week through the primary, The Breeze will ask the candidates for Cape Coral City Council an issue-related question. In the interest of fairness, each candidate is limited to the same amount of space, about 100 words, for their response. This week’s Question of the Week is In terms of amenities and infrastructure, how should the city be planning and budgeting for growth in the north Cape?

The 2022 municipal election for Cape Coral City Council features four races — the seats for mayor and Districts 1, 4 and 6. While candidates must live in the district they seek to represent, Cape Coral City Council races are non-partisan, citywide races, meaning every registered Cape voter, no matter their party affiliation or city address, may cast a ballot in every race in both the primary and general election.

Races with more than two qualifying candidates are placed on the primary ballot, which this year will be held Aug. 23 with Seats 1 & 4 on the ballot. The two primary candidates receiving the most votes in each race will then be candidates in the City General Election which also will include the District 6 seat and the race for mayor. (If there are fewer than three qualifying candidates in any a given race, their names will not appear on the primary election ballot. They will appear on the City General Election ballot only.)

Here are this week’s responses:

Primary Elections races: Cape Coral City Council Districts 1 & 4

DISTRICT 1

• Dr. Carol Rae Culliton

The City should be planning and budgeting on infrastructure before zoning/permitting new construction. There is no place for wells and septic tanks in a modern city.

Most of the City provided amenities should be determined by the residents working through their respective City Council member. Other amenities should be based on the needs of the community and each neighborhood. Residents should also have input on the type of private enterprise amenities permitted and on any proposed zoning changes.

Website: CullitonforCapeCoral.com

• Jean Pierre Etcheverry Jr

N/A

Website: makeithappenjean.wixsite.com/etcheverry4district1

• Bill Steinke

Both the Pine Island Road and the Burnt Store Road corridors are included in the Lee County Development plan and we need to maintain close relationship and coordination with the County for the dollars that are available as a County effort. A presentation by our Economic Development Department I attended recently revealed some of the plans for the Pine Island Road corridor that were exciting to say the least. I also attended a presentation this past Saturday focusing on the Burnt Store Road corridor and the focus on the visual aspects of the entrance to our City were refreshing. Family entertainment opportunities are currently in the works and more need to be encouraged. An Aquatic Center is gaining more interest and additional shopping will be accomplished with the projects already on the drawing board. Obviously our utilities expansion needs to progress for the commercial segment to expand and to discontinue the need for additional residential septic tanks and drain fields. Beautification needs to continue to be a key element in all of our planning as we grow.

Website: www.BillSteinke.com

• Ally Wharton

N/A

Website: voteallywharton.com

DISTRICT 4

• Joshua B. Clark

We should continue the expansion of utilities, roadways and city services. With the amount of available land in the north Cape we should be planning and budgeting for large indoor community centers, aquatic center and parks. We need these places for our citizens, especially our youth.

Along with the Seven Islands project, we should be planning for large commercial companies to build hotels and resorts in order to broaden our commercial tax base. The citizens of Cape Coral should not have to bear the tax burden of the city.

Website: voteforjoshclark.com

• Patty Cummings

The Northwest is an empty canvas waiting on development. Given what we saw at the town hall meeting in Northwest it will be the most beautiful gateway corridor in our city.

Website: www.votepattycummings.com

• Jennifer I. Nelson, incumbent

Although there is a lot of growth in the Northwest, it is still an area that master planning is the best tool. We are very fortunate to have a Northwest Neighborhood Association that although voluntary, is very engaged in the community.

As a member of City Council, I take particular interest in planning for growth, including infrastructure and highest/ best use of the land. The Council has already passed and begun to implement the water/sewer plant expansion and utility expansion for the Northwest. This past week, we held a town hall meeting on the planning and zoning of all properties along the Burnt Store Road corridor not only to ensure the highest/ best use of the land, but to listen to the residents so we have a complete understanding of their wants and needs.

Planning future growth is an integral part of a Council Member’s job, including all services that are deemed necessary to provide a high quality of life for our residents.

Website: jenn4capecoral.com

General Election Ballot:

MAYOR

• John Gunter, incumbent

The city has recently implemented a 25-year Utilities Master Plan for the completion of the utility’s expansion projects for the northern part of our city. This aggressive plan will help in the commercial economic development in this part of the city and provide public water and sewer to our residents. Additionally, broadband infrastructure upgrades are presently being completed in the northern part of our city which will provide excellent broadband opportunities to our residents by the end of the year. The Seven Islands development plan should be approved by Council in the next few weeks to get this long-awaited project moving forward. Several parks will be added as well through the Parks GO-Bond which will add several park amenities for our residents in this area. Recently, we had a Town Hall meeting and are presently developing a Burnt Store Road District (BSRD) to develop the next major commercial corridor in our city. This proactive approach will help develop smart growth in this area while keeping the aesthetics of the community a priority during the development of this area.

Website: votejohngunter.com

• Tom Shadrach

Safety is my first concern. Making sure our first responders are staffed for population growth is critical. Where there is growth, crime is not far behind. The City must prioritize infrastructure in North Cape… specifically, water, drainage, and roads. As vacant lots are built-out, well-water homes not yet added to the city water will outpace our capacity to provide those services. The city must get the Parks GO Bond delays under control. Festival, Crystal Lake, Tropicana and Lake Meade parks are all significantly late and over budget. I will work with Lee County to add new schools (including an aquatic facility at a school), a new hospital, and expand LeeTran bus routes. Finally, I applaud the initiatives of the Northwest Neighborhood Association to ensure Burnt Store Road does not become another Del Prado.

Website: shadrachformayor.com

DISTRICT 6

• Wayne Hecht

Growth in Cape Coral is inevitable, and we must have the infrastructure to support it. About 20,000 residents live in the northwest currently but it is expected to balloon to over 80,000 residents when it is all built out. To maintain our quality of life we need to make sure we update our roads, sidewalks, lighting, water & sewers. We still have secondary roads that need improvement, areas that have major flooding problems, planned community parks that are still not built. We need to accelerate the infrastructure build out to keep up with the growth and attract businesses to the Burnt Store Rd corridor. I fully support the proposed Burnt Store Corridor plan put forth by our city staff.

Website: waynehecht.com

• Keith Long, incumbent

I believe that process is well underway. One of the first things I did when entering office was request an evaluation of where the City is with handling and facilitating growth in the Northwest. This ranged from infrastructure issues such as bringing reliable high-speed internet into the area for the first time–which has since been accomplished with Comcast finishing work by years end–to preserving the Burnt Store Road Commercial Corridor by imposing restrictive land use and zoning regulations to promote quality development–also underway.

Some of these matters don’t require significant funding from the City. However, critical infrastructure changes will be necessary in terms of utilities and roadways, etc. The City has identified future needs based upon projected growth in our Utilities Master Plan as well as our first ever Transportation Master Plan that I helped bring forth as a member of the Transportation Advisory Commission. These plans help the City understand future needs which then allows us the opportunity to identify future projects and budget for them accordingly in future annual budgets.

Website: https://www.votekeithlong.com

Important Dates:

• Primary Election: Tuesday, Aug. 23

• Deadline to request that a Vote-by-Mail Ballot to be mailed: 5 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 13

• Early Voting for the Primary: Saturday, Aug. 13, to Saturday, Aug. 20, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., daily.

• General Election: Tuesday, Nov. 8

For more information on the 2022 races and candidates:

• The Breeze will post all of its elections stories here at Capecoralbreeze.com.

• The Cape Coral City Clerk’s Office posts all city-election related documents, including campaign reports at capecoral.gov/department/clerk/Candidatereports.php.

• The Lee County Supervisor of Elections has a wealth of elections-related information concerning registration, voting, dates and candidate lists and documents on its website, lee.vote.

• The League of Women Voters, Lee County offers election-related information on its website, my.lwv.org/florida/lee-county.