Steinke: Hernandez’s ‘inferences categorically inaccurate and misleading’
Cape Coral City Councilmember Bill Steinke has responded to allegations made in a damages and settlement demand letter sent to the city of Cape Coral on the behalf of its former city manager.
In the letter received by the city Wednesday, Rob Hernandez alleges Council’s 5-3 vote on Feb. 1 to not renew his contract was retaliation because he objected to discriminatory comments and requests concerning minority and LGBT employees.
Council received Hernandez’s Feb. 14 letter Wednesday morning and voted 5-3 Wednesday night to terminate Hernandez’s employment with the city without cause.
Hernandez has asked for $550,000, a neutral job reference and public apologies from three of the five council members who opposed contract renewal, Mayor John Gunter and council members Dan Sheppard and Patty Cummings.
Also voting not to renew, and then to terminate without cause, were council members Keith Long and Steinke.
Steinke did not criticize Hernandez at the Feb. 1 Council meeting at which the elected board voted not to renew. He cast the deciding vote, saying that after the criticisms brought forward it was unlikely Hernandez would choose to stay on as the city’s manager.
Steinke took umbrage at his inclusion in “inferences” made by Mr. Hernandez regarding alleged “discriminatory attitudes and actions of other named City Council Members.”
He said he viewed his interactions — asking questions during one-on-one sessions with Hernandez — was part of the job he was elected to do and that comments made privately at these sessions had been “twisted” to fit Hernandez’s narrative.
“I consider his commentary regarding our interactions (I can only speak for myself and not for interactions he has had with other Council Members) twisted to serve his purpose, his inferences categorically inaccurate and misleading and feel they are defamatory character assassinations and quite frankly – repulsive,” Steinke said.
Steinke’s written response, sent to City Attorney Dolores D. Menendez’s office Thursday states in full:
RE: Defamatory inferences made by Former City Manager Roberto Hernandez
Dear Dolores Menendez:
On Wednesday, February 15, 2023, Dolores Menendez, Cape Coral’s City Attorney received correspondence from Mr. Hernandez dated Tuesday, February 14, 2023. Please let the record show my objection to inclusion in and inferences made by Mr. Hernandez regarding discriminatory attitudes and actions of other named City Council Members. As a new City Council Member, I should be expected to ask questions regarding processes and procedures used by the City, to better understand the inner workings and operations of our city, of which I am now expected to participate in governing. Additionally, I would hope that my feedback and suggestions would be welcomed for consideration, as we are all on the same team. My questions regarding the selection of our Economic and Business Development Officer occurred in my weekly, private, meeting with the City Manager’s office and in no way interfered with his ability to do his job. My questions came because of some research I had done after receiving feedback/concerns and observations shared with me by members of our citizenry that interface with developers and visitors to our city and nothing to do with her ethnicity. In my research, I had found that the Candidate’s former experience was in a city that had been on the decline for some 40 years and during her tenure had reduced in size by some 30%. My comment was that in future decision-making, I hoped that we would consider comparing our city to cities that were and would continue to experience exponential growth in “build-out” and that when selecting key players that we highly consider candidates that had been involved with those cities that had faced the same challenges we do and been successful in that endeavor. Mr. Hernandez exacerbates his ethnicity inference by addressing my question regarding not promoting from within, an employee which would have been a ‘lower-level white female employee’. I am a proponent of promoting from within whenever possible and again my inquiry had nothing to do with ethnicity, but rather, seeking to understand why one of our own was not the right fit for the job.
I consider his commentary regarding our interactions (I can only speak for myself and not for interactions he has had with other Council Members) twisted to serve his purpose, his inferences categorically inaccurate and misleading and feel they are defamatory character assassinations and quite frankly – repulsive.
Respectfully,
Bill Steinke
Council Member District 1
City of Cape Coral
To reach VALARIE HARRING, please email vharring@breezenewspapers.com