Patty Cummings

The attorney representing a Cape Coral City Council member accused of not residing in her district when she qualified to run for office has asked that the city’s investigation into the matter be wrapped up.

District 4 Councilmember Patty Cummings has cooperated with the administrative investigation and has provided proof of compliance, attorney Jay. P Lechner said in a June 1 letter to Vicki L. Sproat of Boy Agnew Potanovic Miller, the firm retained by the city.

Lechner added that the investigation has gone beyond the scope of both its original “fact-finding” intent and the authority of both the investigation and the city.

“At this time, we are asking that the documentation that my client has repeatedly supplied be accepted by the Council and this investigation be closed,” Lechner wrote. “To continue this investigation would not only be harassment but would increase damages suffered by my client recoverable in a civil lawsuit to be filed against the city of Cape Coral.”

The letter was copied Friday to Mayor John Gunter, interim City Manager Mike Ilczyszyn and the City Attorney’s Office.

Reached via cell phone Saturday, Sprout declined to comment saying she could not do so while the investigation is open, adding she would be responding to the city. She also said she could not comment on when it might be concluded.

In a June 4 letter sent to Lechner and copied to Mayor John Gunter via email, Sprout said she was “in disagreement” with statements in Lechner’s letter, writing that she has been unable to interview Cummings and that requested documents have not been provided.

Cape Coral City Council voted 6-2 in March to hire an outside investigator to look into the residency allegation which began after a Cape Coral resident claiming whistleblower anonymity sent a complaint to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and copied Gov. Ron DeSantis and Lee County Supervisor of Elections Tommy Doyle.

The resident then gave the complaint to Matt Caldwell, a state Committeeman for the Republican Party and a state representative from 2012 to 2018. Caldwell, Lee County’s property appraiser, forwarded it to the Governor’s Office and it subsequently made its way to Mayor John Gunter’s Office.

The complaint alleges that Cummings “fraudulently represented herself as living in District 4” in violation of a city charter provision that requires candidates to reside in the district they seek to represent and has been interpreted as it requires they live within their district while they serve.

Cummings, who was first asked by Gunter to respond to the allegation, has denied the claims, citing a driver’s license and voter’s registration card that display a District 4 address. She also said she received her mail there, including a period of time following Hurricane Ian which she said temporarily disrupted her housing situation.

Lechner, in the June 1 letter addressed to Sprout, took umbrage with how he says the city’s investigation has progressed, denying first what he says are accusations that Cummings is “fail[ing] to participate in the ongoing investigation” and that she is “unwilling to cooperate in the investigation.”

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Lechner wrote. “Ms. Cummings has cooperated and has supplied ample evidence with documentation which proved she met qualifications for candidacy for Cape Coral City Council District 4. My client has repeatedly provided all documentation and statements that your investigation has requested.

“The real problem with this investigation is two-fold,” he said. “First, you are exceeding the scope of the investigation as ordered by the City Council. As you know, the City Council requested that the investigation be conducted pursuant to a ‘fact finding investigation concept,’ which may include document review and witness interviews. Instead of asking for an interview, you have arbitrarily and capriciously demanded that my client appear for a videotaped and/or transcribed interrogation ‘under oath at Fort Myers Court Reporting.’ There is absolutely no authorization for this type of examination in the City Council’s vote or anywhere in the applicable rules or ordinances. Moreover, there is no legitimate reason why a sworn videotaped and/or transcribed interrogation would be needed in this case.”

Sprout, in her June 4 response letter, addressed both statements.

“Your June 1 letter reiterates that your client will not give an interview,” she wrote. “Instead, you submit that you have fully cooperated with my request because, in lieu of an interview, you sent me a conclusory ‘statement’ signed by your client on April 13, 2023. I submit that your client’s written statement is not the same as an interview. You further state that you consider any further attempts to continue this investigation (presumably including my request to interview your client) to be harassment.”

Sproat provided the written statement via a footnote:

“Ms Cummings’ April 13 written statement reads: ‘I, Patty Cummings have been a resident in district 4 on and before the date I filed for city council candidate on May 10, 2022 at the time I qualified. I qualified for district 4 when I submitted my paperwork as a resident in district 4 and swore an oath with the City Clerk of Cape Coral. I am a resident in district 4 currently.”

She then addressed the issue of requested documents.

“I also disagree with the statement in the first paragraph of your letter where you claim you provided me with all the documents I requested in the investigation,” Sproat wrote. “Please refer back to my May 20 letter where I specifically asked that your client make the following documents relating to the time period May 10, 2022 through the present (“Relevant period“) available for my inspection by May 31, 2023.”

The listed included requests for “contracts and agreements governing Ms. Cummings’ ownership, lease, rental or use of property or premises for residential purposes during the Relevant Period” for four addresses along with payment documents, utility bills and insurance policies; any requests for “disaster relief assistance associated with damage to or loss of use of the Subject Properties or their contents” including applications for FEMA assistance; documents related to Cummings’ “active search” for a full-time residence in District 4” as referenced in her March 7, 2023 letter to Gunter and city council members; and any other documents “not previously submitted which you or Ms. Cummings maintain are relevant to the subject of this investigation.”

“None of the requested documents have been produced,” Sproat wrote.

Lechner, meanwhile, called the investigation a waste of taxpayer dollars, saying only the governor can remove a sitting council member and he chose not to do so.

…“As you know, the Governor’s office has already received and reviewed the anonymous complaint and chose not to take any action … because the anonymous complaint is baseless,” Lechner wrote. “Accordingly, this investigation is an exercise in futility, as any action taken by the Council as a result of the investigation against Ms. Cummings to remove her from her seat in contravention of the will of the voters would be unlawful.”

Reached via cell phone Saturday, Cummings declined comment.

The administrative investigation remained ongoing as of the letters exchange.

“Unless the City instructs me otherwise, I plan to continue with the investigation and prepare a report with my factual conclusions, with or without your client’s cooperation in the investigation process,” Sproat wrote.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include comments from the administrative investigator hired by the city, Vicki L. Sproat.