Cape City Council discusses process for selecting District 4 replacement
Cape Coral City Council, during its Wednesday workshop, decided to set aside time and one question for each applicant who has applied for the vacant District 4 seat to provide the public an opportunity to see those seeking the seat during its Dec. 13 meeting.
“We do the interviews next week and make a decision on the 13th,” Mayor John Gunter said.
So far there are seven applicants – Richard Carr, Janine Mohl, Robert “Bob” O’Connor, Anthony Rainone, Jesus Rodriguez, Karen Solgard and Robert “Bob” Sutter – vying for the District 4 seat, which was left vacant after Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Patty Cummings.
The executive order prohibits Cummings “from performing any official act, duty, or function of public office; from receiving any pay or allowance; and from being entitled to any emoluments or privileges of public office during the period of this suspension which shall be from today until a further Executive Order is issued or as otherwise provided by law.”
Cummings faces three felony charges related to her residency. She has been charged with fraudulent application for driver license and two counts of false swearing in connection with or arising out of voting or elections.
Because there are three years remaining in Cumming’s term, the appointment will be effective until she is reinstated by the governor or through the General Election in November 2024.
The applicants will enter council chambers one at a time for their speech and question at the Dec. 13 meeting and their cell phones will be collected prior to the meeting.
The council came to a consensus to provide the candidates with three minutes and one question, the same question, asked by the council during the meeting.
The council members discussed whether or not they should allow the applicants time to speak before a decision is made on who will fill the seat.
“I got more out of my one-on-one interviews for me personally,” Gunter said. “That is your one-on-one time. There are no time restraints, no restraints to how many questions you are going to ask. For me I know my decision walking in here.”
Councilmember Bill Steinke said he does not want to give up his opportunity to interview but give the candidates an opportunity to speak for the public to hear.
“It’s important for the public to see who they are,” Councilmember Jessica Cosden said, adding that they should be given three minutes to speak – an opening statement and then council questions.
Councilmember Tom Hayden said by giving the individuals an opportunity to speak, it provides the public an opportunity to see them in action.
“How they handle themselves at the mic can play into how they can handle themselves up here,” he said.
A few council members had a different opinion about asking each applicant the same question, as some thought it would be beneficial to ask a certain question that would give the applicant an opportunity to share a particular point of view they may have forgotten during their allotted time.
Councilmember Keith Long said one question might be tailored toward an individual to extract something out of them that might not be applicable to others. He said he will ask a really random question to get a particular answer out of one of the applicants.
Gunter said by asking the same question they are able to compare one person to another.