Dan Sheppard

A second member of the Cape Coral City Council has renounced acceptance of the elected board’s controversial stipend.

Councilmember Dan Sheppard said Wednesday he will return the money that has been direct-deposited to his account and has told the city he will not accept the additional remuneration Council approved in December.

Sheppard said he planned to donate the money to median beautification, said so at a Council meeting and on social media, but given the public’s adamant opposition to the stipend, has decided it best to just return it to the city.

“I thought about the stipend over the holiday,” Sheppard said. “I wasn’t happy with how it was introduced. I do see a need for an increase in the pay of a council person. The job has changed immensely in the last few years. I can assure you: It’s not a part-time position any longer. As we all know, the right job needs to have the right people.

“I thought by donating it, it would turn a negative into a positive and that’s why I offered to donate it to beautification,” he said, adding there would have been a visible benefit, perhaps two beautified medians, a need on which he campaigned.

“But the citizens aren’t happy with that so I will have it transferred back into the city account and finish my term with the original pay. I have decided I am not going to accept the stipend — I accepted the job and the pay level we have today and I will finish my term with what I accepted.”

The stipends — $3,333 per month for council members and $5,000 per month for the mayor in addition to salaries of $40,620 per year and $46,604 per year respectively — were approved as part of the consent agenda for Council’s Dec. 13 meeting.

The vote was 5-1 with Councilmember Robert Welsh voting nay and Sheppard, who had stepped out momentarily, absent.

Councilmember Richard Carr, who was not appointed to the vacant District 4 seat until after the vote, declined the stipend shortly after being sworn into office.

Stipend controversy aside, Sheppard said the issues of council compensation and the duties related to the positions need to be addressed.

Council member salaries, set by the city’s charter with only cost-of-living increases, have not keep pace with the growth of the city and so the duties members of council perform, he said.

And, while the “job descriptions” posted for council members and mayor on the city’s website may give the impression these are part-time jobs, that has long been wrong.

“I would like the job description redone — basically it says a council member needs to go to a meeting one day a week,” he said. “I don’t want people running for office to think that’s the right job description. That is not our job anymore. That’s not a description of what we do.”

It also may be at the heart of what spurred some members of Council to support the stipends.

“This can be very difficult for someone who ran for office thinking it’s a part-time job,” Sheppard said. “I think we need to pay enough for the job, and for people to see it as a full-time position.”

The city has told Sheppard they will accept the returned funds on Thursday.