Election 2026 | Question of the Week 9, Mayor’s Race
Each week through the General Election, 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.
Cape Coral City Council races are non-partisan races. Council members qualify in their respective districts but are elected at-large. This means all registered city voters may cast a ballot in each race regardless of where they live and the party to which they are affiliated, if any. This year’s General Election, on Nov. 3, features four Cape Coral City Council races: Mayor and the seats for District 1, 4 and 6.
The candidates below are running for the mayor’s seat on the Cape Coral City Council:
Question of the Week: Where do you stand on the Bimini East Redevelopment Project as proposed?
• Lisa Cohen-Adkinson
Reopening the RFP is the only way to protect Cape Coral’s future.
The current $500 million Bimini East proposal is a bad deal for residents. Taxpayers spent $45 million to clear this land, only for the city to propose selling it back to the developer for $20 million while spending $11 million more on additions. Furthermore, a 16-year tax rebate shifts the financial burden onto homeowners, a 45-slip marina strains our infrastructure, and gifting Four Freedoms Park erases our history.
We must reject this giveaway, reopen the RFP, and demand a project that serves the community, not just the developer.
• Richard Erickson
I support improving Bimini East, but I do not support the deal as it stands today. A major private investment can be good for Cape Coral and bring jobs, restaurants and new businesses. But taxpayers should not be taking on the risk for a private project. I also have concerns about the number of new homes, traffic, infrastructure and the future of Four Freedoms Park. Before I support any deal, I want to know exactly what it will cost taxpayers and what we get in return. Development should pay its own way and should make life better for the people already living here; and who have already paid so much and gotten so little.