Election 2026 | Question of the Week 13, Mayor’s Race | What city or council policy would you add, change or delete?
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: 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: What city or council policy would you add, change or delete?
• Lisa Cohen-Adkinson
I would change our budget policy by introducing Zero-Based Budgeting to end the wasteful “use it or lose it” mentality. Departments must itemize needs, backed by a yearly forensic audit and low-cost quarterly reviews. I would also change utility policy by utilizing user fees to staff our Utilities Department early. This allows us to handle UEP expansions in-house with our own equipment rather than relying on a handful of contractors and their inflated prices. This keeps tax dollars local (“Keep it in the Cape”), eliminates near-monopoly contractor structures, and lowers costs for property owners.
• Richard Erickson
I would add a policy requiring a full cost benefit analysis before any new city contracts or major expenditure, with all contracts awarded through open competitive bidding.
Right now, decisions get made without showing residents the real numbers, what it costs, what it saves, and whether it’s worth it. Open bidding ensures the best value for taxpayers and prevents favoritism. This protects taxpayers and the services they rely on, including fire protection.
Every dollar spent should be justified in public before it’s committed. Cape Coral families deserve transparency, not surprises on their tax bill. This change would save money without cutting essential services.