Cape Coral residents will see five of our neighbors sworn in to serve on the city’s elected board on Nov. 20.

Three are political newcomers and two are familiar faces though neither of the latter two was an incumbent.

Laurie Lehmann, Derrick Donnell, Jennifer Nelson, Joseph Kilraine and Rachel Kaduk were elected respectively to Cape Coral City Council seats 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7.

Ms. Lehmann, Mr. Kilraine and Ms. Kaduk are new faces but have business and/or community involvement in the Cape, good things to bring to the seats to which they were elected on Nov. 5.

Dr. Donnell and Ms. Nelson are seasoned vets, having served on Council before.

Added to the current Council makeup — Mayor John Gunter and council members Bill Steinke and Keith Long — the existing and incoming reps will be part of a new board with great challenges ahead — multiple infrastructure projects, at least two of which have been controversial; growth and its impact on housing, commercial development and city infrastructure, especially roads; and, of course, how to pay for it all while also dealing with burgeoning personnel costs.

For newcomer and tenured vet alike, we wager the issues — and the controversies — to be resolved in the immediate future and long-term are going to be a greater challenge than they envisioned when they decided to run but we believe this board will listen to the residents, something all of the incoming members have promised.

Here we usually offer some general advice to those new to elective office, some reminders to those who have a term under their belts.

First, Council is not intended to be a full-time job, despite the current board’s determination to classify — and compensate — it as such. With all five incoming members saying they will revoke the council-approved stipend that doubled the paychecks of current board members, we suggest they resist the urge — and the pressure — to make the positions full time.

The key is not encampment in a city hall office or any office, for that matter.

It is being available and staying connected with residents and taxpayers.

Bring the same dedication to reviewing the issues each of you demonstrated during this election cycle and continue to carve out time to listen to input from supporters and critics alike and you will have a foundation for serving our city well.

Two, if you have committed to a “full-time” presence at City Hall, we will not criticize either the choice or the dedication.

We will, however, re-offer one key caution that is bedrock: Resist the temptation to become enmeshed in the city’s “corporate culture.” Incoming council members, those who have business backgrounds, those who have served before, no doubt know exactly what we mean. Still, let us stress this because we firmly believe it is a trap that, while easy to see, is also oh-so-easy to fall into anyway.

A council member’s role is not that of administrative supporter or staff advocate. Those who work for the city have, in fact, appropriate and adequate advocacy. This includes the unions to which they pay dues, their supervisory personnel, the city’s own employment policies and practices and, if all that fails, the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission.

City Council is not part of that process, at least not in the “team” or “corporate family” sense.

According to the city’s own organizational chart, “the people” are at the top of its structural hierarchy. Below that is the mayor and the other seven members of the Cape Coral City Council, followed by the top tiers of the city administration, including the city attorney, the city auditor and the city manager. Next are all of the city departments, which report directly to the city manager.

The city manager reports to Council and Council reports and is answerable to “the people” — the stakeholders who elected them, the stakeholders who work or have businesses here, the stakeholders who own property and pay taxes in the Cape, the stakeholders who have a vested interest in how our city shapes its future, how and where the city spends our money,

Put another way, City Council is a board of directors that reports and is responsible to the stockholders in the billion dollar “business” they oversee in terms of policies, planning, expenditure and revenue decisions.

That means hard questions, strict scrutiny and measured decisions to benefit our entire community — not because “there are problems with staff,” or because staff or the city manager’s recommendations are to be doubted, but because that is Council’s job.

Council’s only job.

We’ll add one more cautionary admonition again this year as transparency, and its perceived lack, is an issue most of those running highlighted themselves.

While Council may be likened to a board of directors, there are two things that differentiate elected boards here in Florida. One, City Council is a public board whose business — virtually all of its business — must be conducted publicly, i.e. “in the Sunshine.” This can be a hard concept, especially for those with private-sector honed consensus-building skills. But like it or not, deem it an ethical obligation or an impediment to “getting things done,” Government-in-the-Sunshine is a mandate, not an option. We urge both new and seated members of Council to take their Sunshine training to heart and err, if they err at all, on the side of both caution and those who trusted you with their vote.

Summed up succinctly, the public is not just entitled to be part of policy and expenditure discussions throughout; they are legally entitled. We suggest the members of our newly configured elected board embrace that concept and keep it in mind should any “one-on-one” briefing involving staff take on the hue of a sales pitch someone thinks best not be made during public discussion and debate.

To those who have served and are leaving City Council, special thanks — our deep gratitude — to Councilmember Richard Carr, who stepped into the breach and agreed to serve as the District 4 council member after Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended former council member Patty Cummings last year; District 2 Councilmember Dan Sheppard; and District 5 Councilmember Robert Welsh. They accomplished much.

Thanks as well as District 7 Councilmember Jessica Cosden, who served our city well for nine years and term-limited out, and District 3 Councilmember Tom Hayden, who opted not to seek re-election despite his devotion to the city.

Your service is much appreciated.

Thank you all.

Our welcome again to our new board members.

May your tenure be as successful as your campaigns, may your service for the next four years be as happy for you as hearing the election results come in Tuesday night and may our community come together in support of the voter mandates you all have received.

Breeze editorial