Guest opinion: Sullivan thanks voters, promises open-door policy
I humbly thank the voters in Cape Coral for having enough confidence in me to elect me as mayor. I will always do my best to serve the residents and businesses in a purposeful way. We need to get Cape Coral moving in the right direction. I will need your support and your input in order to get this accomplished. It’s important for me to know what you need and want, my door will always be open to everyone.
After this election we need to put our differences aside and start working together. This is the only way we can get this train running on the right track. There are many things that need repair before we can start to move forward in a meaningful way. All of us need to put our shoulders to the grind stone and start pulling in the same direction.
I also want to thank the volunteers and contributors who are the real backbone of the effort to get me elected. They won the election not me.
First and foremost I want to thank Annique Jordan my campaign manager. I cannot say enough about her and the immense effort she put into the campaign. Her effort was more than anyone could ask or expect. She even drafted her mom and dad. I thought that was extraordinary. She was able to organize things and delegate responsibilities. I would also like to thank Terry Jordan (her husband) and Jarred Jordan (her son) who must have put up with many inconveniences while his mom, Annique was working hard on the campaign.
I give lots of kudos to Debra Bender my campaign treasurer who put her heart and soul into this campaign. I could always count on Debra to be there and she made an extraordinary effort to help keep things straight. I also want to thank Cliff Stewart, Debra’s husband for his patience and support.
Erick Kuehn was a tremendous help to me even before I decided to run. In fact over a year ago Erick wrote a letter to the editor suggesting that I would make a good mayor of Cape Coral. At the time quite a few people thought that was a big laugh. As it turns out Erick made a prediction and may have planted the seed that grew. So I must thank Erick for the loyalty that he showed and the effort he put into the campaign, he worked very hard. I was supported by Pete & Sharon Brant as well as Bill & Janet Deile. Lynn Rosko & Joan Rose gave me a great deal of support. Lynne wrote eye-opening letters and Joan made many phone calls.
There were many people who helped in this effort. Just to name a few Mike Streppone and Louis Alberro installed hundreds of signs for the campaign. Dick and Bonnie Scarriot worked very hard on the campaign. Tony Elia painted hundreds of signs. Mike Buchinski, Steve Crane, Greg Callen, Kenny Parsh, Ray French, Jeremy Feraci, Kim and many other good people who volunteered. We learned one lesson about sign waving. Don’t block a feisty lady who is waving signs. She may come back in high heels and a mini skirt and really attract some attention to her candidate. For this activity we are awarding Charlene Campbell the supreme sign waving award for 2009.
Gary King and Bill Toller managed somehow to keep me focused and Tom Leipold pushed me in the right direction on a regular basis just to keep me straight. I’ll never know how Carmella Leipold managed to put up with Tom and myself. Also special thanks to Lee Mars who encouraged me from the beginning and never wavered. And I also thank Glen Snyder the best darn “Blogger” I ever saw. His support was instrumental in getting me elected. And special thank you to Helmuth Geiser he supported me all the way and worked long hours in pursuit of the prize. This was a real grass roots effort if there ever was one.
Last but not least I want to personally thank Mr. Sal Grosso who was my inspiration. When I originally got involved in Cape Coral Government, he was my mentor so to speak. I attempted to pattern myself after Sal. I wanted Sal to make this run but he declined. I thought then as I do now that he should be the one in the mayor’s seat. So Sal will always be Mr. Mayor to me.
Thank you once again to everyone who gave me encouragement and support to become your mayor. Be assured I will be true to my commitments and promises. If I left anyone out please forgive me. We had a long list of volunteers and unfortunately I was not able to name each and everyone of you.
John Sullivan
Mayor elect,
City of Cape Coral