Another hope dashed
To the editor:
I had naively hoped that previous city of Cape Coral selection process’ rumors weren’t true. The “Road Ahead Gang” didn’t have a plan in place to oust the City Manager and put in their friend, Gary King and they didn’t have a master plan to put in Erick Kuehn as their choice for a council person. Thursday’s city manager selection process interview solidified what I had hoped wasn’t true. They had an agenda, they had a plan, and we are at the mercy of a few at the expense of many.
A minority group of citizens took the time to show up at the polls to vote, and the majority of this minority have put into place a group of conspirators. They conspired to build their “dream team” which is proving thus far to be a “Nightmare on Elm Street” for a good many our citizens.
For the pure fact that when one reviews all the resumes for city manager and you honestly look at them unbiased, their selected choice didn’t have half the qualifications of Mr. Oliver. Mr. Oliver should have been the No. 1 ranked candidate, and unless he interviewed poorly in person, he should have been offered the position. But, no…. apparently the rumors were true, the Road Ahead Gang had already selected who they wanted – the man who submitted his resume first when Terry Stewart resigned. And he has already proven himself to be unethical and a spin master.
Colleagues shared with me that Mr. King dismissed his involvement in the Road Ahead movement during his interview. Can Mr. King explain why his signature is on the bottom of the Contract with Cape Coral? Or is he going to spin his answer to fit his needs? The mayor has said that employee morale is down and he points his finger at the acting city manager. Mr. Mayor, do you think your comment about the employees eating filet mignon while the rest of us are eating cat food had anything to do with their morale issues? Or how about the fact many city employees think they are going to lose their jobs, or their benefits? Just saying think about it.
Some of us feel duped by the folks we voted in. Hoping they were honest, and ethical and would make wise and intelligent choices when they were elected. Some of us are angry that our candidates were not elected. And some of us helped to create this problem and what we have now is the result of voter apathy.
Get out and Vote & Take Back the Cape is the mantra we must embrace. We are on Facebook, so please look us up. Whatever “Cape” we envision, only if we exercise our right to vote, will be able to make the changes we need. We must get out and vote, and have more than 18 percent of the registered voters show up at the polls this next election. But on the same note, we need to have qualified people to run, and not settle for “the lesser of two evils” as many felt this last time. I just hope that the Road Ahead gang at this point, doesn’t do much more damage and works to listen to the citizens and the experts that help Cape Coral turn the corner to recovery.
Eileyn Sobeck-Bador, APR
Cape Coral