To the editor:

An answer to City Manager Rob Hernandez’s Guest Commentary: “How the city of Cape Coral hires department heads” in a recent edition of the Cape Coral Breeze.

I have to agree with City Manager Hernandez as to the methodology used to select the new police chief. I think he did a stellar job and his choice was outstanding.

I quote City Manager Hernandez, “Ms. Rosko then questioned the recent hiring of the director of Financial Services, Mark Mason.”

The police candidates were fully vetted but I also have to question the process used to hire and vet Mr. Mason. It appears that the same procedure used for the police chief had not been followed when hiring Mr. Mason.

I quote City Manager Hernandez, “(Mr. Mason previously served in that capacity several years ago).”

No, Mr. Mason left here in January of 2010. That is closer to 10 or 11 years ago, not several years ago. I don’t want to nitpick but this is important.

I quote City Manager Hernandez, “She brought up a 2006 audit conducted by the State’s Auditor General which covered a period of time prior to Mr. Mason’s previous tenure as the Financial Services Director with the City.”

No, the State Auditor’s Audit covered a time frame from Oct. 1, 2000 until March 31, 2005. Mr. Mason was hired in July of 2003 and left in 2010. Mr. Hernandez’s statement that the audit covered a time frame prior to Mr. Mason’s tenure is incorrect.

I quote from the city manager’s letter, “Ms. Rosko also believes that Mr. Mason intentionally mislead the then City Council when adopting a budget amendment.”

There were two votes taken on the budget amendment (06/02/08) that the city manager is referencing. One vote was before a discussion with Councilmember Burch; that vote failed. The second vote taken after the discussion with Councilmember Burch (06/02/08) passed. That discussion involved $60,000,000. The second vote is in the first video:

In the city council meeting 06/09/08 there was a second conversation between Mr. Mason and Councilmember Burch in which Mr. Mason completely changes his tune and tells Councilmember Burch the truth:

I believe the second vote (06/02/08) passed because of Mr. Mason’s misdirect. That’s just my opinion, you have to be the judge of what you saw in the videos. If the council is given disinformation and they vote based on it, that is mocking the council and shows total disrespect and distain. If I were on that Council I would have made a motion to give a directive to the city manager to fire Mr. Mason on the spot.

If you saw the entire discussion, I believe you would agree.

City Manager Hernandez also stated, “I have reviewed the information relating to the situation she referenced and conclude there was no effort to mislead anyone. I believe some did not fully understand the information that was presented. It can be complicated”.

I don’t know where the city manager got his information but if I were in his shoes I would be concerned about my source of information. Some of the same comments in the city manager’s commentary were made back in 2006 and in 2008 (just a coincidence); I don’t think so, it’s the same old game.

City Manager Hernandez’s Guest Commentary has additional troublesome statements but I will stop here and possibly leave that for another day.

You have to be the judge as to whether you feel that City Manager Hernandez made a good decision as to the hire of Mr. Mason. If you agree or disagree it might be wise to express your opinion to the council. After all, Mr. Mason will be the steward of approximately $1 billion of taxpayer funds. In my opinion, there should have been some public discussion and the Council should have had input in the hiring process and selection of the financial services director.

I met with City Manager Hernandez and have to wonder who “fed” him erroneous information and for what purpose. He seems to be very bright and likeable. The only reason I can believe that he formed his conclusions is because he put his trust in others. After all, he is “the new kid on the block” and I doubt that he knows the history and how the game is played here but I am hopeful that he will figure it out soon enough. I think he has the potential to be a breath of fresh air in the City of Cape Coral.

John Sullivan

Former mayor, City of Cape Coral