Consultants get big bucks, call for bigger bureaucracy
To the editor:
The city entered into an agreement costing taxpayers $160,000 plus miscellaneous expenses to get the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to provide answers to 12 topics. The ULI team received numerous city documents, interviewed 20 city employees and 80 hand-picked stakeholders from Cape Coral and Lee County. They also took various tours of the city during their visit. ULI offered an out briefing on Friday, May 20, and will provide a final report in 60 days.
In my 37-year career with Boeing, it is common for a new leader, in this case, the city manager, to ask for a consultant group to validate where he or she wants to go. So, in 60 days we will get a fancy report showing what the city manager wants to fully do with our city.
My biggest take away from the ULI out briefing was their recommendation to spend more money on staff and add more committees to make our city more resilient. Resiliency is the new buzz word for reacting to Climate Change. What is missing from the briefing is context. Here it is! 72% of impacts to climate change comes from households. The city has eased building codes and ordinances over the years to make bigger and bigger homes on our standard 80-foot x 120-foot lots. That means greater carbon footprint per household, less green spaces, and less room for trees. Educating city staff on resiliency standards and adding committee members that have this background would be smarter than spending more money on more staff and additional committees.
Another take away from ULI is to add more community involvement spaces. The 2018 Parks GO bond did just that with the addition of three community parks that were part of our park’s master plan since 2016. These parks have failed to materialize per plan (2021) and are still several years from being finished. I have been advocating for years that the city needs a “sense of urgency” to get things done. The ULI experts have stated that the build out of the city has accelerated to 11 – 18 years versus 30 years. Do we trust that the same leaders who have had the same information for years will do anything different? We need leaders who don’t accept excuses and have business experience and a track record in getting things done.
Thomas Shadrach
Cape Coral
Editor’s note: Mr. Shadrach is a candidate for Cape Coral mayor