City action needed to quell illegal contracting
To the editor:
Illegal contracting is no stranger to our area. It has become more and more prevalent since hurricane Ian. Currently the state of Florida is responsible for enforcing state licensing, but cities and counties should also be helping out. After several months of talks with the city of Cape Coral I have finally been able to get the illegal contracting subject matter inserted into next Wednesday’s COW meeting at 9 a.m. The meeting will be held at council chambers and public input is 3 minutes per person. In the past, the city of Cape Coral held sting operations to bust illegal contractors.
The city of Cape Coral actively does campaigns to educate citizens, but there needs to be more.
Currently, there is no enforcement arm in the city of Cape Coral to punish any contractors that aren’t properly licensed or insured. This includes not only general liability, but also Workmen’s Comp. and can extend to illegal residents working for local contractors.
I am hoping that some of the local news stations will be present at next Wednesday morning’s meeting so we can bring more attention to this matter. I’d like to see something done regarding the rampant illegal contracting in our area before unfortunately somebody may lose their life due to gross negligence.
Paul E. Barnes
The Hawaiian Contractor LLC
Cape Coral