A Mayoral Chat
Animated, opinionated and definitely outspoken, Mayor F was kind enough to sit down with me this morning and answer a few questions. We covered a range of topics, including the Rosado Scandal, Bloggers, tonight’s Town Hall Meeting and the new Public Safety building.
First, on the topic of Rosado, I asked the Mayor if he felt there would be a new date for the charter violation hearing. “It’s not going to happen” he stated flatly. While he continues to feel it was appropriate to continue, he noted the fact that the council voted against him, and therefore it would not likely be brought back up. The only exception to this would occur if Rosado were acquitted of the current charges, and placed back on the council by the Governor.
When asked about potential candidates, he mentioned that no one had directly applied, but three people have already expressed some interest in the position. He hopes to hold the appointment hearings and fill the position a week from Monday.
I asked if any other bloggers had come forward to interview, ask questions, or get involved in the process. He did mention a few names from the various local forums who are sending in emails. “I’ve had a few people give a heads up via email” speaking about various rumors floating about the boards. However, no one else has come forward for an interview of any form.
Lastly, we spent a great deal of time discussing the new Public Safety Building. Mayor F did express some concern over the cost. He feels that the figure was extremely high, but he has also put quite a bit of time in helping to reduce the cost.
The Mayor shared a pie chart graphic with me. Two figures jumped out immediately, an $8 million figure for Real Estate and an $11 million figure (10%) for Contingency monies. Mayor F has put some time in on the Real Estate, and expects to see that figure come down to about $5 Million, but he expressed concern about the contingency money. Careful cost controls, and the Real Estate savings could bring the final cost of the project down to $96 Million.
There are also other significant savings that could be realized, if the building is better utilized. There are bubbles where people are placed in the middle of certain spaces, to allow the department to grow over time. In the mean time, however, there is nearly 80k Square Feet of vacant space in the building. The mayor would like to see that space utilized for now, and I am in agreement. So far, the IT department and the EOC will be housed inside the new building, making some use of the space. However, there will be quite a bit of unused space, some of it for up to 10 years.
Another area of contention, the parking structure, is being reserved for only the police and fire departments, because it would be full, but only during shift changes. The Mayor has recommended making the parking structure on the current City Hall campus, and sharing it between the facilities.
When I asked about the current level of maintenance on the existing facility, the Mayor felt very strongly that a lack of maintenance was not to blame. Instead, he feels the roof damage from Hurricane Charlie was the likely culprit for the mold. Interestingly, the current building does not meet Fire Code, nor does it meet State Statutes for prisoner handling. Those two issues alone are a serious consideration in moving forward with the new building.
When asked about the use of the old building, the Mayor admitted that there are no solid plans yet. He did mention, however, that he would like to see the facility renovated and turned into a shared facility, where State and County services that are currently only available in Fort Myers, could have office space right in Cape Coral.
I also questioned the vote for removing the Term Limit referendum from the April ballot. He blamed this on consultants, who felt that the City would draw a “No” crowd to the vote, and lose the Public Safety building in the process. (I’m not ever going to agree on this point, I think the more voters, the merrier.)
We discussed the anticipated turnout for the April initiative, and the Mayor felt strongly it would be less than 10%. He mentioned a call in show that was aired yesterday on Cape TV. Only 3 people happened to call in with questions. I personally had not heard of the program.
Our last topic of discussion, the Town Hall Meeting, was quickly covered near the end of our nearly hour long meeting. When asked about the $86,000 advertising figure that was recently thrown out, the Mayor responded that the figure sounded very much like their entire annual budget for announcing land ordinances, which is required by State Law. However, he only sent an email out about this Town Hall Meeting, so likely, the Newspapers published that information at no cost to the city. As to the cost of the Theater for the evening, he mentioned that his belief was that there was no additional cost for using the theater tonight, because the City already helps fund the theater’s operations.
All in all, a very productive time. Candid answers for candid questions, and a generally logical approach to the issues at hand. I still have to take the tour of the old facility, and sit down with Chief Petrovich. I’m not decided yet, but I certainly have a lot more information than I did before.
