The following is from the CCWDs e-mail group 10-8-06 :
Subject : Tail Waggs The Dog


The Tail waggs The Dog

The mayor and the city council of Cape Coral should be
making decisions that drive the operations of the city
and set policy. Elected officials should establish
policy and oversee the delivery of city services in an
equitable manner and at a reasonable price. In fact,
there is a fiduciary responsibility to do just that.

If we look at the audits, for example, the mayor and
city council, with the exception of two members,
ignored all three outside audits by R.L. Townsend &
Associates, the state auditor general's office and by
Kessler International. Instead of rolling up their
sleeves and getting to the heart of the matter, what
did they do? They protected Mr. Stewart and the city
staff.

Just look at the astronomical amounts on the utility
assessments. Who was instrumental in setting up the
procedure for doing the UEP? The mayor and the city
council had to be aware that the project had become
unaffordable but it still went through "as is." The
mayor and the city council did nothing but get out the
rubber stamp.

When the SW-4 Project was halted the mayor and council
said, "We're going to get to the bottom of this," they
got to the bottom of nothing. They didn't hire any
outside resources to look at the contracts, the
design, check out the amounts being billed for labor.
They didn't check out the so-called "cap rock." What
did they do? I'll tell you what they did, they
listened to the city staff, made a minor cut in the
assessments (which we haven't seen yet) and expected
the people to roll over like Fido.

City staff then tries to tell us we are getting a
better price for laying pipe and facility upgrades
than Bonita Springs. Well, if that is the case, then
why are we paying four times more? The more important
question is, why would the mayor and council let the
staff do this? After examining the situation in Cape
Coral it appears we do have a shadow government.

The shadow government is not an elected body and
doesn't represent the will of the people. Who is this
shadow government and where is its allegiance? The
city staff runs this city with impunity. The mayor and
five city council members are no more than puppets on
a string with a rubber stamp. It is a classic case of
the tail wagging the dog.

The people of Cape Coral must come together, cut the
tail off the dog, stop the Punch & Judy show (Rosado,
A.J, Feichthaler, Bertollini & Stewart). And get back
to the major issues that We the People have with our
so-called leaders and the way Cape Coral's residents
are being financially raped and pillaged by our own
city government and the special interest groups.

John Sullivan