Community Report Card: Cape Coral, FL

Upon reading the City of Cape Coral's 2007 Annual Report, real progress on many issues facing our beloved Cape is evident. At the same time, an "old school" mentality still seems to permeate City Hall and the management taking place therein.

Mayor Feichthaler and the members of our City Council deserve recognition for having trimmed the city's previous amended budget by $13 million. The Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) project is on track to help assure our city's water supply. New technological changes with the city's web site will facilitate everything from garage sales and employee payroll to the commercial application submission process.

The question at this point seems to be clear. In light of the recent budget cutbacks, how effectively is the city allocating General Fund revenues and within which departments are more changes necessary ?



Two standing ovations are also in order. Cape Coral's Department of Community Development's streamlining of the Permitting Process and the implementing of the City-Wide Visioning sessions are prime examples of a department doing more with less.

The second and, likely, most outstanding job of true leadership, where the city's Lean Government initiative is concerned, must go to Mr. Steve Pohlman and our awesome Parks and Recreation Department, who have performed miraculous achievements. Where do I begin ?
From the Coral Oaks Golf Course and Austen Youth Center renovations to the FGCU partnership that has produced the "Child Wellness" program. Based upon the token system and education by speakers at youth camps, the rewards garnered by the children who have benefited from the Child Wellness program extend far beyond the special rewards their weekly collected tokens afford them.
Equally noteworthy is the fact that Parks and Recreation also added two brand new parks for our city in 2007. It should be mentioned that the Pelican Soccer Complex improvements and Yacht Club fishing pier overhauls were also a part of this department's amazing efforts in this past fiscal year.

As if all this weren't more than enough, I would be remiss to not mention that Parks and Recreation had the vision necessary to see that their involvement with Cape Coral's very own social network ( hint : where you're reading this ) would be a great and cost-effective way to afford our various parks and recreation centers increased involvement and attendance while, of course, also increasing revenues. Obviously, we want to tip our hat here.

Interestingly enough, these two departments are the ones receiving the smallest amount of Cape Coral's General fund allocations.

With the Public Safety and Public Works departments taking the Lion's Share of our City's expenditures, perhaps some more intense scrutiny on salaries and staffing within these departments could yield even more significant savings for Cape Coral.

On the whole, our City deserves an "A" for trimming a lot of waste and improving many processes. While Impact fees for the Utility Expansion project are still a major source of concern, at least our newly elected City Council members will be keeping their eyes open where finding ways to resolve this issue is concerned.