The Setup Game Part 1- City Manager Hernandez in the Crosshairs?
- Kyle L'Hommedieu
- Jul 11
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 24
What happens when you don't play by the mayor's and some council members' rules? Did John Gunter, Dan Sheppard, Keith Long, and Patty Cummings orchestrate a takedown of Rob Hernandez just to pave the way for Michael Ilczyszyn? Sure looks that way!
We've highlighted key moments from the recorded meeting that was shared with us from February 1, 2023. You can find the full meeting linked at the end of this article. At first glance, the video seems convincing, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the overall events that happened and the lenths that Sheppard and Cumming go to trashing Hernandez. Gunter, Sheppard, Long, and Cummings sound believable. Hayden, Welsh, and Cosden defend Hernandez, then Steinke steps in, the cracks start to show, and the setup becomes hard to ignore. Hayden states his view clearly!
Here, you’ll hear John Gunter open the floor to attack Rob Hernandez.
He’s even the one who initiated it.
First to speak is Tom Hayden, whose face reveals disgust at the topic being discussed.
He supports the one-year extension and highlights his positive performance reviews.
Welsh also offers a positive review and agrees to the one-year extension.
Long calls Hernandez 'average' and questions why the city would settle for that. His remarks are strongly negative. It makes you wonder how many public meetings have residents attended where Long hasn’t brought up these concerns?
Cosden originally opposed him, but now believes he's doing a good job, pointing out that many issues being discussed stem from prior administrations, not Hernandez.
Below, you’ll hear Sheppard make multiple questionable claims about Hernandez’s performance, particularly after Hurricane Ian, in Sheppard's true long-winded fashion.
Sheppard states Hernandez doesn’t seem to align with “OUR VISION.” Sheppard talks about future investments and doubts Hernandez could support them. Something about his statements just doesn’t sit right. He claims to have done his research, but now looks more embarrassed than informed. According to him, Rob made things worse while he supposedly made them better. That’s a hard sell. Sheppard brings up low employee morale, but when we've spoken to city staff, many said they were happier under Hernandez than under Ilczyszyn. He says he was misled and given false information, welcome to how many residents feel. He steamrolls through everything, ignoring the damage in his wake.
Sheppard also complains about not being able to use “his tools.” Sounds like it’s Sheppard’s way or the highway. Control issues, maybe? Now he’s upset that something he wanted was denied due to a lack of funding, but then it happened anyway, just not under his command.
In the end, His biggest complaint seems to be that he simply doesn’t like how Hernandez does business. Complain, complain, complain, especially when things don’t go his way.
And by the way, where are those “hundreds of electronic billboards” you mentioned?
Were they even real? Were they working? Were they ours?
Were they for city use? Still waiting on that photo evidence, SS.
Next up is Patty "drama queen" Cummings, the same Patty who lied just to qualify for her district, now taking shots at Rob Hernandez.
She paints herself as some sort of champion for the people, praising all the work she says she’s done and promises to do. But behind the scenes? Private meetings and possible Sunshine violations raise serious questions. Patty even preaches about honoring campaign promises. Really? Meanwhile, she criticizes Hernandez for not taking responsibility for “oops” moments, ignoring the fact that many of the council’s worst decisions weren’t his alone. She claims Hernandez never participates in his evaluations and mentions he's not even here for this meeting (he had surgery the day of this meeting). She shifts the blame to him for issues like UEP funding. Does the city want that funding if it can lose out on other funding? But when things go wrong, it’s never the mayor’s fault, right? Just the city manager’s? Where is the council's responsibility?
Get ready, NW Cape Coral—your UEP bill could hit $250,000.
Cummings says, “Everything he said was a lie.” That’s rich coming from someone with a serious problem telling the truth herself. And no, Rob Hernandez isn’t a triple felon for lying.
Listen as Steinke calls out Cummings for her misleading statements or AKA LIES!
Average compared to what? Why weren't these issues brought up 60 days ago?
There are 350MM people in the US, not 350MM City managers.
Everyone has their day in court!...
A Closing Thought Before We Decide: The volume of criticism he's faced suggests that his chances of success were undermined from the beginning. Defamation of a person's character - mentioned many times today! Hear Sheppard’s disrespectful interruptions while another council member has the floor. Is he ever held accountable for his behavior? Keith Long rushes in with a motion to terminate, like the Flash?
If Hernandez has been performing this poorly, who was responsible for holding him accountable? That’s the council’s job.
We’re seeing a lot of below-average council members publicly trash an employee who has received positive performance reviews.
Even Mayor Gunter has acknowledged that leadership starts at the top and trickles down. If that's the case, and City Council is tasked with overseeing and holding the city manager accountable, then the real question is: Where were they when the problems began? Sounds like some council members weren’t doing their jobs.
Councilmembers Cosden, Hayden, and Welsh opposed the termination in a 5-3 vote. Hayden made his stance crystal clear, declaring, “Absolutely NO!” As for Councilmember Steinke, who held the deciding vote, it appears his opposition may have stemmed less from confidence in Hernandez and more from concerns that some on the council had deliberately set him up to fail.
This isn’t leadership. It’s a dictatorship.
How Much Will Taxpayers Pay For This Lawsuit? Gunter's Last One Cost Us $100,000!
Link to the full video can be found HERE
(Please note the video has been deleted or removed from Facebook)
You can listen to the audio recording of the full meeting HERE
All information has been thoroughly investigated and reported by the Take Out the Trash Committee of Cape Coral and/or its authorized volunteers!
