The Truth Doesn’t Play, And Neither Do We!

Excessive fees won’t stop us—and clearly, the city isn’t thrilled that we’re digging in!

We’ve been doing a deep dive into Jaycee Park, and trust us, what we’re uncovering is eye-opening. Our full report is still a month or two away, but we couldn’t wait to share a glimpse of the games the city is playing to keep the truth hidden.

At the April 2, 2025 City Council Regular Meeting, a council member dared to ask a poignant question and, shocker, it fell on deaf ears. Apparently, being a citizen or even an elected official doesn’t mean your concerns actually matter around here.

SHE ASKED THE QUESTION EVERYONE WAS THINKING, AND THE CITY HIT SNOOZE.

I requested all contracts between Fortress Secured LLC and its subcontractors. The city’s response? You won’t believe this one…

The city tried to play games, so we played right back. I submitted a separate public records request for each letter of the alphabet, and one for 0-9. We knew they wouldn’t be thrilled about me amending the requests at their suggestion. So what did they do? They hit me with the same response for each request: an estimated charge of $91.35. That’s 27 requests totaling an estimated $2,466.45. Transparency in Cape Coral sure comes at a price!

Deposit paid, then the real story began. I sent this text message to our Vice Chair Julia, when walking out of City Hall!

In person, the questions went a bit deeper. I asked if the city had the records. The employee said no. I asked, “So the money goes to the contractor?” They said no, it stays with the city. I followed up, “So the contractor bills you later?” They said no, the city keeps the funds. I asked, “Then what am I paying for?” The employee said I'm being charged for the contractor’s time.

We received the records for the first—and only—subcontractor hired by Fortress Secured LLC, who apparently isn’t doing any actual work themselves. There was no extra charge beyond the 50% deposit. It took just over 2.5 hours of the employees' time to send an email, get a reply from the contractor, and upload a PDF to the portal. Numbers Don’t Lie… But Apparently, the City Does.

I was quoted nearly $2,500, but it only cost $45—looks like another clever tactic to keep us from the truth.

If you still have faith in our city, you clearly haven’t been paying attention! And the citizens? Too smart for their new cheerleader, they allegedly brought in!

TO BE CRYSTAL CLEAR: WE ARE NOT BLAMING THE EMPLOYEE. OUR THEORY IS THAT ALL OF MY PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS ARE GOING THROUGH THE CITY MANAGER!

Here is a little sneak peek from another article that I have been working on.

Apparently, Truth Got a Price Hike

So here’s a fun one for you… The City quoted me $274.05 for a public records request. Not cheap, but hey, transparency isn’t free, right?

Then—poof!—24 hours later, that price magically balloons 155% to $700.35. Guess the truth suddenly became a premium product.

But wait, it gets better. I agreed to pay because, shocker, I actually want the records. Their response? “Hold off on coming in to pay your deposit on this one.”

Translation: Oh no, you weren’t supposed to agree to our ridiculous fee. Abort mission! Stall! Quick, make something up!

It’s almost like they know that overcharging the public for access to public records looks bad. (Spoiler: it does.) And it’s going to look even worse when our growing list of these tricks gets delivered to the Attorney General’s office.

But hey, maybe I’m just old-fashioned for thinking honesty shouldn’t come with surge pricing.

All information has been thoroughly investigated and reported by the Take Out the Trash Committee of Cape Coral and/or its authorized volunteers!