Concerned Citizen

Cape Coral’s Pension Windfall Comes at the Public’s Expense Cape Coral taxpayers are being asked to fund one of the most expensive pension systems in Florida, while being denied basic transparency about who benefits and by how much. Unlike most Florida cities, Cape Coral operates a stand-alone pension system instead of participating in the Florida Retirement System (FRS) . This decision alone costs taxpayers millions each year in unnecessary administrative overhead. But in 2024, the City...

How Michael Ilczyszyn (Now Making 350K a Year) is Mostly to Blame for the Parks GO Bond Problems The $60 million Cape Coral Parks GO Bond was supposed to deliver long-promised amenities across the city, but instead it produced massive cost overruns, delays, and the loss of several planned parks. While multiple factors played a role, Michael Ilczyszyn, as a senior leader overseeing these projects, carries a significant share of the responsibility. Under his management, the Lake Kennedy Racquet...

Jill "Jaded" Jacobs Did you know Jill Hiatt, now Jill Jacobs, served on Cape Coral’s audit review committee? One would think someone involved in helping a candidate lie to get elected would be removed from such a role, or at least barred from participating in city matters beyond being a citizen. Yet she continued to serve. If accountability had been applied consistently, others, like Gunter and Sheppard, might have faced consequences as well. Perhaps that’s why citizens often have so little...