Cape Coral City Council appoints Councilman John Gunter as new mayor

Cape Coral City Council appointed Councilman John Gunter of District 1 as the new mayor of the City of Cape Coral and immediately swore him into office Wednesday.

Council met to discuss the options provided in the City Charter to go about filling the open mayor seat after the death of Former Mayor Joe Coviello.

City Council chose to elevate one of its members to the mayoral seat and will now need to fill the District 1 seat.

Gunter will serve the remainder of Coviello’s term. He admits he has big shoes to fill.

“Without a doubt he was everywhere,” Gunter said. “He was invested in our community, and I’ll make sure that all work just as hard, so we don’t have any lapse in that type of leadership.”

The District 1 vacancy will be posted Thursday. The City will accept applications through Feb. 5.

Gunter also said he’s determined to get to work.

“My goal has always been to have been cohesive with our council members to keep the best entrance of the community at heart and obeying decisions, and to make sure that we have a high standard of ethics we are representing in our community,” Gunter said.

The original story before Gunter was sworn in as mayor is below.

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