Cape Coral residents petition against city council pay increase

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Residents of Cape Coral have decided to create a petition against city council members granting themselves a pay increase.

The Cape Coral City Council approved a measure in early December, which will more than double how much they’re making.

A monthly stipend of around $3,300 will be added to the city council members’ paychecks.

The Cape Coral Mayor will receive $5,000 more monthly as part of the approved measure.

The controversy surrounding this pay increase stems from the city council approving the increase without any public input.

“When the City Council brought this forward, at the midnight hour, hidden on the Consent Agenda where there was no discussion, it really put a fire in my belly to be like, ‘Hey, this isn’t right,'” said Richard Leon, creator of the petition and a former council seat member.

WINK News reached out to each council member for their take on why so many citizens oppose the benefit increase. A spokesperson from the City of Cape Coral said that all council members are on hiatus until Jan. 9.

The petition can be found at change.org. It has received over 800 signatures so far after Leon posted it on Dec. 21.

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