Jaycee Park advocates petitioning at Farmer Joe’s

Birthdays, weddings, or a relaxing day outside are all reasons why people love Jaycee Park in Cape Coral.

Supporters of Jaycee Park gathered at Farmer Joe’s today to hand out petitions, hoping to stop the park’s changes.

“They want to put a bar in there,” said Barbara Klare. “They want to put in an amphitheater and mess around with all the parking.”

“If you are environmentally friendly, why?” said Maria Love. “I want the council to tell me why they’re destroying the environment.

These supporters weren’t just at Farmer Joe’s for Jaycee Park.

They were also asking people to sign another petition which would rescind the monthly $5,000 mayoral and $3,000 council member stipends.

“They only care about lining their own pockets and their own ideas and agendas,” said David Kalish. “You can’t do that. They’re here to represent the people.”

City council has already approved the new plans for Jaycee Park.

When the design plans reach 60% completion, council will bring the designs back out to the public.

“Even if everything goes as anticipated with the proposals, it’s still a park,” said Council Member Richard Carr.

As for the stipends, Carr hopes to discuss referendum language in open public comment in the future.

“I’m hoping to see something on the ballot related to the statement and our compensation in the next election cycle,” he said.

“I voted for the stipend, and my feelings haven’t changed anything,” said Council Member Tom Hayden.

The Jaycee Park supporters are hoping to reach 500 petition signatures by the end of the day.

The group has until April 24th to collect as many signatures as they can.

They’ll then present the petitions to city council.