Cape Coral’s new council eliminates stipend on day one

People in Cape Coral are getting what they voted for: the new city council members were just sworn in, and they eliminated the stipend.

WINK News reporter Haley Zarcone was there to find out the latest.

New city council member Derrick Donnell brought it up, and another new member, Jennifer Nelson, seconded it.

When it came time for a vote, the majority, which included people you had just put into office a couple of weeks ago, won.

No. More. Stipend.

Your voice paved the way for this decision.

Jennifer Nelson, a representative of District 4, said, “We were able to successfully repeal the stipend. It was very beneficial, obviously, because many of our residents requested that, as we were on the campaign trail, we were able to do that.”

Five new council members, including Nelson for District 4, took an oath and their seats and made decisions on night one.

“It feels like a huge weight has been lifted, and it was really an easy thing to repeal. Now it’s time to really get to work because we have a lot of things we need to do for the future vision of our city,” said Nelson.

One public comment was, “I would like to congratulate the voters in Cape Coral for getting out and supporting their candidates of choice, and hopefully, we will see some changes.”

The motion passed 5-3; the three who didn’t favor this were Mayor Gunter, Long and Steinke.