To the editor:

Since former City Manager Terry Stewart is being brought up in recent Letters To The Editor I would like to address some of Irwin Gordon’s oversights in his May 21 letter. This might explain why there are “Stewart haters” (as Irwin Gordon put it) in Cape Coral. This is not a feeling that has blossomed overnight.

Terry Stewart was city manager when city staff told contractors that the Capacity Analysis Report for the new $140,000,000 Water Plant was based on water meter data and not building permits. Terry Stewart was city manager when city staff directed a contractor to NOT conduct an Independent Population Projection, but instead to rely on the information and data supplied to them using a population projection of 249,828 by 2010 to justify the building of the new $140,000,000 Water Plant (Population is only 150,000 in 2011). This is a Water Plant that will not be needed for many years. And now we are supposed to believe that this Water Plant is not the reason for high water bills? Someone is walking around fat and happy and it’s not the citizens of Cape Coral!

Terry Stewart is no longer managing our city, but we are still drowning in the debt that his administration put us in. We are now finding out that Terry Stewart’s attention was not where it was supposed to be. While he was pushing for a $100,000,000 police station and a $140,000,000 Water Plant, staff did not keep track of how many vehicles the city had in its fleet; did not keep track of where the city fuel was going; did not ensure that our city firetrucks were serviced properly; did not maintain our canals correctly. We are now more than 20 years behind in the dredging of our canals. Seems like we had a salesman, not a city manager.

Terry Stewart did, however, know how to write propaganda letters that ended up costing us taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. One propaganda letter that he sent out to the citizens of Cape Coral informed us that allegations of an auditor were unsubstantiated even though the Florida Attorney General said laws may have been violated. This one letter cost the Cape Coral taxpayers $20,000. There is a problem when someone spends so much of their time and our money to make their wrongs appear right.

I, along with many Cape Coral citizens that were paying attention to the actions of Terry Stewart and his administration are very thankful that he is no longer managing our city. We do not have to look far when wondering why Cape Coral has been labeled with a negative reputation. The lack of confidence that the Cape Coral citizens had in Terry Stewart’s Administration was apparent in the last election. God bless Fort Myers Beach.

Tony Elia

Cape Coral