Cape Council calls special meeting Monday; expected to appoint temporary District 5 member
With power restored to government offices at City Hall, City Council will hold a special meeting at 3 p.m. Monday with a reduced agenda.
Council members will interview three applicants to temporarily fill the vacant council seat in District 5 until the results of the General Election on Nov. 7 are finalized.
Council will interview Scott Branan, Dan Puleio and James Schneider and decide which one will be sworn in to replace Rana Erbrick, who resigned effective Sept. 7 in order to run for mayor.
Branan owns an audio/visual design consultant firm in the Cape and has worked in construction, media, retail sales as well as the data and presentation industry for more than 30 years. He has led a number of humanitarian and missionary endeavors to remote parts of Peru.
Puleio owns Cape Cleaners in South Cape and was in retail sales before purchasing the dry cleaner business. He founded a website (www.votecapecoral.com) in an effort jointly with other businesses to encourage city residents to get out and vote in elections. He recently served on the CRA Advisory Board and was its chairman when his term ended in 2016.
Schneider has been a real estate broker with RE/MAX Trend for 35 years. He founded and owned two real estate firms and managed more than 200 employees. He also founded a charity food bank in Maryland to feed 450 households per week. He currently serves on the Cape Coral Planning & Zoning Commission, a position from which he is required to resign if selected to replace Erbrick in District 5. He is a candidate for the seat.
Council has yet to announce new dates for the first mandatory public hearing to tentatively set the millage rate and Fiscal Year 2018 budget. That meeting, scheduled on Sept 7, was postponed due to the approach of Hurricane Irma.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott granted the city a 30-day extension to conduct the two budget public hearings. The second and final public hearing is scheduled on Sept. 25.
Council will conduct a regular meeting at 4:30 p.m. Monday following the 3 p.m. special meeting.