Council creates empty Utilities Department

The City Council created a new Utilities Department Monday night. We have developed a chart to show the new department's organizational structure.

Yep, that's it. According to the ordinance, which passed the Council by a 6-2 vote, the city code now reads that there is a Utilities Department. Nothing else.

How they voted:

YES: Brandt*, Chulakes-Leetz, Deile**, Kuehn, McGrail, Sullivan
NO: Donnell, McClain

So how does the Utilities Department actually become a utilities department? Public Works currently runs utilities. In fact, in the Cape Coral Code of Ordinances, Chapter 19 (Water and Sewer Utilities) there are about three dozen references to the Public Works Department or Public Works director handling utilities.

Gary King has stated that he wants to separate utilities from public works. But, the Code shows us that, for this to happen, a lot of ordinances need to change, not just the names of the city departments. And until the changes are codified, they don't exist.

Given that a position has been created for a Utilities director (with no professional engineer requirement) to run a department that at this point only exists on paper, every resident should keep an eye on how this process moves forward.

*currently running for reelection
**has stated that he is considering running for reelection