City sets candidate debates
Candidates in three Cape Coral City Council races will face off this week at two separate debates.
The city will host its City Council Primary Candidate Debate for Districts 1 and 4 on Thursday, followed by its debate for the mayoral seat on Friday. Both of the events will kick off at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at city hall and will last for approximately 90 minutes, according to officials.
“We wanted to provide an opportunity for all of the candidates to answer questions and provide their opinions and positions on various issues,” Connie Barron, spokeswoman for the city, said. “It’s just another way for the city to inform the public and community on local government topics and issues.”
Joe Mazurkiewicz, with the Council for Progress, will serve as the moderator.
The Cape Coral Breeze and The News-Press will supple the questions.
Barron noted that candidates for two seats on the General Election ballot only will not be represented.
“We only feature the districts and seats where the candidates will be competing in the primary (election),” she said.
The candidates for District 1 are James Frederick Foraker, John Gunter and Graham Madison Morris. Vying for the District 4 seat are Jeffrey Alan Jones, incumbent Richard Leon and Jennifer Nelson.
Seven candidates are competing in the mayor’s race, including Joe Coviello, Derrick Donnell, Rana Erbrick, April Freeman, Michael Hollow, Kevin Koch and Daniel James Sheppard III.
The debates can be watched live on CapeTV – Channel 98 or Channel 94.
“Our event is unique in that we televise the debate,” Barron said.
They will be streamed live at: /www.capecoral.net/ and cape-tv.com/.
“We stream them live on our website,” she said.
Videos of the debates will also be posted to the website for later viewing.
“So people can watch them at a later time,” Barron said.
The primary election is Sept. 12 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with early voting taking place from Sept. 5-9. The general election is Nov. 7 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with early voting set for Oct. 30-31 and Nov. 1-4.
Cape Coral City Hall is at 1015 Cultural Park Blvd.