Cape Coral City Manager Search Down to Four Candidates

Cape Coral, Fla. city manager Carl Schwing is still in the running to keep his job as the pool of candidates has been whittled down to four. The others include Mark Lauzier, former Parkland, Fla. city manager, career U.S. Air Force officer Peter G. Sands and Cape Coral businessman Gary King.

The City Council will interview the candidates on Thursday at noon at the council chambers. The interviews will also be televised.

The Council had nominated two other candidates, but they withdrew from consideration.

Schwing, who was the assistant city manager under Terry Stewart, has run the city since Stewart's resignation in November. He originally held the interim tag on the job, but Council voted to give him the full title on a one-year contract.

He is also not new to the title. He previously held the job in three different cities, most recently St. Pete Beach, Fla.

Lauzier is the only other candidate with city management experience. Since his position in Parkland, he has been the president and owner of Coral Springs, Fla.-based The Budget Experts, a private contractor working in city management.

Sands has not worked in city management, but his Air Force credentials include various levels of combat and mission support, essentially management. He owns a house in Cape Coral.

King is a mortgage broker, but he has the advantage of being an insider. He is part of the Road Ahead group that includes mayor John Sullivan, as well as council members Pete Brandt, Bill Deile, Erick Kuehn and Chris Chulakes-Leetz.

Perhaps the most important position in the city government, the city manager carries out the City Councils decisions by managing almost all of the city departments.