To the editor:<\/p>\n
Every election season, candidates tell us what they plan to do. I believe an even better measure of leadership is what someone has already done.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve had the privilege of calling Richard Leon one of my closest friends for more than 22 years. We met as teenagers in Cape Coral High School\u2019s JROTC program, where we learned the importance of integrity, service, accountability, and putting others before ourselves. Those weren\u2019t just lessons Richard learned, they became the principles by which he has lived his life.<\/p>\n
Richard is a lifelong resident of Cape Coral. This city isn\u2019t simply where he lives; it\u2019s where he was raised, where he chose to build his life, and where he has dedicated himself to serving others for more than two decades.<\/p>\n
Many know Richard from his four years on the City Council, where he earned a reputation for asking tough questions, challenging unnecessary spending, and putting residents before politics. But his commitment to Cape Coral didn\u2019t begin or end with elected office. Since leaving the Council, he has continued serving on the Redistricting Committee, Charter Review Commission, Metropolitan Planning Organization Citizens Advisory Committee, Cape Coral Chamber of Commerce Board, Historical Museum Board, School District Financial Advisory Committee, and numerous community organizations. Service has never been about holding a title for Richard, it has always been about helping his hometown.<\/p>\n
What has always impressed me most is his character. Whether you agree with him on every issue or not, you\u2019ll always know where he stands. He takes the time to study the facts, listens to people with different perspectives, shows up when it matters, and isn\u2019t afraid to make difficult decisions when they\u2019re the right ones. In a time when public trust in government is often low, those qualities matter.<\/p>\n
Richard isn\u2019t running to become another politician. He\u2019s running to once again be a public servant. His vision is simple: government should exist to serve its citizens, not itself. That means being a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars, investing wisely in infrastructure, supporting our police and firefighters, encouraging economic opportunity, and ensuring residents have a meaningful voice in the decisions that shape our city\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
People often talk about building the future of Cape Coral. Richard has already been doing exactly that for more than 20 years. The future he\u2019s working toward is one where our city puts its citizens first, makes the right decisions even when they\u2019re the difficult ones, and becomes a community our children and grandchildren will be proud to call home.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 18, I hope you\u2019ll join me in supporting Richard Leon for Mayor. I\u2019ve watched him grow from a young leader into a man whose commitment to this community has never wavered. I believe Cape Coral\u2019s best days are still ahead, and I believe Richard is the right person to help lead us there.<\/p>\n
Christine McMasters<\/p>\n
Cape Coral<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To the editor: Every election season, candidates tell us what they plan to do. I believe an even…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-365450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}