Youth council presses Cape Coral leaders on voting, internships, transparency and renewables

The Cape Coral Youth Council on March 4 asked City Council members and staff how the city can increase youth voting, expand internship opportunities in municipal departments, improve public transparency on controversial issues and pursue renewable energy options.

Sophie Garcia, chair of the Youth Council, opened the session and summarized the group’s topics. "The city council recently approved the sale of Hudson Creek to D.R. Horton," she said while introducing development-related questions and then moved the discussion into public relations topics that included voter engagement and internships.

Why it matters: Youth engagement and workforce pathways are issues the council said it wants to encourage as Cape Coral grows. Officials told students some programs already exist and that creating more structured internship pipelines and clearer communications could increase youth participation in civic life.

What city staff told students - Voter education: The City Clerk reported that the Lee County Supervisor of Elections runs a year-round education program for schools, libraries, camps and community groups. The clerk said the office provides voter-education presentations, mock elections using real equipment, straw polls, tours of the election center and a high-school voter-registration challenge, and that participation varies by school. "They contact high school principals yearly to invite them to do the challenge and to offer their services," the City Clerk said in response to the Youth Council’s question about how the city can work with the elections office.

- Internships: The City Manager said the city has hosted student interns — in engineering, public administration and other fields — and encouraged the youth council to invite staff to a future youth meeting to develop a workable internship plan. "If that's something you would like to further explore, we can do that," the City Manager said, noting internships typically are coordinated through Human Resources and must be arranged with schools to address insurance and scheduling needs.

- Legal internships: The City Attorney said his office has hosted high-school students for short summer experiences. "In the past, I've had high school students that do, in fact, come on summer [break]," the City Attorney said, adding students could contact the office manager to arrange brief shadowing opportunities.

- Reducing paper use: Matt Grambo, deputy development services director, described the city’s move to electronic permitting as an example of paper reduction. He said the city required digital permit submissions beginning March 20, 2023, and reported that roughly 94,000 permits have been submitted since that date. "Our overall paper savings has been about 1,892,623 pages," Grambo said, adding the reduction equates to roughly 17,000 pounds of CO2 saved and about $130,000 in industry printing costs.

- Transparency and communications: Multiple council members and the city manager encouraged residents and students to use official channels and the city's communications resources for factual updates, especially during emergencies. Council members said town halls, direct email and hard-copy postings at fire stations (used during power outages) are among the alternatives the city relies on when electronic communications are disrupted.

- Renewable energy: Students asked whether Cape Coral could operate on 100% renewable power. Councilmember Kilrain, speaking from energy-sector experience, urged a careful, whole-system analysis. "There is no more economical and more dense source than natural gas," Kilrain said, while acknowledging opportunities for incremental renewable projects and newer nuclear technologies in the longer term.

What the youth asked for and next steps: Youth Council members asked for specific, actionable programs: more social-media outreach for voter registration, a structured internship program that coordinates with school OJT or class-credit arrangements, shadowing opportunities with elected officials or department heads, and clearer directions to existing election-education offerings. Officials suggested staff would return to a youth meeting to map an internship pathway and that the Youth Council could take a lead role in coordinating voter-education activities with principals.

Ending: Councilmembers and staff thanked the youth for their questions and said they would work to follow up on internship coordination, continue voter-education outreach and expand channels for clear, factual communication to residents.