Kevin McGrail, 54, said the most profound change in his life after winning the city council district six seat is getting used to being called “sir.”
“I guess I have to come to grips with the fact that I’m not just Kevin to these people,” he said. “The No. 1 thing I got to get used to is that it’s important that people will start calling me sir.”
He described himself as a “worker bee” and said it’ll be difficult to get used to being in a position of authority. During the campaign, McGrail posted his own advertisements and dug his own holes for campaign signs in an attempt to get out in the community and talk to thousands of people about what they want for Cape Coral.
McGrail defeated John F. Cataldi Jr. with 8,761 votes or 52 percent of those cast Tuesday night. His district encompasses north Cape Coral.
“I moved here 20 years ago because it was a great place to raise a family,” he said. “Cape Coral delivered that promise to me and I want to deliver that promise for other families.”
He realizes a major issue facing the city is the future of the utility expansion project or UEP.
“The issue just became so contentious that people couldn’t talk rationally about it anymore,” he said.
Many residents realize that they can’t live on septic tanks and wells forever, he said, but the new city council will have to find a cost- effective way to go forward with the UEP.
“I would like to think we can work together to get it hammered out so when we move it forward there will be no more of this 50-50 split where you never know where it’s going to go week-to-week,” he said.
Furthermore, he said the council needs to improve its communication concerning the UEP, pointing out that some residents were angry about the proposed charts which stated they didn’t need to upgrade their utilities until 2017 — even though the charts were subject to change.
And, ultimately, the council needs to put an end to the myths that have emerged about the expansion project.
“It was understandable that people were upset, what they thought was years out is all of the sudden something that would happen literally months after moving in,” said McGrail.
McGrail added that he wants to find ways to bring new jobs to the city through the development of north Cape Coral, which is a collection of large unencumbered lots.
“If we do get light manufacturing or industry, we (District 6) are the lots they will put those plants and companies on,” he said. “We will be the growth engine for Cape Coral’s future.”
He also complimented the Cape Coral Police Department for maintaining such a low crime rate in a city with approximately 160,000 residents and the Cape Coral Fire Department for having such a rapid response time.
“For a city this large with such a low crime rate is a testimonial to the police department and residents in the neighborhood crime watch groups,” he said. “I personally, I don’t want to let any neighborhoods in Cape Coral become blighted or hotbeds for problems.”