Lopez cruises to victory in Estero council election
Voters in Estero have chosen a man who didn't think he wanted to run for village council to fill the District 5 vacancy.
The vacancy arose with the retirement of Jim Boesch. Rafael "Ralph" Lopez had the election wrapped up by the last day of mail balloting, his 1,983 mail-in ballots were more than the total votes piled up through election day by second-place finisher Gary Israel.
Lopez, had 2,437 votes to 1, 815 for Israel, a margin of 57.3% to 42.7%.
Israel is the owner and publisher of Estero Life magazine, which includes coverage of timely village events and trends. He is also a former advertising executive for The News-Press, who campaigned on a platform promised to "add to the dignity of running for political office and setting an example by taking all negativity out."
Israel was a strong supporter of the incorporation was a candidate in the first council election, when Bosch was elected to the District 5 seat.
Lopez, a native of Cuba whose family moved to the United States in 1962, is a retired law enforcement officer. His background included positions with law enforcement agencies in Dade and Broward counties, and North Miami, in addition to a stint sleuthing the criminal efforts to steal money by cracking codes while an employee of MasterCard International.
Money was not a big factor in the election. Lopez reported $16,171 in fundraising, Israel $4,425, according to campaign reports. The two candidates' expenditures were concentrated on election fees, campaign signs, palm cards and promotional items.
Three elected unopposed to Estero council
The election also saw three council members elected without opposition, Jon McLain of District 3, Lori Fayhee of District 4 and George Zalucki of District 7.
Mayor Katy Errington was termed out from her seat on council District 4, as were Boesch and Jim Wilson, District 7. The election results mean the original Estero Village Council has now turned over completely, leaving local governance to a new group of seven.
The first item on the agenda for the village council will be to elect a mayor. McLain, the current vice-chairman of the council, serving since the late Donald Brown, resigned due to illness.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: New Estero Council to be seated, first task is picking new mayor
