Less than two months after the Cape Coral Mayor claimed her ex-boyfriend threatened her so badly she couldn't show up for work, she's married him.
People living in Cape Coral are wondering why a relationship that caused Mayor Marni Sawicki to miss a Council meeting because she feared for her safety, and to file a restraining order, has led to marriage.
Mayor Sawicki once said in a petition for a restraining order that her boyfriend, Lt. Ken Retzer of the Cape Coral Fire Department, made her fear for her safety.
She claimed he threatened bodily harm and said "he was threatening to destroy me."
Tuesday night, Mayor Sawicki posted a photo of her and Retzer smiling together on Facebook, with her friends commenting "beautiful bride" and "congrats to you both!"
Others are suspicious of this change of heart. "That's pretty serious. To be scared for your very life, and now, a few short months later, you've taken his name? And you're sleeping in the same bed every day?" says Mark Wilson, one of the people behind a push to recall Mayor Sawicki.
A local group isfiling a petition for her recall with the city.
Wilson said Mayor Sawicki's recent behavior is a hit to the city's reputation, pointing out her new husband is a city employee. "I would say it's none of my business, but it actually is our business, because she's the Mayor of our city," Wilson said. "In the present time, her actions are showing loud and clear that she's not putting the city first. Otherwise, she would have shown up, she wouldn't have gotten involved with a city employee."
Four in Your Corner reached out to all City Council members and the Mayor herself about her apparent change of heart.
Council Member Jessica Cosden said she had no comment.
Council Member Richard Leon sent this statement: "While I wish the Mayor and her husband well, I do have to keep in the back of my mind her safety, as I think about the threats she accused him of making less than two months ago."
Wilson said Mayor Sawicki's marriage will give them more proof as to why she should be recalled as Mayor. "It shows in a very clear way that she's unstable and she's certainly unfit to command," he said.
Four in Your Corner has reached out to Mayor Sawicki multiple times for comment, but has not heard back yet.
