FRANK BUMB

FBUMB@NEWS-PRESS.COM

Cape Coral Mayor Marni Sawicki is now Marni Retzer.

Sawicki married Cape Coral Fire Department Lieutenant Kenneth Retzer on June 28, five weeks after filing a restraining order against him, according to numerous social media posts.

The mayor and Retzer had been in a three-year, on-again, off-again relationship. She filed a restraining order against Retzer on May 18, claiming that he had sent threatening phone and text messages, amid other harassing conduct.

But the mayor – who did not return phone calls seeking comment Wednesday – said, in response to a Facebook comment asking if her account had been hacked, that she would not go into details about what had changed in her relationship moving from restraining order to marriage.

“No, it hasn’t been hacked and as much as I’d love to go into details on whatever happened, I won’t,” she wrote. “Life is short and I’ve learned people can be cruel since becoming mayor of this beautiful city. At the end of the day, when all of this fades away, the only people who matter are those that love me.”

But love was not always the mayor’s concern when it came to Retzer. In a filing with the Lee County Domestic Violence Unit, the mayor described a relationship that had shifted from weary to frightening.

“I am scared to go to meetings, deactivated Facebook (and) due to his state of mind am afraid what he will do,” she said in the petition.

When contacted by phone after the petition was filed, the mayor insisted that Retzer was a good person.

“Good people make bad decisions. He is a good person,” she said previously.

The restraining order was eventually dismissed after an out-of-court resolution was reached between the two.

The mayor’s social media posts also extolled Retzer’s quick action during their time together on an unidentified 3-hour flight. Retzer – according to photos and a social media post from the mayor – responded to man apparently having a heart attack on their flight.

“We were on a 3 hour flight home Sunday when about 1 1/2 hours into the flight a 49 year old man sitting one row behind us passed out and people were yelling for a doctor or paramedic,” she wrote. “Ken Retzer being a Lieutenant in the Fire Department and a Paramedic for 26 years jumped out of his seat, and went into action.”

Retzer likewise did not return calls Wednesday.

There is no city policy against fraternization or relationships between city employees. The only prohibition against such relationships is if there is a member of the relationship within the direct chain of command.

Kerrie Stillman, spokeswoman for the Florida Ethics Commission, said there is no law against relationships between an elected official and a city employee.

♦ PREVIOUS STORIES ♦

May 18: Cape mayor files restraining order against city employee

May 27: Cape Coral Mayor reaches resolution with city employee