King Back in Private Sector

Gary King says he's glad to be back in the private sector after getting knocked out of the Cape Coral city manager's job by newly elected union-backed city councilmen.

“I've learned that what happened to me is fairly common to city managers,” says King. “The half-life of a city manager is not all that long.”

King was city manager of Cape Coral for less than two years. He was fired a month after union-backed candidates won office in November after he tried to contain the city's budget.

King, a veteran of the banking industry, says he became city manager of Cape Coral in Lee County because he lives there and was urged to take the post by conservative friends who believe in smaller government. “I stumbled into that quite by accident,” says King, who had retired from banking giant State Street when he moved to Cape Coral.

The problem is that city managers often get fired when there's a change of leadership after elections. “You don't get much time to get your program in place,” says King. “I fear they're going to slip back in their old ways.”

But King got more accomplished than many of his predecessors. For example, he saved the city $90 million in interest expense when he refinanced a portion of the city's bonds at an opportune time last year.

King recently joined Krise Commercial Group, a Fort Myers-based commercial real estate firm.