THE
GAZETTE VOLUME 9 • ISSUE 17 SEPTEMBER 1, 2022
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WILTON MANORS
SUNFLOWERS & SORROW CHRIS CAPUTO REMEMBERS HIS PARTNER LEO PERALTA
By John Hayden A life and a love story were tragically cut short. Leo Peralta and Wilton Manors City Commissioner Chris Caputo were in love and it showed. From nights out dancing as if no one were watching, to afternoons volunteering for myriad causes, to early morning training rides for the SMART Ride, you could see the love. Then, Leo took his own life. In the days since, Caputo has mourned and grieved. But he’s also learned more about Leo, his life, and gained a greater understanding for people struggling with mental wellness issues. He’s also been planning a Celebration of Life for Saturday, Sept. 3, at 4:30 p.m. in Richardson Park. He sat down with me to talk about his life with Leo, the good times and bad, and how he hopes to turn Leo’s struggles into something positive for people dealing with mental health problems.
STRUGGLE BEHIND THE SMILE If you’ve spent any time this year attending events in the Wilton Manors social or political scene, you’ve likely seen Leo. His eyes were beaming and his smile was bright. But diving headfirst into the community didn’t come naturally to him. Everyone who met him, loved him. But he struggled to accept that love. “What is apparent is when you loved him, he ran from you,” Caputo said. “There has to be something that happened at some point in his life that caused him to not be able to handle love.” But being together helped bring Leo out of
his shell and into the community, and if you saw him smile, Caputo said it was genuine. “He wasn’t a ‘fake it till you make it’ [person].” Right after an event that was held shortly before he died, Chris said Leo was excited for upcoming events. “I said to Leo, this is the best day in our relationship. I’ve never been more in love with you than I am right now. He had this transition from selfish to selfless.”
SEEING THE SIGNS About a month before he died, more signs began to appear. Trainers at his gym said he wasn’t putting in the same effort that transformed him from a skinny guy to muscled up man in under a year. Then he confided in Caputo that he was going to kill himself. Caputo contacted people that specialize in getting help for LGBT people in dire situations. He reluctantly began seeing someone. But it meant helping him get past the shame and changing one little word to get past Leo’s fears. “I can’t tell you I have a mental illness because then I’m broken and you’re going to leave me. The shift happened to get him to go when I told him he’s having challenges with mental wellness.” Rejecting love was a key part of Leo’s struggle and became a go-to reaction when anyone got close. Caputo never met Leo’s family until after the suicide.
Chris Caputo and Leo Peralta. Photo via Chris Caputo/Facebook.
“I remember freaking out at the hospital, when it was clear we’re not married, they were gonna have to notify the next of kin.” Leo had told him that the family, which practices the Jehovah Witness faith, had outright rejected him. As it turns out, it couldn’t be further from the truth.
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“They were so full of love and it immediately became apparent that something in the story wasn’t going to add up. They loved him through and through. They tried many times CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE.
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to reach out to him and every time he rejected them. His parents wanted to know if this was over him not being accepted for being gay. And I think if this had happened eight months ago anybody would have believed that. But he got to shine being gay.” He came from Cuba to South Florida in his mid-teens. Even then he struggled with accepting love and had fights with his family. Eventually he went to Los Angeles to pursue acting. After a few months he was homeless and fighting addiction to crystal meth. Late last year he came back to the area and met Caputo. They met on a social media app, and their first date was going for a bike ride. “In my world he’s just so beautiful, and I couldn’t relate to the idea that he’d be interested in me.” They quickly began dating, Leo moved in, and Caputo called Leo his “future fiancé.” Making a connection with others, however, was tough. “The people that truly have nobody? That scares me. He’d lived here for a year and had
zero friends. I had some inexplicable feeling that I cannot leave him, I’ve gotta stick through this.”
SEEDING A LEGACY Caputo has been very open about his grief, sharing the news on social media, creating a memorial fund, and planning the Celebration of Life. Since the suicide, people with similar struggles have reached out to share their stories. “For the first time I feel myself picking up other people’s energy. When people are coming at you and they’re in a tough spot, I’m absorbing some of that. If that takes a little bit off them then that’s great, but that’s exhausting.” The Leo Peralta Peak Purpose Fund will be managed by Our Fund Foundation and focus on helping LGBT with their mental health issues. “This is going to support people who are experiencing challenges to mental wellness, but I don’t think it’s my job yet to understand what that looks like. Leo and the world will make it clear to us.”
At the Celebration of Life everyone will be given sunflower seeds and a dollar. Sunflowers were Leo’s favorite, and told Caputo specifically that he hoped the could be part of their landscaping. “He wanted them really bad. When he told me he wanted sunflowers, there was this moment of brightness all over his face.” The dollar is a different kind of seed. It’s a seed for the fund. People can donate that dollar, and more if they can. Most of all, Caputo wants a lot of people there so Leo can feel the love. “I want as many people there as possible. I want Leo to see a crowd. There are other people that will be there that day and see that crowd and say ‘holy s**t, all these people came out!’ Someone’s gonna find some solace in all that.” Through it all, Caputo has been supported by his closest friends and family doing whatever they can, from cleaning an already clean house to bringing over food to just listening. He also is dealing with the five stages of grief, often all at once. “I can’t be angry about him taking his life. As angry as I am, I’m angry at everything but him.
Leo Peralta and Chris Caputo. Photo via Chris Caputo/Facebook.
He gave it all he had.” Chris said Leo’s head hurt in ways many can’t understand. In some ways, he’s proud of Leo for hanging on as long as he could. “I think he literally got to the point where he couldn’t run from the love anymore. He exhausted every opportunity to push me away. But out of fear of being rejected, he [felt] had to leave.”
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WILTON MANORS
BIG PAY RAISE FOR COMMISSIONERS By John Hayden Working for a city is not a 9-5 job. Problems from sewage to noise to bad auto accidents can happen anytime and everyone from utility workers to police to elected officials field calls all hours of the day and night. Now Wilton Manors is moving to make the reward (pay) match the effort. At the city commission meeting on Aug. 23, commissioners discussed increasing their salaries, along with that of City Manager Leigh Ann Henderson and police officers. All those raises have been mentioned at previous meetings but took steps forward. Covering about two square miles and with a population of around 13,000, Wilton Manors is a small city by many metrics and public salaries are no exception. Commissioners say raising pay will help the city attract candidates to run, and retain talent. Pay for the mayor and commissioners has been stagnant since 2015 and, accounting for inflation, is about the same as they made in 2000. The proposed increase would bring the mayor’s pay to $30,000 and $25,000 for city commissioners, more than double what they make now. They also get health insurance, a benefit which would be codified in the ordinance. With two commission seats and the mayor’s office up for election in November, Mayor Scott
A standing room only crowd packed the Wilton Manors City Commission meeting room and spilled out into the anteroom. Most were there to learn more about proposed changes to “future land use” and the “goals and objectives.” After years of discussion about where and how much to develop, plans seem to be gaining momentum. Much of the plans revolve around Transit Oriented Corridors (TOC) around Dixie Highway north and south from Five Points, and the area east of Five Points to 15th Avenue by Manor Lanes. Mayor Scott Newton took a moment to clarify that neighborhoods behind the bowling alley, the lot where the church burned down, and homes west of the Pride Center, Andrews Ave. around St. Clements Church, around Wilton Elementary are not included in the TOCs and aren’t affected by proposed changes. TOCs north, south, and east would be affected, but TOC west would not. The proposed land use changes would set density and allotments for how many and which types of units can go in an area. The city recently changed rules to allow
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Newton said now is the moment to address the issue. “I think now is the time to bring it up. The time is not next year when there’s not an election. It’s very easy to give yourself a raise when there’s no election.” Commissioners pointed out that other cities not only pay more, but also offer a stipend worth thousands of dollars that don’t need to be accounted for. Newton said he and others get calls at their “day jobs” as well as during all hours of the night. He believes the money will help attract top talent when the current commission is gone. “We will get more people to run for office if there’s a little more [money] in there. We need to make sure that, after we’re gone, people still want to run for the commission. Commissioners voted to move it to second reading and will hear additional public comments at a future meeting. Wilton Manors Police officers are also among the lowest paid in South Florida. As a result, many join the force, get experience, and move on to better paying jurisdictions. The city has already begun talking with the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) about increasing salaries, despite being in the middle of the current collective bargaining agreement. “They’re still in contract. We as a commission
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decided to open up Article One [of the contract] which is salaries for the police officers. We didn’t have to do that. But we want to keep quality officers.” The two sides are still working on finding a number that will work for the officers and the budget. Commissioners are also looking to increase the pay for City Manager Leigh Ann Henderson. She currently has an annual salary of $202,000. When pension benefits are added in, her total compensation is about $247,000. Average total compensation for city managers in Broward County is about $306,000. It was pointed out that, like police and elected officials, she gets called at all times and deals with residents and other employees. Updates on all salary discussions will be brought up at a future city commission meeting. The next is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Sept. 13.
DEVELOPMENT MOVING FORWARD IN WILTON MANORS By John Hayden
THE
for mid-rise buildings, which are defined as 4-8 residential floors, not counting any parking levels. It also would help accommodate bringing a hotel or two into the city. Commissioner Mike Bracchi expressed concern that a big hotel in the entertainment district would be overdevelopment, as opposed to a boutique hotel that would only have a few dozen rooms. Newton said a huge, 200 room hotel is unlikely. He said developers have told him the city can’t support that many rooms. Even if the change goes through, the commission will have final say over specific development proposals. During public comments, some residents urged the commission to tread cautiously. They worry that overdevelopment would have a very negative impact on the environment and hurt the natural beauty that attracts people to South Florida in the first place. These types of changes require an additional level of input and hearings. Commissioners voted to approve the plan for now and forward it to the state and county for review, followed by another public hearing. The commission unanimously approved a
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ban on smoking in public parks. During the last legislative session in Tallahassee, lawmakers approved a bill giving local governments more control to set their own smoking policies. Most people spoke in favor of the ordinance, with the only real debate being over fines and determining, like in the case of Hagen Park, where parking lots end and the park begins. On first reading a graduated fine schedule that went up to $250, was reduced to $25 per violation. This time people encouraged it to be somewhere in the middle and act as a deterrent. In the end, it was left at $25 and a general understanding that police would first warn people and ask them to stop before escalating to a ticket and fine.
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NEWS
WILTON MANORS
CITY REMOVES POLITICAL SIGNS By John Hayden It’s the time of year when political yard signs dot the landscape. But the landscape in Wilton Manors has a lot fewer of them after the city ordered many of them removed. Code Compliance removed them from public property, angering candidates and their supporters. “Our residents are proudly displaying the signs of Candidates they are supporting, and our city has taken away their rights,” City Commission candidate Don D’Arminio said. Wilton Manors resident Carl Shearer was home and confronted the officer who had picked up the campaign sign. Much of the issue comes down to what a property owner thinks they own versus what they actually own. Wilton Manors City Manager Leigh Ann Henderson said temporary signage on public land, such as medians, the right of way between streets and sidewalks, and swale is prohibited by code. Much of the confusion comes to misunderstandings of
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where swale ends and property begins since often, unlike where a sidewalk provides a clear border, people don’t know the boundary. Mayor Scott Newton, who is running for reelection this year, said any signs, including his, need to be in the proper place. However some say this isn’t the best use of city resources and the city, to some degree, seems to agree. Some campaigns accuse other campaigns of bringing the issue to code enforcement’s attention. So far, no one has admitted to doing so.
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