Board of County Commissioners:County commissioners are elected in a partisan race, serve four-year staggered terms. The role of the commissioner is to adopt an annual budget, levy taxes and special assessments, adopt county ordinances, provide for the prosecution and defense of legal causes, provide and maintain county buildings, establish and enforce zoning, place issues on the ballot, provide services related to health and welfare of citizens and appoint members to and create boards and commissions.2025-2026 Salary: $110,581
Background
Daniel Kowal is a US Army veteran and retired Law Enforcement officer. He was elected to the Board of County Commissioners in 2022 and is seeking re-election.
Education
Ambridge Area High School, Criminal Justice at the Community College of Beaver County
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Background
Retired Auto Executive, Ganley Auto Group, Chevrolet and GM, constantly responsible for profitability, customer satisfaction, training, financing, budgeting, compliance, etc , Part of a great TEAM
Education
Managing Retail Ops, GM, Constant evolving training and comp, Muni budgeting in Ohio, Kent State 75
My forty years in the retail auto business was far and away the best training I could have for county govt. We were held to the highest degree of results and fiscal responsibility every day, week and month. To rest on your laurels only meant that you may not be doing your job. You need to be available to team members at all times to help them reach their potentials. Employees that are trained to reach their goals are happy and a pleasure to be around. County govt is very much like the auto business, lots of employees and if not tended to properly you'll chase your tail to unsustainability
I don't believe we are truly following what Commissioners' jobs are supposed to be. Health, safety and welfare of our tax paying citizens needs to be a priority again. Hurricanes and floods, and fires are all too common. Brush? fires as they are called? 40-50 ft high? I think we had 2000 acres burning while listening to a land use attorney tell our Commissioners why they had to approve a development. Too many zoning changes. They are continuing to locate gasoline pumps too close to people which really isn't safe. Economic Development is a gas station? So much to address..
Take your pick. We don't have anywhere near the infrastructure that we need. Plus we still have old septic tanks, some that are very near the Gulf. I brought that up a few times 4 and 5 years ago and a few of our finest Commissioners ran to the back of the room to tell me how expensive they are. I know that from Avon Ohio and Willoughby Hills Ohio. My opponent runs around town saying he lowered our taxes? Last November I asked about our long term debt. Some of the staff responded, the Commissioners and County Manager looked at me like I wasn't supposed to ask those kind of questions.
When times get tough laying off employees is the last thing I
ever want to do. People are struggling to make ends meet now. Definitely we have to consider Collier County first. We need to stop getting involved in all of these projects that we get beat up on by others. They need a bail-out on the sports complex and I understand if the voters want to do that it's fine. Don't believe the smoke that it's not our money, it definitely is. Other county's use hotel taxes to pay for whatever tax payers deem necessary. Privatizing the Sports Complex after paying for it? We need to see.
We can't control housing prices. We need to constantly look at Conservation Collier though and make sure that we're not overpaying for land that no one else wants. The real estate market I'm sure suffers when prices get too high or too low. I'm not going to pretend to be a real estate expert but I do know that the value of anything is what someone will pay for it. It's not a Commissioners job to over-value anyone's property, they need to stick to Health, Safety and Welfare issues and let the local economy be the local economy. I will definitely work hard to bring stable jobs to Collier.
Take your pick, I think I brought up many disagreements that I have with the Collier Commissioners. If they do get the Sports Complex issues resolved then it's on to the David Lawrence Center which Tax Payers deserve clarity on, the VA Center (which I'm very much in favor of ) has a lot to discuss North and South of it, and let's not forget all of the infrastructure commitments that have been made north and east of us, Ave Maria traffic and the seniors that are told one thing and have to move after realizing there are no Hospitals, If elected I will work often and hard for the TEAM
