Background
My wife Jessica and I moved from Sparta NJ to Naples in 2007. We met in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania and “we tied the knot” in 1992. We came to Naples to open our business, a State Farm Insurance Agency in August of 2007 at 11725 Collier Blvd and that’s still where it operates. Through 2 hurricanes, thousands of Home and Auto claims and my share of Life Insurance claims, we never left Naples. I have 45 years of work experience…I’ll go back 25 years or so. February 2007 to Present, Owner Richard Conover Insurance Agency, State Farm Agent, 11725 Collier Blvd, Naples Florida March 2005 to January 2007 General Manager, INFOUSA NY Metro Division, Woodcliff Lake, NJ January 1999 to January 2005 Vice President of Sales Pitney Bowes, Clifton NJ.One of my interests is music. I am SWFL only one-armed Bassist. Music has a wonderful power to bring people together. Since Hurricane Irma struck in 2017 I have used music to help our neighbors recover from many devasting events.
My professional career spans 40 years, from a sales and marketing associate to Vice President and General Manager. The first 20 years of my career I was very successful at managing people and budgets to deliver promised results. For the last 17 years I have operated a State Farm Insurance Office in Golden Gate City, serving the needs of thousands of Collier County Residents through some of the darkest days in their lives. My personal resilience makes me unique. I survived a near fatal accident and overcame great adversity and went on to build a beautiful life.
I pledge to stop residential rezoning. This practice is choking our streets. I will also prioritize our roadway projects. I will work with the other Commissioners to fully fund the transportation projects we have planned to include widening, connecting and building new roads. I believe in strict adherence to our Growth Management Plan, following the Golden Gate Master Plan, saying NO to residential rezoning and funding our roadway projects.
I support the Clean Waterways Act and I would work to ensure Collier County is doing its best to reduce nutrient releases into our water ways. I would also support investigating the use of natural methods to clean and filter or waterways like the use of Oyster beds and other natural solutions that work with our environment and don't lead to unintended consequences. Our County does need to look at safeguarding septic systems and be vigilant about stormwater rules and design criteria to improve nutrient removal.
The County can help, by doing things like reducing property taxes. Everyone who lives in a home, owner or renter, pays for property taxes. Reducing property taxes helps all of us. I believe we can explore this here in Collier and bridge the gap with a consumption tax. I believe better solutions for affordable housing exist that do not include residential rezoning. Commercial areas that are ready for renewal and are prepared for the ingress/egress, can bring affordable housing to the County while breathing new life into these areas and provide workers with housing and employers with employees.
I support programs like Summer BreakSpot, run by the Department of Agriculture. Ensuring that children and teens continue to receive nutritious meals during the summer months is important especially in some of the neighborhoods in our county. Meals are provided at no cost and are available at various community sites and the County can do a better job of informing residents at risk of where these services are available. Dial 211, our local foodbanks and faith-based organizations are all great resources as well.
I do not support this. First off, managing funds responsibly does not mean robbing Peter to pay Paul. When the Commissioners commit to a budget and a program, it needs to be a commitment. I support Conservation Collier and I was not in favor of having funds sit dormant, however, using the funds as "emergency reserves" sends a message to the voters that the commitment to Conservation Collier isn't what we were promised. I believe these are budgeting and finance issues that should be addressed by properly funding our county government.
Background
I am seeking re-election to the County Commission.
I have vast experience as the Collier County Attorney from 1982-1986, a Collier County Commissioner from 1986-1994, a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1994-1998, a member of the Florida Senate from 1998-2008, and currently serving on the Collier County Commission since 2016.
During my tenure on the County Commission, I have developed funding sources for an on-going $500+ Million road and bridge construction program that will resolve much of our traffic issues. That combined with state funded I-75 improvements will resolve the traffic issues on Immokalee Road, Vanderbilt Beach Road, State Road 951, and all of the I-75 interchanges. I proposed a moratorium on new growth on projects impacting Immokalee and Vanderbilt Beach Roads. Though that effort failed, I was successful in advancing several projects as a result of the hearing on the proposed moratorium.
There are many components to protecting water quality. Transitioning to advanced wastewater treatment, eliminating failing septic tanks such as the 9000 septic tanks in Golden Gate City, and reducing applications of fertilizers and insecticides on lawns are critical to the effort. Fully funding the Conservation Collier Environmentally Sensitive land buying program will help protect valuable natural habitat and our surface water and ground water resources.
I fully support the county participating in joint public/private partnerships for the development of workforce and affordable housing. Our workforce housing project at the old Golden Gate Golf Course is a public/private partnership that will provide 380 workforce and affordable housing units. The County can provide density bonuses, impact fee credits, and land for affordable housing projects to ensure these projects are economically sustainable and remain affordable.
Candidate has not yet responded.
I do not support taken funds from Conservation Collier for other purposes. Those funds are necessary to ensure protection of the natural environment that has attracted us to Collier County. Conservation Collier was approved by over 77% of voters in a referendum. It is the most popular and important environmental program in the County. I voted against taking those funds from Conservation Collier and will continue to fully support the program.
