Updated 2/16/24 to add the section Candidate Forum – Feb. 1, 2024; 2/24/24 and 2/25/24, to add an analysis of campaign contributions and spending; 3/8/24 and 3/10/24 with latest campaign finance figures.
Ted Blankenship, Teresa Heitmann, and Gary Price are running for mayor in the Naples City Council election.
All residents of the City of Naples may vote in the election on Mar. 19. The top vote-getter will win. Learn more about the City’s seven-member governing body in Naples City Council: A Primer Post.
In this post, you will find the following information to help you learn about the candidates:
In Their Own Words:
- Candidate websites
- Candidate Facebook pages
- Responses to my Sparker’s Soapbox candidate questionnaire
- Q&A summary, transcript, and recording of a Feb. 1 candidate forum
Analysis:
- A deep dive into the contributions to and spending by each campaign
This post is a work in progress. More information and analysis will be added in the weeks ahead. Check back often for updates.
Candidate Websites
Visit the candidates’ websites to learn what they want you to know about them. Consider their biographical information, their education, career history, and prior involvement with the community. Do they have what YOU think it takes to do the job? Are the issues that are important to them what YOU want your mayor to be focused on?
Candidate Facebook Pages
Candidate Facebook pages are generally updated more frequently than websites. There you may find posts about their recent activities as well as endorsements.
Sparker’s Soapbox Questionnaires
How the City is allowed to grow and redevelop is arguably the most significant issue in this year’s mayoral campaign. Some people generally want to limit any new development and keep Naples the way it is. Others are generally opposed to any infringement on property owners’ rights.
“Where do you fall on the continuum between the two?” is just one of eight questions I asked in my candidate questionnaire.
“Redevelopment should comply with our City Codes and Comprehensive Plan,” answered Blankenship. “We must strike the right balance between preserving the Naples charm that we all love and still allowing property owners to utilize their private property rights as enshrined in the US and Florida Constitutions.”
“It is critical to our preservation to follow principles of smart redevelopment that benefit our residents,” Heitmann said. “My job is to protect the property rights of our residents and not to increase harmful intensity and density of development.”
“I would position myself in the middle of the continuum when it comes to balancing new development with property rights,” Price said. “It is too easy to simply say ‘no’ to development. The more effective approach is to figure out how we can achieve smart growth and maintain redevelopment that aligns with our expectations and high standards.”
Click on a candidate’s name to read their completed candidate questionnaire as submitted:
Candidate Forum – Feb. 1, 2024
The candidates participated in a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Collier County and the Collier Forum Coalition in partnership with the Naples Daily News and WGCU Public Media on Feb. 1, 2024. I had a transcription made from the online recording of the forum and, from that transcript, summarized the candidates’ responses to the questions asked.
Click the links below to read the transcript and my summary.
Analysis: Campaign Finance
“The residents of Naples cannot help but notice the heavy flow of political materials, emails, yard signs, and text messages for the city council election this year,” wrote Stacy Vermylen in Florida Weekly. “Expenditures for this municipal election are higher than ever, with candidates themselves raising over $700,000 and additional money flowing from political action committees (PACs).”
City of Naples candidates are required to report their campaign contributions and expenditures periodically. Their Campaign Treasurer Reports are available on the City Clerk’s 2024 general election website.
This is a summary of the candidates’ filings to date:
I reviewed the Treasurers’ Reports and made lists of the businesses and individuals that contributed the $1,000 maximum allowable to each campaign. You will find links to the detailed lists as well as items I thought were of particular note below.
See my separate post Naples Mayor Election PACs for more on the money in the Naples mayor race.
Blankenship Campaign Reports
Blankenship has raised the least amount of money, reported the fewest number of contributions, and received no $1,000 contributions from businesses or PACs. Of the 13 contributions of $1,000 he received, 11 were from Naples residents, and two were from Ohio. He has also loaned a total of $20,000 to the campaign, which has enabled him to spend more than he has received in contributions.
Among Blankenship’s $1,000 contributors is Richard Schultz, founder and former chairman and CEO of Best Buy; and Bert Lindsay, founder and president of Lindsay Honda and the TURN Network.
The most significant expenses reported by the Blankenship campaign are $19,900 to Victory Insights LLC, a polling, data analysis and consulting firm; $13,322 to Southeastern Strategies for marketing materials and communications with residents; and $2,640 to LakeSide Media Company for media production.
According to its website, Southeastern Strategies is led by Senior Strategist Matt Hurley. Hurley is alleged to have been involved in a recent incident involving confusing text messages sent by Win America PAC to Naples voters. Hurley told the Naples Daily News he had no involvement with the PAC.
Heitmann Campaign Reports
Heitmann has raised more than three times as much as Blankenship but just a third of the amount raised by Price.
She received two $1,000 contributions from businesses — one in Naples and one from out of state — and none from PACs. Two-thirds of her $1,000 contributions are from retired individuals who live in Naples.
Heitmann’s $1,000 individual contributors include restauranteur Richard D’Amico, CEO of D’Amico & Partners restaurant group, and Harry and Laura Criswell of Port Royal. The Criswells in 2016 sought a zoning variance from the City and also sued the City in a related matter. After Mayor Heitmann and City Council met in a closed executive session in 2021, a settlement was subsequently agreed to by both parties.
The most significant expenditures by the Heitmann campaign were $19,453 to Hinson Studio of Naples for printing and $10,000 to Grindstone Strategies LLC, St. Clair, MI, for web design, videography, graphics, etc.
Price Campaign Reports
Price’s contributions to date have far exceeded those of his competitors in terms of the amount raised, the number of contributors, and the number of $1,000 contributions from both businesses and individuals.
Of the 52 contributions of $1,000 the Price campaign received from businesses, ten are from developers, eight are in construction, six are builders, three are in real estate, and three are PACs. Ten of the 52 are from businesses not in Naples: four from Fort Myers, four from Minneapolis, one from Greenwich, CT, and one from Tulsa.
Price also received $1,000 contributions from 163 individuals. Of them, 42 are not from Naples, 91 listed their occupation as retired, and 72 named a place of business, of which 8 are related to real estate and eight are affiliated with Youngquist Brothers, Florida’s leading contractor of deep injection well systems.
Individual contributions of the maximum $1,000 were received from Jerry Starkey and Fred Pezeshkan, developers of Metropolitan Naples in the Gateway Triangle; Matthew Kragh, whose MHK Architecture was recently selected as the architects of Park Place on Gulf Shore; Kevin Stoneburner, who developed and owns the Bayfront mixed-use development; Bruce Byerly, owner of Naples Jet Center; and Paul Hiltz, President and CEO of NHC Healthcare Systems.
Price’s campaign expenditures far exceeded those of his competitors. Of note:
- $53,200 to Strategic Media Services, Arlington, VA, for FOX and CNN commercials;
- $51,122 to Majority Strategies LLC, Dallas, TX, for design, printing and advertising related to Team Naples, a slate of candidates for mayor and city council;
- $11,641 to November Inc., Las Vegas, NV, for campaign consulting;
- $12,683 to Naples Yacht Club for a campaign event; and
- $17,500 to Daija Hinejosa for campaign management.
Catch Up on What You Missed
Read about past Naples City Council elections in these Sparker’s Soapbox posts:
- Naples City Council: a Primer Post
- 2022 Naples City Council Elections
- 2020 Ethics Referendum on Naples’ November Ballot
- 2020 Naples Mayor and City Council Elections
- 2019 Naples City Council Special Election
- 2018 Naples City Council Elections
Thank you for wanting to be more informed about the Naples Mayor candidates in the 2024 City Council elections.