By Pam Nicholls GSAC Board Member
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Want a say on what the future looks like in Naples and the management of your city?  If the answer is yes, don’t miss the opportunity to vote in March’s municipal elections.  

The city will hold a General Election on Tuesday March 19, 2024 to elect a Mayor and three City Council members. Candidates had until January 19 to declare so the race is now on with three vying for the head of city government and six taking aim at the vacant council seats.  

The Mayor of Naples presides at meetings of the City Council and has both a voice and a vote on proceedings. The Council, as a whole, elect the vice-mayor. Incumbent Mayor Teresa Heitmann is hoping for a second four-year term in office. She began her political career with the City in 2008 and was elected Mayor in 2020. Challenging her are Moorings resident and current council member, Ted Blankenship, as well as former vice mayor and three-term councilman, Gary Price. Price started his local public service on the city’s planning board in 2001.   

Of the six candidates for the three open seats on the seven-person City Council, only Linda Penniman brings to the table previous Council experience. She spent six years on council from 2014, two as vice mayor. Longtime Naples High football coach Bill Kramer has thrown his hat into the ring along with real estate agent Garey Cooper, attorney Tony Perez Benitoa, Naples-born insurance industry professional, Berne Barton and last-minute filer, Nicholas Del Rosso, a communications consultant.  

Voters will have opportunities to hear what the candidates have to say in person ahead of the election at several forums: the GSAC Candidates Forum on January 29 at St. John’s Episcopal Church 500 Park Shore Drive from 9:00-11:00am; The League of Women Voters forum on February 1, from 5 pm at City Hall Chambers, Naples City Hall, 735 8th Street S, and at a session jointly sponsored by the Park Shore Association, GSAC and Moorings Property Owners Association on February 8 from 5pm to 7pm at Moorings Presbyterian Church, 791 Harbour Drive.  

VOTE BY MAIL 

The deadline for the Collier County Supervisor of Elections to receive a request to mail a Vote-by-Mail ballot is March 7, 2024. Any registered voter can vote by mail. Formerly known as “absentee voting,” voters no longer need an excuse to cast their ballot by mail. Voters can request, update and track their Vote-by-Mail ballot at www.CollierVotes.gov/RequestBallot 

EARLY VOTING 

Begins: Saturday, March 9, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.   

Ends: Saturday, March 16, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.  

Locations and addresses can be found at Colliervotes.gov/Election-Info/Vote-Early.