Voters chose to elect two newcomers and return a former councilmember to the Naples City Council in Wednesday's election. Ted Blankenship was the top vote-getter with 16.9% of the vote. Newcomers John Krol and Scott Schultz also earned seats on the council having earned 13.6% and 13.5% of the vote, respectively.
There were five other candidates in the race including current council member Ray Christman who did not get re-elected. All eight candidates voiced similar concerns about improving stormwater infrastructure and resiliency against flooding.
Blankenship previously served a term on the Naples City Council beginning in 2020 before a failed bid for Naples Mayor in 2024. During a recent candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Collier County, Blankenship touted his past work on the council, and listed stormwater infrastructure and resiliency as his top two priorities.
“We have to prepare the city for the next storm. We have to upgrade our infrastructure,” said Blankenship.
“We have to increase our sea walls. We have to increase the pipe sizes, pumps that we have to deal with the flooding that we already had on rainy days in the summer wet season.”
The newcomers, Krol and Schultz, both have backgrounds in business, but with some experience in city government. Krol serves as Chairman of the City of Naples Code Enforcement Board, and Schultz is a member of the City of Naples Planning Advisory Board and serves as chairman of a Collier County ad hoc committee on Coastal Storm Risk Management.
Krol said he’s also looking to prioritize the city’s aging infrastructure. “I look at the pipes on my street; They’re cast iron. They’re 60 years old. They’re 12 inches versus where they should be: 30 inches, reinforced concrete pipes,” said Krol.
“We can’t move water fast enough. And some of our old infrastructure, the pipes are clogged. They haven’t been maintained.”
While Schultz also emphasizes resiliency and infrastructure improvements, he’s also spoken in favor of reining in development.
“Naples used to be a small town and have a small-town feel, but after what’s happened with the Four Seasons and then on 3rd Street, those projects, I think, have altered the nice homey feel that we have,” said Schultz.
“And if we can try to limit those types of developments, I think that’s something the city should consider. As it pertains to the local neighborhoods, I think ‘residents first and foremost.’ If we keep that in mind, I think things will get a lot better.”
The Collier County Supervisor of Elections Office reports that voter turnout in the nonpartisan election was low at 38.1%.
The newly elected members are set to be sworn in on Feb. 18th.
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