Collier County Board of County Commissioners

In a midnight aimed at reducing government spending at a time of explosive growth, the Collier County Board of County Commissioners voted over night to make near across the board cuts to the county’s general funds and then make up for the intentional budget shortfalls by all but depleting the existing accounts set aside for conservation.

The Collier County Board of Commissioners passed an ordinance establishing Collier County as a Bill of Rights Sanctuary County at a Board of Commissioners meeting August 22.

An investigation by the Florida Elections Commission found that Collier County Commissioner Chris Hall violated the state's election code during his campaign last year. Hall’s campaign ads falsely implied he was the incumbent in the District 2 race rather than a challenger, according to an FEC consent order drafted in May.

A local community group, Quiet Florida, advocated for action against noise pollution issues at a recent Collier County commission meeting, citing excessive noise from illegally modified vehicles as lowering the community’s quality of life.

In January, the Collier County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee unanimously re-elected Joseph Trachtenberg as its chairman. This week, the Collier County Board of County Commissioners unanimously removed him. Trachtenberg said his removal was because he spoke up publicly about inaction by the commissioners. A commissioner seemed to agree that his public comments were the issue.

Collier County Commissioners held a town hall Tuesday night with representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). For nearly three hours, residents asked questions and expressed their frustrations as they seek help recovering from Hurricane Ian’s catastrophic damage.

Throughout Southwest Florida, primary voters will cast ballots in a number of county commission and city council races including seats for Lee County Commission, Fort Myers City Council, Cape Coral City Council, and a number of local ballot referendums for voters in Cape Coral, Marco Island and Collier County.

As drought grips Southwest Florida, and the threat of wildfires grows stronger, forest managers are issuing burn bans so that campfires don’t become wildfires. Collier County has joined Lee, Charlotte and Hendry counties in putting in temporary rules against burning stuff. Sarasota County has a year-round rule against burning yard waste. And the South Florida Water Management District has banned most burning on its lands, too.

The Collier Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved adding 12 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) positions to the county’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) division.The hiring of 12 people is supposed to ensure the county’s EMS operations has sufficient staffing to support ambulance services, reduce overtime for paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and to provide plans for EMS expansion throughout the next two years.

Marshall Goodman, 64, recently promised government officials that he can “spark a revitalization” of private enterprise in rural Central Florida. In order to do that, he told officials that he needs taxpayers to finance his $40 million plan to build and operate five 20,000 square-foot business incubators — where fledgling companies can pay a fee for office space and management training — in small towns in Polk County. It's similar to a claim he made in Collier County a few years ago.