Three candidates file to run for Naples City Council seats in 2018

Two former candidates and a longtime Naples real estate broker have applied to run for three positions on the Naples City Council next year.

Jim Moon, a Naples attorney, and Wynn Phillips, a former psychologist, filed to run with the City Clerk’s office. They finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the six-person race for three council seats in 2016.

A third candidate, Mitch Norgart, a broker with Gulf Coast International Properties, is making his first run for a spot on the council. Norgart sits on the city’s design review board; he was appointed to it in June 2016.

The three candidates will join Councilwoman Linda Penniman in next year’s race. Penniman, first elected in 2014, is running for a second four-year term, she said, though she has yet to file her papers.

Council members Doug Finlay and Sam Saad, after serving their maximum of two four-year terms, will vacate their seats next year.

The qualifying period for the Feb. 6 election will run from Nov. 27 to Dec. 15.

The 2018 race likely will hinge on issues similar to those discussed during the 2016 campaign, including downtown development, water management and beaches.

However, Moon, 47, said he plans to discuss another concern — ethics in government.

“There is a need to restore confidence and ethics into the council and a level of trust in all community members that the council is there to represent everyone, not just a certain few people within our community,” said Moon, a partner in the Fort Myers office of Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A.

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Moon didn’t address specific cases. However, Saad, a real estate attorney, is the subject of two ethics complaints filed to the state after the Naples Daily News last year reported on a potential conflict of interest involving his business dealings.

Asked for his priorities, Norgart mentioned public safety, traffic management and what he described as “smart development.” During monthly design panel meetings, Norgart votes on project renderings and building designs for commercial development projects in the city.

Norgart, 59, has lived in Naples for more than 40 years, he said. He wants to maintain the area’s draw.

“I feel it’s a privilege to live and work here, not a right,” said Norgart, who has been a real estate broker since 1997.

“The main reason I am running for office is to be able to give back in service to a community that has been so good to me, and try and make it a better place to live for future generations,” Norgart said.

Phillips, 63, who used to work as a psychologist and property manager in Ohio, came to Naples in 2005. He served on the city’s code enforcement board from 2012-14 and on the advisory board for the Community Redevelopment Agency from 2008-10.

This is the third run for a council seat for Phillips. He filed as a last-minute candidate in 2014 before canceling his campaign because of personal issues.

In 2016, he came out as an anti-growth candidate who often spoke against overdevelopment and downtown congestion.

“I want to be elected to City Council to be a strong voice for Naples city residents by listening to your concerns and ideas, building consensus and voting in the best interest of our beloved Naples,” Phillips said.