Election 2020: Republican newcomers face off in primary race seeking to replace Collier commissioner Donna Fiala

Editor's note: This is part of a series of stories informing voters of issues and offices on the Aug. 18 primary election ballot. Go to naplesnews.com to read more.

When Collier County’s longest-serving commissioner first campaigned to represent her district, issues in the race included shaping the redevelopment of East Naples, managing growth and creating affordable housing throughout the county.

The year was 2000 and Donna Fiala, then a longtime civic activist, emerged victorious from a crowded field of candidates looking to represent District 1, which covers East Naples, Marco Island, and communities from the Isles of Capri to Copeland.

Two decades later, Fiala, 82, won’t be seeking reelection, opening the door once more for a host of newcomers vying for an open seat.

In many ways, the issues prevalent back then are still relevant today. The county is in the process of studying a vision for the future of East Naples. Candidates say growth and future development are among the main issues facing Collier. And they agree on the need to build up the county's stock of affordable homes. 

Three Republicans — Mark Batchelor, William Douglass and Rick LoCastro — are facing off in the Aug. 18 primary election. The winner is set to go head-to-head with Democrat John Jenkins at the Nov. 3 general election.

Jenkins recently faced calls from his own party to drop out of the race after his arrest in connection with a drug-related charge. His campaign coordinator has said she is confident that after the investigation the charges against Jenkins will be dropped or dismissed. As of Friday morning he remained in the running.

Two other Republican candidates are no longer in the race: Cliff Donenfeld did not qualify and Jacob Winge dropped out in May, citing the difficulties of running a campaign during a pandemic. 

Mark Batchelor

Batchelor, who recently retired from a job as a community association manager, was born in Philadelphia and grew up in its suburbs. 

After his time with the U.S. Air Force in the early 1970s, Batchelor, 67, worked for Xerox, rising from technician to region manager overseeing employees in the greater Philadelphia area. Jobs with other large corporations followed.

He and his wife, Jeri, moved to Collier during the mid-2000s to live here full time. To Batchelor, his 30 years of business experience have prepared him for a spot on the commission and make him stand out from the crowded field of candidates.

“I think without those experiences I’m afraid somebody can make a big mistake,” he said. “So it’s kind of (like) I’ve been in the training ground for it many years.”

Among the biggest issues facing District 1, Batchelor said, is the quality of growth there. He said he would like to see “more of a Mercato-type of look” that could attract higher-end businesses to the area “instead of these other little shopping centers that just keep failing.”

“It seems to wind up a dumping ground for what nobody else in the county wants … ,” Batchelor said. “I just get tired of seeing storage units and Dollar Stores and all this other low-income stuff. And there’s a lot of people with a lot of money down here in Naples. And I think we can really upgrade the look.”

A tax break in the form of a temporary moratorium on the county’s one-cent sales tax or lower impact fees, Batchelor said, could encourage the type of business growth he seeks in the area.

“I mean this one percent adds up,” he said. “It’d be a lot of money to individuals and business owners.”

He would like to see developers build more neighborhood-style housing, which could be more affordable, rather than only amenity-rich gated communities that are “one-size-fits-all.”

“I think we would make out as a community,” Batchelor said. “We’d be better off.”

He also wants the county to help small businesses that were devastated during the pandemic. 

Commissioners last month signed off on proposed allocations for more than $67 million in federal coronavirus aid, including $10 million for small business relaunch and rehire grants.

Batchelor and his wife like to spend their spare time golfing and going to dinner with friends. His top priority as commissioner would be to listen to constituents. 

“I’d like to get inside these communities, consistently and constantly,” he said. “Stay on top of their issues and hear their complaints. I want to be a part of their lives.”

William Douglass

A native of Springfield, Ohio, Douglass moved to Collier in the mid-1980s for a job managing a Ponderosa Steakhouse. In 1987, he joined the East Naples Fire & Rescue District, now the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District, as a firefighter. He retired as a lieutenant in 2017 following a 30-year career with the district. 

After some 35 years of living in District 1, Douglass, 58, said growth has caught his eye. He also worries about the county’s infrastructure, traffic on the road and environmental issues, like water quality. 

“We need to protect our quality of life and safety,” he said. “I did that, you know, especially on the fire service, every day I was on duty.”

During his time with the fire district, Douglass said, he had to make the proper decisions, ones that would affect people’s lives, and that he plans to bring his “calm, cool, collected demeanor” to the commission post.

Due to its lack of workforce housing, Douglass said the county is missing out on up-and-coming professionals who work in Collier and want to live here but can’t afford to do so. 

“Which comes right down to the bottom line of our tax base,” he said. “They’re spending money in Lee County for entertainment and gas. We’re missing that boat. And I think it needs to be here.”

Douglass also wants the county to focus on bringing more mental health resources to residents. He said many can’t afford the necessary doctors and medication. 

“We can’t turn our back to those people and we need to do a better job,” he said.

An ad hoc advisory committee last year put together a mental health and addiction services five-year strategic plan for the county, providing Collier, for the first time, with a detailed road map for better care for struggling residents.

As a firefighter with the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District, Douglass’ personnel file is filled with positive performance reviews and praise from superiors. But a November 1998 incident cost him his part-time job as a mechanic for the Marco Island Fire Department, newspaper archives show.

Douglass and a technician from Underwriter’s Laboratories were completing the annual certification of the city’s ladder truck when Douglass lowered the ladder onto a power line hanging above the driveway at the fire department’s service station on Elkcam Circle, the Daily News reported in early 1999. The incident temporarily cut electricity to about 5,000 islanders and led to the fire chief’s suspension after allegations of lax supervision. 

To Douglass it was a life lesson that will never be forgotten. 

Your attention, he said, has to be kept “100 percent” on the ladder, not even having conversations. Douglass said they were fortunate to walk away with their lives and he has taken those lessons and taught them to his colleagues.

“That is what hurts people, is when you lose concentration on something,” he said. 

Since retiring, life has been “all about the family,” Douglass said, helping them with their apartments or houses and taking care of tasks at home. 

He said he wants to be “the commissioner of the people, just like Commissioner Fiala was.” After initially endorsing Winge, Fiala moved her endorsement to Douglass after Winge dropped out of the race. 

“Through 30 years on the frontlines of the fire department he has demonstrated his leadership, commitment and passion for all residents in District 1,” Fiala said in a video message on Douglass’ campaign website.

Rick LoCastro

Born in Queens, New York, and spending his early years there, LoCastro, 54, still remembers family trips to West Point to watch parades, thinking the cadets marching by “were larger than life.”

After his parents moved the family to St. Petersburg, Florida, when he was still a child, he attended a college-prep school with a military program. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1988 and spent 24 years in the military, retiring as a colonel in 2012.

A job as the chief operating officer at Physicians Regional Medical Center on Collier Boulevard brought LoCastro to Southwest Florida. Stints with Avow Hospice and The Arlington, a continuing care retirement community in East Naples, followed. LoCastro also runs his own consulting business, RJL Consulting Team.

His military background and career as a healthcare executive, LoCastro said, separates him from the other candidates. 

“District 1 should not have the least experienced, least qualified commissioner,” he said. “And, you know, I feel like I’m the most experienced and most qualified.”

A contributor to his opponents' campaigns, in a barrage of Facebook posts and a letter to the editor, has taken issue with how LoCastro has described his various posts in the military, including that he was a hospital administrator. LoCastro stands by his record and showed a reporter personnel files from his service.

"I was brought into two bases that had failing hospitals and, you now, those hospital administrators that had the hospital administrator badge in some cases were the people that we fired," he said. "But as the base commander, I was a hospital administrator." 

To LoCastro, “overgrowth” is among the biggest issues facing the district in the coming years. It creates environmental issues, traffic and congestion and safety problems on roadways, he added.

“I’d rather see nothing on a piece of greenspace than the wrong thing,” LoCastro said. “And I know what the wrong thing looks like, because there’s plenty of it in District 1. And you can’t unbuild it.”

He said he has seen poor development plans pitched to the commission with some commissioners asking “thinner questions than I think would be in my top 100 of things that would be priorities.” 

LoCastro said he plans to tackle development and growth by bringing credibility and influence to the seat and convincing others on the board to vote in favor of things that will help District 1 and the rest of the county.

Workforce housing, he said, needs to be spread out to make it more convenient for workers so they have to commute less. He pointed to a recently approved North Naples housing project, called Allura, as an example of affordable units being integrated into a development. 

The project faced staunch opposition from neighbors, but commissioners unanimously approved it after the developer agreed to keep a portion of the units affordable for 30 years.

“That shouldn’t be mandatory in every single thing, but it should at least be discussed,” LoCastro said.

In his spare time, LoCastro said he gets together for dinners with his 25-year-old son, Scott, who lives in Estero. “He’s been helping with my campaign, you know, driving me around as we knock on doors,” he said. 

With $92,000 in campaign contributions as of the latest available reports from late July, LoCastro held a fundraising edge of about $28,000 over Douglass who has raised the next largest amount.

Both LoCastro and Douglass received $5,000 from limited liability companies tied to Brian Stock, CEO of Stock Development. The developer is proposing to build a controversial, upscale housing and retail project, known as One Naples, in North Naples. The project will eventually need approval from the county commission.

LoCastro’s haul includes a $20,000 loan to his campaign and $1,500 contributed by his consulting firm. For Douglass about $20,000 has come out of his own pocket.

While Douglass netted an endorsement from the incumbent, LoCastro was endorsed by Naples Better Government, which describes itself as a nonpartisan political committee.

“He takes a team approach to getting things done and would be a strong leader for all of Collier County,” Nancy Kerns, president of the group said in a news release.

Connect with the reporter at patrick.riley@naplesnews.com or on Twitter @PatJRiley.