Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed legislation that will change how members of the Naples Airport Authority board are chosen.
Despite strong opposition from city leaders, the governor approved House Bill 4005, signing it into law April 6.
The effect of the legislation: The airport authority’s board will change to an elected one.
Historically, council leaders have appointed members to the board. Under the new law, the board’s members would be elected by Collier County voters.
The bill passed almost unanimously in the Florida House and Senate.
City council lobbied heavily against the bill and sent a letter to DeSantis, urging him to veto it.
In part the letter, hand delivered to DeSantis, read:
“The impact of HB 4005 is to usurp the Naples City Council’s proper and necessary governance and oversight of the City’s largest and most significant tangible asset, the Naples Municipal Airport, along with the land on which it is located. The legislation provides no demonstrated public necessity and instead introduces significant risk by opening the door to external influence over one of the City’s most critical assets. The loss of local control creates the potential for incompatible decisions regarding land use, intensification of airport operations, and policy direction that may not reflect the values or best interests of the City of Naples community.”
Council members repeatedly voiced their opposition at council meetings, as they discussed efforts to fight the legislation, which they saw as an assault on home rule.
“An entity challenging our home rule or trying to take away our home rule, is something that we have to adamantly protect and defend. The airport is our largest asset. It’s the largest asset for the city taxpayers,” Mayor Teresa Heitmann said at a council meeting on March 18.
The Naples Airport sits on 732 acres, almost all of it owned by the city. However, the city doesn’t manage it. The Legislature created the Naples Airport Authority in 1969 to operate the airport, and it answers to the authority’s board, not to city council.
Bill sponsor applauds governor’s signing of it
Rep. Adam Botana, R-Bonita Springs, who sponsored the legislation to change the airport board to an elected one, cheered its signing by the governor, who did so without comment.
“I’m happy to see the governor sign it and I’m happy to see it go into law,” Botana said. “To give power back to the people of the city and the county.”
He sponsored the bill after decisions made by city council and its appointees to the airport authority board in recent years. They included a decision not to apply for federal and state grants worth about $9 million, which could have funded capital projects, including apron improvements, security enhancements and taxiway lighting repairs.
Last June, city council voted to take control of any construction projects at Naples Airport. Within 24 hours after the council approved a resolution outlining new requirements, the Naples Airport Authority Board of Commissioners held a regular meeting and by tie votes rejected federal and state grant applications worth about $9 million.
Botana said this week that when city council passed on the grants, “that’s hurting the people of Collier County.”
“This is a main hub for people to get in and out of the city,” he added.
Over the weekend, Botana said he had lunch with his mother at Tommy Bahamas on Third Street South in downtown Naples and they heard planes flying over from the airport. He considered it part of the city’s charm, and he doesn’t want to see the airport moved because of some “squeaky wheels” — an idea that has been floated multiple times over the years.
The most recent airport relocation study, initiated and directed by the airport authority board a few years ago, found it financially unfeasible. Last June, the board voted 3-1 to end the exploratory study — a move Botana applauded.
What prompted Rep. Botana to sponsor the bill?
Botana said he’d grown tired of seeing city council trying to “handcuff” the airport board, and appointing people to the board that “didn’t care about the airport.”
The board, he said, has some “good people” on it now, and he’s encouraged those people to put their names in the hat to run for their positions, so the airport can continue to thrive and grow.
Botana pointed out there are small businesses operating at the airport whose livelihoods depend on it, and who need to be protected.
“At the end of the day, we need to support those people because those are locals, those are people who were born and raised in Naples, who have jobs because of that airport, and it’s a huge benefit to the city of Naples,” he said.
The new law will change the makeup of the airport authority’s board and implement new qualifications for a seat on it. Three members would be city residents, and two would be from Collier County, but outside Naples, with new requirements for experience and expertise.
Every member must have spent at least five years engaged in financial management, small business operations or aerospace.
The first election would be held during the 2026 general election in Collier County.
Initially, members in odd-numbered seats would be elected for a term of four years and those in even-numbered seats for two years. Thereafter, they would all serve four-year terms.
The city of Naples could sue over the legislation
Before the governor signed the legislation, the city council threatened to take legal action if it became law.
Asked about the possibility of a lawsuit, Botana said he’d hate to see that happen.
“I look forward to working together with some new people on the city council,” he said. “The fact that folks are trying to sue over the legislation, I think that is just a poor use of their constituents’ money.”
Monique Barnhart-Tiberio, the city’s public information officer and communication manager, said that city council has been made aware of the governor’s decision to sign the bill.
However, any decision about next steps, she said, would be made “in the Sunshine,” at a public meeting.
That could happen at its next regularly scheduled meeting on April 13, or at an April 15 workshop.
At the last council meeting, Heitmann argued in the city’s defense: “We do have a right to defend the right to manage the property that the taxpayers own, the largest piece of property that the taxpayers own. In fact, we have an obligation to them to do so.”
Others react to the signing of the legislation
The airport authority’s Executive Director Chris Rozansky could not immediately be reached for comment.
City resident Slate Dabney said in an email: “HB 4005 is an unfortunate piece of legislation that was created over perceived issues with prior selections of NAA commissioners. Those selections were by prior City Councils, and the most recent selections were outstanding.”
He continued: “Now, the full NAA will be reelected by Collier County voters in the fall. This method for selecting airport commissioners has proven to be a failure in the few Florida communities where it has been used. The primary objective here is safety and a properly operated airport for the Naples community.”
Gary Price, a former councilman and vice mayor, supported the legislation as a way to avoid mistakes made by previous councils that he didn’t sit on.
“I’m grateful to the governor and the state legislature, and especially our local delegation, for standing up for us,” he said. “To help us fix a problem that the council created.”
While Price is a big advocate of home rule, he said the bill isn’t about taking away home rule, but rather about an alternative way to get better representation on the Naples Airport Authority board. He supports having representation on the board from county residents who live outside of the city, saying they can offer new perspectives.
Board members, he said, should be independent thinkers who want to do their best for the airport and the larger community, and not be influenced by the city council.
He said he hoped the city could find a better path than suing over the legislation, which he saw as the only remedy to the problem.
“I would like us to spend our resources taking care of our community,” Price said. “I think the residents of this community expect that would be the case.”
Laura Layden is a business and government reporter. Reach her by email at laura.layden@naplesnews.com.
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J. Kyle Foster, a senior growth & development reporter for The News-Press & Naples Daily News, contributed to this story. Reach her by emailing jfoster1@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: DeSantis signs bill changing Naples Airport board
Reporting by Laura Layden, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
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