New Year, New Chairman

The first Collier County Commissioners Meeting of 2024 started with a changing of the guard and the addition of a Naples professional soccer team.

Chairmanship of the board is on a rotation basis; 2023 saw District One Commissioner Rick LoCastro as Chair. He passed the gavel to District Two Commissioner Chris Hall at the start of the board meeting. Commissioner LoCastro had some final comments, thanking all staff for their assistance during his tenure. “The person I want to thank the most is my Executive Assistant, Aixa Capizzi,” said LoCastro. “The five assistants that are on the other side of this wall are really the unsung heroes. They do an awful lot – they’re not just secretaries, they don’t just answer phones.”

“Commissioner Hall will bring some great improvements and ideas,” continued LoCastro. “That’s what we do. We blow the dust off of things. The outgoing chair is proud to see what the incoming chair does. I wish you all the best and we will follow your lead.”

On accepting the gavel, Hall told LoCastro, “I learned a lot from you. I’ve been here for a year and thought you did an amazing job leading our group, and you kept it fun, you kept it professional.” Commissioner Burt Saunders from District Three was named vice-chair.

It was in November 2022 when the board first approved having Paradise Sports Complex become a venue for a new professional team franchise in the United Soccer Leagues. The deal was finalized at the January 9, 2024 board meeting. The anticipated start of league play would be in 2025. “(It is a) nice little undertaking to put the first ever professional franchise into Collier County,” said Adrian Moses, General Manager of the Paradise Coast Sports Complex. “The X factor of this is to build civic pride, to build community activity for families,” Moses said. A community committee will be formed to help name the team. The soccer team is just another addition to the ever-growing list of other events that will be held at the complex. “This elevates the use of this facility…Having an identity with a professional team will elevate the sport in our county,” said Saunders.

Also on the agenda was approval to establish a policy to lease a County-owned mobile home to house law enforcement officers at Paradise Coast Sports Complex to provide greater law enforcement presence at the site. “This would be for one officer? It’s a big park,” said Saunders. “I’m wondering if we should have more than one officer resident there.” 

“I think when we look at the overall site plan, there was the concept of having a secondary site,” said a County staff member. “At the moment, we are using our security team at the facility as well at night so we will continue to monitor the situation and get the right level of staffing out there to ensure the safety of the facility.”