The Challenges of Change

It feels like we’re starting a whole new year, right here after Easter and after season. But it’s a new year for our residents who have settled here, that’s for sure! It’s also a new year with construction and growth, something we all have to acclimate to. Some very nice people have moved here and are hoping for a wonderful start in their new life in Collier County. It’s a new day! Let’s see what it looks like! 

Speaking about things changing! Lots of changes going on…and we all know change is sometimes difficult to swallow, but it’s our world, and we have to try to make it the best we can! The other day I went to the town hall meeting at Riviera Country Club. These people have always held a special place in my heart in our community, and so I want to hover over them to support them, even though they have a new commissioner (which wasn’t their choice, but the other commissioners on the dais decided to break up our lovely districts into pieces so we now cannot make our own decisions but it’s left up to a “Party” instead of the residents). I’ve lived in my house for 49 years and nurtured it and loved the neighborhood. We all got along so well, but now it won’t be for our community anymore, but party lines. What a shame! Remember how well we grew and dug out of the mess we were in. Yes, it took us quite a few years, but we made it, and now I’m just praying I’m not seeing us sliding backward again. Every community stuck all their distasteful issues in East Naples and when we started to come back, people were so happy and proud to see the improvements. Then they wanted East Naples to provide all the City of Naples workforce with housing instead of taking part of that load for their own workers, but now we’re in that same predicament that we lived through while the “big city” looks down their nose at us, and worse, wants East Naples to build more affordable housing for the workers they need so badly within their city, but don’t want them LIVING in the City. Are you watching and paying attention? Sometimes it is not a pretty picture from this vantage point! I understand the City of Naples wants to be the best of the best, and East Naples doesn’t ask that, but we DO want to be recognized as a location who is pulling itself up by the bootstraps and working hard at improving, no matter how the others try to stop us.