Dr. Kamela Patton: Congratulations on your receipt of the Lavan Dukes Data Leader of the Year Award for SWFL School Districts. Your continued excellence in leading our public school system is a source of pride to many of us. We salute your accomplishments. Collier Citizens Council
Congratulations on being recognized for outstanding work with the specialty courts on the mental health and addiction problems plaguing our community. We are blessed to have diligent and skilled advocates like you working to make life better for all of us. Dave Trecker Collier Citizens Council
By Dave Trecker It remains one of Collier County’s most persistent problems. Mental health and substance abuse affects thousands (the number swollen by the opioid crisis), leads to homelessness and fills our already-crowded jails. Treatment facilities are limited, and halfway houses for those treated and released are woefully inadequate. Qualified caregivers to help with post-discharge […]
By Dave Trecker It’s election season, and the cause celebre this year — at least in South Florida — is out-of-control algae, algae forming blooms that choke our waterways and the worst red tide in 12 years. Neither of these related problems is new. What’s new is that politicians running for office are being forced […]
By Paul Feuer and Dave Trecker Is government best when it’s closest to home? The Florida legislature apparently doesn’t think so. It’s continuing its assault on home rule with seven bills this session. (There may be others we missed.) The bills themselves are not earthshaking; one is downright silly. Taken alone, each has little impact. […]
By Shelley Rhoads Perry The affordable/workforce housing debate died down somewhat with the mass exodus north last summer, butthe critical need for solutions awaits our neighbors’ return this fall. As some commentators have already said, it often feels like we aren’t speaking the same language when we discuss the housing issues. I’m a baby boomer, […]
THE COLLIER CITIZENS COUNCIL HAS TAKEN POSITIONS ON A HOST OF LOCAL ISSUES Supported increasing tourist tax to 5% Opposed fragmentation of EMS training and control Supported consolidation of Golden Gate & East Naples Fire Districts Recommended naming of Fred Coyle Freedom Park Led successful effort to increase TDC funding of non-profits Analyzed effectiveness of […]
Published in Florida Weekly on 11/7/19 NANCY LASCHEID TO RECEIVE CIVIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARD By Dave Trecker A longtime provider of health care to Collier County’s working poor, Nancy Lascheid has been chosen to receive the Murray Hendel Civic Achievement Award for 2019. She will be honored at a ceremony in December. Named for Mr. Hendel, […]
Published in Naples Daily News, 11/8/18 MARTIN HONORED FOR WORK WITH TREATMENT COURTS By Dave Trecker It remains one of Collier County’s most persistent problems. Mental health and substance abuse affects thousands (the number swollen by the opioid crisis), leads to homelessness and fills our already-crowded jails. Treatment facilities are limited, and halfway houses for […]
Published in the Naples Daily News, 12/2/17 HONORING A LONG-TIME COMBATANT OF IDENTITY THEFT By Dave Trecker Who among us has not been a victim of identity fraud? Who hasn’t had their computer hacked or credit card stolen, leading to unauthorized purchases or diverted tax refunds or accessed bank accounts or stolen medical records? Maddening, […]