Candidate: Jason Brooke

Who in the #$%^ is Jason Brooke?

Well, I am definitely the candidate no one knows because I have never been a politician or pandered the local masses. I am however born and raised in Naples. My family has been residents of Naples since 1952. I grew up in East Naples because there wasn’t really a North Naples. I went to St. Ann Catholic School and graduated from Lely High. I run my local HOA as the board president. I have two successful daughters and 4 grandchildren. Wait, is this guy young or old? I am in-between, having my kids earlier in life than most with my first daughter being born when I was just 22.

My grandfather was an Architect and built a lot of the original Naples neighborhoods, Naples Manor, The Moorings, and Marco Island.  My mom worked at Naples Federal and my dad followed the path of my grandfather building Naples Park homes in the 80’s.  My Grandmother is very active at the Naples Senior Center. I have links on my website where you can read about her at  www.votejasonbrooke.com.

I am also a US Navy Veteran serving 7 years, 6 months and 3 days (they tell you when you get out, I wasn’t counting). Nearly four years of that was on the Carl Vinson. The Carl Vinson might sound familiar to you because it’s the aircraft carrier that committed Osama Bin Ladens’ remains to the sea. I served during Desert Storm, Operation Desert Strike and Operation Southern Watch. I can’t exactly say I was a big participant in Desert Storm because I spent nearly all of that war being yelled at by a Drill Instructor. During the other two, I was in the Persian Gulf repairing F/A-18 Avionics and Missile Systems in an engineering lab. I am an engineer by education but have spent more than half my career in Business Development running small organizations to very large ones; my largest was the head of North American Sales for Safran-Zodiac, a $21 Billion dollar company. I now sell missionized aircraft to the US Air Force to provide foreign nations under US military support contracts.

People think Naples Natives just don’t understand the diverse community Naples has become over the years. Although born and raised here, I have lived in other cities during my career, Seattle, San Francisco, Memphis (all military stations) and I have traveled to more than 35 countries and 49 of these United States, so I have seen a thing or two and have an open mind to the needs of people. I also have a broad understanding of how people that weren’t born here may have become accustomed to government being. I’m not going to turn Naples into any of those places on my watch but I will make sure every voice is heard.

Where do I stand on local issues?

Naples Growth: I am about smart growth. People might say, there is no such thing. Like or not with me or anyone else, Naples is going to grow. We all love the Naples I grew up in and no matter when you moved here, the thing I hear is that it is growing so fast. The other side of that is people wanting more and more convenience. I think we need a smart plan to limit the growth within the confines of the infrastructure growth. Traffic is already bad enough, adding housing developments over and over makes that worse. People that work in Naples and we count on to support this growth can’t afford to live where they work. I want to help the other commissioners find that balance. I don’t want this to be Miami any more than anyone else does, so I have your back on that one. I grew up when Naples was mostly wooded and fruit stands where Publix now stands. When Sugden Park was McCormick’s Lake and you went there on Sunday morning to bass fish or sit in an innertube. Life will never be what it was for me as a kid nor for you. It’s going to grow, let’s just do it intelligently.

Taxes: The word everyone hates to hear. I am against big government or the government taking over things that people don’t need or can manage on their own. I am against arbitrarily increasing taxes. I also don’t want to wait until it’s too late to find money for something. Nothing should really be a surprise; the money should be smartly budgeted to account for infrastructure and community needs.

Governing of Citizens: I am completely against mandates of any kind that infringe upon the rights of the citizens. You will never hear a YES out of me for things like that. I am pro-freedom and pro-constitution.

General Items: As you would likely hear anyone, “I am for clean water, I want clean air, I hate traffic, it’s too expensive” please show me the person that doesn’t want a better community. We all want a better life; we all want to live a worry-free lifestyle. The citizens of Naples come first to me but it will be difficult to be all things to all people so we need to focus on the things that everyone enjoys here.