Candidate: Mark Cherney

My name is Mark Cherney, Candidate for Greater Naples Fire Rescue District Commission Seat 1, and I thank you for taking time to learn a little bit about me.  I am a third generation Floridian, born in Arcadia, FL and raised in Naples, FL.  I have been married to my wife, Kim for 34 years and we have two children.

I attended Naples High School and was in the first graduating class of Barron Collier High School. Following my love and family history in aviation, I attended and graduated in 1984 from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a BS in Aeronautical Science.  Following a short stint as a Charter Pilot and Flight Instructor, I began my career as a pilot with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) in 1986 as a prisoner transport pilot.  By 1989 I had been promoted to Chief Pilot and embarked on a journey to create one of the most proactive and safest public service Law Enforcement Aviation Bureaus in the State of Florida. Throughout my career we excelled at being the first to introduce new and cutting-edge technology all the while doing so in an efficient and economical manner. During that time, we operated accident free while providing thousands of hours of airborne support to the citizens of Collier County and our neighboring communities through mutual aid agreements.

In 2009, the CCSO Marine Bureau was added to my Aviation Bureau command duties.  This addition allowed for the creation of an interdisciplinary team between the two agency bureaus tasked with the majority of search & rescues taking place in the county. 

I earned my master’s degree, majoring in Public Administration from Central Michigan University in 1999. I served in a director position for Airborne Law Enforcement Association, chaired the CCSO Benefits Committee, and was charged with design, development, and oversight of construction of the CCSO Special Operation Building.  The CCSO Spec Ops building completed in 2008 was one of the first CAT 5 rated first responder buildings erected in Collier County meant to remain operational throughout a hurricane.

Throughout my career I authored policies and SOP’s, many of which were adopted on a state level for all Florida Law Enforcement agencies operating aircraft.  I received many awards and recognitions over the years and retired from the CCSO at the rank of Captain in May of 2016.

Following my law enforcement retirement, I flew for a regional airline before leaving to focus my attention on my aircraft management business here in Naples.

In addition to holding an Airline Transport Rating, I am a Commercially rated helicopter pilot and hold active Instructor ratings for helicopters and airplanes. I am an Eagle Scout, have volunteered as an adult scouter, a Little League baseball coach, an American Red Cross CPR Instructor and worked with Naples Youth Soccer.

Your Greater Naples Fire Rescue District has many ongoing operational, financial and near-term future issues that simply are not being adequately addressed by some Fire Commissioners even though they have held their seats for many years. 

·       Aging fire stations with no strategic or financial plan, with an attendant dedicated revenue stream for repair, renovation, and/or replacement at the end of their life expectancy.

·       Operating with dated and aged Policies and Standard Operating Procedures for years exposing the District to increased liability that are just now being addressed.

·       Failure to adjust impact fees as necessary to keep pace with growth. These failures in lack of proper attention have now created a need so great that it will be difficult and costly, if not impossible, to catch up with growth due to the new statutory restrictions (FSS 163.31801) on increasing impact fees.

·       Lack of concern for both service gaps and financial gaps as defined by fire rescue administrators.

·       Failure to seize all available alternative funding opportunities and balance that with controlled growth in ad Valorem taxation in order to resolve service and financial gaps.

It is time for CHANGE! It is time to elect Fire Commissioners who have no residual bias toward either the former East Naples or Golden Gate Fire Districts and represent the GNFD District as a WHOLE!  It is time to elect Fire Commissioners who want to support all our firefighters! It is time to elect Fire Commissioners who are not afraid to tackle the difficult issues. We need Fire Commissioners that are fiscally responsible, have extensive public safety experience, are situationally aware, also understand the need to keep pace with growth!  We need Fire Commissioners who are intellectually energized to think outside the box to find ways to help administrative leadership achieve their operational goals! We have great administrative leadership within the District, it is the Fire Commissioner’s responsibility to provide them with the tools and finances necessary to protect our community! WE NEED CHANGE to avert a full-scale tax and finance emergency!