Election 2024: Nicholas Del Rosso vows to protect Naples' small-town charm

This is part of a series in which Naples candidates speak about key issues.

Nicholas Del Rosso is one of six running for three open seats on Naples City Council.

A consultant, he said he's running because there are people who want to "fundamentally change what Naples is and what it means to be a Neapolitan," and he doesn't want to let that happen.

"Naples residents are very clear about the things they value in our city – our environment, our small-town charm, and our responsible development – and I am eager to do my part to protect our city for the next 100 years to come," he said.

These are his views on some of the hottest topics in the city:

Growth and development

Naples can exist in the 21st Century without completely sacrificing our small-town charm. We have a city vision and codes for a reason, and exceptions exist for the sole benefit of our citizens (such as the Heart Institute) and not to pad the pockets of business interests. I am one of the only candidates for council who has actually done work to control development in Naples – on my own as a citizen and without being asked. I showed code abuses to our council, was invited by our mayor to officially present my findings to council and helped co-author protective environmental and building ordinances on our books today. I did this in my first year living in Naples.

Parking and traffic

The city and county need to maintain an equitable relationship, which includes being on the same page about how much of their traffic, visitors, and free parking we shoulder. Traffic, more importantly, also starts a step further back with density, and no one can claim to have a real plan for traffic if they’re not vocal about cracking down on overdevelopment and density.

Taxes and spending

The property values that drive our revenue are some of the best and most robust in the nation – they literally went up during a hurricane. If we protect our property values, we will eliminate the need to dip into higher taxes to keep our city first class, and protecting our property values requires us to recognize that our environment, peacefulness, and small-town charm are the reasons why people pay princely sums to be here.

Affordable housing

Affordable housing is the backbone of what we enjoy in Naples – the service industry, the manicured landscapes, the world-class first responders. They need to live somewhere, and the county is the only geography that holds solutions for us. We need a phenomenal relationship with the county to address complexities like affordable housing, which is why I’m proud to be endorsed by leaders in the county like commission chairman Chris Hall.

Public Safety

If you wait until after you’ve had national headlines or a tragedy to prioritize police and public safety – it’s too late. Prevention is worth more than the cure, if we want Naples to stay as prosperous, attractive, and safe as it is we need to make sure we have a world-class team of responders with all the public and financial support they deserve.

Other thoughts

Asked if he had anything to add, he said: "I have lived around the world and been in prosperous cities as they’ve gone down the drain in real time, and I’m not going to stand by and let my generation do nothing and be shocked when what we inherit is something completely different from the beautiful city you left us."

Through his own campaign, he's raised about $9,750.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Naples election: Candidate Del Rosso eager to do his part to protect the city