Sparker’s Digest - July 16, 2025
Veterans’ nursing home update. Potential tourist tax hike. Chemical spraying to fight mosquitos. Marco Island leadership drama. This week's roundup of news for Collier voters.
Welcome to Sparker's Digest, a weekly roundup of news for Collier County voters, with a focus on state and local government. It’s produced by Sparker’s Soapbox publisher Sandy Parker, whose mission is to facilitate and encourage informed voting in Collier County and across Florida.
Collier County Government News
1. What's Up with a Veterans' Nursing Home in Naples? Looking Good, County Says
Collier officials are increasingly optimistic a nursing home for veterans will be built in the community. That upbeat perspective is based on a newly released list that pegs the 120-bed nursing home on the county-owned Golden Gate Golf Course as a high priority. (Naples Daily News, 7/10/25)($)
2. Proposed Tourist Tax Hike Inches Forward; One Cent Increase Will Need Voter Approval
Collier County commissioners unanimously approved advertising an ordinance to increase the tourist tax by a penny. Board Chairman Burt Saunders pitched the increase as a way to raise the $40 million to $50 million needed to complete the Paradise Coast Sports complex, located off Collier Boulevard near Interstate 75 in East Naples. The proposed increase requires voter approval in the November 2026 general election. (Naples Daily News, 7/13/25)($)
3. Paradise Coast Sports Complex Project Advances with Potential $130M Expansion Plan
Collier County Commissioners approved a sports tourism impact study, which includes looking at expanding the Paradise Coast Sports Complex. The complex is filled with sports fields; however, it does not have fields for softball and baseball. (Gulf Coast News, 7/9/25)
4. Immokalee Road Apartment Plan Reverts to Original For-Sale Townhomes
After months of delays, petitions and changes, a proposal for a new development off Immokalee Road will go to state groups for approval, mostly as it was first presented but with fewer homes set aside for affordable housing. (Naples Daily News, 7/10/25)($)
Collier County Sheriff News
5. A Florida County Leads the Way with a High-Tech 911 System That Improves Emergency Response
Moving to what's known as an NG911 — or Next Generation 911 — system is a journey Sheriff Kevin Rambosk and Bob Finney, the county's director of communication, have been on for much of the past decade. (News4Jax, 7/15/25)
Collier Mosquito Control District News
6. Neighbors Urge Mosquito Control Board to End Aerial Chemical Spraying in Collier County
For 75 years, the Collier Mosquito Control District has been battling mosquitoes from the sky — but on Thursday, a group of anti-chemical activists packed a public meeting, urging officials to adopt more natural methods. (Fox4Now, 7/10/25)
City of Marco Island Government News
7. Marco Island City Manager Keeps Job After Last-Minute Resignation Effort Is Rejected
Marco Island City Manager Michael McNees attempted to resign from his role Monday just moments before a scheduled vote to terminate his contract — but in a surprise turn, city council members voted to reject his resignation, allowing him to remain in the role. (Fox4Now, 7/14/25)
Marco Island Finance Director Resigns Day After Heated Audit Discussion with City Council (Naples Daily News, 7/10/25)($)
Marco Island City Manager Under Fire by Council Chair Over Material Weakness in FY24 Audit (Naples Daily News, 7/8/25)($)
Florida Government News: Immigration
8. Florida Supreme Court Kicks ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Case to Lower Court
The Democrats' case will be heard in Leon County, far away from the outdoor Everglades prison for pre-deportees. (Florida Politics, 7/14/25)
Florida Lawmakers Who Were Denied Access to ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Sue Gov. DeSantis (Associated Press, 7/10/25)
9. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida Seeks to Join Lawsuit Against Alligator Alcatraz
Citing “significant concerns about environmental degradation” and threats to “traditional and religious ceremonies,” members of the Miccosukee Tribe are trying to join a lawsuit challenging an immigrant-detention center in the Everglades. (News Service of Florida via WGCU, 7/15/25)
10. Inside Florida's Alligator Alcatraz: What We Know About the Immigrant Detention Center
"[T]here is working air conditioning throughout the facility," said Stephanie Hartman, deputy director of communications, Florida Division of Emergency Management. "All wastewater … [t]anks, hoses, and connections are fully contained to prevent spills and are regularly inspected to ensure zero environmental impact," Hartman said. (Naples Daily News, 7/12/25)
11. ‘A Black Hole’: Attorneys Say They Still Can’t Reach Clients in Alligator Alcatraz
Nearly two weeks since the site opened, lawyers say Florida’s pop-up detention facility has been a black box, with detainees going in and little information coming out, except for outgoing calls from the facility. (Miami Herald, 7/15/25)
12. SWFL Republican Lawmakers Say Alligator Alcatraz Is Needed, Clean and Safe for Detainees
State Representatives Adam Botana and Yvette Benarroch toured the Alligator Alcatraz detainment facility and praised its conditions. Both representatives defended the facility's establishment, citing the need to address illegal immigration. (The News-Press via Naples Daily News, 7/14/25)
13. Hundreds at Alligator Alcatraz Have No Criminal Charges, Miami Herald Learns
Mixed among the detainees accused and convicted of crimes are more than 250 people who are listed as having only immigration violations but no criminal convictions or pending charges in the United States. The data is based on a list of more than 700 people who are detained at the facility or appear to be scheduled to be sent there. (Miami Herald, 7/13/25)($)
14. Retired Florida Planner Questions If Any Plans Were Made in Advance of Surprise Prison
Jim Beever, a retired planner for the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, says the site is one of the worst possible locations the state could have chosen for a migrant detention center. (The News-Press, 7/9/25)($)
15. Alligator Alcatraz: No Permits. No Oversight. No Problem
At the center of Florida’s Immigration and Enforcement Operations Plan is a request to suspend ICE’s National Detention Standards—the 233-page playbook that outlines the bare minimum for how detainees should be fed, housed and treated. (The Backstory Blog, 7/8/25)
16. Alligator Alcatraz: A legal black hole, hidden in a swamp
When you add it all up — the suspended and sidestepped laws, the evasions of responsibility, the no-bid contracts, the nearly three-year-long “state of emergency” — one thing is becoming quite clear about Alligator Alcatraz: The politicians running the place are bigger lawbreakers than many of the immigrants they’re locking up. (Seeking Rents, 7/13/25)
17. Alligator Alcatraz firm donated to Florida GOP before getting a contract
A Texas-based company gave $10,000 to Florida’s Republican Party days before getting state contracts to help with transportation at a state-run detention facility for migrants in the Everglades. IRG Global Emergency Management Inc. made the donation on June 24, days after state Attorney General James Uthmeier first publicly floated the Alligator Alcatraz detention center. (Tampa Bay Times, 7/12/25)
18. DeSantis Says 'No' to Trump's New Plan Protecting Undocumented Farmers
Gov. Ron DeSantis amplified a podcast Tuesday criticizing President Donald Trump's new plan to shield undocumented farm workers from deportation, insisting that "amnesty" shouldn't be granted to any non-citizen. (The Floridian, 7/8/25)
Florida Government News: Other Topics
19. Florida Files Quick Appeal of Ruling on Ballot Restrictions
Lawyers for Secretary of State Cord Byrd and Attorney General James Uthmeier have quickly appealed a ruling by a federal judge that blocked a key part of a new law that imposed additional restrictions on the state’s ballot-initiative process. The notice came three days after Judge Mark Walker issued a preliminary injunction against part of the law that banned non-Florida residents and non-U.S. citizens from collecting and delivering petitions for ballot initiatives. (News Service of Florida via Sun-Sentinel, 7/14/25)
20. Friday Vote in Florida Could Be Higher Education ‘Foundation Rocker’
Gov. Ron DeSantis has been fighting the accreditation system for years, accusing it of being biased toward progressive politics. Creating an alternative accreditor would be the biggest move yet. But even if the Florida Board of Governors approves it, a full shakeup would take years. (WUSF, 7/10/25)
Despite Reservations, Florida Approves New Accreditor (Inside Higher Ed, 7/11/25)
21. Another DeSantis Ally Takes the Helm of a Public University in Florida
Manny Diaz, who DeSantis previously appointed to be his state commissioner of education, started his first day on the job Monday as the interim president of the University of West Florida in Pensacola. (Associated Press/Report for America via WLRN, 7/14/25)
22. Gov. DeSantis Lets Non-Compete Bill Become Law Sans Signature
The new law extends the maximum time for a non-compete clause from two years to four years, barring a worker from leaving to work for a competing business for that span. It also enables employers to more swiftly enforce those clauses. (USA Today Network-Florida via Tallahassee Democrat, 7/8/25)($)
23. Taking Issue with ‘Tech Overlords’
After vetoing a bill about studying the effects of artificial intelligence on Florida workers, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state will develop a plan to prevent “tech overlords” from taking over. (News Service of Florida via Florida Trend, 7/10/25)
24. All FDACS Officers Now Certified in 287(g) Program
Florida's agricultural law enforcement officials now can identify, process, and detail suspected illegal immigrants under this program, allowing them to work in concert with other state law enforcement prioritizing the fight to remove foreign nationals in the state illegally. (Florida Politics, 7/12/25)
25. Wilton Simpson’s ‘Operation Safe Summer’ Seizes 85k Hemp Products in Statewide Crackdown
Florida’s aggressive push to remove unsafe and deceptively marketed hemp products from store shelves has resulted in more than 85,000 packages seized across 40 counties in the first three weeks of the state’s “Operation Safe Summer” enforcement sweep, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson announced. (Florida Politics, 7/9/25)
2026 Election News: In the Governor Race
26. Donalds’ PAC Gets $975k Injection
Pennsylvania businessman Jeff Yass, a major national political donor, gave $1 million last month to a political committee that subsequently sent $975,000 to a PAC tied to Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds, according to a newly filed finance report. Political committees face a Thursday deadline for filing reports showing financial activity from April 1 through June 30. A report for the Friends of Byron Donalds PAC had not been posted on the Division of Elections website as of early Tuesday afternoon. (News Service of Florida, 7/8/25)
27. David Jolly Rolls Out Endorsements from ‘Democratic Powerhouses’
The former Republican Congressman is announcing support from former Democratic U.S. Reps. Gwen Graham, Donna Shalala and Karen Thurman as he looks to consolidate support before drawing any serious opposition. (Florida Politics, 7/9/25)