Newly appointed Naples City Manager Gary Young was sworn in this week, the day City Council approved his $300,000 yearly contract.
Surrounded by city employees, Young was sworn in Feb. 5 by City Clerk Patricia Rambosk as he placed his hand on a Bible held by his wife, Rebecca.
“My friends back home say, ‘Well, this is a perfect way to end a career,’” Young said after thanking his wife for her support in his decision, and his past and current staff. “What I will say is, ‘No, that’s not the perfect way.’ When I leave here when this job is done, and you can look back and say, ‘We made the right choice,’ and I can say, ‘I made the right choice,’ that’ll be the perfect way to end a career.’”
He promised to do his best to work through the city’s pending capital projects, including Naples Pier, stormwater-outfall pipes, seawall replacements and labor contract negotiations. He said the Bible his wife held was given to him by his employees in Canton, Ohio, where he spent 30 years and retired as chief deputy auditor before being hired by the city.
“The importance of the employees to me is they know where my heart is, where I serve from, and what my beliefs are. … We will accomplish a lot together as long as we hold steadfast to holding each other accountable,” he said, adding the Bible’s “fundamental principles” will guide him.
Council unanimously voted Jan. 15 to skip appointing an interim manager, forgo an expensive and lengthy national search and instead transition Young into the job. He became acting city manager Jan. 23. As manager, he’ll oversee about 525 city employees and a $208.8 million budget.
Mayor Teresa Heitmann called it a “wonderful day.”
“We are very blessed to have a man who’s got the character and the integrity to care enough about each and every one of you in this community, and a commitment to see through the projects that the voters voted us in for,” Heitmann said.
Young’s salary is slightly higher than that of his predecessor, Jay Boodheshwar, who retired from public service after roughly 30 years, nearly three years with Naples. He accepted a job as director of major gifts at Oxbridge Academy middle and high school in West Palm Beach. He’d spent 16 years in the town of Palm Beach and left a deputy town manager post to work in Naples, where he earned $297,675, in addition to a housing allowance, city vehicle and other perks. He remained through Jan. 31 to transition Young into his post.
Young had been the city’s chief financial officer and deputy city manager for nearly four years, after serving as deputy finance director. He’d been with the city since February 2016 and his new title was official when he was sworn in, although the contract is retroactive to Feb. 1.
The city charter requires Young, who lives in Bonita Springs, to live in Collier County and he has until Feb. 1, 2026, to move. He’ll receive up to $12,000 for moving expenses and if he moves within city limits, he’ll receive a $1,500 monthly housing alliance, or $500 monthly if he lives in unincorporated Collier County. Other contract perks include an $800-monthly personal vehicle allowance and a city cellphone.
Young had planned to retire June 5, when he would have had 40 years in public service, but Boodheshwar, Heitmann, City Council members and others persuaded him to take the job. The mayor cited his “outstanding financial accounting and successes” in managing the city’s budget and ensuring fiscal responsibility, noting he “works tirelessly,” can analyze complex financial data, make informed, ethical decisions and build transparency and trust in the community.
She urged him to stay at least three years until she finishes her term as mayor and he agreed to stay at least three years, possibly four or five to ensure a smooth transition.
During the ceremony, Young thanked his wife for her support and for “indulging” him in his decision to make a “commitment to this community.” Afterward, Council took a 20-minute coffee break outside City Hall to allow employees and residents to meet and greet him.
In an interview a day later, Young said he hopes to finish contract negotiations with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union and two other labor unions within 60 days. The contracts expired Sept. 30 and include public service and administrative workers, clerks, billing employees, police and fire employees and 911 operators.
“There are a lot of moving pieces and we’re negotiating in good faith as quickly as possible,” he said, adding they’re making progress.
He and his wife started looking for a new home, he said, but will have more time once Council goes on summer break.
He’ll also guide the city’s stormwater-pipe outfall project, which took many years to design. “We’re in the final stages before we break ground on that,” he said, adding Council recently agreed to pay a consulting firm $99,000 to prioritize future stormwater projects. The full cost to replace old pipes over the years is estimated at $592 million.
In October, work began on an $86.2 million stormwater project to improve the quality of filtered water discharged into the Gulf of Mexico and reduce significant flooding to homes along Gulf Shore Boulevard. The project took a decade to come to fruition.
“We need to prioritize which ones are the next phase so we can begin to design on that, as well,” Young said, noting it’s a long-term plan and they need to ensure sufficient state and federal funds are available, as they did for the current project. “It’s about making sure we prioritize which projects give us the biggest return on investment.”
The city was using a gravity-based stormwater system, but new pump stations will push stormwater farther out into the Gulf, helping get it off streets faster to minimize flooding.
“None of this is going to happen overnight,” he said. “It’s about developing a sustained-implementation plan that could be in the works for 20 to 40 years. … There’s no quick fix to fixing all the pipes underneath the city.”
Naples is still working toward replacing about 2,000 feet of seawalls near Venetian Village that were damaged during Hurricane Irma in September 2017. Funds were set aside for design this year and the potential cost, he said, is $8 million.
About five beach-access points also have damaged seawalls from numerous hurricanes and the city is in the final stages of seeking requests for proposals, he said, noting Boodheshwar felt his role as deputy city manager and CFO put him in a good position to continue the various projects, find a solid financing strategy and help Naples work on resiliency to prepare for future storms.
He’ll stay to finish the projects, which could take three years or five, he said, adding, “I just wanted to be able to pledge in my heart that it was enough time that I wasn’t just coming in and walking back out.”
