Lee County Patriots host ‘Meet District 1 County Commission Candidates’
The four Republican candidates for Commissioner for Lee County District 1 will be on Pine Island on Friday, Aug. 6. Lee County Patriots will host a Candidates’ Night at 6:30 p.m. at Fishers of Men Lutheran Church, 10360 Stringfellow Road just south of the four way stop. The candidates will speak about their experience and qualifications.for serving on the Commission and take questions from the audience.
In 2010, three challengers are seeking to unseat incumbent Commissioner John Manning, who was recently appointed to the seat by Gov. Charlie Crist.
Chris Berardi is running for commissioner because he believes a conservative voice is needed in our county government. Berardi believes in the principles of lower taxes, less spending and smaller government. As Commissioner, Berardi will focus on reducing spending (Berardi states he is the only candidate who has reduced a government budget), attracting private sector business to create jobs, and keeping Lee County safe. He believes the county must lower the proposed tax rate and focus on core services. Berardi has served on the Cape Coral City Council (2007) and on four Lee County Committees since 2007. He is a deacon with Faith Presbyterian Church, serves on various Boards of Directors and is an Eagle Scout.
Robert “Bob” Chilmonik has served two four-year terms as a School Board member. He has built a reputation as a strong advocate for financial and educational accountability in Lee County schools. He started his business career working for large multi-national corporations including Nabisco and Heinz USA in management and headquarters operations positions. Chilmonik is married to wife Cheryl and they have two daughters, Kathryn and Kimberly. Chilmonik has served on the Lee County Republican Executive Committee as Technology Chair for over five years.
Mike Jackson has lived in Lee County since 2003, when he started work as Cape Coral’s Economic Development Director. In that post, he won several national marketing awards for promoting Cape Coral and Lee County, and he says he generated a return on investment of $100 for every dollar of his budget. Before that, Jackson owned a corporate communications company in Chicago and, in his first career, he was an NBC news correspondent and then a Chicago TV anchor and reporter, where he won three Emmy Awards. Jackson wants to serve the people of Lee County at a critical time when budgets need trimming and a new economy needs to be created.
John Manning was recently appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist to fill the seat vacated by the death of Commissioner Bob Janes. Manning was born in Boston, MA but has been a Cape Coral resident for 30-plus years. For the last 10 years, Manning has been a consultant with Malcolm Pirnie, Inc./InfraMetrix where he assists cities and counties in Florida solve their environmental and infrastructure challenges.. Prior to that, Manning spent 28 years in the Corporate benefit consulting business. Manning has served two terms on the Cape Coral City Council. three terms on the Lee County Commission and is a past President of the Florida Association of Counties.
For more information or to reserve seats for Candidates’ Night, please telephone Kathy Jones at 239-283-2074 or email info@leecountypatriots.com