Naples City Council members Linda Penniman, Gary Price, Terry Hutchison sworn into office
Lisa Conley
Newly elected Naples City Council members were sworn into office Wednesday in a ceremony at City Hall.
Incumbent Linda Penniman, former Councilman Gary Price and newcomer Terry Hutchison took their seats as term-limited council members Sam Saad and Doug Finlay stepped down.
Naples voters elected the three to the City Council on Feb. 6. Penniman got 2,865 votes, or 31.2 percent; Price received 2,791 votes, or 30.4 percent; Hutchison got 2,375 votes, or 25.9 percent.
Penniman was running for a second term. Price sought a third four-year term after serving on the council from 2005-14.
Hutchison, a local 7-Eleven franchise owner, won his first term after a failed bid for the council in 2016.
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Mayor Bill Barnett thanked Saad and Finlay for their years of service. Both men were on the council for eight years.
"I have had an absolutely wonderful time representing the residents of this little village — Naples on the Gulf," Saad wrote in a statement. "I want to thank the residents of this city for trusting an unknown and, relative to Naples, a young 32-year-old with this great office."
Finlay kept his departing statement short: "I'm old news now," he said with a laugh.
After the swearing-in ceremony, the City Council elected Price as the city’s vice mayor, a position previously held by Penniman.
Among the newly seated council's first orders of business Wednesday was a $100,000 budget amendment to pay for electrical, ventilation, ceiling and kitchen renovations at Fire Station No. 2.
The city has struggled to find a contractor for the job, city staff explained. That, combined with increased costs of material, has put the project over budget, hence the request for more funding.
After several questions regarding the specifics of the project, the councilors ultimately unanimously approved the resolution, as well as a subsequent resolution awarding the contract to Vantage Construction Services, LLC.