Galleberg announces mayoral campaign

He'd been rejected by the Naples City Council on a plan to convert the decrepit Third Avenue South post office into a design studio. To a "what next" question, he said his plan was to run for mayor and change the system.

Turns out, the statement was prophetic.

Galleberg, 46, who was elected to the council in 2000 and named vice mayor in 2002, announced Thursday that he is running for the city's top job.

In February, five years after his quip, Galleberg will have his chance at the office of mayor. The mayor is elected in a nonpartisan race and serves a four-year term.

Galleberg has lived in Naples since 1990, though he traveled for one or two months a year prior to 1996 when he changed his state of residence from New York to Florida.

His take on the election is that while the current council has accomplished much good in recent years, there is still a lot that needs doing.

"This is a time for vigorous, informed leadership," he said. "My approach is to embody optimism, learn the issues and work hard for the residents' benefits."

To him the top issues include beach preservation and maintenance that Galleberg says is under a more immediate threat than it has been for a long time.

As a member of the council, chairman of the Collier County Coastal Advisory Committee and a city representative to the Tourist Development Council, Galleberg said he is uniquely qualified to address the problem.

Galleberg also believes the Heart of Naples plan has been maligned by a campaign from those who do not understand its importance to an improved downtown area.

"We must defeat that campaign and support implementation of the plan," he said.

Other issues he said the city faces in coming years and that he is qualified to handle are increased efficiency in government that will give taxpayers the most for their dollars, continuity of leadership and further attention to the city's parks, particularly Fleischmann Park.

So far, Galleberg's only opponent for the February election is Bill Barnett, who was Naples' mayor from 1996 to 2000 and announced his candidacy in April.

Galleberg is married and has an 18-month-old daughter. He is a native of Michigan and graduated from the University of Michigan with degrees in business and law.

Galleberg spent the next half-dozen years as a securities lawyer on Wall Street and is now president of Zoran, an exclusive line of women's fashions.