Marco Island City Council
Your Voice, Our Priority: protecting what makes Marco Island special through clean water, responsible growth, fiscal discipline, and accountable leadership.
Every major decision starts with one question: how does this affect the residents of Marco Island?
Marco Island deserves leaders who explain difficult decisions clearly, share the facts openly, and plan beyond the next election cycle.
Current Events
Short updates on public events, volunteer work, and places where I am listening, helping, and learning from Marco Island residents.
Join Chris Ricci for a campaign kickoff and community meet-and-greet at Oyster Society. Light refreshments will be served. This is an opportunity to ask questions, share priorities, and talk about the next chapter for Marco Island.
View FlyerWhy I'm Running
Marco Island faces major decisions involving infrastructure, finances, water quality, growth, and quality of life. I am running because those decisions require analytical thinking, transparency, and long-term planning - not slogans.
Follow the Money
I believe citizens deserve clear, understandable information - not just budget documents. The City Finances page explains what the FY2025 annual audit says about Marco Island's financial condition, the two accounting process findings, and the improvements I will push for.
Why Chris
Marco Island faces decisions over the next decade that will shape our infrastructure, water quality, growth, finances, and quality of life. Chris Ricci is running because those decisions deserve thoughtful planning, environmental stewardship, and steady long-term judgment.
Chris brings executive leadership experience, financial oversight, environmental advocacy, and direct service in city government. As Chairman of the Beach and Coastal Resources Advisory Committee and a member of the Audit Advisory Committee, he has seen both the opportunities and the challenges facing Marco Island up close.
His approach is practical: gather the facts, review the data, listen to stakeholders, understand the tradeoffs, and make decisions based on long-term community benefit.
Protecting What Makes Marco Island Special
Marco Island is more than budgets and ordinances. It is neighbors helping neighbors after a storm, families on the beach, boaters at sunset, thriving local businesses, and the natural beauty that makes people fall in love with this island.
Priorities
Chris will focus on the work that protects daily quality of life while preparing the city for the future.
Support Advanced Wastewater Treatment, improve stormwater management, protect beaches and waterways, preserve wildlife habitat, and invest in long-term coastal resiliency.
Manage redevelopment thoughtfully, protect neighborhood character, and make sure infrastructure keeps pace with growth.
Maintain transparency, strong reserves, disciplined budgeting, and long-term financial planning before problems become emergencies.
Support a strong tourism economy while protecting the neighborhood peace and quality of life residents value.
How I Think
Start with residents, advisory committees, staff, and the people closest to the problem.
Use data, costs, alternatives, and tradeoffs before reaching a conclusion.
Make the best long-term decision for Marco Island, even when the issue is difficult.
Track results, communicate clearly, and adjust when the facts change.
Current Issues
Short explanations of the issues currently shaping Marco Island's finances, infrastructure, neighborhoods, and quality of life.
The FY2025 audit shows Marco Island is financially strong, but it also identified accounting process weaknesses. I will push for audit-ready monthly closings, stronger reconciliations, and clearer controls.
Read Finance OverviewAmendment 3 could materially affect Marco Island's budget. The City's information sheet estimates an approximately $2 million annual revenue impact if the homestead exemption amount is increased.
Read Issue BriefI support reinvestment in the Hilton property. Like any major redevelopment proposal, it should be evaluated carefully for consistency with the Comprehensive Plan, community character, and long-term island-wide implications.
Read Issue BriefPublic safety comes first. If engineers determine that critical infrastructure must be repaired or replaced, the question becomes how to fund it responsibly.
Read Issue BriefRevenue-generating parking ideas deserve careful analysis: acquisition cost, traffic impacts, neighborhood effects, and realistic revenue assumptions all matter.
Read Issue BriefClean canals protect the environment, property values, and quality of life. Funding decisions should be tied to science, measurable results, and fairness.
Read Issue BriefShort-term rentals support tourism and property owners, but neighborhoods also deserve peace, safety, and reasonable nuisance protections.
Read Issue BriefRecreational amenities are valuable, but noise and neighborhood compatibility must be addressed with data, mitigation, and public input.
Read Issue BriefI support Marco Island's local police and fire departments. Any county-services alternative would need overwhelming proof of equal service, local accountability, and a steep, reliable discount.
Read Issue Brief
The Choice
Chris Ricci is not running to advance an agenda or score political points. He is running to help ensure Marco Island remains safe, beautiful, financially sound, and an exceptional place to live for current and future residents.
Join the CampaignGet Involved
Email Chris to share your priorities, volunteer, request a yard sign, or learn how to support the campaign.