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The future of redevelopment in Bonita Springs needs a Fred Coyle.

The revitalization effort in the dilapidated downtown area doesn’t actually need Coyle, himself, who is now a Collier County commissioner. It needs someone recently elected to the Bonita Springs City Council (Martha Simons, Richard Ferreira or Pat McCourt) to set aside political beliefs and have a vision as Coyle did years ago.

Coyle ran for Naples City Council in 1998. He campaigned as one of the “Three Good Men” — Coyle, Fred Tarrant and Joe Herms. The “Three Good Men” ran as a voting bloc. They advertised together. They preached slow growth. They talked about keeping Naples quaint and small. They dreamed of stomping out redevelopment.

Sound familiar?

The “Three Good Men” were called the “Three Stooges” by their opponents. Still, they won in a laugher. And everyone expected the grandiose ideas proposed to rejuvenate downtown Naples and especially Fifth Avenue to be doomed.

But as we now know, downtown redevelopment did occur. Fifth Avenue isn’t only a success. It became an instant charge to the city’s economy.

And you might say Naples owes Coyle for reconsidering.

“Yes, I was the swing vote,” Coyle said. “And, no, I don’t have any regrets.”

Coyle contends he wasn’t against redevelopment. He didn’t betray the Three Good Men pact. He was against the density of the project.

Sound familiar?

“I was more for slow growth,” Coyle said. “I said, ‘Let’s control the density.’ The other two took more of a no-growth stance.”

Coyle said he changed his mind after chairing what was called the 41-10 neighborhood study. Coyle saw firsthand the boarded windows on the buildings. He saw the lack of new businesses in the area. He saw the influx of crime.

Sure, Coyle didn’t want to lose the mom-and-pop feel in Naples. But he also wanted to make sure there would be a future for the grandchildren.

“When you weigh the impact on a community, you sometimes have to find a middle ground,” Coyle said. “I decided that redevelopment was in the best interest of the people. It served no purpose to leave it to decay even more.”

So who will be the Fred Coyle in Bonita Springs?

It won’t be McCourt. He is so against growth that he’d put a 20-foot wall around the city to keep development out. And Ferreira is so tied to Taxpayers Action Group that he can’t get out of their cynical cuffs.

That leaves us Simons. She loves baseball and is now spearheading the pitch to bring a spring training complex to Bonita Springs. Baseball would bring new businesses, add to the city’s tax revenue, create pride and put the city on the map.

Wait a minute. The same argument for baseball could be made about redevelopment.

Coyle has one piece of advice for his colleagues to the north. 

“There won’t be any new business until there is redevelopment,” Coyle said. “You have to do what’s best for the people and not what’s best for you.”

So Bonita Springs needs someone to step up and break the unofficial alliance. The city doesn’t need the “Three Good Men” mentality. All it needs is One Good Woman.

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E-mail Tom Hanson at bonitanews.com