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TESTIMONIALS

I’ve been a Naples resident for more than twenty years and in that time I’ve always voted for the candidate, that I feel is the best qualified…regardless of political affiliation. With this in mind I believe Bebe Kanter would be the best choice for District 2 commissioner.  She brings a pragmatic and refreshingly creative approach to the challenges that face Collier County, in particular the environmental impact of the exponential growth we are experiencing. She is currently focused on construction site maintenance, reducing noise generated by congestion and ways to curtail the nutrient flow into the Gulf. She takes a balanced and well informed view of all sides of the equation so all parties are considered. As a photographer and video producer I am particularly interested in her desire to use art as a means of both communicating and ultimately building bridges across political, religious and cultural lines.

Gareth Rockliffe
30-year resident of 34108

30 year resident from 34108 ~ "I’ve been a Naples resident for more than twenty years and in that time I’ve always voted for the candidate, that I feel is the best qualified…regardless of political affiliation. With this in mind I believe Bebe Kanter would be the best choice for District 2 commissioner.  She brings a pragmatic and refreshingly creative approach to the challenges that face Collier County, in particular the environmental impact of the exponential growth we are experiencing. She is currently focused on construction site maintenance, reducing noise generated by congestion and ways to curtail the nutrient flow into the Gulf. She takes a balanced and well informed view of all sides of the equation so all parties are considered. As a photographer and video producer I am particularly interested in her desire to use art as a means of both communicating and ultimately building bridges across political, religious and cultural lines."

Gareth Rockliffe

A Tenant ~  "My family has known Bebe Kanter for over 20 years. In the early 90’s my family was in need of a second chance after my mother was released from prison. The Kanters’ were gracious to give us a chance by renting their 2 flat apartment to my family of 5. They accepted our public housing voucher and maintained a well maintained property. Unfortunately 12 years ago they had to sell all of their properties in Illinois.
 
Bebe and I reconnected in the fall of 2021 via social media. I was nearing the end my campaign for Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board Member and needed some support. Bebe was right there to give advice, connect me with her contacts and provide strategic strategies. As a minister at Christ Temple Missionary Baptist Church, Vice President Of the Evanston/Skokie School Board, Former President of Advocates for Action and a single mother of 4 teenage boy; I welcome the support of people who genuinely care about my success. Bebe exposed me to a different form of leadership as I had the pleasure of being the guide and liaison for Vince Keeys, President of the Naples NAACP. Recently in 2022, when my family was forced to relocate due to gun violence on my home Bebe again showed  to be a true friend.
 
Through acceptance, kindness, compassion and humility Bebe and her husband Craig have truly shown what it means to be good friends and great parents."

Marquise Weatherspoon
Building Bridges through the Arts ~ "I have known Bebe Kanter since she was 4. Our families grew up together in a south Minneapolis neighborhood. We attended Seward Elementary School together, and took our first dance classes with Loyce Houlton in DinkeyTown, near the University of Minnesota. We took evening walks along the Mississippi river roads and attended neighborhood get-togethers with our families. Her father was a chemist. She introduced me to litmus sticks. I introduced her to Mexican food. She loved guacamole. I loved her grandmother’s chicken soup and matzoh balls. She helped decorate our Christmas tree. I went to her family’s Passover Seder.
 
Bebe’s concern for the environment stems from her parents. Her father was a scientist, professor and an early opponent to the over-dependence on pesticides, and warned of the dangers of second hand smoke. Due to the greenhouse effect caused by burning coal, he was also an early advocate for nuclear power.
 
The Gulf is the area that now holds Bebe’s attention. Issues of increasing storm intensity, sea level rise, pollution and their related effects on infrastructure are of particular concern. Climate change and environmental threats affect us all. We need to be proactive now, for the sake of our children and grandchildren and those that come after.
 
These issues are beyond partisan politics. Clean water, safe living space, revitalizing the Gulf for those who depend on it for their livelihoods  - these are human issues that affect everyone regardless of political party.
 
Please consider supporting Bebe for District 2 Commissioner of Collier County.  She will work hard in analyzing the proposals put before the Commission, collaborating with people representing different constituencies and points of view, and in finding optimal solutions that will work for all."



Currently a teaching artist with the Santa Fe Opera’s educational outreach program, KK Báez has been a dance educator for over forty years, conducting dance residencies in schools and communities of all types. She has presented workshops for organizations including Kansas City Young Audiences, the New Mexico Association for the Education of Young Children, the National Dance Education Organization, the National Hospice Organization, the Peace Center for the Arts in Greenville, South Carolina, the Sitka School District, the Alaska Arts Education Consortium Basic Arts Institute, Santa Fe, Rio Rancho and Albuquerque school districts, and for the Dance and the Child International global conferences in The Hague, Netherlands and Kingston, Jamaica. With four other educators, she co-founded Río Gallinas Charter School for Ecology and the Arts, a K-8 Expeditionary Learning school in Las Vegas, New Mexico developing and teaching a standards-based dance curriculum. KK developed and taught the International Baccalaureate (IB) Degree Dance program at the United World College, USA. She has served as a member of the Alvin Ailey Outreach Committee in Kansas City, Missouri, and as treasurer on the national board of dance and the Child international (daCi). She cofounded MoveWest in 2018 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

KK Báez, Executive Artistic Director, MoveWest Center for Movement Exploration

Testimonial with Environmental Educator ~ 
"To Collier County Residents:  I have had the pleasure of working with fellow community activist Barbara (“BeBe”) Kanter since meeting her in Winnetka, Illinois in 2016. Together, we worked on a community program which informed residents and groups about the newly passed Illinois Firearms Restraining Order (Illinois’ name for its Red Flag Law) in October 2019, working with the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, the League of Women Voters and Moms Demand Action of Evanston. Our space in the Lloyd Room of the Winnetka Public Library was completely filled, thanks to Barb’s gift in the art of public relations and her excellent organizational skills.

Barb is passionate about climate change and saving our environment and, so, organized several informational programs over a two-year period, promoting the films, The Story of Stuff and The Story of Plastic, followed by discussion and a Q-&-A with a knowledgeable panel , which Barb helped to organize. She oversaw the technology with a community coordinator, a senior resident who was not as technologically savvy as Barb; thus, the program could not have taken place without Barb’s help and patient guidance. Barb worked with the local Go Green leaders as well as with a prominent community church, where the two events (held two different years) were staged in a large church hall. Once again, this venue was filled to capacity both years. Barb even took the initiative to bring healthy snacks…along with sustainable, environmentally-friendly bamboo serving pieces! Without her time, caring and concern, these events would not have been as successful. She is truly a most dedicated, hard worker.

There is no doubt in my mind that Barbara Kanter would be an outstanding Commissioner for Collier County. She is caring and determined; she is smart and savvy, and she possesses outstanding organizational skills. Undoubtedly, Barb has what it takes to bring people together in service to the community.
I highly recommend Barbara Kanter for the position of Collier County Commissioner."
Chaya Rubenstein
Retired Special Education Teacher
Community Activist and Volunteer
The Girl Next Door Knows Bebe Best ~  "I am so excited that my life-long friend Barbara Bruckenstein Kanter is running for Collier County Commissioner in Naples, Florida.  BeBe and I grew up together in Minneapolis.  We were BFFs, walked to Seward School together and our parents were friends.  In South Minneapolis, we had a variety of ethnicities and incomes.  Everyone collaborated, the professors, the single moms and the returning citizens.

Minneapolis is a beautiful city where we prize the green environment far above the built environment.  We are a city of parks, lakes and the Mississippi which flows into HER Gulf of Mexico.  Growing up on the banks of the Mississippi which once nourished the Delta and now pollutes it, provided BeBe with the impetus to try to save the Gulf of Mexico, just as when she was a child and thought the Mississippi was her.  Her commitment to the environment is unparalleled and she will be a fierce defender for its repair.

BeBe and I walked the banks of the rivers and enjoyed the Minneapolis lakes.  I appeal to everyone to pay attention to this race.  Climate change, preserving our environment are not partisan issues.  The issue is what kind of world will all of us leave to our children.  No matter where we live, we need to engage in this race, what happens to the environment in one place affects us all.

I ask you to support BeBe in her Red and Blue race.  To Save the Gulf voters living in 34108, 34109, 34110 and 34119, I urge you to put aside partisanship.  Whether red or blue, some of our priorities may differ, but we all agree that we need clean water."

 
JACKIE CHERRYHOMES
CHERRYHOMES-TYLER, INC.
331 2ND AVENUE SOUTH, SUITE 230
MINNEAPOLIS, MN   55411
Jackie Cherryhomes

Testimonial from Prominent Employment Attorney ~

"Collier County residents: I have known Barbara (“BeBe”) Kanter for about fourteen years. We met because our children participated on the local public high school’s Science Olympiad team, and whenever volunteer parents were needed, there was Barb, me, and a few others. Barb did more than any of us to recruit, organize, and motivate volunteers. She also planned and managed fairly substantial fund-raising efforts, and succeeded in getting a steady flow of donations from local businesses. She gets along really well – better than anyone else I know -- with a wide range of personality types, and her energy seems to have no limits.

 

Our friendship continued as Barb organized local events for the East Coast college attended by her son, and then my daughter. She and her husband gave a lot of free advice and counseling to those, especially young women, interested in engineering careers. Her two greatest character traits are her intelligence and her kindness. She is absolutely the best in terms of figuring out how to get a problem solved, and she constantly thinks about how to help the people she meets who have not had the same advantages she has had. For years Barb tutored people who were trying to improve their English skills, and she was constantly busy assisting them in other ways -- trying to find donated interview clothing for one, trying to arrange an interview for another from her broad range of acquaintances, etc.

 

Barb really tries to do good in all of her endeavors, and her interest in politics is just an extension of her commitment to public service. Our society needs help – the environment, our safety, and so many of our freedoms are very much at risk now. The community needs strong, smart and caring people like Barb to make and participate in decisions that will help us continue to prosper. I think Barb is fully up to the task, and in fact I know of no one who could do a better job as Collier County Commissioner. Please vote and please give Barb’s steady and impressive personal history and her well-considered ideas some thought as you make decisions about your future local leadership."
 

Beverly Bailey, Chicago attorney
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