About Ron Smith
Ron is a graduate of Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia. He is a retired prosecutor, a former instructor at the police academy and served for two years as a general magistrate here in Southwest Florida.
He first moved to Venice from Bradenton in 1981 and became the head of all local news operations for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
And he fell in love with Venice.
His daughter was born at Venice Hospital in 1982 and was one of only 100 babies who were born there before the maternity ward was moved to Sarasota, so she is a rare native. And now she is a prosecutor like her dad.
Smith lost his wife, Jean, three years ago. She was a big personality in the quilting community, her patterns are still sold downtown and she is buried here in Venice.
As an editor for the Herald-Tribune, Smith researched, wrote and oversaw hundreds of articles about Venice. He loves to talk about local history: everything from the life of the Ringling Brothers Circus to the reason for all these shark teeth, to the origins of the John Nolen Plan.
Smith says he wants to be on the city council to uphold Nolen’s vision for the city. He says he wants to help solve problems – including Red Tide.
Ron says he is tired of elected officials who believe they are helpless. “We need to attack problems the way we do a crossword or a Suduko puzzle. You begin with the certainty that there is a solution and then you work until you find it.
“My promise to you is I will respect people with different opinions and reach solutions through civil discourse. We have a lot of work to do to restore trust in government,” he says.
