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No convention hoopla for them.

They work under the radar. They attract no big crowds, no headlines, take out few ads and sometimes are at a loss for why some of them win and others lose.

Fire board and mosquito control candidates are a different breed.

The dress code for interviews ranges from blue-collar work clothes to a suit and bow tie. They run as insiders or upright, concerned citizens who want to make a contribution or launch political careers.

Political life in the slow lane: A little bit Mayberry, a little bit Chicago.

Fascinating — and also kind of scary. The five independent fire boards in Collier County spend about $55 million annually and each levies at least 1 mill of tax — close to the rate for the entire city government of Naples. Bonita Springs, Estero and San Carlos Park spend even more, about $70 million.

None of this gets any real public attention because people are too busy to sweat the details on their tax bills; they’re happy with the status quo; or both.

Our editorial board spends a half-hour with each of these incumbents and hopefuls in both counties. Grueling, but we learn so much.

In North Naples, fire board candidate Steve Wright comments on spending, based on what he reads in the paper: “Everything they do seems to be super premium.” Yet, a candidate for a different North Naples seat, Jim Burke, who has done extensive digging, calls the department and its efficiency top-notch — even progressive.

Linda Hartman of Golden Gate Estates, seeking re-election to the Collier Mosquito Control Board, sees her hyper civic involvement as a conduit for public input on district services.

There is also a sense of competition with Lee County, which Hartman jokes has a fleet of “5,000 planes.”

“They do all right, but we’re the leader,” Hartman says.

Her opponent, Steve Spencer, points to his business management background while doing backflips to avoid saying anything negative about today’s board or administration.

Some candidates just can’t stay away. Retired firefighter Bob Hughes, a candidate in East Naples, wants to come back after losing two years ago. He is big on fiscal policy and, like other candidates, tells us about a looming decline in revenue due to impact fees. Chuck McMahon of the Golden Gate board also puts tax losses from foreclosed homes into the bad news brew.

Hughes reveals retirement funds take “a hell of a big whack” from budgets and helped drive spending in the years when taxes flowed in like manna from heaven.

Then there is grit. The lone contest for the Estero fire board is between a community-based businessman with blue-ribbon credentials and a firefighter from North Naples who makes his home in Estero.

The fireman, Frank Messana, says he is the ideal candidate for knowing where to prioritize in tough economic times in the public interest.

The incumbent, Bob Morris, is not so sure. The Estero chamber’s co-founder and first president says it is a conflict of interest for Messana to be a firefighter in one place and a candidate in another — backed by the firefighters union to boot.

Morris lays it out. He says he is weary of hearing “our firemen since 9/11 are angels in disguise.”

“Firefighting is their job,” he says, and even crossing the street can be dangerous.

The union’s endorsement is on the minds of most candidates, but not McMahon’s in Golden Gate. He was elected in 2000 without its support. He says the days of him being expected to be “a puppet’’ of the fire chief and being shunned by union members are long gone.

Floyd Crews, in incumbent Immokalee fire board member, sees lobbying for more and better roads as part of his job. He is inclined to oppose fire service consolidation, seeing it as a loss of power. Consolidate with Big Corkscrew Fire Department? Yes. Consolidate countywide? No.

Joe Matthews, another Immokalee fire board incumbent, sees himself as the truth squad. He is blunt in his criticism of favoritism, cronyism and nepotism within the department and says fellow board members routinely conduct public business out of the sunshine. “Good old boys have a funny way of dealing with politics,” he says.

And so it goes.

Too bad they don’t have more chances to get out, stand up and talk to voters — if they’re interested in how some real tax money is being spent.

The last word goes to Golden Gate’s McMahon for a vintage glimpse of under-the-radar campaigning. While saying that local voter turnouts tend to be low because “people just don’t like the candidates,’’ he expresses confidence in at least one: “I am going to be tough to beat.’’

Jeff Lytle is editorial page editor of the Daily News. His e-mail address is jflytle@naplesnews.com. Call him at 263-4773.