FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mary Gibbs, Lee County Community Development
              (239) 479-8345

COUNTY'S BOB STEWART NAMED AREA'S TOP BUILDING OFFICIAL

FORT MYERS, Fla. (June 12, 2003) - Bob Stewart - Lee County's Building Official and Deputy Director of Development Services - has been named "Building Official of the Year" in Southwest Florida.

The award is given by the Gulf Coast Chapter of the Building Officials Association of Florida, which includes Sarasota, Charlotte, Hendry and Lee counties.

The BOAF's mission is to provide for the safety, health and welfare of the citizens of the State of Florida through the education, development, maintenance and enforcement of building codes.

Stewart has more than 28 years of building construction and code enforcement experience, and is a Florida Certified General Contractor, Certified Building Official, Building Plans Examiner and Building Inspector.

Building officials administer and enforce building codes.

Lee County Community Development oversees planning, zoning, and development services such as permitting, development review, code enforcement and building inspections in the unincorporated areas of the county and for Bonita Springs and Fort Myers Beach. It employs 188 people and has a fiscal year 2003 operating budget of $18.4 million.