FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Pete Winton, Lee County Administration
                (941) 335-2777

FORT MYERS, Fla. (November 20, 2000) – The Inauguration of Lee County Commissioners Bob Janes, Ray Judah and John E. Albion will be held Nov. 21 in downtown Fort Myers.

The ceremony will be at 8:30 a.m. on the steps of the Old County Courthouse, 2120 Main Street, in downtown Fort Myers.

Janes was elected to his first term November 7 and will serve District #1, which includes much of Cape Coral, Sanibel, Captiva, Pine Island, Matlacha and Boca Grande. Albion was reelected to his third term November 7 and serves District #5, which includes Lehigh Acres, East Lee County, South Fort Myers (east of U.S. 41) and San Carlos Park. Judah was reelected to his fourth term in the Sep. 5 primary and serves District #3, which includes the Iona-McGregor area, South Fort Myers (west of U.S. 41), Fort Myers Beach, Estero and Bonita Springs. Commissioners are elected at large but serve specific districts.

A reception will immediately follow the swearing-in ceremonies.

Mr. Janes was born Minneapolis, Minnesota and received both an undergraduate and masters degree from the University of Minnesota. Additionally, he received a second masters degree from the University of Southern California. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, he served for 2 years in the US Army as a Commissioned Officer. Now, retired from the Army, he is a Colonel in the Reserves.

Much of Mr. Janes’ career has been devoted to public service. He has spent almost 25 years in the public sector both as an elected official and an appointed staff member. As an elected official he has been an Alderman with the Minneapolis City Council, Chairman of the Hennepin County (Minneapolis) Board of County Commissioners and most recently the Mayor of the City of Sanibel in Lee County. Mr. Janes, as an appointed official, has served as Associate Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Relations for the Vice President of the United States in Washington D.C. during the Richard Nixon administration and Assistant Administrator for Extramural Affairs in Washington D.C. As a County Commissioner, he served as the 4th Vice President and Chairman of the Health and Education Committee of the National Association of Counties. He has served as Adjunct Professor in Public Administration at George Mason University in Virginia. Here in Lee County, he has served on the Sanibel Planning Commission, Lee County Private Industry Council, Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Southwest Florida Work Force Development Board.

While living in Lee County, Mr. Janes has owned several businesses….Florida Real Estate Academy, Jolly Roger Motel and Letizias Continental Cuisine. Finally, his private sector experience includes being a Vice President at the Sanibel SunTrust Bank. He is on the Board of Directors of the American Red Cross, Lee County Chapter. Mr. Janes and his wife, Lynda, have three adult children, Sandra, Mary and Susan.

Mr. Janes looks forward to the next four years as a Lee County Commissioner. He welcomes the opportunity to work with his fellow Board members to maintain a high quality of life for all citizens in Lee County.

Recently elected, Commissioner Ray Judah was born in the Cebu Islands, Philippines and he and his wife, Kristen, have a twelve-year-old son Kallen. Commissioner Judah graduated from the California State University of Humboldt with a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology (1977) and a Master of Science in Natural Resources (1987).

As a former environmental land planner with the Lee County Department of Community Development, he remains a strong advocate for responsible stewardship of our natural resources and is a proponent of providing sufficient infrastructure such as roads, parks, libraries, and utilities to accommodate our rapidly growing population.

Commissioner Judah served as Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners in 1994 and 1998 and has been a long-term member on numerous committees, such as the West Coast Inland Navigation District, Lee County Regional Water Supply Authority and Community Redevelopment Agency. The commissioner’s commitment to enhance our quality of life is reflected in his effort to establish and support the highly successful Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed Land Trust and Conservation 2020 Program. Both programs are aggressively acquiring environmentally sensitive lands to protect our water supplies, open space and natural heritage. Commissioner Judah championed the development of Lee County Comprehensive Solid Waste Management program. Lee County was recently recognized as the county with the highest rate of recycling in the state of Florida.

A strong proponent of volunteer service to our community, Commissioner Judah stays actively involved in managing a little league baseball team and participating in numerous community and coastal clean-up projects. Additionally, he promotes and supports the Edison Regional Science Fair as a member of the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Fort Myers. The Commissioner extends heartfelt thanks to the community for giving him the opportunity to serve in his job as a public servant for all Lee County citizens.

A graduate of Centre College in Kentucky, Commissioner Albion received a B.A. in Government in 1984. A licensed real estate broker with Safe-T Realty, he was director of operations for Safe-T-Storage for eight years. In 1996 and again in 2000, Commissioner Albion was re-elected as the District 5 Commissioner.

Before being elected to the Lee County Board of County Commissioners, Mr. Albion served as a Board Member and Past President of the Greater Fort Myers Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. During that time, he additionally served as chairman of the Beach Quality of Life Committee and the Annual Beach Shrimp Festival’s 5K run. Commissioner Albion also served as 1987 Chairman of the Fort Myers Beach United Way Campaign. Currently, the Commissioner continues to serve the community as a Board Member of Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the Public Schools Enrichment Program, Lee County Pulling Together and Co-founder and President of the Uncommon Friends Foundation. He is a graduate of Leadership Lee County, Leadership Southwest Florida and the LeeGROWS program.

In 1997, Mr. Albion oversaw the implementation of a $20 million grant he secured from the Federal Highway Administration for a variable pricing program aimed at lowering the tolls during some non-peak driving times on the Cape Coral and Midpoint Memorial Bridges. He has also served as Vice Chairman of the Lee County Board of County Commissioners three times, Chairman of the Board twice and the Board’s liaison for Economic Development to the Horizon Council. Additionally, he has been the Chairman of the Regional Planning Council, Chairman of the Tourist Development Council twice and Chairman of the Port Authority.

In his next term, Commissioner Albion plans to focus on three very important issues.

1. Pursue community and science based growth management including sector plans and improve the hurricane shelter deficit with shared community involvement.
2. Continue to aggressively pursue road issues and work to provide an integrated road network for our region that will enhance rather than destroy communities.
3. Finally, as he has wholeheartedly supported in the past, he will continue to work diligently to keep the millage rate low.

Commissioner Albion and his wife, Lauri, live in south Lee County with their two sons Jake and David and their daughter Hannah.