FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

FORT MYERS, Fla. (October 13, 2001) – Lee County Manager Don Stilwell has been appointed to a national task force on Homeland Security that was created in response to the September 11 Attack on America.

The National Association of Counties (NACo) task force will provide a direct link between counties and federal agencies – especially the new Office of Homeland Security at the White House – working to secure the nation’s communities.

NACo President Javier Gonzales, a Santa Fe, New Mexico County Commissioner, will chair the task force, which was drawn from the leadership of NACo’s steering committees and affiliated organizations such as the National Association of County and City Public Health Officials, the National Association of County Engineers and the National Council of County Association Executives.

In appointing Stilwell, Gonzales said: "Counties play a key role in providing security in America by maintaining public safety, protecting public infrastructure and responding to the consequences of terrorist attacks through disaster relief and public health agencies. The task force will help federal officials better understand these roles and responsibilities."

The mission of the task force is to determine how counties and the association of can help the federal government and how NACo can assist counties with security issues.

Stilwell has been Lee County Manager since 1993. He has worked in city/county manager positions since 1972 in Oregon, California and Florida. As Lee County Manager, Stilwell oversees an organization of 25 departments and divisions, 2,000 employees, and an annual operating and capital budget of more than $500 million.

He also serves on the Florida Local Government Finance Commission, sits as an ex-officio member of the Florida Association of Counties’ (FAC) Board of Directors, and recently was appointed to International City/County Management Association’s (ICMA) Review Panel for its "Municipal Management Series" on Economic Development.

The NACo Homeland Security Task Force will first meet in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 26 and focus on interacting with the White House Office of Homeland Security and other federal departments such as Justice, Transportation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Additional meetings will be held in conjunction with the NACo Board of Directors meeting in November in Santa Fe, N.M. and the 2002 Legislative Conference in March in Washington, D.C.