FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                   

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

STILWELL TO ATTEND THIRD HOMELAND SECURITY MEETING/ SPEAK BEFORE NATIONAL ASSN. OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATORS

FORT MYERS, Fla. (February 27, 2001) – Lee County Manager Don Stilwell will be traveling to Washington, D.C. Friday (Mar. 1) for the third meeting of the National Association of Counties (NACo) Homeland Security Task Force, of which he is a member. 

He also will be addressing the National Association of County Administrators about the role counties play in Domestic Security, what Florida is doing, and how counties and states can coordinate with the federal government. 

The meetings are in conjunction with NACo’s 2002 Legislative Conference, which will focus on Homeland Security and is titled “First Responders: Counties Secure America.” 

The NACo task force provides a direct link between counties and federal agencies – especially the White House Office of Homeland Security – working to secure the nation’s communities.  It was created in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks on America. 

Stilwell is the only county manager on the 45-member task force.  He serves as the representative from the National Association of County Administrators. 

Friday’s Homeland Security Task Force meeting will be attended by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., member of the Select Committee on Intelligence, and Rep. Richard Burr, R-N.C., member of the subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security.  The group also will receive a briefing from the Homeland Security Office and will discuss proposed legislation, such as the HERO (Homeland Emergency Response Operations) Act and creation of a Homeland Security Fund and Local Anti-Terrorism Block Grants. 

The legislative conference will include a presentation by Tom Ridge, director of the White House Office of Homeland Security, and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. 

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, 2,100 employees, and an annual operating and capital budget of more than $500 million. 

To learn more about NACo’s Homeland Security efforts, visit www.naco.org/programs/homesecurity/index.cfm.