About RGMC, Inc.

MONTHLY MEETINGS are the second Monday of the month. They begin at 3:00 PM at
Happahatchee Conference Center, Corkscrew Road, Fort Myers, FL
For more information, please contact us at rgmc(at)hotmail.com (change (at) to @ to email)

Meetings regularly include updates from local organizations including the Agency on Bay Management, the Watershed Council, Conservancy, Sierra Club. We also keep track of upcoming zoning and planning issues by following activities of the Army Corp of Engineers, Florida and Federal Department of Environmental Protection and Water Management District issues that affect Responsible Growth in southwest Florida.

Members can request minutes or additional information by contacting the RGMC Board Secretary at Secretary(at)RGMCSWF.org (change (at) to @ to email)

The monthly meetings are led by the President, attended by the Board of Directors and open to the entire membership to discuss all issues regarding responsible growth.

Minutes of the RGMC meetings will no longer be posted on this site. Members can request minutes from Secretary(at)RGMCSWF.org (change (at) to @ to email)

Board of Directors

Officers

CONNIE LANGMANN President: has lived in Lee County since 1973. She raised her two children here and now there are 2 grandchildren growing up in the area. She has been a volunteer naturalist at 6 Mile Cypress Slough for 15+ years and also at Manatee Park since it opened about 13 years ago. She has been on the Board of Directors of the Calusa Group of the Sierra Club for 10 years and has been on the RGMC Board since 2009. Connie is Certified by the University of Florida as a Florida Master Naturalist and is the owner/operator of GAEA Guides – Guided Kayak Nature Tours, giving tours on EVERY waterway in Southwest Florida from Port Charlotte to Naples.

LOREN WIELAND Vice President: Loren is the nominee for Vive President, which position he currently holds. Loren grew up in a small town outside of Kalamazoo, MI, along the polluted banks of the Kalamazoo River that served as a wild adventure paradise even though it stunk from paper mill pollution. Loren’s father was a veterinarian and his mother was a dog groomer. He spent his summers on a relative's farm in an even smaller town. After graduating from high school, Loren received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from MI State Univ. He then did four years of involuntary servitude in the Air Force including going to Vietnam to settle the situation there, and extricating himself as soon as possible. A Master’s degree in Humanistic Psychology from West GA Univ. was next. He worked in the field off and on with travel and various occupations in-between. Loren washed up on the shores of SW FL in 1979, having escaped dangerous labor in a private mental institution in PA. Before he knew it, he had a grounds- keeping business going in-between watching sunsets on the beaches of Captiva. Loren then broke his neck in a diving accident. So here he is, twenty-six years later, surviving and attempting to take care of the planet. Loren has been a RGMC Board member since 2004.

DONALD EHAT Secretary: Don Ehat is a retired educator, clergyman, entrepreneur, home re-modeler, and executive consultant. He spent 30 years in the Organizational Development business working with virtually every segment of the society. His clients have been both domestic and international most recently working in Kosovo and Egypt with USAID. He has been an adjunct professor in seven Colleges and Universities, teaching in the areas of Communications, Leadership, Education, and Organizational Development. Don is married, with 4 children and 6 grand children and is often seen in his Estero neighborhood walking his Boxer Archie. Although still active in his garage workshop, Don uses Choices for Organizational Change an informal organization as a base for applying his skills in the community. The sub title is Leadership for Human Resource Effectiveness. Through this base he provides skills pro-bono to a variety of not for profit organizations including the following.
The Shy Wolf rescue shelter. Committed to rescuing and providing home for abandoned mixed breed wolf/dogs.
SW Florida Coalition for Change. A community action initiative focused on addressing social needs in the community such as housing, health care, abuse of prisoners etc.
The Calusa Chapter of the Sierra Club. While serving as the Club secretary he provides Leadership training as situations develop where it can be most effective.
Fish Eating Creek Association. This group protects the endangered watershed of one of the few remaining free flowing creeks providing recreational and camping opportunities in SW. Florida.
RGMC. He is also the secretary of Responsible growth Management Committee which is a group committed to thwart irresponsible urban growth. They monitor all county land use proposals and assure that the best interests of the larger community are not ignored by unscrupulous developers.
Humanist Forum. He is the community contact person for scheduling a broad array of community resource people to weekly address the Humanist Forum at The Fort Myers UU Church
Being skilled with tools he volunteers time and leadership skills to Habitat for Humanity and the Lee Builders Association which is a consortium of Lee County Builders who provide time, skills and materials to respond to the physical needs of less fortunate members of the community.

JIM GREEN Treasurer: Jim grew up in the small town of Butler, PA, and subsequently attended the Univ. of Notre Dame where he received a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Engineering. He lived in Annapolis, MD and worked in the defense industry prior to moving to Alva in 1995. He is a real estate broker and developer. Jim is active in East Lee County community affairs, working to preserve and improve the quality of life in the area. Jim has two grown sons, David and Mick, a perfect grandson Jake, and is supported in his business and community endeavors by his wife Kelly, a Fort Myers Beach native.

Board Members

ELLIE BOYD: Ellie is a Charter Member and Life Member of RGMC. She was born in Philadelphia, and grew up in PA & WI. Ellie worked in toxicology for DuPont before graduate school and earned a PhD in Pharmacology from the Univ. of Rochester in 1968. He career was in neuropharmacology research and in teaching medical, graduate and nursing students. Ellie & Gene moved to Florida in 1982, and were founding members of RGMC in 1988. Ellie was the Charter Secretary until 1996 when they moved to Fredericksburg, TX. They returned to S.W. FL in 2000, and Gene passed away in 2003. The Boyds “would like to leave this world believing that life and biodiversity will continue.

CONNIE LANGERMAN: Connie has been active in the local Sierra Club, and is an enthusiastic kayak person.

ELLEN PETERSON: Ellen is a native of Georgia, where she graduated from the Univ. of Georgia with degrees in Chemistry and a Master’s in Counseling. She has been a resident of SW. Fl. since 1963.and is currently the President of the local Sierra Club. Ellen has been an active member of RGMC since its inception in 1988; she is a charter member and life member of the organization. Her long-time work includes efforts to preserve and protect Estero Bay, Black Island, and Fisheating Creek, all here in Southwest Florida.

CARL VEAUX: Carl was born in Scranton, PA, in 1938 and grew up in Caldwell, NJ. He has been involved in environmental education for many years, arranging many outings for grade school children such as planting trees with them in many states and sponsoring environmental days. Carl has also been a camp counselor with 2 conservation camps; one of which served all of the Ridgewood, NJ 5th graders. He was also the Range master & fishing counselor at the FL Fish & Game Camp. Carl attended William Patterson University and Univ. of No. Colorado where he received his Master’s in School Administration. He was in education for 37 years, 8 of which were as Principal. Carl was in the regular army for 3 years and 24 in the reserves. He was fortunate enough to be stationed in England, Germany, Japan, & Panama, as well as four other states. He fought fires, floods and hurricanes while in the reserves. Carl and his wife, Charlotte, moved to Cape Coral in 1980. He was very active in trying to save Babcock Ranch from development, and his goal is still to preserve ALL of the Ranch. Carl is very active in all aspects of conservation, preservation and environmental causes. He has signed many petitions and written many letters to save the wolves, dolphin, eagles, and to stop global warming. Carl is a member of several other environmental clubs; a Charter member of the Friends of Wildlife in Cape Coral, a board member for Audubon and Sie

NORA DEMERS Estero Bay Agency on Bay Management Representative: Nora was born in Richmond Heights, MO in 1962. She grew up in Florissant, MO. She traveled the country and Europe tent-camping with her (large) family and on her own. She and her husband settled in a small cabin on 40 acres in Cuba MO while she earned a B.S. in Life Sciences from the University of Missouri-Rolla (1989). She then moved to Oregon to earned M.S and Ph.D. (1996) in Zoology from Oregon State University, (Corvallis) studying the acute effects of stress on immunity. Nora is an Associate Professor of Biology and Interdisciplinary studies at FGCU. She moved to Florida in 1997 to join the faculty at the nation’s newest University because of the mission statement that professes environmental sustainability as a foundational characteristic of the institution. Her growth management related research interests include water quality and Gopher tortoise habitat. She has always savored the outdoors and enjoys bicycling, and disc golf. She joined RGMC in 1998 and the board in 2001.

Jane McNew

Marcia Cravens