Sanibel Island vice mayor joins Lee County Tourist Development Council

07/2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS: Nancy Hamilton, Lee Rose, Katie Meckley (239) 338-3500

LEE COUNTY, FL – The Lee County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) appointed Sanibel Island Vice Mayor Kevin B. Ruane to the Lee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) effective today.

Ruane has served on the Sanibel City Council since 2007 and was recently elected vice mayor by city council for the 2008-2009 term of office. He and his family permanently relocated to Sanibel Island in 2004 from New Jersey after vacationing to the area for 14 years.

Ruane attended both undergraduate and graduate schools at Pace University in New York with a concentration in accounting and taxation. Throughout his professional career, he held various senior executive positions including senior vice president, vice president, chief financial officer and controller of Crum & Forster, owned by Xerox, which is a “Fortune 100” company, as well as running his family’s CPA firm.

Immediately after Hurricane Charley in 2004, Ruane became a member of the Hurricane Damage Assessment Team on Sanibel. Other community involvement includes Save the Children, American Cancer Society of America, president of the Sanibel School Fund, member of the Sanibel Structure Safety Inspector Team, board member of The Sanibel School Advisory Committee, president of P.A.C. for the Sanibel Rec Center, Kiwanis Club member, campaign chair and treasurer for Mick Denham’s city council position, Children’s Education Center, CROW (Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife), P.U.R.R.E. (People United to Restore Our Rivers & Estuaries), Sanibel-Captiva Cares, SCCF (Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation), and Sanibel Beautification. In addition, Ruane coaches basketball, baseball and football, as well as umpiring baseball for various Sanibel leagues.

He will replace Bonita Springs Councilwoman Martha Simons.

Furthermore, Roxie Smith, Fran Myers, and Colleen DePasquale have been reappointed to the TDC.

The nine-member TDC was established by the BOCC in 1983 to increase tourism to Lee County.

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