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Dear RGMC Members: Recently it has become my privilege to represent the Responsible Growth Management Coalition as its president. Thank you for such an incredible opportunity to promote responsible growth in this our beautiful and fragile home. It is truly my honor to be working with such knowledgeable and passionate people and inspiring environmental organizations. As you know, the RGMC’s strengths lie in the fact that we are a local group specializing in local issues that affect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the natural world that we experience as our own. The RGMC is immediately invested in the health and beauty of South West Florida. As a coalition, however, we benefit from the expertise and knowledge from other local and national environmental groups. This puts the RGMC in the unique position for being at the forefront of environmental issues that impact responsible growth in our community. It was this combination of factors that inspired me to be actively involved with the RGMC.
Of course, the RGMC has a history of being at the forefront of
responsible growth issues. One
of the most dramatic victories for the RGMC, as well as for the citizens
of
Most recently, the Responsible Growth Management Coalition
spearheaded an effort to ensure that tributaries to
Recently some RGMC members and I attended what was billed as a
public education workshop regarding the extension of County Road 951
into Considering the awesome challenges that we face my primary goal as president will be to increase our membership. The RGMC must be ready to face any contingency that may challenge the incredible gains we’ve made toward responsible growth. This may include taking legal action against well financed developers. Obviously, the financial resources that are made available from the dues and donations of a large and generous membership are invaluable toward these ends. Of equal value is the number of voices represented by the RGMC. Every new member added to the rolls of the RGMC makes us that much stronger, that much louder, in our resistance to wanton and reckless development. Imagine the effect if every current member of the RGMC could convince one other person to sign on with us! Ironically, the greater our ability to make legal challenges to destructive and illegal policies, the less likely is the necessity of such action. By increasing our resources we can save our resources. As important as it is to increase our financial strength and our representative base, it is also necessary to increase the mobility and involvement of our membership. Our membership offers a wide range of talents. Some of our members are adept at policy while others are great public speakers. We have members who have a deep understanding of ecology and science, experience in the human services, activists who have no problems calling commissioners and state politicians. Other members have a talent for writing and increasing public awareness. The RGMC is interested in using these skills to ensure the success of our goals.
Currently we are looking for a member to serve as a
representative to the Agency for Bay Management.
Those of you who are interested in the preservation of Estero
Bay, this would be one day a month (the second Monday) in which you
could be actively involved in responsible growth issues. We are also
looking for people who would be willing to speak at public hearings, or
research county documents, or write letters, or any of a variety of
activities that would make the RGMC an even greater, more vital force in
E-mail: rgmc@hotmail.com Subject: To Mike Andoscia Once again, thank you for the opportunity to represent you and our common interests. Sincerely Michael Andoscia M.A. President RGMC
[1] For more information on this public workshop see the link and position paper on the RGMC website, or contact me directly with the attached contact information.
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