The Greater Pine Island Civic Association (GPICA) was created in 1957 as a voice for residents, advocating for the health, safety and quality of life in our community. Our goal is to work for the betterment of the entire community — north to south and east to west — Matlacha Isles, Matlacha, Pine Island Center, St. James City, Pineland and Bokeelia. Over the decades, GPICA has worked to preserve and maintain a desirable, livable community that promotes smart growth and preserves sensitive natural areas by working with Island residents to develop a future land-use plan — commonly called the Pine Island Plan and implemented through the Lee County Development Code — that governs growth rules. Board terms are typically three years and election years are staggered.
The GPICA Board currently has several vacancies. If you are interested in exploring the possibility of joining the Board, please email us at info@GPICA.org.
Our Board
President: Chris Blum (appointed 2024, serving through 2026)
Chris Blum retired after a 40-year career in the travel industry. She’s owned property in Bokeelia since 1991. She got involved in the GPICA to help to help preserve the island’s heritage, agriculture, tourism and the affordability for the residents and believes those are paramount for the long-term success of Pine Island.
Vice President: Nadine Slimak (2025-2028)
Nadine Slimak has lived in Bokeelia since 2000 and joined the GPICA board in 2017 to help protect the coastal-rural lifestyle that drew her to the Island. She spent 15 years as a journalist in Ohio, upstate New York and Florida before joining Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fl., where she served as Director of Communications for 11 years, directing national, regional and local media activities, handling crisis communications and helping the organization develop direct communications with its members and supporters. In 2015 (tired of the long commute from Pine Island), she left Mote to develop her own communications and public relations consulting business, Vetted Communications, LLC. Her main clients are nonprofit organizations working in the marine environment. (Membership & Communications Chair)
Treasurer/Secretary: Steve Eldredge (2024-2027)
Steve Eldredge has lived in Bokeelia since 2019, but has been coming to the Island for more than 20 years. He and his wife, Kristi, have four children who live in Minnesota, Colorado and Florida. He was an investment manager for his entire career, predominately spent working for RBC and Wells Fargo. Steve graduated from the University of Central Florida with a degree in finance and earned his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Recently retired, Steve looks forward to maintaining the Island’s ambience and making the GPICA the best that it can be. (Development Committee Co-Chair)
Sue Dahod (2024-2027)
Sue Dahod has lived in Bokeelia since 2014. She grew up near Cleveland, Ohio, and vacationed with family in the Florida Keys. Sue developed a love for nature and the ocean while growing up. She studied biology and aquatic ecology and received a BS degree in Biology and later obtained a BS in Mechanical Engineering. She worked for several pharmaceutical companies and did manufacturing support, process development, and project management for biologically made products.
Sue’s passions in retirement include painting, gardening and volunteering for clean water advocacy groups. She is the local Ranger leader for Calusa Waterkeeper and is active in the Florida Right to Clean Water movement.
Kathy Chumley (2025-2028)
Kathy Chumley was born and raised in New Jersey. She traveled the world as a military dependent before settling in Ormond Beach, Florida, in 1973 where she met and married her husband, Jim. Kathy has one son, Ben, who works as a Senior Planner for Alachua County.
Kathy has a BA in History from Stetson University in Deland, Florida, and an MA in Library and Information Science from the University of South Florida. She worked for 10 years at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, ultimately serving as Manager of Library Services for the University’s Extended Campus and Distance Learning programs. Kathy moved to Bokeelia in 2002 to work as a reference librarian at the Cape Coral Lee County Public Library and retired in 2019 as a Senior Librarian and branch manager at the North Fort Myers Public Library.
Since retiring, Kathy has been involved with a number of community organizations, including the Beacon of Hope, Calusa Land Trust and the Pine Island Garden Club. She is interested in protecting our environment and way of life, building for resilience, and preserving our fishing and agricultural communities. Kathy is serving on the GPICA board to help preserve the beauty, uniqueness and Old Florida atmosphere of Pine Island.
Deborah Swisher-Hicks (2025-2028)
Deborah Swisher-Hicks was born and raised in Sacramento and retired from the state of California after 25 years of reviewing, interpreting, and applying complex and ever-changing laws. She moved to Pine Island in 2019, a place she not only calls home, but a community she embraces. While working in California, she saw how natural resources such as soil-rich farmland, and natural preserves disappeared in the name of progress. She raised her children to believe in protecting what is important, which is why her son serves in the U.S. Air Force. With the great community of Pine Island as her home — a place that she holds dear to her heart — she believes that it is important to protect the natural resources from overdevelopment, to provide smart mitigation measures to protect the community, and to provide the heartfelt service to the community that she loves and embraces.
Scott Wilkinson (2025-2028)
Scott Wilkinson was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He received his BA (Cum Laude) from the University of New Hampshire and has been a Florida resident since 2005 and has lived in Bokeelia since 2008. He served active duty in the U.S. Army from 1971-1973 and was honorably discharged in 1977. Scott worked for the USPS from 1974-1975, then became a U.S. Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division Field Investigator from 1975-2001 in Manchester, New Hampshire. From 2001-2005, he worked in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management, U.S. Department of Labor. He retired in 2005. He is a current member of the American Legion Pine Island Post 0136, Loyal Order of Moose Pine Island Lodge 1954, Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program — Civilian Advisory Committee, Calusa Land Trust, Charlotte Shores One Property Owners’ Association, S.W. Florida Central Labor Council.
Open seat — term through 2028
Open seat — term through 2026
Open seat — term through 2026
Open seat — term through 2026
