Vice President

Gary D. Harrell is the former Director for the Charlotte County-Punta Gorda Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).  He joined the MPO as a staff planner in February 2001 after retiring from the U.S. Navy, with 24 years of active service.  Eventually becoming the MPO’s Director he was responsible for:

-Supervision of MPO Staff

-Production of the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)

-Production of the Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) updates

-Staff advisor to the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC)

-Coordinator for FDOT/City/County transportation issues

-Community Traffic Safety Team (CTST) representative

-Community outreach for all MPO products

Gary retired from the MPO in November 2021 with over 20 years of service to Charlotte County.

Besides work at the MPO, Gary served concurrently as an Adjunct Professor (2000-2016) at Edison Community College which eventually was renamed Florida SouthWest (FSW) State College (Charlotte Campus) teaching World Civilizations (WOH) classes.

He has a Masters in Public Administration (Foreign Policy emphasis) from the University of Washington, Seattle and a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.  

He is a Past President of the Charlotte County Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) and active in community organizations that emphasize educational opportunities.

As a Naval Officer, Gary was a designated Naval Flight Officer qualified in the P-3 Orion patrol aircraft as Mission Commander.  In addition to several Patrol Squadron assignments covering primarily the Pacific, Western Pacific and Indian Oceans, his other assignments included:

-Officer-in-Charge of a command, control, communications and intelligence (C3I) unit supporting counter-drug operations in the Caribbean, Central and South America 

-U.S. Naval Attaché to Tunis, Tunisia

-Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Pentagon, Coordinator for Drug Enforcement Policy and Support

-Tactical Action Officer aboard a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier (USS Constellation)

-NROTC Instructor at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Born: San Antonio, Texas in 1953, he lived in San Antonio until he was eighteen years old leaving home to attend the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA), Annapolis, MD

Sports:  -Football grades 7-12 and intramural football at USNA;

-Lightweight Crew (rowing) at USNA – four years – earning Varsity Letters in three of four years (first year crew was not eligible for a Varsity Letter);

-Lightweight Crew Coach at University of Washington