Gulf County Citizens Coalition Board Members
The Gulf County Citizens Board only exists to meet State legal requirements. Board decisions are not made by a single leader but by a unified voice. We evolved as a grassroots response to a proposed LNG facility in Port St. Joe and public concerns about an attempt to circumvent federal oversight. We are still governed as a grassroots group, as explained on our “how we operate” page.
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Anyone can join, and anyone can ask to attend our Zoom meetings. Zoom attendees help formulate the answers to community challenges. As a Citizens Coalition, your voice matters just as much as any board member's when you attend Zoom.
Our primary function is to share information with the public, our elected officials, and State agencies as we research the possible ramifications of policy decisions regarding our local lands and waters.
On our “learn more” page, we have posted the raw documents for: Environmental and Department of Health assessments with regard to dredging and bay toxins, laboratory tests, the Port Masterplan, dredging permits, and our analysis of some of these documents for those of you who don’t have the background or time to read them in full.
We have no paid staff, no political consultants, and no outside funding beyond small local donations used primarily for website and printing costs. No board member receives compensation from national advocacy groups, developers, tourism interests, St. Joe Company, or port competitors. No board member has a financial interest in port contracts or port operations. Our stake is simple. We live here. We pay taxes here. We care about public assets.
We do not require that our membership report their background, but people who are Engineers, Scientists, Charter Boat Captains, Marine Biologists, retired Coast Guard, Toxicologists, Local Business Owners, and retired FDEP, are just a few that have been involved in the research that we present on our website and in our communications.
Meet The Board
Deb Mays
Twenty years as a Senior Research Specialist at Vanderbilt University in Biochemistry and Cancer Biology. Authored 16 scientific articles for peer-reviewed journals and was cited for technical assistance in another 7. Recipient of Vanderbilt University’s Edward Price Jr. Award for Excellence in Basic Research in 2010. Worked on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Response Team in Alaska as a laboratory technician, veterinary technician, and scientific consultant. Was employed by the US Park Service. Owned a biotech service for genetic testing in sheep. Holds a degree in Wildlife Management.
"My primary roles at the GCCC are research and education. For those who have called me a “Soros-funded environmental radical,” I would like to mention I am a life-long, registered republican, avid hunter and fisherman, and consider myself a “Conservative Conservationist.” I have lived in PSJ for ten years and have no agenda or economic stake in any issue here other than a desire to protect our lands and waters. "~ Deb Mays
John Ehrman
Retired registered Professional Engineer moving to Gulf County from Pensacola Florida in 2008 after working for the Department Of Veterans Affairs at the Pensacola Naval Air Station Station. Built my retirement house on a lot I bought in 1995 so I have been coming here for over 30 years (yes, I remember the paper mill!). Prior to my Pensacola duty station I worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers at the West Point Military Academy in upstate NY.
Volunteer groups I have joined:
St Joseph Bay Buffer Preserves
St Joseph Peninsula State Park
South Gulf Fire and Rescue
Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital
Florida Coastal Conservancy
St Joseph Peninsula Turtle Patrol
I have no hidden agenda, no outside source of income from political or any other organizations, just my government pension.
Darylynn Lewis
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After a distinguished 30-year career in housing and technology in New York City Government and IBM, she returned in 2016 to her childhood home of Port St. Joe with a renewed commitment to strengthening and uplifting her Northside community. A fourth-generation member of a family deeply rooted in community and local small family businesses, she is dedicated to preserving the legacy and future of the area she proudly calls home. Darylynn Lewis is a graduate of Simmons College in Boston Ma with a BA in Government/Political Science.
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She currently serves as:
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Trustee, New Bethel AME Church
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Gulf County TDC Advisory Committee
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Gulf County Citizens Coalition (GCCC)
Dannie Bolden
Gulf County Property Owner, a North Port St Joe community activist, organizer and advocate.
Born 1954 and raised in North Port St Joe, Fla. Class of 1972 graduate Port St. Joe High School ,
Veteran U.S. Airforce,
Graduate Wayland Baptist University, Bachelors Degree,
2005 Founder Gulf County Community Development Corporation,
Former Administrator Gulf County Statewide Housing Initiatives Program (SHIP),
2016-Current Vice President North Port St. Joe Project Area Coalition,
Interdisciplinary Researcher, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Cohort #7 Team North Port St Joe , Transformative Scenarios to health in North Port St. Joe,
President Florida Panhandle Minority's Communities Climate Change Coalition,
2023 Received Public Citizen's Super Citizen Activist Award for Environmental and Community Protection in North Port St. Joe,
2025 Awarded Florida Brownfields Association Spirit of Excellence in supporting environmental justice and health equity.
To contact a GCCC Board Member:
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Subject: Board Members Name