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Our Mayoral Centenarian

Former Sanibel Mayor Myron “Mike” Klein

 

The City of Sanibel has extended an invite to all to attend a 100th Birthday celebration for Former Mayor Myron “Mike” Klein on Tuesday, June 4 at 12:30 p.m. at Sanibel City Hall.

Mike served as a member of City Council for two consecutive terms from 1980-1988. During this time he also served as vice mayor from May 1981 through December 1982 and as mayor from December 1982 through December 1983 and December 1987 through November 1988.

During his terms as Mayor, the Sanibel City Council adopted 61 ordinances and 227 resolutions. In 1983, Mike was the mayor when the Sanibel City Hall on Dunlop Road was finished and dedicated.

Among the legislation adopted during his tenure on City Council were numerous ordinances concerning implementation and development of land use and building codes. Some of the legislation passed during his tenure includes: 

  • Establishing a moratorium pertaining to prevention of overdevelopment of commercial properties
  • Conveyance of land owned by City of Sanibel to the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF)
  • Approving an agreement with Community Housing and Resources (CHR) to serve as the City’s housing foundation
  • Amending comprehensive land use plan protecting wildlife habitats and gopher tortoises and their burrows
  • Prohibiting imposition of impact fees
  • Granting permission for fire control department
  • Setting up refuse collection

Mike Klein is originally from Rochester, New York. In 1943, he graduated from the University of Rochester with a degree in Physics. Mike worked for Eastman Kodak Company before enlisting in the US army. He spent several months at the University of Nebraska before being transferred to Army Night Vision and Electro-optics laboratory in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Mike was involved in the early attempts to build infra-red night vision telescopes. This work resulted in present-day night vision binoculars used by the United States Armed Forces. He also received the Legion of Merit for his work in this field. Mike retired as an Associate Director of the US Army Night Vision and Electro-optics laboratory.

He was a Sanibel resident from 1975 to 1999 and bought his first Sanibel home in 1968. In 1979, alongside Ikki Matsumoto, Polly Matsumoto, and Pete Smith, he formed the nonprofit organization called The Barrier Island Group for the Arts (BIG ARTS).

Currently, Mike lives at Shell Point Retirement Community just across the Causeway in Fort Myers, where he is an active participant in pottery classes.

For more information, please contact the City Manager’s office at 239-472-3700.

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