Directors
The Galt Mile Community Association is administered by a Board of Directors and an Advisory Board. The Board of Directors is depicted and briefly biographed in this section.
Board of Directors
Fred Nesbitt is a chronic volunteer. Fred was elected to the Playa del Mar Board of Directors where he served as Treasurer and President. When appointed to the Galt Mile Community Association Advisory Board, the entire neighborhood started benefiting from his networking skills. A veteran of successful campaigns to rescue the Galt Mile Reading Center and thwart the proposed construction of a Liquefied Natural Gas plant off the Galt Mile Beach, Nesbitt has proven a workaholic dynamo. Not surprisingly, his peers soon shifted Fred’s wheelhouse from the Advisory Board to the GMCA Board of Directors and named him Treasurer, charging him with guardianship of the neighborhood checkbook. Changing hats as required, Fred also applies skills honed in Washington D.C. to citywide challenges, by serving on several Fort Lauderdale Advisory Boards (Fire-Rescue Bond Issue Blue Ribbon Committee, Budget Advisory Board and Cemetery System Board of Trustees). The GMCA Directors elected Fred as their President in 2021.
Paul Sarelakos
Vice President
Fern McBride
Secretary
A veteran of the Broward Public School system, Fern is blessed with a proclivity for organization and excellent communication skills. Somehow, our soft-spoken former educator has been able to quietly compile the fast-paced Advisory Board activities into a coherent set of minutes every month. Fern’s organizational abilities were first recognized by her neighbors in Regency Tower, where she participates in several committees and serves on the Board of Directors – not surprisingly as Secretary! Her low-key demeanor and quiet charm disguise a tenacious commitment to improving our homes and our neighborhood. In addition to making consistent contributions at countless Advisory Board and Presidents Council meetings, Fern has traveled to Tallahassee to fight for the rights of condo owners. When the Broward Beach Renourishment project was being considered by the Florida Cabinet, Fern participated in a successful demonstration by a contingent of Galt Mile homeowners supporting the project. When initially appointed Secretary, the usual format of assigning the attendant executive responsibilities to a director were set aside to take advantage of Fern’s unparalleled competence as a communicator. Inevitably, she was also named to the Board as a Director.
Ed Hashek
Treasurer
Ralph Hamaker
Director
Hailing from Coral Ridge Towers South, Ralph Hamaker is the sole representative to the Board of Directors from a Cooperative. A past President of CRT South, Ralph is familiar with issues that impact our four members from the Coral Ridge Towers Complex in the western sector of the Galt Mile Community. Ralph’s contributions to improving the Galt Mile area are legion, including noise abatement, traffic control and beach renourishment. Intimately involved with the rebirth of the Galt Ocean Village Shoppes area, Ralph was instrumental in attracting the Beach Community Center and Il Lugano, two community linchpins critical for the neighborhood’s stability. Coral Ridge Towers, built just prior to to Condo Act of 1963, was the first hi-rise cooperative financed by the FHA to have a swimming pool. The Coral Ridge Towers (CRT) complex, later expanded to include the North, South (Ralph’s home), and East buildings, was a blueprint for developers prospecting for amenities to include in their offerings. The CRT Complex (four Cooperatives) could not have found a more effective pro-active representative than Mr. Ralph Hamaker.
Jim Madgett
Director
Born and raised in Canada and armed with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from McGill University, Jim has lived in Canada, Oman and the USA. Jim and his wife moved to the Fountainhead in 2014, becoming permanent year-round residents. Jim has been active on the Fountainhead Board of Directors, as well as the Building & Grounds Committee, and serves as a representative to the Lauderdale-By-The-Sea Town Commission, and Galt Mile Community Association. He is in charge of their Engineered Life Safety System (ELSS) project. Jim enjoys bringing the values of his work experiences to the GMCA, along with information and opportunities from his perspective as a resident of Lauderdale-by-The-Sea. Jim was elected to the Galt Mile Community Association Board of Directors in 2023.
Cornelia Cave
Director
Since her involvement in Southpoint’s committees in 2013 and then the next nine years as a board member, Cornelia has helped to provide direction for her community.
Professional trained as a Speech-Language Pathologist, Cornelia has earned a BS, MA, MS, and PD. Besides her speech pathology role, Cornelia was often given the leadership role of chairperson on mandated committees. In addition to a successful career in a school setting, she had an active private practice and ended her SLP career as a graduate professor training students in clinical practices.
Cornelia has been a member of the Galt Ocean Mile Association since 2014 and most recently has spearheaded coordination of the CPR/AED training with the Ft Lauderdale Fire/Rescue. She was elected to the Galt Mile Community Association Board of Directors in 2025.
OSCAR KRAEHENBUEHL
DR. ALEX LEEDS
EARL LIFSHEY
DICK TYMESON
ROBERT ROZEMA
JAMES GILL
FRANCIS CASIER
ROSE GUTTMAN
LEAH GLICKFIELD
PIO IERACI
EARL LIFSHEY & GMCA LEADERSHIP ACCEPTING PLAQUE FOR GALT OCEAN MILE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
