Mr. Bob Mulhere, AICP has more than 20 years of professional planning experience in Florida. Prior to commencing employment with RWA, Mr. Mulhere was employed as the Director of Planning for Collier County Government.  He holds a Bachelors of Art in Political Science from St. Michael’s College, and a Master's degree in Public Administration from Florida Gulf Coast University.  He has been a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) since 1994.  After leaving employment with Collier County in 2001 to join RWA, Inc., Mr. Mulhere was retained by Collier County to oversee the planning aspects of the County’s vast Rural and Agricultural Assessment covering nearly 300,000 acres of agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands in eastern Collier County. The result of this three-year plus assessment was the development of the award winning Rural Lands Stewardship Area and Rural Fringe Area Programs. These are incentive-based programs focusing on protection of critically important listed species habitat areas, wetlands and flowways, and the need to balance these environmental protection measures with protection of private property rights.

Mr. Mulhere continues to work with rural agricultural communities throughout Florida to develop incentive based regulations which protect important environmentally sensitive lands and to promote agriculture, with full consideration of the private property rights of the land owners in these areas.  Presently, RWA is preparing Rural Area Plans for both Highlands and Hendry Counties, and is providing assistance in several other predominantly rural counties.  

In addition to his professional experience, Mr. Mulhere has long been involved in community service in Southwest Florida.  Recently, he has worked with various community, business, and civic organizations in Collier County to promote economic development and develop regulatory ad market incentives to increase the amount of reasonably priced housing stock.    

In 1997, Mr. Mulhere was named Marco Island Citizen of the Year by the Naples Daily News.  In 2006, he was recognized by FGCU as the Alumnus of the Year, and that same year he was named one of N Magazine’s “Men of Distinction”.   Mr. Mulhere currently serves on the Boards of several community, civic, and business organizations including: the Collier County Development Services Advisory Council; the Economic Development Council of Collier County (Vice President, Policy); and the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce. Most recently, he was appointed to the Regional Planning Council of Southwest Florida.