Dean Trantalis

Dean J. Trantalis (born October 14, 1953) is an American politician and mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Before his election as mayor, Trantalis served as a city commissioner for Fort Lauderdale from 2009 to 2017.[1]

Dean Trantalis
42nd Mayor of Fort Lauderdale
Assumed office
March 20, 2018
Preceded byJack Seiler
Commissioner, Fort Lauderdale
In office
March 17, 2013 – March 20, 2018
Personal details
Born (1953-10-14) October 14, 1953
Political partyDemocratic
OccupationLawyer

Political career

Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner (2003-2006)

Trantalis was elected to the Fort Lauderdale City Commission in 2003, and served until 2006. He was the city's first openly gay commissioner.[2]

Fort Lauderdale City Commission (2013-2018)

Trantalis was elected to the Fort Lauderdale City Commission in a 2013 special election, defeating then-incumbent Charlotte Rodstrom, who instead ran for County Commission.[3] He won the 2015 general election without much opposition.

"Homeless Hate Laws"

The City of Fort Lauderdale made international news when the commission voted to outlaw feeding the homeless.[4] Trantalis voted against the ordinance, causing a major rift between himself and the commission. There was international outrage when a 93-year-old man, Arnold Abbot, was arrested for feeding the homeless.[5] The City passed another feeding ban in 2017, despite public outcry.[6] In 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it would probe Broward County and the City of Fort Lauderdale, in response to the homeless sharing ordinances.[7] Trantalis has vowed that as Mayor, he would not enforce the ordinance.

Development

Trantalis has been an early opponent of overdevelopment in the coastal city. On the commission, he voted against many of the development proposals. In 2017, he voted against the controversial Bahia Mar development proposal.[8]

Fort Lauderdale Mayoral Election, 2018

The 2018 race for mayor of Fort Lauderdale was said to be the city's most heated election. Trantalis announced his intent to run for mayor late in October 2017.[9][10] The election became about pressing issues such as development, infrastructure, traffic, and special interests.[11] "Our infrastructure needs have reached a crisis level, and now we are discovering that mismanagement of city funds only made the situation worse", said Trantalis in a Sun Sentinel questionnaire.[12] On January 12, 2018, Trantalis campaign staffer Elijah Manley was arrested by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.[13] Manley was accused of tampering with campaign signs. On This Week in South Florida, Trantalis defended Manley, saying that it could have been because of a mistaken identity. Manley accused the Fort Lauderdale Police Department of a "politically motivated" arrest and bias for their former boss, Bruce Roberts, who was running against Trantalis.[14] Trantalis and Roberts exceed to a March 2018 runoff.[15] Trantalis handily defeated Bruce Roberts, with a 64% landslide in the March 13th, 2018 General Election runoff.[16] Trantalis is the first openly gay person to be elected Mayor of Fort Lauderdale.[17]

Personal life

Dean Trantalis resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He graduated with a law degree from Stetson University in St. Petersburg, Florida. He practices real estate law, and has his own private practice firm in real estate law.

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References
  1. "City of Fort Lauderdale, FL : Commissioner Dean J. Trantalis". www.fortlauderdale.gov. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  2. "Fort Lauderdale Elects First Openly-Gay Mayor in Landslide - Dallas Voice". Dallas Voice. 2018-03-14. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  3. "Former Commissioner Dean Trantalis wins Fort Lauderdale special election". tribunedigital-sunsentinel. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  4. Barszewski, Larry. "Fort Lauderdale commissioners pull all-nighter and approve homeless feeding restrictions". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  5. Norman, Bob. "Arnold Abbott vows to continue feeding homeless in Fort..." www.local10.com. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  6. Iannelli, Jerry (2017-07-10). "Fort Lauderdale Wants to Ban Feeding the Homeless Again". Miami New Times. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  7. Funcheon, Deirdra (2016-05-06). ""Homeless Hate Laws" in Broward Prompt Talk That the Department of Justice Is Investigating". New Times Broward-Palm Beach. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  8. Iannelli, Jerry (2016-06-17). "Bahia Mar: Critics Say Developer Seemed to "Coach" City Commission Using Hand Signals". New Times Broward-Palm Beach. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  9. "The FACE of FORT LAUDERDALE". Fort Lauderdale Daily. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
  10. Wallman, Brittany. "Fort Lauderdale mayor race heats up". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  11. Wallman, Brittany. "Development, broken pipes, traffic dominate mayor's race". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  12. Sun-Sentinel, South Florida. "Sun Sentinel questionnaire: Dean Trantalis, mayoral race". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  13. Swift, Tim. "Staffer for Fort Lauderdale mayoral candidate accused of..." www.local10.com. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  14. Wallman, Brittany. "Mayoral candidates slinging mud in Fort Lauderdale race". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  15. "Trantalis and Roberts in runoff for mayor of Fort Lauderdale". www.msn.com. Archived from the original on 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  16. Wallman, Brittany. "Dean Trantalis is Fort Lauderdale's new mayor". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  17. Burke, Peter. "Dean Trantalis makes history as first openly gay mayor of Fort..." www.local10.com. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
Political offices
Preceded by
Jack Seiler		 Mayor of Fort Lauderdale
2018–present		 Incumbent
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