Buddy Dyer

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John H. "Buddy" Dyer
Buddy Dyer

Orlando Mayor Elect Dyer during his election day victory in 2003
Preceded by Glenda Evans Hood
Born August 7, 1958 (1958-08-07) (age 49)
Kissimmee, Florida, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse Karen Dyer
Alma mater University of Florida
Brown University
Religion Presbyterian

John Hugh "Buddy" Dyer (born August 7, 1958) is mayor of Orlando, Florida, first elected in 2003. He is a member of the United States Democratic Party. Previously he represented Orlando in the Florida State Senate for ten years, including three years when he was the Senate Democratic leader.

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[edit] Early life

Dyer was born in 1958 in Orlando. He grew up in nearby Kissimmee, and graduated from Osceola High School there. He began his political career after serving as an attorney and lawyer following his graduations from Brown University and the law school of the University of Florida.[1]

[edit] Political career

[edit] State Senate

Dyer's first run for political office was in 1992 for Florida's State Senate district 14, which consisted of Orlando and Sanford, Florida. Dyer had two Democratic primary opponents, Candice "Candy" Crawford (sister of former Florida Agriculture Commissioner Bob Crawford and political pundit Craig Crawford) and Tim Adams, a local business owner. Dyer won the primary, but failed to get the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. Dyer received 44% of the vote, while Crawford received 39%. Adams received 17% and was eliminated. The runoff between Dyer and Crawford was highly concentrated in Orlando's African-American communities. Dyer received the support of many of the local churches as well as the endorsement of Tim Adams and Dotti Wynn (loser of the district's Republican primary). Crawford relied on local politicians like State Representative Alzo Reddick. Dyer won the runoff 54% to 44% for Crawford. He continued to the general election where he faced Republican Steve DeMino. Dyer won the general election with 56% of the vote to 46% for DeMino.

He was subsequently re-elected in 1996 and 2000, serving a total of ten years in the State Senate, where he was State Senate Democratic leader for three years. In 2002 he ran for the office of state attorney general, losing to Republican Charlie Crist.[2]

[edit] Mayor

[edit] Elections

Dyer was elected the 32nd mayor of Orlando on February 25, 2003 in a special election after the previous mayor, Glenda Hood, was appointed Florida's Secretary of State. He was re-elected in 2004 in a regular election, narrowly avoiding a runoff with challenger Ken Mulvaney. He won re-election again on January 29, 2008, receiving 61% of the vote over challenger Mulvaney. [3]

[edit] Electoral fraud allegations

Following the 2004 election Mulvaney alleged election fraud by Dyer. An investigation into the matter by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement led a grand jury to bring charges against the mayor, his campaign manager, and an election consultant for allegedly paying someone to gather absentee ballots[4] in Orlando's African American community. Such payments are illegal under Florida law. In March 2005 Dyer was suspended by Governor Jeb Bush in accordance with the Florida Constitution. In April 2005 the charges were dismissed and he was reinstated as mayor.[citation needed]

[edit] Actions in office

In his years as Mayor of Orlando, Buddy Dyer claims progress in realizing his vision for Orlando as a world-class city.[5] According to his re-election campaign materials, he led Orlando out of a financial crisis and made public safety a top priority. He attracted state-of-the-art health care facilities and created a regional medical area at Lake Nona[1], and has worked to improve all of the city's neighborhoods. During his term Orlando has had 3 consecutive years of employment growth and a 2.2 percent decline in unemployment.[citation needed]

Dyer advocated a new performing arts center for Orlando and a new arena for the Orlando Magic. He worked with Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty to get approval for using $1.1 billion of the county's Tourist Development Tax monies, collected as a surcharge on hotel rooms, to fund construction of a new arena, a new performing arts center and large-scale renovations of the Citrus Bowl. The measure received final approvals on both the city and county levels in August 2007. Later that month, local hotelier Harris Rosen launched a drive to get initiatives on the ballot to allow citizens to vote on whether they want public monies spent on these projects.

Mayor Dyer has attracted criticism for supporting an Orlando ordinance (passed in July 2006) that essentially bans the sharing of food with groups of 25 or more people inside more than three dozen downtown parks. Proponents of the "large group feedings" ordinance contend that the measure is necessary to reduce the crime they say is caused by the presence of large numbers of homeless individuals in the downtown area. Opponents of the ordinance contend that it criminalizes compassion by stopping groups from sharing food with the homeless.

He is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.

[edit] Family life

Mayor Dyer and his wife Karen were married in 1979. They have two sons, Trey and Drew, who attend public school. [5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Official Biography of Mayor Dyer, City of Orlando website
  2. ^ Buddy Dyer Summary, Orlando Sentinel website, accessed April 19, 2008
  3. ^ Make most of 'mandate' - - OrlandoSentinel.com
  4. ^ Absentee Voting Practices Result In Felony Charges Against Orlando, Florida Mayor, Judge, Campaign Manager, And Others
  5. ^ a b Campaign biography of Mayor Dyer, Mayor Dyer's 2008 Campaign website[broken citation]

[edit] External links