Rich Crotty

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Richard T. Crotty (born August 30, 1948 in Orlando, Florida) is the current mayor of Orange County, Florida, and as such, is the head of the Orange County Board of County Commissioners.

[edit] Biography

Crotty grew up in Orlando. He graduated from Valencia Community College in 1970 and Florida Technological University in 1972. After three years of work doing waste manage consultation under contract from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, he was selected to the Orlando Chamber of Commerce's first "Leadership Orlando" program. In 1978, he was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives. One of the first pieces of legislation he co-sponsored was the law that changed the name of FTU, his alma mater, to the University of Central Florida. He was the prime sponsor of the law that created the "Florida Prepaid College Tuition Program", the first and largest of its kind in the United States. Later he would serve in the Florida Senate as the Republican Floor Leader. One of the last pieces of legislation he sponsored was the "Junny Rios-Martinez Act" in 1992, named after the victim of Florida Death Row inmate Mark Dean Schwab, which denied parole and early release to violent sexual predators.

After 14 years of service in Tallahassee, Crotty returned to Orlando and was elected the Orange County Property Appraiser in 1992. He proceeded to begin the upgrade of the office to include modern personal computer technology in its tasks.

On January 23, 2001, after the confirmation of Orange County Chairman (former name of the position of Mayor) Mel Martinez as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Florida Governor Jeb Bush appointed Crotty to replace Martinez. Crotty was subsequently elected to the position in 2002, and re-elected in 2006, getting 73% and 69% of the vote, respectively. The position of Orange County Mayor carries a term limit of two terms, but since Crotty was appointed in the latter half of Martinez's term, he was permitted to run for two full terms.

Crotty was a key supporter of the half-penny sales tax increase to drive an aggressive expansion project for Orange County Public Schools, which was passed by Orange County voters in 2002.

Crotty was a significant fundraiser for George W. Bush during the 2004 election. His 13-year old son made headlines for looking bored out of his mind while standing close to the President during a campaign speech. [1][2]

Crotty was investigated but subsequently cleared of any impropriety after making $112,000 in a South Florida land deal with realtor Daryl Carter between 2002-2003. [3] Crotty was instrumental in winning a new medical school for the University of Central Florida and convincing the Burnham Institute to build a new research facility in Orange County as part of his vision for the Innovation Way high tech corridor.

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