BUDDY DYER

'John H. "Buddy" Dyer' is mayor of Orlando, Florida, first elected in 2003. He is a member of the United States Democratic Party.
Dyer was born in 1958 in Orlando. He grew up in Kissimmee, Florida, 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.

Contents

Dyer as state senator

Dyer as mayor

First election

Second election

Advocacy

Social issues

External links

Dyer as state senator

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.

Dyer as mayor

First election

Dyer was first elected mayor on February 25, 2003 in a special election after Glenda Hood was tapped to be Florida's Secretary of State.

Second election

He was re-elected in 2004 in a regular election, narrowly avoiding a runoff with challenger Ken Mulvaney. Mulvaney subsequently 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 paying someone to gather absentee ballots 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.

Advocacy

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.

Social issues

Mayor Dyer supports 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.

External links

★ Official Biography of Mayor Dyer

★ Mayor Dyer's 2008 Campaign website