A crowded race for mayor of Fort Lauderdale has pitted three political rivals against Dean Trantalis, the man who has been doing the job since 2018.
The election comes at a critical time for Fort Lauderdale, a growing coastal city facing a range of challenges that include sea-level rise, damaging floods from record rainstorms and a homeless crackdown mandated by the state.
Trantalis, a real estate attorney, says residents should vote for him in the Nov. 5 election because he is the most qualified person to guide the city through the next four years.
His three opponents disagree.
Kenneth Cooper, an attorney who lost to Trantalis in 2020, describes himself as a neutral candidate with no political baggage who will bring a sense of fiscal responsibility to City Hall.
Jim Lewis, a criminal defense attorney making his 10th run for office and his second for mayor, says he’s the top pick if you want a more vibrant downtown with an “edgy” nightlife to rival Miami’s.
Barbra Stern, an attorney making her first run for mayor and her second run for public office, says she’s the one to vote for if you want a leader who will bring a laser focus to the entire city and stop what she called the city’s public land giveaways.
Chris Nelson, a conservative activist and DJ, dropped out of the race in mid-October. His name will appear on the ballot but any votes cast for him will not count. Nelson told the South Florida ֱ he has endorsed Stern and plans to vote for her.
“It’s time for a woman to be mayor,” he said. “She has won me over. I’m voting for Barbra Stern over myself.”
The police and fire unions also are backing Stern, a labor attorney who has on occasion represented the police union.
Trantalis, first elected in 2003 as a commissioner, has been casting votes from the dais for 14 years, the past six as mayor.
Stern argues that Fort Lauderdale needs a new mayor and she’s the right one for the job.
“It’s time for change,” she said. “We are in pivotal times right now. I commend Dean on his many years of service in the city. But I think it’s just time we move on.”
Stern accused the mayor of focusing more on downtown than other parts of the city, including the city’s minority neighborhoods in District 3.
“We need someone who does actually understand diversity,” Stern said. “He champions himself about the people who come here, but what about the people who live here? The people in District 3 are routinely ignored. I will be somebody who will be a champion for all people. I will be someone who can take us forward. I will be a strong woman who knows how to say no to people, who knows how to say no to bad deals. I will be a voice for unity throughout the entire city, not just downtown.”
To say the city has ignored District 3 is simply not true, Trantalis said.
“I have supported tens of millions of dollars of investment in the northwest,” he said. “We built the YMCA. We redid Sistrunk Boulevard. We’re seeing a complete renaissance taking place in the northwest. Our eyes are on every neighborhood. There is not one neighborhood, not one section where our eyes are not focused.”
Overcoming challenges
When asked whether it was time for a woman to be mayor, Trantalis said experience and qualifications matter more than gender or culture or religion.
“I think whoever is mayor should not be based on identity politics,” he said. “I don’t think we should be electing people because of their sex, their sexual orientation, their background, their culture, their religion. That has nothing to do with what qualifies a person to be mayor. Right now we’re talking about qualifications. We’re talking about vision. We’re talking about the ability to get things done. And I think over the last six-and-a-half years, I’ve truly proven that. We’ve gotten so many things done. We’ve overcome many challenges, as you all know.”
In a questionnaire submitted to the South Florida ֱ, Trantalis touts Fort Lauderdale’s growing population as well as its reputation as a place that offers a “great urban experience” where people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures feel comfortable.
“Diversity has always been an important part of my message,” said Trantalis, Fort Lauderdale’s first openly gay mayor. “Welcoming people from all walks of life. Different cultures, languages. This is Fort Lauderdale. We do not close the door on anybody. And I think it’s important for us to understand that as we see more and more people moving into the city and more and more people enjoying what we have here.”
Lewis, who lives downtown, argues the urban experience actually isn’t so great.
“I think there’s a lot of concrete,” he said. “There’s a lot of tall buildings. What I’m worried about is we don’t have the infrastructure to justify all these buildings. We have major problems, whether it’s sewer or water, flood mitigation. I think we need to take another look at all these master plans that are putting so many people downtown. I think it’s a real problem.”
Cooper says so many tall buildings are going up in downtown Fort Lauderdale, it’s starting to look like New York City.
“And I never wanted to live in New York City,” he said. “(People) are moving out of New York City because the taxes are so high, the crime rate’s so high and a multitude of other reasons. And it seems like that’s the path we’re going. Crime’s going up. Traffic’s getting worse. We have too many 35- and 40-story buildings. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop with the current administration.”
Lewis argued that Fort Lauderdale’s downtown is missing something that downtown Miami isn’t: Vegas-style show clubs such as E11EVEN Miami, which are open around the clock for customers 21 years old and over.
“Some people might call Club E11EVEN Miami a strip club but I’d call it a show club,” Lewis said. “They have dancers up on stage. Occasionally they’re nude. But we need something that’s going to draw young people, and I think the space next to the Museum of Science is the perfect area for it. Now some might say, ‘Fort Lauderdale doesn’t need a strip club. What are you, crazy?’ No, we need big entertainment venues so people will want to stay here and play here. So they don’t have to drive to Miami.”
Lewis also was critical of Fort Lauderdale’s skyline, saying the towers that have gone up are not as impressive as he’d like.
“I don’t want to go back to 1985 Fort Lauderdale,” Lewis said. “But I see these tall skinny buildings downtown. Look at how Miami looks. They’re iconic. We should be able to build something like that. Our downtown with all these tall buildings, it’s not aesthetically pleasing. We’ve got to be a little more discriminating in terms of the kinds of buildings we’re going to allow here.”
Land giveaways?
Stern says the city also needs to be more discriminating when it negotiates what she called land giveaways.
The city should have never made a deal with a private developer to build a concert venue and food hall on taxpayer-owned land in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Stern argued.
“If you want to go build another entertainment complex, go for it,” Stern said. “But don’t take our city property to do it. That land could have been used for so many different things. We could have put a new City Hall there. We could have had our big urban downtown park that didn’t have some commercial use in the middle of it.”
Stern also says the city struck a bad deal when it leased public land to the owners of Inter Miami for $1 a year to build a new soccer stadium.
“This team was going to have to build a stadium no matter where they went,” she said. “They got something they needed and they got our city land. They are paying us $1 a year to rent it. That’s just a bad deal. We get starstruck by some of these deals and we just give it away. That was an absolute giveaway.”
The way Cooper sees it, Fort Lauderdale goofed on other deals, too.
“You got Bahia Mar,” he said. “You got Lockhart Stadium. You got Snyder Park and Holiday Park. You’re dealing with billionaires, not millionaires. They call them partnerships except it’s a one-sided deal. Somebody should be making much better deals on all of our land because it looks like a public giveaway. Lots in Fort Lauderdale are $2 million, $3 million. The average price of a house is $400,000, $500,000. And we’re giving this land away for $1 a year. Doesn’t seem reasonable to me.”
Trantalis defended the deals, saying the city got a new soccer stadium and other recreational facilities it could never have built on its own.
“These were not giveaways,” he said. “These were opportunities for the city to create an experience that before it never could. A third of a $1 billion (was) invested in our community. That is not a giveaway.”
Inter Miami’s owners built not only a soccer stadium but also created a football field for two high schools that never had one, Trantalis said.
“Included in that deal was also a park on 20 acres,” he said. “We’re at 90% design phase for that park. And the Inter Miami folks have agreed to pay for that. And we own that stadium. That’s not a giveaway.”
Trantalis also defended the $100 million food hall and ArtsPark venture that will rise on public land in Flagler Village.
“Let’s all recall what was there before,” he said. “That was the original City Hall. And it was then the building department. And it was languishing there. It needed to be torn down, and we finally tore it down.”
The new entertainment center, which has yet to break ground, would include a 2-acre park.
“We haven’t paved it over,” Trantalis said. “They are opening it to the public. And luckily, it’s going to be managed by a private entity so they’ll be able to restrict it from people that shouldn’t be in the park, to allow kids and families to be able to enjoy it and not be hassled by people that might otherwise enter these parks and make it an unpleasant experience.”
Dystopian thinking?
Trantalis accused his critics of dystopian thinking.
“Let’s talk about reality,” he said. “Fort Lauderdale is experiencing a renaissance. We see new stores opening up. We see more and more people wanting to move here. Over 3,500 new jobs have been created in downtown alone just this past year. People are walking to work, walking to the stores, walking their children in baby carriages, walking their dogs.”
In the late 1980s, Flagler Village was considered a blighted area and qualified to be a Community Redevelopment Agency to help revitalize the neighborhood, Trantalis noted.
“We also put together a master plan,” he said. “And what did that master plan call for? It called for just what we’re seeing today. The community is now seeing the fulfillment of its dreams. And that’s important for people to remember.”
Trantalis ticked off a long list of what he considers the city’s successes: The new $170 million soccer stadium built by Inter Miami’s owners. The newly renovated Parker playhouse. The IcePlex at War Memorial in Holiday Park. The new aquatic center next to the Swimming Hall of Fame. Soccer legend Leo Messi, Fort Lauderdale’s new celebrity resident.
“For anyone to have this negative feeling about Fort Lauderdale, that’s your opinion,” Trantalis said. “Because people are flocking here by the thousands wanting to be a part of this. And we all know that. And I thank my colleagues on the commission over the years for supporting me and for understanding how that vision needs to be carried forward over the next four years.”
Stern argues the city’s infrastructure — everything from sewer pipes to streets and sidewalks — has not kept up with development.
“Our streets are a mess,” she said. “Our sidewalks are uneven. They’re broken. When you walk around our city, our sidewalks are a mess. (The city says) we have a sidewalk infrastructure improvement plan we’ll be addressing over the next 10 years. These are things that should have been addressed in the here and now.”
Fort Lauderdale also desperately needs more green space, Stern said.
“We’re not a walkable community,” she said. “Being a walkable community is an important part of having an urban vibe, an urban feel. The Tunnel Top Plaza was a big disappointment. It’s a big concrete slab in the middle of Las Olas. Is it better than what we had? Some people say yes, some people say no. But it’s not green space. And that is certainly part of having a vibrant urban community.”
Right or wrong?
For years, city activists have torpedoed the idea of lobbyists serving on city boards. Lobbyists typically represent developers and other special interests and have no business serving on boards, critics say.
Earlier this year, Vice Mayor Steve Glassman urged the commission to back a new ordinance that would prohibit lobbyists from serving on city boards, committees and task forces. He had support from the mayor but not the rest of the commission: Warren Sturman, John Herbst and Pamela Beasley-Pittman.
“I have not been successful because I haven’t had the support,” Glassman said. “But I will not give up on that fight.”
With election season in high gear, the question has come up at candidates’ forums.
Trantalis said he agrees the city would be better served by not appointing lobbyists to city boards in the interest of maintaining objectivity.
“They can influence decisions at the advisory board level, whether it be Planning and Zoning, whether it be charter revision, whether it be any of those committees,” Trantalis said.
Barbra Stern is the daughter of Judy Stern, a lobbyist and longtime political consultant who is currently chair of the city’s charter revision board — but is not the only lobbyist serving on a city board.
Should Stern be elected mayor, she said she would consult with the city attorney and recuse herself from any vote that might present a conflict of interest due to family connections.
That said, Stern brought up the fact that her mother has not represented a developer in Fort Lauderdale in years.
“She hasn’t brought forward a project in I don’t know how many years,” Stern said. “If we’re going to be looking at board positions and how somebody might benefit from it, I think we need to address whether realtors should be serving on the planning and zoning board.”
Cooper says he is one of the few candidates who doesn’t have strong ties to developers or the lobbyists who represent them.
“One of the reasons I’m running is I don’t want anyone with those prior political connections,” Cooper said. “I would really like somebody new. Somebody who’s going to be neutral on all these issues. I want somebody completely neutral that runs the city.”
The winner of the race will be among the highest paid elected officials in Broward County.
The mayor of Fort Lauderdale currently earns $106,200. On Dec. 1, the mayor’s salary will increase to $106,920 thanks to an automatic annual pay raise that began in 2020. The commission approved the higher salaries in 2019, when the mayor earned a salary of $35,000 a year and commissioners were paid $30,000.
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan
