FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – And then there were four. After one candidate dropped out of the Fort Lauderdale mayoral race three weeks before Election Day, incumbent Dean Trantalis is seeking another term, while three others say it’s time for new leadership.
The largest city in Broward County has a large field of candidates: Barbra Stern, Kenneth Cooper, and Jim Lewis are challenging incumbent Dean Trantalis to become Fort Lauderdale’s next mayor.
“I very much love my job,” Trantalis said.
Trantalis was a city commissioner before he was elected mayor in 2018. He inherited a slew of infrastructure issues he wanted to tackle right when he entered office. So far, the city will commit more than $1.6 billion over the next 10 years to fix the issues.
Trantalis said, “We were able to really focus on a lot of the needs of the city, our infrastructure needs, homelessness, affordable housing.”
The mayor has been criticized by all three opponents when it comes to flooding. Trantalis emphasizes the city has been tackling it for years now.
“We’ve now invested a significant amount of money already in some of these neighborhoods to deal with stormwater, and the process will continue,” he added.
His challengers say Fort Lauderdale is overdeveloped, calling the city a concrete jungle.
“For anyone to say it’s a concrete jungle, it’s a beautiful urban experience downtown like any city would be,” Trantalis said.
“We do need some development, but it’s got to be controlled. This is out of control,” counters Kenneth Cooper.
Attorney Kenneth Cooper, who grew up in Miami, challenged Trantalis in the last race but came up short. He wants to change building codes and create more opportunities for small business owners.
“I understand the finances in this city,” Cooper said. “I know how to solve the problems that I don’t think anybody else running for office knows how to do.”
Barbra Stern, a Broward County native and an attorney, said she wants to alleviate traffic in Fort Lauderdale, protect the city’s green spaces and fix the homeless issue. She believes Fort Lauderdale is fractured on so many levels.
“We’ve had a revolving door in the city manager’s office, we’ve had a revolving door in our public works office. How can you run a city when your internal infrastructure is broken?” Stern asked.
Stern was the last candidate to enter the race. She said she didn’t think the others could beat Trantalis, so she jumped in.
“If the people of Fort Lauderdale are tired of the traffic, tired of the overdevelopment, tired of the congestion, the only way to stop it is to change your mayor,” Stern said.
For decades, attorney Jim Lewis has fought in the courtroom and said if elected, he’ll fight the same battle for the residents of Fort Lauderdale.
“I’m a longtime resident here and I care about the city and my heart is in the right place,” Lewis said.
Lewis unsuccessfully ran for mayor 20 years ago. He’s giving it another go, saying people can’t afford to live in Fort Lauderdale, there are high levels of crime in the city and the waterways are polluted.
“We have sewage coming out of the ground, we have pipes bursting, and yet we waste money on stupid things,” Lewis said.
Since ballots have already been printed and mailed out, voters will still see the name Chris Nelson. The DJ and business owner was a candidate until he dropped out of the race last week.
According to the Broward Supervisor of Elections Office, a vote for Nelson will not count.