Broward County, FL – On Tuesday, The Broward County Commission unanimously voted for Vice Mayor Dale V.C. Holness (District 9) to serve as Mayor today at its reorganization meeting. Holness has served for the past year as Vice Mayor.
The Broward County Charter stipulates that Commissioners, elected from single-member districts, vote annually in November for the position of Mayor and Vice Mayor.
Mayor Holness was sworn in by Senior Pastor, Henry Fernandez, The Faith Center Ministries, while his son Daylan, held a bible before a standing-room only crowd.
Holness is the first Jamaican-American to serve as Mayor on the Broward County Commission. He was first elected in 2010 to represent residents living in Broward County’s District 9, which includes a population in excess of 200,000 residents and covers over eight municipalities in Broward County.
Prior to being elected a Broward County Commissioner, he served as a City of Lauderhill Commissioner from 2004 to 2010. During his terms as a Lauderhill City Commissioner, he served as Vice Mayor twice, 2007, 2010, respectively, started the Lauderhill Chamber of Commerce and established the Lauderhill Business Incubator.
A practicing real estate broker for over 30 years, he is the President and CEO of All Broward Realty. He is a well-known advocate for small, minority and women-owned businesses, fair wages for workers, improving and providing economic development opportunities for all, and homeownership. His global advocacy includes positioning Broward County as the center for international trade with the recent success of the annual Florida International Trade and Cultural Expo (FITCE) held October 9-10, 2019 with representation from 60 countries and nearly 2000 in attendance, the largest to date.
In his first speech as the mayor of Broward County, Holness thanked Mayor Bogen for his “hard work this past year and doing a great job representing Broward County”. He also thanked his fellow commissioners for their vote of confidence.
Holness said, “The mission of my year as Mayor will be to work on making Broward County a better place for all who live here by empowering our community, strengthening our households and businesses, creating policies that afford access to opportunities and by unifying everyone across racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. We are Broward County, one community for everyone and prosperity for all.”
