Michael Udine, who served as Vice Mayor for the past year, is now the new mayor of Broward County.
Last Tuesday, county commissioners voted unanimously for Udine to replace outgoing Mayor Steve Geller, who delivered his State of the County 2021 Address.
Mayor Udine served as Vice Mayor from November 2020. He has also been a Commissioner in Broward County since 2016, representing District 3, which covers Coral Springs, Parkland, Tamarac and North Lauderdale.
Lamar Fisher, a former mayor of Pompano Beach, was selected as the county’s new Vice Mayor. Fisher beat former State Senator Nan Rich with a 5 to 4 vote.
Speaking at the Commissioner’s meeting, Mayor Udine said his focus will be taking Broward out of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is largely under control. He also said there will be a focus on the mental health of residents during his tenure.
“My theme for the upcoming year will be a Healthy and Sustainable Broward,” said Udine.
“This will include a focus on physical and mental health, financial health including jobs and personal finances and the overall health of our economy. When students have been home from school for a while and elderly people haven’t had the social interaction that they are used and that they deserve and I think they are going to stress the system and I think we are going to see more people who are vulnerable looking for help from governmental agencies, from non-profits and different agencies that backstop and we are going to have to make sure we’re open and receptive to new ideas because these systems are going to get overloaded and we’re going to need to make sure we are delivering them in the best way possible,” said Udine.
Each Broward Mayor serves a term of one year.
At the 2021 State of the County Address, the outgoing Mayor, Steve Geller, reflected on his term as Mayor, where the main focus was on protecting residents from the pandemic.
“My term as Mayor was interesting. I was the face of Broward during the worst pandemic in our lifetimes. My main focus was protecting the life and health of Broward residents while balancing this with protecting our economy,” said Geller.
As for COVID-19 recovery, Geller said the local economy is showing signs of recovery, as cases dwindle. But he cautioned residents ahead of the holiday season.
“The State of the County is good and recovering,” said Mayor Geller. He says the average number of new cases in Broward is eight per 100,000 of population. “We went up to 144 in August. We are better than we were, but still in a cautionary stage. With everyone getting together for the holidays I fear a future outbreak, especially among the unvaccinated.”
Geller also expressed condolences to loved ones of the nearly 5,000 Broward residents who died from COVID-19. “I want people to know that you are thought of, and we do realize the extreme pain and suffering that has befallen us,” he said.
The former Mayor also noted some of the accomplishments during his term, which includes the creation of a Film Commission, creating the Broward County Construction Apprenticeship Program, the completion of the Lauderhill Transit Center and the opening of the top floor of the new Broward County Courthouse. To boost vaccinations among county employees, an incentive program was also created.
Geller will continue his term as Commissioner of Broward County District 5.
