John Hugh "Buddy" Dyer (born August 7, 1958) is the 32nd and current mayor
of Orlando, Florida, first elected in 2003. He is a member of the Florida Democratic Party. Previously he represented Orlando in the Florida State Senate for ten years, including three years when he was the Senate Democratic leader.
Mayor Dyer and his wife Karen were married in 1989. They have two sons: Trey, who graduated from American University in 2012 and Drew, who attends Lake Highland Preparatory School.
The Orlando Sentinel named Dyer the "The most powerful person in Central Florida" for 2008.
Dyer was elected the 32nd mayor of Orlando on February 25, 2003, in a special election after the previous mayor, Glenda Hood, was appointed Florida's Secretary of State. He was re-elected in 2004 in a regular election, narrowly avoiding a runoff with challenger Ken Mulvaney. He won re-election again on January 29, 2008, receiving 61% of the vote over challenger Mulvaney. Buddy Dyer was once again re-elected mayor in November 2015 with 62.5% of the vote for his fourth full term in office.
In his years as mayor of Orlando, Buddy Dyer claims progress in realizing his vision for Orlando as a "world-class city." According to his re-election campaign materials, he led Orlando out of a financial crisis and made public safety a top priority. He attracted state-of-the-art health care facilities and created a regional medical area at Lake Nona, and has worked to improve all of the city's neighborhoods. During his term, Orlando has had three consecutive years of employment growth and a 2.2 percent decline in unemployment.
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 US$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.
Mayor Dyer has attracted criticism from homeless advocates due to his support for an Orlando ordinance (passed in July 2006) that requires permits for "large group feedings" in downtown parks. The group Orlando Food Not Bombs sued Dyer and the city of Orlando over the ordinance in federal court. The court ruled in September 2008 that the ordinance was unconstitutional because it violated the group's First Amendment rights, and the city has appealed this ruling to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.[citation needed] Many critics of Dyer's support of the ban on "large group feedings" claim Dyer backs the ban to appease the wealthy residents of the Lake Eola neighborhood.
Mayor Dyer and his wife Karen were married in 1989. They have two sons: Trey, who graduated from American University in 2012 and Drew, who attends Lake Highland Preparatory School.
The Orlando Sentinel named Dyer the "The most powerful person in Central Florida" for 2008.
Dyer was elected the 32nd mayor of Orlando on February 25, 2003, in a special election after the previous mayor, Glenda Hood, was appointed Florida's Secretary of State. He was re-elected in 2004 in a regular election, narrowly avoiding a runoff with challenger Ken Mulvaney. He won re-election again on January 29, 2008, receiving 61% of the vote over challenger Mulvaney. Buddy Dyer was once again re-elected mayor in November 2015 with 62.5% of the vote for his fourth full term in office.
In his years as mayor of Orlando, Buddy Dyer claims progress in realizing his vision for Orlando as a "world-class city." According to his re-election campaign materials, he led Orlando out of a financial crisis and made public safety a top priority. He attracted state-of-the-art health care facilities and created a regional medical area at Lake Nona, and has worked to improve all of the city's neighborhoods. During his term, Orlando has had three consecutive years of employment growth and a 2.2 percent decline in unemployment.
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 US$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.
Mayor Dyer has attracted criticism from homeless advocates due to his support for an Orlando ordinance (passed in July 2006) that requires permits for "large group feedings" in downtown parks. The group Orlando Food Not Bombs sued Dyer and the city of Orlando over the ordinance in federal court. The court ruled in September 2008 that the ordinance was unconstitutional because it violated the group's First Amendment rights, and the city has appealed this ruling to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.[citation needed] Many critics of Dyer's support of the ban on "large group feedings" claim Dyer backs the ban to appease the wealthy residents of the Lake Eola neighborhood.
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