New Broward County mayor’s priorities include housing, DEI, more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Broward County Commissioners Tuesday unanimously selected former Vice Mayor Nan Rich as the new mayor of Broward County.

Replacing former Mayor Lamar Fisher, Rich addressed her priorities for the county during her acceptance speech. They include affordable housing and keeping Broward diversity, equity and inclusion friendly, also known as DEI.

“I am proud of what this county commission has done to build affordable housing, as well as the significant investment we have made in gap financing for new multifamily units, which is critical in a built out county like Broward that has almost no land available for single family homes,” Rich said.

As Broward County’s District 1 commissioner, Rich has advocated for affordable and supportive housing since her time in office, according to a press release. She was a major force behind the voter-approved Broward County Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which the release said adopted land use reforms to boost the affordable housing supply.

This fiscal year, county commissioners committed $20 million to the Broward County Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The sum is the largest amount ever put into it in a single year, according to Rich.

“Affordable housing is the greatest crisis facing our community,” Rich said in a press release. “It’s not just an economic issue, it’s a moral issue.” 

In 2016, the county allocated $250,000 for affordable housing. A 73% voter ballot referendum approved the Affordable Housing Trust fund in 2018, netting $123 million dollars since its inception.

“Twenty-five projects have been funded using our debt financing dollars, totaling 2668 new multifamily units, all of which remain affordable for 30 years,” Rich said. “Our gap financing combined with other funding streams has produced a total of 4870 residential units serving 10,227 residents.”

Rich also associated Broward’s affordable housing issue with its homelessness crisis.

“I have seen tremendous increase in our efforts to care for those experiencing homelessness,” Rich said. “We see it in our budget, we see it in the kind of programs that we have, and we truly understand as a commission here that the solution to homelessness is affordable housing.”

First elected to the Broward County Commission in 2016, Rich has a long history of public service. She served as a Democratic member of the Florida Senate from 2004 to 2012 and was the first woman to be elected Senate Democratic Leader in 2010.

Reelected to the Broward County Commission in 2020, Rich is the current chair of the Broward Behavioral Health Coalition and the Coordinating Council of Broward County.

She also addressed Broward’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“With nearly 2 million people, our county’s cultural and ethnic diversity mirrors the world. Its strength, it is the strength of the fabric of our community,” Rich said. “So to is our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. We do not shy away from DEI in this county, we lean into it.”

DEI has been a controversial topic in Florida politics. Republicans have cracked down on state dollars going to DEI initiatives.

“DEI is better viewed as standing for ‘discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination,’ and that has no place in our public institutions,” Gov. Ron DeSantis has previously said.

Rich further committed to protecting Broward’s LGBTQ community.

“Our diversity makes us stronger. At a time when there are threats to our democracy around the country and in our state, individual, including individual LGBTQ and voting rights, academic freedom, and social justice,” Rich said. “Broward County proudly shines as a beacon to all you are welcome here. You are safe here.”

Required under its charter, Beam Furr also was elected as Broward’s Vice Mayor. The vote for both positions occurs annually in November.

In his outgoing address, Fisher declared “Broward County is stronger than ever.” He emphasized the county’s $8.7 billion approved budget for fiscal year 2024 without an increase in property taxes as one of his achievements.