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Mayor's Message

s summer came to an end and our children returned back to school, it seemed
as if heading into the fall season would find ourselves mostly focused on our
Amain priorities: our efforts to combat homelessness, strengthen our city's
infrastructure, and preserve our beloved waterways.
But come to learn, our state government decided that these were not their priorities,
but in fact, their most pressing concern is painted intersections in our roadways. Like
most cities in our state, highlighting intersections and crosswalks with bright images
leads to fewer pedestrian and vehicular accidents.
This is proven not just empirically, but the folks at Bloomberg did a major study and
the results clearly show how brightly colored intersections and sidewalks greatly
Dean Trantalis enhance public safety.
MAYOR
City of Fort Lauderdale So, at first, the state said that only rainbow imagery was an anathema to our
dtrantalis@fortlauderdale.gov transportation culture, that these “traffic control devices” violated state protocols,
and the state proceeded to color over anything to do with rainbows on the street. In
Orlando, they even went in the middle of the night and defaced the Pulse Nightclub
crosswalk, the very crosswalk that Governor DeSantis helped to dedicate.
Realizing that their ploy did not escape the cunning eye of the public which
immediately denounced the campaign as an attack on the LGBT community, the state
then decided that no intersections or crosswalks of any color combination can exist in
Florida. This included a magnificent tribute to our police that was grandly displayed
on a long block in Tampa. Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face.
What few intersections we have painted in our city were carefully curated, and with
City of Fort Lauderdale
1 E. Broward Blvd., Ste. 444 the advice and consent of the state. Most of them have already been covered with
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 asphalt due to wear-and-tear or infrastructure projects have removed them.
But the one stretch of pavement where the LGBT rainbow flag is painted in our city
is on a dead-end portion of Sebastian Street on the beach. It was not intended as a
“traffic control device,” but simply put there as a recognition and tribute to the large
LGBT community that live and visit our community that frequents that area of the
beach. It, too, has fallen into disrepair, but a private developer has agreed to restore
it at their own expense.
Nonetheless, the state demanded that it and every other painted area on our streets
be removed. Imagine. This is what keeps them up at night, besides corralling
immigrants in the swamp.
Office Contact But your City Commission decided this was too much and has refused this effort by
Scott Wyman
the state to dictate what we do here in our home city. In particular, Sebastian Street is
Chief of Staff to the Mayor not a state road nor under the state’s jurisdiction in any manner.
swyman@fortlauderdale.gov
954.828.5314 In fact, the flag was painted there with the encouragement of the state when it was
done. At this point, we are now awaiting to have our appeal scheduled before the
Department of Transportation. Let’s see what happens.
Budget
Back to priorities. As we look to fiscal year 2026, the budget plan is community-
focused and forward-looking. Here’s how it champions our shared priorities:
We are deeply committed to public safety — the bedrock of a thriving city. The
budget makes clear that law enforcement and emergency services are the foundation
of the work we do.

26 CORAL RIDGE COUNTRY CLUB ESTATES COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

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