Pursuant to Section 125.0104, Florida Statutes, Section 1 of Chapter 2009-259, Laws of Florida, and Section 31½-18, Broward County Code, appointments to the Tourist Development Council (Council) are made by the Board of County Commissioners (Board) from specified membership categories.
Specifically, the Council is composed of 11 members. The Mayor of the Board of County Commissioners or another member of the Board, as designated by the Mayor, serve on the Council. The Board must also appoint an elected official from the most populous municipality in the county. The City of Ft. Lauderdale is the most populous municipality in Broward County. The City has nominated Mayor Trantalis to serve in the category of "elected official from the most populous municipality in Broward County". Mayor Trantalis will serve the remainder of the unexpired term (January 12, 2020) of former Mayor Seiler who left the City Commission due to term limits.
Based upon the Board’s categorical draw, each member of the Board appoints one member of the Council. Council members are appointed to represent the following council classifications:
- One member shall be an elected municipal official;
- Six members shall be persons who are involved in the tourist industry and who have demonstrated an interest in tourist development, of which members, not less than three, nor more than four, shall be owners or operators of motels, hotels, recreational vehicle parks, or other tourist accommodations in the county and subject to the tourist development tax;
- One member shall be a minority person involved in the tourist industry who has demonstrated an interest in tourist development; and
- One member shall be from an area with a multi-purpose county regional park capable of hosting local, national, and international sports championship events.
All Council members must be electors of Broward County. The Broward County Mayor has the option of designating the Council chair or allowing the Council to elect its chair. The chair shall be appointed or elected annually, and may be reelected or reappointed. With the exception of the County Commission member, the Council members serve for staggered terms of four years. Members of the Council may be reappointed, provided they continue to meet the qualifications of membership. Membership qualifications must be demonstrated annually on or before October 1 of each year by each member of the Council. The board may remove any Council member for cause or if said member ceases to meet the qualifications of membership. A vacancy on the Council not occurring by expiration of a term must be filled by the Board, or by an individual Board member, as established by the draw, by appointment for the unexpired term, as the case may be.
In appointing Council members, consideration may be given to balance Council classification appointments to reflect the diverse demographic and geographic representation within Broward County. For purposes of considering geographic representation, the Board or the individual commissioner, as the case may be, may take into account the location of tourist venues and attractions, location of accommodation facilities, county areas consistently attracting a greater number of visitors or generating the greater share of economic activity, including tourist development taxes, potential tourism growth areas within Broward County, planned locations for new tourist venues, attractions and accommodation facilities, traditionally underserved areas that may benefit from increased tourist development activities within such area, and such other criteria as may be prescribed by ordinance.
The County Attorney has qualified Mayor Trantalis to serve on the Council (see Exhibit 1).
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