Mayor of the City of West Palm Beach | |
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Incumbent Keith James since April 4, 2019 | |
Residence | West Palm Beach, Florida |
Term length | Four years |
Inaugural holder | John S. Earman |
Formation | 1894 |
Salary | $125,000 |
Website | https://www.wpb.org/our-city/mayor-s-office |
Elections in Florida |
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Government |
The Mayor of West Palm Beach, Florida is a nonpartisan office that is the head of the executive branch of West Palm Beach's government. The type of government is Mayor-Commission. Powers and duties of the mayor include approving the agenda of and presiding over the meetings of the city commission, the ability to veto the city commission votes, including line-item vetoes in regards to the city budget, but vetoes can be overrode with a 4-1 vote. The mayor and city manager both have supervisory powers over the city's departments. Additionally, the mayor may initiate investigations involving the city of West Palm Beach. [1] Since 1991, mayors have been popularly elected to four-year terms. [2] City Hall is located at 401 Clematis Street, with the mayor's office on the second floor. [3]
On November 6, 1894, the day after West Palm Beach was incorporated, voters elected John S. Earman as the first mayor. Beginning in 1919, the city operated under a council–manager form of government, with the mayor elected to the city commission and selected by other members of that body to serve a one-year term. The mayor served as a chairperson of the commission and had far less power than the city manager. [4] A referendum in March 1991 resulted in a transition to a directly elected strong mayor. [5] The first modern election for mayor occurred in November 1991, resulting in Nancy M. Graham becoming the city's first strong mayor. [6] The current mayor is Keith James, who was elected on March 12, 2019. [7]
Name [4] | Start of term [4] | End of term [4] | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
John S. Earman | 1894 | 1896 | |
J. F. Lamond | 1896 | 1897 | |
Marion Eugene "M. E." Gruber | 1897 | 1898 | |
Wilmon Whilldin | 1898 | 1899 | |
Richard J. Chillingworth | 1899 | 1901 | Grandfather of Curtis Chillingworth, who was murdered in 1955 while serving as state judge [8] |
Louis W. Burkhardt | 1901 | 1901 | |
George G. Currie | 1901 | 1904 | |
William I. Metcalf | 1904 | 1905 | |
George B. Baker | 1905 | 1907 | |
J. T. DeBerry | 1907 | 1909 | |
George W. Potter | 1909 | 1910 | |
James B. McGinley | 1910 | 1912 | |
C. S. Anderson | 1912 | 1914 | |
Murray D. Carmichael | 1914 | 1916 | Later served in the Florida House of Representatives [9] |
W. A. Dutch | 1916 | September 22, 1919 [10] | |
Name [4] | Start of term [4] | End of term [4] | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
David F. Dunkle | September 22, 1919 [10] | September 8, 1921 [11] | |
Murray D. Carmichael | September 8, 1921 [11] | 1922 | Later served in Florida House of Representatives |
L. Garland Biggers | 1922 | 1923 | |
Joseph Mandel | 1923 | 1924 | First Jewish mayor [12] |
Henry Stephen Harvey | 1924 | 1926 | |
Spencer T. Lainhart | 1926 | 1927 | |
J. C. McCreary | 1927 | 1928 | |
Vincent Oaksmith | 1928 | 1929 | |
John R. Beacham | 1930 | 1931 | Later became President of the Florida Senate [13] |
Elza B. Donnell | 1931 | 1933 | |
Charles B. Watkins | 1933 | 1934 | |
Paschal C. "Pat" Reese | 1934 | 1935 | |
F. Theodore "Ted" Brown | 1935 | 1937 | |
Sanford D. "Sam" Morris | 1937 | 1939 | |
Ernest Metcalf | 1939 | 1940 | |
Ronald V. Ware | 1940 | 1941 | |
Willis H. "Bill" Hitt | 1941 | 1942 | |
J. O. Bowen | 1942 | 1943 | |
Vincent Oaksmith | 1943 | 1944 | |
George H. McCampbell | 1944 | 1945 | Brother of S. Perry McCampbell [14] |
Stanley Peeler | 1945 | 1946 | |
E. Tinsley Halter | 1946 | 1947 | |
Willis H. "Bill" Hitt | 1947 | 1948 | |
Lloyd C. Bell | 1948 | 1949 | |
William P. "Bill" Holland | 1949 | 1950 | |
L. Thomas Keating | 1950 | 1951 | |
Hustin V. McMillan | 1951 | 1952 | |
H. Elmo Robinson | 1952 | 1953 | |
S. Perry McCampbell | 1953 | 1954 | Brother of George H. McCampbell [14] |
Elias V. "Jack" Faircloth | 1954 | 1955 | |
C. Harold Earnest | 1955 | 1956 | |
Maurice E. "Buster" Holley | 1956 | 1957 | |
Elias V. "Jack" Faircloth | 1957 | 1958 | |
Horace S. Miller | 1958 | 1959 | |
William P. "Bill" Holland | 1959 | 1960 | |
Percy I. Hopkins, Jr. | 1960 | 1961 | |
Ray G. "Uncle Bim" Behm | 1961 | 1961 | Served three days [4] |
Percy I. Hopkins, Jr. | 1961 | 1962 | |
C. Ben Holleman | 1962 | 1963 | |
Robert "Bob" Hawkey | 1963 | 1963 | Served for about two weeks [4] |
Ray G. "Uncle Bim" Behm | 1963 | 1964 | |
Fred O. Easley, Jr. | 1964 | 1966 | |
C. Harold Earnest | 1966 | 1967 | |
1967 | 1968 | Served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1977-1978 and 1981-1982 [9] | |
David H. Brady | 1968 | 1969 | |
Eugene W. Potter | 1969 | 1970 | |
Fred O. Easley, Jr. | 1970 | 1971 | |
Francis H. Foster, Jr. | 1971 | 1972 | |
M. P. "Ham" Anthony | 1972 | 1973 | |
G. Ray Sparks, Jr. | 1973 | 1974 | |
Fred O. Easley, Jr. | 1974 | 1975 | |
Richard E. Linn | 1975 | 1976 | |
James M. Adams | 1976 | 1977 | |
M. P. "Ham" Anthony | 1977 | 1978 | |
Helen Wilkes | 1978 | 1980 | First woman to serve as mayor [15] |
James M. Adams | 1980 | 1981 | |
Michael D. Hyman | 1981 | 1982 | |
Eva W. Mack | 1982 | 1984 | First African American mayor [16] |
Dwight Baber | 1984 | 1985 | |
Carol Roberts | 1985 | 1986 | Served on the canvassing board for the 2000 Florida election recount and the Democratic Party nominee for Florida's 22nd congressional district in 2002 [17] |
Samuel A. Thomas | 1986 | 1987 | |
Richard V. Reikenis | 1987 | 1988 | |
Pat Pepper Schwab | 1988 | 1989 | |
James O. Poole | 1989 | 1991 | |
John F. "Jeff" Koons | 1991 | 1991 | Served for eight months [4] |
Name | Start of term | End of term | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Nancy M. Graham | November 1991 [4] | March 25, 1999 [18] | First strong mayor [4] |
March 25, 1999 [18] | March 27, 2003 [19] | Lost re-election [19] | |
March 27, 2003 [19] | March 31, 2011 [20] | Served in the Florida House of Representatives (1987-2003) and the U.S. House of Representatives (2013–present) [9] [21] | |
March 31, 2011 [20] | April 4, 2019 [22] | ||
April 4, 2019 [7] | Incumbent |
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