September 2025

Fort Lauderdale fights

removal of pride street art

As summer comes to an end and our children have returned back to school, it seemed as if heading into the fall season would find ourselves mostly focused on our main priorities: our efforts to combat homelessness, strengthen our 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 enhance public safety.

So, at first, the state said that only rainbow imagery was an anathema to our 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 the advice and consent of the state. Most of them have already been covered with 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.

But your City Commission decided this was too much and has refused this effort by the state to dictate what we do here in our home city. In particular, Sebastian Street is not a state road nor under the state’s jurisdiction in any manner.

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.

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.

Of the general fund, about 36 percent is dedicated to the Police Department and 25 percent to Fire Rescue. That adds up to nearly two-thirds of your tax dollars dedicated directly toward keeping you safe and our city secure. 

Beyond the basic funding for our first responders, this budget takes further action to increase safety.

We’re buying more CCTV cameras to observe high-traffic areas along with more vehicle stop devices and more license plate reader message boards. We also will open the new police station and launch a pilot program to enforce speed limits in school zones with traffic cameras. We budget money for a new Fire Station 13 at Birch State Park and two new EMS substations.

We’re also making meaningful progress on homelessness response by allocating resources to pathways out of homelessness and into stable housing. The budget emphasizes homelessness as a dedicated priority of the City Commission.

We created a program to make shelter beds more accessible and start a new pilot program to provide safes spaces for people who only own a car to park and sleep overnight. We will post signage warning that panhandling is illegal, and we will reinforce our mental health and substance abuse treatment programs as well as our program to navigate the homeless toward housing.

Notably, funding previously allocated for events like the FIFA World Cup — about $350,000 — has been re-directed to address homeless initiatives, demonstrating our commitment to shifting resources toward compassion and solutions that matter.

The third pillar of our priorities is infrastructure and resilience—essential for adapting to climate impacts and ensuring we keep pace with growth.

We accelerate infrastructure projects to improve the water, wastewater, stormwater systems and make us more resilient to sea-level rise and extreme weather. We’re revolutionizing how infrastructure projects are managed by establishing a new Capital Projects Department with clear performance goals: fewer change orders that increase prices and more projects completed on time. That means faster, smarter delivery of parks, roadways and drainage systems.

For instance, we will initiate construction of stormwater improvements in Victoria Park, Melrose Manors and the Southeast Isles We also speed up work in Dorsey-Riverbend to finish a year early. Most importantly, we finish the construction of the city’s new water treatment plant — a secure facility that will ensure clean, clear drinking water for decades to come.

Fourth, our public enjoyment of waterways remains a treasured tradition in Fort Lauderdale—and a formal Commission priority.

We intend to continue fostering vibrant and environmentally responsible waterfront spaces for all residents. After all, it’s our waterways that make Fort Lauderdale truly unique.

We expand our program that regularly provides reports on the quality of waters in the city’s canals and rivers so recreational enthusiasts have all the information they want when they venture out for a day of activity. We also partner with Coastal Conservation of Florida to cultivate oysters along the New River to improve water quality and enhance biodiversity.

We’re investing deeply in public safety to ensure you feel secure in your homes, schools, businesses and neighborhoods. We’re taking a compassionate approach to homelessness, turning funding from events into support and pathways out of crisis.

We’re modernizing our city’s foundations — accelerating infrastructure improvements and resilience while holding ourselves to high performance standards. And we’re honoring our identity by preserving and enhancing our waterways, so residents and visitors alike can continue to enjoy our coastlines, canals, and public spaces.

All of this rests on the pillars of accountability and innovation as the city manager re-aligns operations for focus and responsiveness. The budget is balanced, responsive, and ambitious — built for today’s needs and tomorrow’s opportunities.

Together, we’re building a safer, more caring, more resilient, and water-loving Fort Lauderdale.

In closing, please join me for my annual State of the City address on Sept. 29. It will be held at The Parker, 707 NE 8th St. A reception will begin at 6 p.m. with the address occurring at 7 p.m. Come hear about all the exciting accomplishments of the past year and what is in store for 2026.

Yours,

Dean