James T. Naugle (born 1954) is an American

real estate broker A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

who served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

. Although a lifelong

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, Naugle frequently voted for and supported

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidates. Elected for the first time in 1991, Naugle was the longest-serving mayor in the history of Fort Lauderdale, serving for six consecutive terms. During his tenure as a mayor, the revitalization of the beach area and

Las Olas Boulevard Las Olas Boulevard is a major east-west thoroughfare in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alab ...

occurred, Riverwalk was created, the

Museum of Discovery and Science The Museum of Discovery and Science is a museum focused on science located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. History EcoDiscovery Center Expansion In November 2011 the museum opened a 34,000 square foot, $25 million expansion, desig ...

was opened as was the

Broward Center for the Performing Arts The Broward Center for the Performing Arts (commonly known as the Broward Center) is a large multi-venue performing arts center located in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. Opened in 1991 on a site along the north bank of the N ...

and he takes credit for changing Fort Lauderdale tourist mix from Spring Break college students to families. He is well known for several controversies with

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

s, the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

, and the ''

South Florida Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

''.

Biography

Early life and career

Jim Naugle was born in Fort Lauderdale in 1954. Son of a

paint Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...

retailer, he studied in a Lutheran school in his early years. His mother was a member of

Phi Mu Phi Mu () is the second oldest female fraternal organization established in the United States. The fraternity was founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia as the Philomathean Society on , and was announced publicly on March 4 of the same ye ...

, a national women's fraternity. Naugle presented Phi Mu with a key to the city in 2000, when they held their National Convention there. Naugle asserts that his first business experiences were selling

fruitcake Fruitcake (or fruit cake or fruit bread) is a cake made with candied or dried fruit, nuts, and spices, and optionally soaked in spirits. In the United Kingdom, certain rich versions may be iced and decorated. Fruitcakes are typically served ...

s for the

Cub Scouts Cub Scouts, Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with Scouting for young children usually between 7 and 12, depending on the organization to which they belong. A participant in the program is called a Cub. A group of Cubs is called a 'P ...

and working after school with his father. Naugle said that his first political experience was as

campaign manager {{Political campaigning A campaign manager, campaign chairman, or campaign director is a paid or volunteer individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote ( ...

for

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

while studying at Peters Elementary during the 1964 presidential race, " cutting elephants and things like that". His favorite hobby when a teenager was

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are als ...

, having participated in national competitions. He worked as a painter while attending Stranahan High School. When he went to

Broward Community College Broward College is a public college in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. It was established in 1959 as part of a move to broaden Florida's two-year colleges. In 2008 it adopted its current name, reflecting that ...

, he completed a real estate course in 1974 and left the painting business he owned. Naugle obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

from

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Florida, Dania Beach, Davie, Florida, Davie, Fort Lauderd ...

in 1975.

Marriage and children

Naugle has been married to Carol-Lisa Phillips (born 1963) since 1993 and has one daughter, Rachel Elizabeth (born 1998). Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips was appointed to the 17th Judicial Circuit, which serves

Broward County Broward County ( , ) is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 ...

, in 2003.

Political career

Jim Naugle started in politics as a member of Fort Lauderdale city boards in 1976. Elected city

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

in 1985, he ran for city mayor and was elected in 1991. Fort Lauderdale has a Commission-Manager form of government. City policy is set by a city commission of five elected members: the

and four

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

commission members. The mayor of Fort Lauderdale serves a three-year

term Term may refer to: * Terminology, or term, a noun or compound word used in a specific context, in particular: **Technical term, part of the specialized vocabulary of a particular field, specifically: ***Scientific terminology, terms used by scient ...

and cannot serve more than three consecutive terms. Naugle's first three terms were not affected by the municipal code, which was amended in 1998; the limitation went into effect in March 2000. Administrative functions are performed by a

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...

, who is appointed by the city commission. During his tenure as a mayor, the revitalization of the beach area and

occurred, Riverwalk was created, the

was opened as was the

and he takes credit for changing Fort Lauderdale tourist mix from Spring Break college students to families.

Political views

Naugle has been a registered Democrat since he was 18, but he frequently supports Republican candidates. He co-chaired

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

ial campaign in 2000 and

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush a ...

's bid for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in 1998. In past presidential elections, he supported

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

and

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

—all Republicans. Described as a "renegade Democrat" by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', he said in 2000 that he votes for the candidate, not just the party. He contributed $1,000 to Fred Thompson in the 2008 Republican Presidential primary race. Asked why he never became a Republican, he said that as a

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

office holder, he did not see a reason to change, but that he would have to do "some soul-searching" if he ran for other offices. He qualifies himself as very conservative and willing to limit government.

Controversy

Naugle has said that the

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

ACLU means "Atheists and Criminal Lobbying Union" and that a proposal for reducing

greenhouse gases A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor (), carbon dioxide (), methane ...

was "hate-America stuff" concocted by "a bunch of scientists meeting in Paris who've had too much wine." He has noted his working relationship with gay-rights activist Robin Bodiford as an example of his tolerance of differing viewpoints. Comments Naugle made about alleged use of a planned $250,000 robotic toilet in Fort Lauderdale's beach to prevent sexual encounters between men caused protests from the local community. Naugle has had a long-running dispute with his constituency's largest regional newspaper, the ''

''; he has claimed it should be called ''Rainbow Sentinel'' because of what he perceives as a majority of gay people on its staff, or ''Scum-Sentinel'' because they are "an advertising tabloid newsblog". He has stated "the day I take advice from a company that has vagrants selling their products in the middle of the street, we're all in trouble", referring to the publication's practice of employing

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

people as street salespeople. Naugle denounced the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

Stonewall Library & Archives in 2007, because it contained pornographic materials. Executive Director Jack Rutland noted that the three titles singled out by Naugle were all part of the library's non-circulating archive of 7000 titles, maintained for historical and research purposes only. On July 10, 2007, the Fort Lauderdale city commission voted to allow the library to occupy a space in a building that is city-owned, but under long-term lease to Broward county. On August 28, 2007 the Broward (County) Tourism Development Council expelled Naugle due to his controversial remarks against the gay community. Estimates indicate that gay visitors pump approximately $1 billion in revenue into Broward County annually. Naugle suggested that

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

should be investigated for raping

Monica Lewinsky Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist and writer. President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with Lewinsky while she worked at the White House as an intern in 1995 and 1996. The affair, and its repercus ...

References

External links

Jim Naugle's Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naugle, Jim 1954 births Florida Atlantic University alumni Living people Mayors of Fort Lauderdale, Florida American real estate brokers Broward College alumni Florida Democrats