Susan Whelchel (August 13, 1944 – August 5, 2022) was an American politician and teacher. She served two terms as the Mayor of the city of Boca Raton, Florida, from 2008 until 2014. Whelchel received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

from

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida. Located in the city's Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College until September 5, 1956, ...

. She was a former teacher. Before becoming mayor, Whelchel served on the Boca Raton

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, a member of the Community Redevelopment Agency, and a member of the local school board. Whelchel was elected Mayor of Boca Raton in 2008 unopposed, succeeding outgoing Mayor

Steven L. Abrams Steven L. Abrams (born 1958) is an American politician. He was the first mayor of Palm Beach County in the U.S. state of Florida. He previously served as chairman of the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners and represented District 4 o ...

, who was term limited. She took office in April 2008. The 2008 mayoral election marked the first time that a candidate had run unopposed for mayor since 1978, when Boca Raton voters began electing their mayor directly. Initially, it appeared that Whelchel would again run for re-election unopposed in 2011, but a second candidate, Linda Spurling Gruneisen, filed to run just before the deadline. Whelchel defeated Spurling Gruneisen by a nine to one margin in the mayoral election held on March 8, 2011, to win a second, three-year term. Whelchel received 3,903 votes (85.37%), while Spurling Gruneisen garnered 669 votes (14.63%). Under Whelchel, Boca Raton installed red light cameras, as well as the city's first parking meters. In addition, she advocated for the use of

green technology Environmental technology (envirotech) or green technology (greentech), also known as ''clean technology'' (''cleantech''), is the application of one or more of environmental science, green chemistry, environmental monitoring and electronic devic ...

in building construction, opposed tax increases, and advocated for cuts to city spending. During her second term, Whelchel promised to focus on job creation and the revitalization of downtown Boca Raton. Whelchel, who was term limited and ineligible to run for mayor again, left office in March 2014. She was succeeded by then-Deputy Mayor Susan Haynie. Whelchel died from Alzheimer's disease on August 5, 2022, at the age of 77.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whelchel, Susan 1944 births 2022 deaths 21st-century American women Mayors of Boca Raton, Florida Florida city council members Women city councillors in Florida Women mayors of places in Florida People from Baxley, Georgia Jacksonville University alumni Florida Republicans Deaths from Alzheimer's disease