William F. Poe (July 22, 1931 – May 1, 2014) was the

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 ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

from 1974 to 1979. He later served as the Chairman of a Florida-based property and

casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

insurance company Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

. He served in the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

, and received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

Early life

William F. Poe was born on July 22, 1931, in the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa being the youngest of three children in his family. He would attend Hillsborough High School. While going to Hillsborough High School he would be the student body and the president of its Key Club chapter along with being the senior class treasurer. After finishing high school he would go to Duke University and later on to the

where he got his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration. While at the University of Florida, Poe would be the president of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. After college, he would serve in the Air Force for an unspecified period of time being stationed in Japan. Poe would return to his native Tampa in 1956 and established an insurance company there. Eventually he would get involved in local civic affairs and eventually politics as well at the local level.

Mayor of Tampa

In October 1974, Poe would become mayor defeating

Bob Martinez Robert Martinez (born December 25, 1934) is an American retired politician who served as the 40th governor of Florida from 1987 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, Martinez was the first person of Spanish descent to be elected governor o ...

. As mayor he would try to revitalize the downtown area by creating an office building for the Floridian state government along Franklin Street. He would also get the approval of the City Council to spend $20 million for public works as part of his revitalization attempts. Poe also cracked down on vice elements seen within the city and gave the police department new patrol vehicles. A public information/complaint system was set up as a hotline to contact the municipal government about a variety of issues.

Later life

After leaving office as mayor, he would go back to working in the insurance industry. A public plaza was created in honor of him during 2005 named William F. Poe Plaza.

References

1931 births 2014 deaths University of Florida alumni Mayors of Tampa, Florida Businesspeople from Tampa, Florida 20th-century American businesspeople {{Florida-mayor-stub