Thomas Lester Hazouri Sr. (October 11, 1944 – September 11, 2021) was an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served as a member of the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopt ...

from 1974 to 1986, as

Mayor of Jacksonville The Mayor of Jacksonville is the chief executive for the city of Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Jacksonville currently utilizes the strong mayor form of government, in which the mayor has significant powers compared to the Jacksonville ...

from 1987 to 1991, and represented School District 7 in the Duval County School Board from 2004 to 2012. He was later an

At-Large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

member of the Jacksonville City Council.

Early life

Hazouri was born and raised in

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. He was of Lebanese descent. He attended Andrew Jackson High School and graduated 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, ...

in 1966. Hazouri was married to Carol Hazouri, who has been a school teacher at Crown Point Elementary School in Mandarin for over 35 years. They had one son, Tommy Jr., who is a school teacher as well.Board member profiles
. From Duval County Public Schools. Retrieved January 8, 2010. In 2020, Tommy Jr. was arrested on 25 counts of child pornography charges.

Career

Hazouri was elected to the

in 1974, representing District 20. While in the Florida legislature, Hazouri chaired the House Committee on Education, K-12. He also was a member of the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Education Funding. He was appointed by Governor

Lawton Chiles Lawton Mainor Chiles Jr. (April 3, 1930 – December 12, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 41st governor of Florida from 1991 until his death in 1998. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United State ...

to the Florida Ethics Commission and led the Sheriff's Task Force on Mental Health. He served until 1986. Hazouri ran for

in 1987. He defeated fellow former State Representative John Lewis in a bitter Democratic primary election, and then easily beat Republican Henry Cook to win the general election and become Jacksonville's 3rd mayor after consolidation. During his term as mayor of Jacksonville he spearheaded a campaign to rid Jacksonville's roads and bridges of toll booths and implemented various environmental regulations aimed at getting rid of the city's odor problem. During his tenure as Mayor of Jacksonville, Hazouri welcomed the city's first contingent of visiting

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

media personalities in September 1987, including Vic Phillips of

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after C ...

and Chantale Roy of the French language TVA Network, both of whom broadcast live from Jacksonville. Hazouri was defeated for reelection in 1991 by

Ed Austin T. Edward "Ed" Austin Jr. (July 15, 1926 – April 23, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. He served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1991 to 1995. He also served as the first Public Defender for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circu ...

. Hazouri ran for Mayor of Jacksonville again in 1995 and 2003 but lost in the primary elections both times, the races ultimately being won by John Delaney and John Peyton, respectively. In 2004 he was elected to the Duval County School Board, and was reelected in 2008. He served as board Vice-Chairman for 2008 and as Chairman in 2009. In addition to his work on the school board, he was president of Hazouri and Associates, a private consulting firm. In 2015, Hazouri ran for the

Group 3 seat on the Jacksonville City Council. He defeated Republican Geoff Youngblood and took office on July 1, 2015. He was elected as president of the Jacksonville City Council in 2020. He served as President of the City council from July 1, 2020 - July 1, 2021. He was succeeded by Sam Newby.

Later years and death

Hazouri underwent a lung transplant in July 2020 at the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staf ...

. He died at his home in Jacksonville on September 11, 2021, following complications from the transplant. A special election for the vacant seat on the City Council was held on December 7, 2021. Democrat Tracye Polson and Republican Nick Howland each got roughly 36% of the vote, and will face each other in a runoff on February 22, 2022.

References

External links

Jacksonville City Council Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazouri, Tommy 1944 births 2021 deaths American politicians of Lebanese descent Mayors of Jacksonville, Florida Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Jacksonville University alumni Jacksonville, Florida City Council members 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians