Broward County Commissioner Tim Ryan was elected chair and Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven L. Abrams was elected vice chair at the June 24 meeting of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority Governing Board.
Commissioner Ryan, a lifelong resident of Broward County, was elected to the Broward County Commission in November 2012 and was elected mayor of the county in November 2014. He represents District 7, which includes the cities of Dania Beach, Lazy Lake, and Wilton Manors, as well as parts of Davie, Fort Lauderdale, and Hollywood, and the Broadview Park neighborhood.
Before his election to the Broward County Commission, he served for eight years in the Florida House of Representatives from 1998-2006 before leaving office due to term limits. During his time in the legislature, Ryan focused on legislative initiatives to protect consumers, improve public education, enhance accountability, and ethical standards for elected officials, and protect our state’s environment and natural resources. Commissioner Ryan follows in a long family tradition of public service to the people of Broward County.
Steven L. Abrams has been a member of the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners since 2009, winning reelection twice. He has the distinction of serving as the first mayor of Palm Beach County in 2013.
Commissioner Abrams has a lengthy record of public service. He is the former mayor of Boca Raton, having been elected in 2001 and reelected in 2003 without opposition. In the 2005 election, he received the most votes in the city’s history and was later named mayor emeritus when he stepped down in 2008 due to term limits. He also served five terms as a Boca Raton council member from 1989 to 1999 and was a member of the city’s Planning and Zoning Board from 1987 to 1989. As mayor of Boca Raton, he came to national attention for his handling of the anthrax attack on the AMI Building, receiving the Distinguished Service Medal from the Israeli National Police in recognition of his leadership during the ordeal.
