Rich Crotty

Richard T. Crotty (born August 30, 1948 in Dobbs Ferry, New York) is the former Mayor of Orange County, Florida.

Crotty grew up in Orlando. He graduated from Valencia Community College in 1970 and Florida Technological University in 1972, and he also attended Florida State University. After three years of work doing waste manage consultation under contract from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, he was selected to the Orlando Chamber of Commerce's first "Leadership Orlando" program. In 1978, he was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives. The first pieces of legislation he co-sponsored was the law that changed the name of FTU, his alma mater, to the University of Central Florida. He was the prime sponsor of the law that created the "Florida Prepaid College Tuition Program", the first and largest of its kind in the United States. Later he would serve in the Florida Senate as the Republican Floor Leader. One of the last pieces of legislation he sponsored was the "Junny Rios-Martinez Act" in 1992, named after the victim of former Florida Death Row inmate Mark Dean Schwab, which denied parole and early release to violent sexual predators.

After 14 years of service in Tallahassee, Crotty returned to Orlando and was elected the Orange County Property Appraiser in 1992. He proceeded to begin the upgrade of the office to include modern personal computer technology in its tasks.

On January 23, 2001, after the confirmation of Orange County Chairman (former name of the position of Mayor) Mel Martinez as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Florida Governor Jeb Bush appointed Crotty to replace Martinez. Crotty was subsequently elected to the position in 2002, and re-elected in 2006, getting 73% and 70% of the vote, respectively. The position of Orange County Mayor carries a term limit of two terms, but since Crotty was appointed in the latter half of Martinez's term, he was permitted to run for two full terms.

On September 10, 2010. It was confirmed that Armando Gutierrez and Crotty negotiated the potential move of the Tampa Yankees to Orlando.

Crotty was a key supporter of an aggressive expansion project for Orange County Public Schools, which was passed by Orange County voters in 2002.

Crotty was a significant fundraiser for George W. Bush during the 2004 election. [1][2]

Crotty was instrumental in winning a new medical school for the University of Central Florida and convincing the Burnham Institute to build a new research facility in Orange County as part of his vision for the Innovation Way high tech corridor.

Richard Crotty currently serves as the executive vice president of Crossman & Company overseeing their Corporate Advisory Services. In this role, Mr. Crotty works with corporate and institutional clients to provide advisory services and consulting in all matters of real estate transactions. Mayor Crotty’s extensive experience in government, civic, and real estate activities makes his leadership with Crossman & Company invaluable.

The Orlando Sentinel named Crotty the 2nd most powerful person in Central Florida behind Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer in 2008. In previous years he has occupied the top position in that list.