T. Edward "Ed" Austin Jr. (July 15, 1926 - April 23, 2011) is an American politician and lawyer. He served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1991 to 1995. He also served as the first Public Defender for Florida Fourth Circuit Court from 1963-1968, and served as State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Session from 1969 to 1972 and again from 1974 to 1991. Austin was a Democrat for most of his career but switched parties to became a Republican during his term as mayor, becoming the first Republic to serve in that position since the Reconstruction era.
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Austin was born in Shenandoah, Virginia. In 1944 he enrolled at Duke University, where he played college football as a tight end and ran track for the Duke Blue Devils. He holds a bachelor's degree and a temporary master's degree at Duke, and then is hired as a teacher. He later joined the United States Army, where he served in the 101st Airborne Division as paratroopers.
Austin was hospitalized with a back injury; at the hospital he meets his future wife, Patricia Lynch, an Army social worker. In 1957, he was dismissed with honor as First Lieutenant, and transferred to attend law school at the University of Florida.
Maps Ed Austin
Careers
Austin received a juris doctor from UF College of Law in 1958, and was admitted to the Florida Bar on November 6, 1959. He worked in several legal positions, including assignments as assistant assistant to Duval County. In 1963, he was appointed by Governor Farris Bryant as the first Public Defender for the Fourth Florida Trial Session, which consists of Duval, Nassau, and Clay Counties. In 1969, he was elected the State Attorney for the Fourth Court Session. Jacksonville Mayor Hans Tanzler appointed Austin to serve as city General Counsel in 1972, but he returned to the position of the State Attorney in 1974 and was re-elected four times.
In 1991, Austin resigned from his position as State Attorney against the ruling mayor, Tommy Hazouri, and won a narrow election. His most enduring contribution as mayor was his River City Renaissance program, which funded urban renewal and transformed the city's historic city neighborhood. Among the buildings constructed or renovated by the program are Times-Union Performing Arts Center, Sulzbacher Center, now known as EverBank Field, and the Jacksonville Zoo. Austin oversees city purchases and improvements at St. James, who will eventually become the new town hall in Jacksonville. He was the mayor at the time when Jacksonville was awarded the National Football League franchise, Jacksonville Jaguars. His support was critical in the establishment of the Jacksonville Children's Commission and the growth of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.
During his term as mayor he changed his party's affiliation from Democrats to the Republic; according to his chief of staff John Delaney, he told his staff before going on a trip to China that he had become deeply disappointed with the Democrats that he did not want to die as one if his plane crashed. In 1994, he announced he would not seek a second term as mayor. In the next election he supports Delaney, who defeated former mayor Jake Godbold to become the next mayor of Jacksonville.
Austin is an impressive figure, a "John Wayne type man," according to Delaney, who first worked for Austin as an apprentice in the early 1980s. His staff consider him a fair person with integrity and character that motivates his co-workers and guides the people he employs. Many people hired and mentored Austin continue to leadership positions in Jacksonville and the state of Florida, including Delaney, currently President of the University of North Florida; former Supreme Court Justice Leander Shaw of Florida Supreme Court, former general counsel Rick Mullaney, State Representative Mike Weinstein, Circuit Judge Brian Davis, Sulzbacher Center President Audrey Moran, and Chief Administrator Lex Hester.
Personal life
Austin and his wife have three children and nine grandchildren. His 39-year-old wife, Patricia, died in a car crash near St. Louis. Augustine in 1996; he was a passenger and also injured, but recovered. In 2003, he married Connie Green; they divorced in 2006. Ed Austin Regional Park in Arlington was dedicated in 2005, and the blessed $ 150,000 scholarship was set up at the University of North Florida during 2008 in his honor.
Austin had recovered from heart surgery a few weeks earlier, but had not yet had any complications. He died in his sleep on April 23, 2011. At his funeral on April 28, the coffin was brought by honorary guard members from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the Fire and Fire Department of the Jacksonville Bureau. Samuel Johnson Howard, Episcopal Bishop of Florida, delivered a speech, former Mayor John Peyton, Jake Godbold, Tommy Hazouri and John Delaney attending the service.
References
External links
- Ed Austin Regional Park
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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