Daisy Lynum Retires

City of Orlando Commissioner Daisy Lynum (District 5), currently the longest-serving commissioner said Friday, she won’t be seeking re-election for a fourth term. Lynum’s surprise announcement comes against the backdrop of a mid-January re-election campaign kick-off, during which she declared her work has “only just begun.”

Lynum’s abrupt retirement has opened the door for her son, attorney Juan Lynum, who filed papers today, to jump into the hotly contested District 5 race.

“I am running because it is in this community’s best interest to sustain the programs and initiatives Commissioner Lynum established and for us to build on that foundation,” said Juan Lynum, when contacted by telephone.

Lynum highlighted several programs in which he said Commissioner Lynum played a major role. These include, the Blueprint that ensured the inclusion of minority contractors in the development of major local projects, the Medical Careers Partnership program, numerous community safety initiatives and several affordable housing programs.

“To put it simply, it will always come back to continuing a legacy of strong and effective leadership,” Lynum added, as the principal reason for his entering the race.

First elected in 1998, Commissioner Lynum’s close to 16-year political career has not been without controversy. More recently she has been accused of not standing up for African-American merchants when they were fenced out during the NBA All-Star Week-end, supporting the tearing down of historic Tinker Field to accommodate the Citrus Bowl renovation, presiding over the city’s taking away of game-time parking revenues for locals around the Amway Center and more generally, ‘going along to get along’ with Mayor Buddy Dyer’s many destructive policies toward Blacks in Parramore, Orlando’s poorest district.

Some political observers are already speculating that, if Juan Lynum is elected, he will serve as a far stronger voice on the City Commission, representing the interests of African Americans in District 5.

Juan Lynum is a graduate of Jones High School and one of the first FAMU trained trial and appellate lawyers from the re-established law school.

District 5 elections will be held on April 8, 2014.