Miami Beach is a relatively small town … but with big city issues. In any given year, the 8-miles-long, beach-front city has approximately 90,000 permanent residents, 200,000 weekend visitors, and over 400,000 guests (tourists and visitors) during special events and Holidays. The expansive beaches and gorgeous weather that was once the enticement to come on down, Miami Beach now includes extensive nightlife, restaurants, shopping, and a multitude of very high-level cultural venues and activities to its draw. (Museums, Art Galleries, Live Theater, Symphony, Ballet, Concerts, and more.)
Governing the City with the intention of pleasing the locals (residents) and visitors is a complex balancing act. So, at City Hall, Stewart had a conversation with Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber … to learn how he accomplishes this major task.
Yes, Dan has had the ideal training for the job. His father, the Honorable Seymour Gelber, was elected Mayor of Miami Beach in 1991 and served three terms. His mom, Edith, was a foreign-language teacher at Miami Beach Senior High.
Although this information is easily found on the Internet, we’d like to share our new Mayor’s remarkable history. His career in public service started at the age of twenty-five, when he was appointed as one of the youngest federal prosecutors in the nation. Dan served as a federal prosecutor for nearly a decade. He was then appointed by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn as the Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Dan Gelber also served Miami Beach as a Florida State Representative and Senator.
When he was 26, Dan co-founded a camp for kids with cancer where he has spent most of his summers as a volunteer counselor. He is married and has three children. Dan practices law with the firm of Gelber, Schachter & Greenberg PA in Miami.
On November 7, 2017, at the age of 98, Judge Seymour Gelber proudly swore his son Dan into the same office he once held.