Although Billie Dean had been City Council commissioner for 24 years, from 1994 until April of this year, the first time he ran for a seat on the dais, he lost by 21 votes.
“I had put it out of mind, out of sight. I wouldn’t run anymore because my daughter was in high school,” he said. “The kids there were poking fun at her about her father not winning the election. She was very despondent, and she is very close to me.”
However citizens, both black and white, convinced Dean to run again. According to him, Alonzo Williams, the first African-American Apopka city commissioner, said he would step aside if Dean were to seek office. Williams later changed his mind and contended, but dropped out of the race for what Dean assumed were medical reasons.
Not only was Dean elected in 1994, but in 2014 he became vice mayor, an honor bestowed upon the city’s longest-serving commissioner. He announced his retirement from City Council Seat 2 in the latest municipal election cycle. Alexander H. Smith was sworn into the same seat on April 24.
A retired teacher and activist, Dean, 87, set out to become a commissioner to bring modern facilities to South Apopka, affordable housing to the area, and strengthen ties between the city’s African-American, Hispanic, and Caucasian communities. He said he has seen much progress over the years but still there was room for improvement.
Retirement won’t slow Dean down. Instead, he said he will “work vigorously” with the new administration that also includes newly elected Mayor Bryan Nelson and newly elected City Commissioner Alice Nolan.
“I hope that they (the current administration) will not make empty promises,” he said. “If you promise you’ll do certain things for the city, I’d like you to follow through with it. If they need me as a whipping boy, I’ll be glad to. I feel like this administration is a very good administration. It’s young, they’re vibrant, they know the problems that the previous administration had, and I hope they work to improve the total city.”
The office of Congresswoman Val Demings honored Dean’s 24 years as city commissioner with a congressional record at the April 11 Apopka City Council meeting, his final one as a commissioner.
Dean and his wife Isadora Moye Dean are the parents of five and grandparents of three. He is a Korean War veteran and a Bronze Star for Valor recipient.
He has served as a member of the Florida League of Cities, as a board member of the Lake Apopka Natural Gas Board, and as a Council for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching (CARET) representative for Land Grant Colleges and Universities on behalf of Florida A&M University, his alma mater.
The full story appears on page 1A of the Friday, June 1, issue of The Apopka Chief.
