In 1988, a new office was created to help govern Orange County. And showing how times were changing in Central Florida, the first person elected in 1990 to the position of “Orange County Chairman” wasn’t a man.
It was Linda Chapin, a Democratic county commissioner who who beat Republican Tom Drage in a rancorous campaign that was, at that point, the most expensive in county history. Combined, they raised and spent almost $1 million to capture a job that carried a four-year term, paid $80,000 a year and wielded considerable power.
Chapin won 53 percent of the vote in the Nov. 6 election and took office on Nov. 20.
Chapin would be elected to twice to the office, described as the most powerful county position in the state and later renamed “Orange County Mayor.”
Here’s part of Orlando Sentinel reporter Michael Griffin’s story about Chapin’s first day in office, from Nov. 21, 1990:
Orange County Chairman Linda Chapin wasted no time Tuesday in beginning an era of change.
Moments after taking the oath of office as the county’s first elected chairman, Chapin announced moves to consolidate Orlando and county planning agencies and called for a countywide drug summit between police, politicians, business leaders and residents.
But the most dramatic sign of change, Chapin said, was that Mable Butler was sitting on stage at Orlando’s Bob Carr Auditorium rather than in the audience.
Butler had just been sworn in as Orange County’s first black county commissioner.
“In every community there are milestones that reassure the optimists – and I am one – that we are truly moving forward towards a more just society,” Chapin said of Butler’s election.
“Let it serve as one more signal, to all of our citizens, of this community’s commitment to inclusiveness,” Chapin said.
The audience of county employees, politicians, developers and business leaders responded with a thunderous standing ovation.
The usually boisterous Butler, a former Orlando City Council member, covered her face during Chapin’s comments. She later said that she would work hard for all of her constituents.
“I’m pleased and proud to be here,” she said between hugs from supporters. “I’m willing to work with her (Chapin) to solve this county’s troubles.”
Commissioner Mable Butler (left) shares a comment with Chairman Linda Chapin at their final meeting of the Orange Board of County Commissioners Nov. 10, 1998. The women’s eight years on the board blazed a trail. (Orlando Sentinel File)
Butler and Chapin shared the stage with two other new commissioners: Tom Staley and Fran Pignone.
The day marked the beginning of Orange County’s new government created two years ago when voters approved changes to the county charter.
Now there are six commissioners instead of five: Butler, Staley and Pignone were elected by the voters who live in their districts. The three other commission seats, up for re-election in 1992, will become single-member districts then.
Chapin is now the only elected county chairman in the state. She will draft the county’s budget, hire employees and represent the county in all negotiations.
The three were sworn in during a noon ceremony that crackled with patriotic songs from Walt Disney World’s Voices of Liberty choral group and spirituals from the Jones High School Choir.
But the important tune of the day was sung by Chapin in a speech that touched on the need to chart the county’s growth and protect its children from drugs.
Chapin said a meeting of those closest to the drug problem will come in late January or early February and concentrate on combining efforts.
“We’ll have law enforcement and educators and lawmakers and drug treatment counselors,” she said. “We’ll also need the help and involvement of residents who want to help us rid the county of the problems drugs cause.”
Chapin also acknowledged that the new chairman’s position will wield great power and increase the county’s influence, but that cities should be left alone to “chart their own course and character.”
The words were aimed at calming fears of a priority in Chapin’s administration: The formation of a super planning agency that would combine the Orlando and county staffs to better chart growth and development.
“We’re still working on the details, but a combined department serving both the city and the county will become a reality,” Chapin said after her speech.
Part of that effort could be combining the cumbersome growth plans of both the city and the county into one document. Chapin said talks were under way with the state Department of Community Affairs to determine what would be necessary to do that.
Pignone, who will represent much of southeast and east Orange County including Belle Isle, Edgewood, Bithlo and Christmas, said she was excited by Chapin’s comments.
“We need to explore joint planning and extend the hand of friendship to the cities of this county,” Pignone said. “We also need to get our house in order.”
Pignone said she will continue to push for a complete study of county employee salaries and duties and find ways to cut waste.
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