Robert Dressler, the Fort Lauderdale mayor who led the effort to shut down Spring Break in the mid-1980s, died Monday morning. He was 78.
In 1985, Dressler appeared on “Good Morning America” with an urgent message for Spring Breakers around the country: After years of rowdy partying fueled by all-you-can-drink beer and open containers on the beach, they were no longer welcome in Fort Lauderdale.
Under his leadership, the commission passed laws banning open alcohol and overnight parking on the beach. Heavy police enforcement resulted in more than 2,500 arrests that year.
Fort Lauderdale’s beachfront strip, as it was known, had become a tawdry embarrassment, Dressler said at the time.
“The people who want to come now are the party crowds, the druggies, the hookers and the teenyboppers,” he told a reporter in 1986. “One of the most important reasons we need to redevelop and revitalize our beach is to get away from the apparent addiction to Spring Break. If we were talking about some area of the city that is on the periphery, it might not be such a big deal. But we are talking about the major focal point of the city. And our focal point and image has to be different than a drunken party for two months.”
His daughter, Kathryn Dressler, says her dad wanted to leave a legacy of a thriving Fort Lauderdale that was more upscale and family friendly.
“He loved this city,” she said. “He wanted to make the city better for all the residents. That’s why he did what he did with Spring Break.”
Dressler got the ball rolling on the Spring Break clampdown, but the mayor who came after him seemingly got the credit, his daughter said. That would be the late Bob Cox, who took the reins as mayor in 1986.
“My father is known by most long-term residents for his fundamental role in killing Spring Break, although credit is often attributed to the mayor who took office following him,” Kathryn Dressler said.
Even after he left politics, Dressler stayed involved behind the scenes and was routinely contacted by newcomers to public office who continued to seek his guidance, his daughter said.
A Fort Lauderdale native, Dressler played an early role in leading the effort to revitalize the beachfront and develop the iconic Riverwalk along Las Olas.
Dressler was named Florida Man of the Year by Florida Atlantic University in 1993 and Distinguished Citizen by the Fort Lauderdale commission in 2007.
In November, Fort Lauderdale honored him again, naming him an Honored Founder — an “exceptional citizen whose enduring commitment has profoundly influenced the fabric of our city.”
As mayor, Dressler went to great lengths to reach all members of the community, his daughter said.
“My father was a true public servant who did not take office for fame or recognition, nor did he loudly boast of his many accomplishments,” she said. “He was the city’s first elected mayor, and he was one of the first politicians to personally go visit and speak with residents in the minority communities to ask them what they wanted and needed, and to make sure their voices were heard.”
Orderly and punctual, Dressler served in the Marine Corps from 1969 to 1972, rising to the rank of captain.
“My dad was a politician, an attorney and in the military and people still said good things about him,” Dressler’s daughter said.
Former Mayor Jack Seiler agreed.
“He was a good guy,” Seiler said. “A genuinely good guy. For a guy involved in politics, he wasn’t real political. He wanted to improve the community. He wanted to make people’s lives better. He was the kind of guy who enjoyed making a difference.”
Dressler was more of a “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” type, Seiler said.
“He wasn’t a flashy loud guy at all,” Seiler said. “He was just a soft-spoken gentleman. He wasn’t the loudest guy in the room. But he carried himself as a gentleman and a professional.”
Dressler graduated from Fort Lauderdale High School in 1963. Four years later, he graduated with honors from Dartmouth College, a private Ivy League university in New Hampshire.
He went on to earn a law degree from Harvard Law School.
After law school, Dressler moved back to Fort Lauderdale and went into practice with his father, Philip Dressler.
Not one to brag, Dressler was proud but humble, his daughter said.
“He was honest, loving, caring,” she said. “Some of my fondest memories of my father are when he used to take me and my brother, James, to Birch State Park and walk us along the nature trails and ask us if we knew the different types of trees, plants and foliage. If we knew, he’d give us $1. If we didn’t, he’d teach us.”
Dressler also loved taking his children to the beach to take swims in the ocean.
“I remember him saying ‘float like a goat’ when he was teaching me to float on my back,” his daughter said.
Dressler also helped organize the Victoria Park Civic Association.
“He was very proud of his instrumental role in making Victoria Park the neighborhood it has become today,” his daughter said. “His grandparents first purchased a home on Victoria Park Road back in the 1930s. His parents purchased a home on Northeast Seventh Street in Victoria Park in the 1940s. And my father purchased his home in Victoria Park in the 1960s.”
She and her daughter now live in that same home.
Dressler was predeceased by his son, James Dressler, who died last year.
In addition to his daughter, survivors include his granddaughter Aurora Gawor; his brother Richard Dressler; two nieces; and his former wife, Patricia.
A private memorial service is planned for close friends and immediate family.
Susannah Bryan can be reached at [email protected]. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan
Source Agencies
