Longtime Lauderhill mayor is retiring
Richard Kaplan bidding farewell after 21 years
LAUDERHILL — Unlike politicians both local and national, Lauderhill Mayor Richard Kaplan does not relish political combat.
And yet he has survived 30 years in public office, including 21 as mayor, earning a reputation as the consummate diplomat of Broward County politics.
Far from bombastic or brash, his admirers say he treats people with respect both on and off the dais — a trait he credits with sustaining his longtime political career.
But Kaplan’s days on the dais are soon coming to an end.
On Nov. 20, just two days after his 63rd birthday, Kaplan will transfer the political baton to Mayor-elect Ken Thurston.
But Kaplan is not riding off into the sunset without a proper farewell.
Lauderhill is throwing a free tribute concert in his honor at 7 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center. Though all of Broward County is invited, the concert is limited to the first 1,000 arrivals.
Kaplan has had a long run despite Lauderhill’s changing demographics and a fickle electorate.
“People like me and they trust me, so they kept putting me in office,” he said. “I’m lucky because I’ve been able to do it longer than most.”
For a few more days, Kaplan will hold court from his office at
City Hall, surrounded by cricket bats, framed newspaper articles and boxes of awards and memorabilia collected over the course of three decades.
Unlike a few other South Florida mayors, he has neither been arrested nor caught in an FBI sting.
He has also managed to defeat political rivals or draw no opposition at all, partly because would-be challengers didn’t think they could beat him, said retired city clerk Judy Higgins.
“He was the people’s mayor,” Higgins said. “He was fair, logical, reasonable. He listened to his constituents and I think he will be missed. People really do love him.”
The son of a butcher and beautician, Kaplan hails from Michigan. His three siblings became doctors, but he took a different path and went into law.
He met his wife, Lynn, in 1988, the same year he ran for local office. The two have been married 29 years and have one son, Andrew, who is now 27 and living in Brooklyn.
“His whole life I’ve been in office,” Kaplan said.
On the dais, Kaplan made a point of wishing his wife a happy birthday and happy anniversary every chance he got, prompting eye rolls from some and chuckles from others.
“I just started doing it,” he said. “Happy wife, happy life. Every husband should know that. And if they don’t, they better learn it.”
Lauderhill activist Joel Leshinsky described Kaplan as the kind of guy who loves jazz, fine wine, the Hallmark Channel — and most of all, people.
“I don’t think he can say a bad word about anybody,” Leshinsky said. “He analyzes everything to its full potential. And over the years as mayor he wanted to do the best he could. And I believe his track record speaks for itself. He’s just the nicest guy.”
Leshinsky says he’s known Kaplan for 20 years and never seen him lose his cool.
“There is no anger,” he said. “There is frustration, disappointment. And he loses his smile for a couple minutes. Then his head goes into the lawyer thing and he figures out the right
answer.”
As mayor, Kaplan says he’s most proud of launching Lauderhill’s concert series, overseeing the opening of a new City Hall in 2009, a new police headquarters in 2005 and the popular Lauderhill Sports Park in 1999.
Once he’s out of office, Kaplan and his wife plan to retire to Vermont. They’ve already bought a place that overlooks a mountain.
He’s also written a book — “In Politics, There are No Friends” — and plans to get it published. To protect the innocent, he has changed the names of local elected officials, unless they were convicted of a crime and removed from office.
“Then I used their name,” he said.