Former Hollywood commissioner and animal advocate dies at age 85
HOLLYWOOD — Cathy Anderson, the first woman elected to the Hollywood city commission, was the center of Broward County history.
“She was a walking historian,” said her colleague and lifetime friend, former commissioner Nicki Grossman. “She knew more about the history of Broward County than anyone else in this community — she knew everyone who had been here since the ’20s, their family stories and secrets. It was so much fun listening to her talk.”
Anderson died in hospice Sunday morning. She’d had a tough last decade after her husband died and she also dealt with diabetes. She had recently suffered a series of strokes. Anderson was 85.
When Grossman was first elected to the city commission in 1978, everyone believed the two women were doomed to be enemies. Back in the late ’70s, two women couldn’t possibly get along in politics, they thought.
Anderson’s vote was the third on a five-member commission in favor of bringing school resource officers to Hollywood elementary schools, the first issue Grossman pushed as a commissioner after the rest of the commission previously struck down the proposal.
“I guess that was like the glue,” Grossman said. “From that moment on we were friends, supporters, and colleagues, probably in that order.”
Anderson was like that, the conscience of the commission, Grossman said.
“The rest of us would be grappling about something, and she would call us back to attention and say: ‘This is about the kids, or this is about the working people in Hollywood.’ She would always bring us back to the heart of the issue,” Grossman said. “She was all heart.”
They went on to be lifetime friends, Grossman said. They didn’t always agree on everything, but they supported each other on the major issues. And after 40 years, they still celebrated each other’s birthdays and achievements.
“It was just a joy to know her,” Grossman said. “I don’t know anyone that wasn’t her friend. You can’t find someone who felt something bad about her.”
Anderson’s friends referred to
her, lovingly, as “Cathy Cats.” She was an animal advocate and had a special place in her heart for cats — at one point, she had about 15 of them, and even convinced Grossman to adopt one too.
“The way she related to human and animal life — she was always for the underdog. Or undercat,” Grossman said.
Anderson was hugely instrumental in the county’s spay and neuter program that was set up to get cat colonies under control, and ended up bankrolling the effort on her own dollar, Grossman said.
In 2015, she was honored for her pioneering work in banning animal acts after Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced plans to phase out the use of elephants.
In 1989, Anderson persuaded her colleagues on the Hollywood City Commission to ban the use of exotic or endangered animals in entertainment, keeping circuses with animals out of Hollywood and inspiring many other cities to do the same. On March 5, Feld Entertainment
announced that it would remove the 13 Asian elephants from its Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus by 2018, transferring them to a sanctuary in Florida.
Anderson took the vital first step that emboldened other cities to do the same, her colleagues said at the time.
And she was very close friends with Nanci Alexander, president of the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, who owned the Fort Lauderdale vegan restaurant Sublime. The restaurant has since closed its doors, but the women’s love of animals and animal welfare kept them close, Grossman said.
Anderson was endlessly interested in politics — three weeks ago when she called Grossman to chat, she immediately started asking what Grossman thought would happen in Hollywood politics, or in Broward County or the sheriff’s race, Grossman said.
“You could tell by her politics, she wanted to help people that needed help,” Grossman said.
Anderson was deeply religious and believed that everyone should love each other, Grossman said. She said she hoped Anderson’s exit was as
When Grossman found out Anderson went into hospice on Wednesday, her heart sank.
“I was heartbroken when I got the call that she was in the final phases,” Grossman said. “She could be a hell-raiser when she needed to be. It’s so hard to believe she’s not out there doing something.” peaceful as her life was exciting.
Bryan