Mark Bogen chosen as new Broward County mayor

Broward County’s new mayor is Mark Bogen, selected by his fellow commissioners Tuesday.

He replaces Commissioner Beam Furr in the position, which is largely ceremonial but serves as the face of the county. Bogen had served for the past year as vice mayor.

Bogen said the theme for his one-year term will be “Broward Getting Things Done.”

Commissioners also selected Dale Holness as vice mayor, which is a stepping stone to being mayor. Holness had been passed over for the position in recent years.

Both selections were unanimous.

Furr began his closing comments as mayor on a light note, listing what the county had to be thankful for: “Mainly that the election is over and we are no longer in the headlines so we can count our blessings and then recount them and count them again and again and again.”

However, while speaking of county accomplishments during his term, he acknowledged what a difficult year it had been given the recovery from Hurricane Irma and the Parkland school shooting.

“Frankly, we needed to team up and we needed each other, to get through not only the aftermath of the hurricane, but even more to get through the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas,” Furr said.

“I don’t think we as humans are built to absorb so much sorrow at once. We normally have to deal with pain and grief a little bit at a time, and this was a full as- sault on the senses and the psyche of Broward,” Furr said. “We’re still feeling the aftershocks and I imagine we will for years to come.”

Bogen said he will have a “Triple-A” focus during his term, on accountability, achievement and award.

He plans to add a section to the commission’s regular agenda to show staff accountability on how it has followed up on commission requests. He asked each commissioner to name a specific priority they want to achieve so the board’s success can be measured a year from now. Bogen also wants to institute awards for county employees that come up with money-saving or efficiency ideas.