1639-23 Politics 7
FRI APR 06 1984 ED: THREE-STAR
SECTION: INSIDE LOCAL PAGE: 4A LENGTH: 358 MEDIUM
ILLUST: JAY DERMER (Mug)
SOURCE: PEDRO FONTEBOA Miami News Staff
LTELINE:
.EMO:
JAY DERMER, FORMER BEACH MAYOR, DIES
Former Miami Beach Mayor Jay Dermer, an advocate for the city' s public
beaches, died yesterday after a massive heart attack at a Central Florida
health spa. He was 54 .
Dermer became ill while at breakfast at the spa. He was pronounced dead
at 9 : 30 a.m. by doctors at Mease Hospital in Dunedin.
Dermer served two terms as mayor, elected the first time in 1967 ,
defeating incumbent Elliot Roosevelt by about 2 , 000 votes .
Once he became mayor, Dermer launched two controversial campaigns for
which he will be remembered: He fought vigorously to restore the city' s
beaches and he took a strong stand against casino gambling.
He organized the first anti-casino committee, Floridians Against Casino
Takeover (FACT) . His committee raised nearly $100,000 to fight pro-casino
forces in 1978 .
He told hotel owners that the beaches they had carved out for themselves
behind their hotels, in fact, belonged to the public. He asked the beaches be
declared public so that the city could get federal money for the restoration.
The hotel owners strongly resisted Dermer. But he continued the fight for
his goal and eventually won the federal funding.
In 1969 he was elected to a second term as mayor by defeating challenger
"' lis Rubin. As part of his campaign, Rubin suggested that Miami Beach leave
le County and become Miami Beach County.
Dermer said the proposed change was a cover-up that eventually would lead
to casinos in Miami Beach. Dermer defeated Rubin by a landslide and used his
office to fight pro-gambling forces .
Dernier, who moved to Miami Beach from New York in 1955, did not try for a
third term as mayor. Instead, he challenged U.S. Rep. Claude Pepper, D-Miami,
for his seat.
After losing to Pepper, he returned to his law practice. He specialized
in personal injury and negligence cases.
Dermer is survived by his wife, Yaffa; two sons, David, 21, and Ronald,
12; a daughter, Esther, 14 ; his mother, Rose; and his brother, Burton.
Services were scheduled for today at 11 : 30 a.m. at the Riverside Memorial
Chapel, 1920 Alton Road. Dermer will be buried in New York at Mount Hebron
Cemetery.
ADDED TERMS: dermer obituary
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