Politics
Ritter decided to run for the Jacksonville City Council in early 1951, but was refused when he tried to file his intention with the clerk of the court, as he had been at school in Gainesville and not physically living in Duval County. He filed suit to challenge the residency requirement and prevailed less than two weeks before the first primary. The publicity from the court challenge helped him win the election, and at 23, he became the youngest city councilman in Jacksonville's history. Two years later, Ritter was elected by his fellow councilmen as Council President. He was elected as Commissioner of Highways, Sewers & Airports in 1955 and served for nearly 10 years. Ritter initiated the planning and pushed for the current Jacksonville International Airport. Construction began in 1965 and the facility opened in October, 1968. He implemented a building code which required and enforced minimum housing standards. Ritter also began a master sewer plan for the city. In 1960, Ritter helped run John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign in Florida.
Read more about this topic: Lou Ritter
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“Of course, in the reality of history, the Machiavellian view which glorifies the principle of violence has been able to dominate. Not the compromising conciliatory politics of humaneness, not the Erasmian, but rather the politics of vested power which firmly exploits every opportunity, politics in the sense of the “Principe,” has determined the development of European history ever since.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“From the beginning, the placement of [Clarence] Thomas on the high court was seen as a political end justifying almost any means. The full story of his confirmation raises questions not only about who lied and why, but, more important, about what happens when politics becomes total war and the truth—and those who tell it—are merely unfortunate sacrifices on the way to winning.”
—Jane Mayer, U.S. journalist, and Jill Abramson b. 1954, U.S. journalist. Strange Justice, p. 8, Houghton Mifflin (1994)
“All politics takes place on a slippery slope. The most important four words in politics are “up to a point.””
—George F. Will (b. 1941)