The City of Hollywood has recognized distinguished hometown son and former Florida Attorney General Robert A. Butterworth for his contributions to the community by renaming a city park in his honor.
The former Washington Street Park at 5202 Washington St. was officially renamed Bob Butterworth Park in a special ceremony May 10. Hollywood City Commissioners voted last November to recognize Butterworth for his lengthy service to the residents of Hollywood, Broward County and Florida.
Butterworth, who credits his parents’ examples for his own community involvement, said he considers the park “to be named after my family.” He said his father, Bob Butterworth Sr., “fell in love with the City” upon relocating his family in 1950 from New Jersey to Hollywood, where he owned Butterworth’s TV Center at 21st Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard for more than 30 years.
“Hollywood is our home. I never looked outside of Hollywood in 60 years,” said Butterworth, 68.
He boasts a public service record that spanned more than 35 years. A graduate of the University of Miami Law School, Butterworth served as a county and circuit judge in Broward County from 1974 to 1978, when he was appointed Broward County sheriff by then-Gov. Bob Graham. In 1982, Butterworth was appointed the director of Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the parent agency of the Florida Highway Patrol, to reform that police force and implement diversity into its ranks. At Graham’s request, Butterworth became the acting mayor of Sunrise in 1984-85 while suspended Mayor John Lomelo was tried and convicted of mail fraud and conspiracy to obstruct interstate commerce by extortion.
Butterworth next served as the state’s attorney general for four consecutive terms, from 1986 to 2002, making him the longest-serving attorney general in Florida’s history. A staunch advocate for Floridians, Butterworth received national recognition for his success in enforcing victim and consumer protection, civil rights, environmental and antitrust laws.
He was responsible for the passage of numerous Florida statutes and was the impetus behind amendments to Florida’s Constitution that expanded open government to all three branches of government and reformed the state’s antiquated Cabinet system. Butterworth took on influential interests that included Microsoft and Major League Baseball, and he was a leader in the multi-state litigation against the tobacco industry, bringing $11 billion to the state. He was voted the top attorney general in the nation by his peers.
Butterworth also has served as a Broward County prosecutor, an adjunct professor at the Nova University Graduate School of Criminal Justice, the dean of the St. Thomas University School of Law and a senior judge in the Broward County courts.
In 2007, Butterworth received an Award for Distinguished Service to State Government from the National Governors Association (NGA) and was praised by then-Gov. Charlie Crist as “a role model who truly sets the gold standard for public service.”
Crist had hand-picked Butterworth as the new secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families in December 2006. Under Butterworth’s leadership, many improvements were made to the long-beleaguered agency, from beefing up child abuse investigations to restoring accountability to quickly fulfilling public records requests. More than 200 cases involving litigation and appeals were closed, the number of children in foster care was reduced and inmates declared incompetent to stand trial were no longer waiting in jail past the statutory limit for placement in forensic mental health facilities.
After resigning from DCF in July 2008, Butterworth joined the Fort Lauderdale law firm Atkinson, Diner, Stone, Makuta & Ploucha, P.A. Drawing on his extensive career in public service, Butterworth focuses his practice on government affairs, advising corporate and business clients in a wide range of matters.
The Hollywood park that was renamed for Butterworth last month was created using funding from the 2004 voter-approved general obligation bond. The city-owned parcel at the corner of Washington Street and 52nd Avenue was transformed into a passive park with the addition of fencing, lighting, benches, game tables, a walking path and numerous flowering trees throughout the perimeter.
Bob Butterworth Park holds special significance for Butterworth.
“The Butterworth family feel very, very much a part of Hollywood,” he said. “It’s been very good to us, and we hope we returned the favor.”
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