SouthFlorida.com | City Link Magazine

Nobody in Lake Worth even knew who Marc Drautz was until six weeks before the March 8 election, when he blew into the mayoral race with full force. Then, people began to take notice of this 31-year-old kindergarten teacher and lifeguard who'd majored in philosophy at college. "I stayed on the sidelines until I was ready," he says.

Lake Worth was definitely ready, if not desperate, for Drautz's fresh approach. For the past several years, the old guard in Lake Worth had been selling prized pieces of city-owned downtown real estate for luxury condos. But it all bottomed out when four-year mayoral incumbent Rodney Romano led the City Commission to sell the town's Old Bridge Park before voters could adopt a charter amendment to halt the deal.

"It boils down to people being frustrated over not being heard," says Drautz, who stomped Romano in a runoff election.

To many people, the sight of Drautz, his beautiful Haitian wife, Yasmine, and their 2-year-old son, Tristan, was the small-town equivalent of the Kennedys suddenly appearing on the horizon. But the race for mayor was still an ugly campaign, complete with rumors that Drautz had two wives campaigning for him -- one black and one white, depending on the neighborhood.

"I finally had to get out there and hold up a sign with a picture of my entire family on it," Drautz says.

Taking office at the end of March, Drautz immediately set up a booth on Lake Avenue during the town's regular Friday-night "Evening on the Avenues" so residents can be heard on an informal basis.

Some city officials have questioned Drautz's credentials. "But holding a meeting isn't that different from running a kindergarten class these days," the mayor says. "Every day, teachers deal with families and all kinds of issues, financial and sociological."

Drautz decided to run for office in part because a 9-year-old girl he met was upset over the way Lake Worth's immigrant community, which is predominantly Guatemalan, was being treated by the city. "If she's feeling the anger, you know things have to change," he argues.

Through philosophy classes, Drautz has studied many cultures and forms of government. "And the country currently is leading a perfect model for failure," he observes.

But when he takes his nightly walks through the city, he's strolling for unity and openness on a small scale. "I have no aspirations beyond Lake Worth," Drautz says. "This is it for me, but I know what will work and won't work. And if I don't, I've got 10 million e-mails coming in full of all kinds of fresh ideas. That's what it's all about."

-- T.M. Shine