George Gretsas
Fort Lauderdale City Manager, www.ci.ftlaud.fl.us
People almost always take their obsessions with them when they move to new places. Such was the case last year when George Gretsas arrived from his previous job in White Plains, N.Y., to clean the gum off Himmarshee Village sidewalks in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Yes, gum. Dubbed "The Gum Nazi" by one radio station, Gretsas found plenty not to like about the licentious party district, including street-side beer tubs and mini-bars, violations of open container laws, public urination and worst of all, sticky sidewalks. The hard-boiled "gumshoe" vowed to clean up the unsightly and annoying splotches by purchasing a $5,000 gum-removal machine that cleans the offending goo, just as he did in White Plains. Gretsas' fixation on wiping Himmarshee clean of chewy expectorant runs so deep that he keeps a photo of the gum machine in his office.
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