Prior to its meeting on Tuesday, March 25, 2008 the Jacksonville City Council formally renamed the Renaissance Room in City Hall as the Lynwood Roberts Room to commemorate the long public service career of former City Council member, Council President and Tax Collector Lynwood Roberts.  Ordinance 2008-34-E, authorizing the renaming of the training and meeting room located on the first floor of City Hall, was introduced by Council Vice President Ronnie Fussell in January and approved by the full council in February.

Roberts, who died in February 2005, began his public service career prior to the consolidation of Jacksonville and Duval County by being elected to a term on the Duval County Budget Commission in 1964, during which term he served as the Commission's Chairman for one year.  After the city/county consolidation in 1968 Lynwood Roberts was elected to the first consolidated government city council as an at-large member and was re-elected to additional terms in 1971 and 1975.  During his 12 years on the City Council, Roberts was elected as Council President by his colleagues for 3 terms (1971-72, 1976-77 and 1977-78) and twice was awarded the Claude Yates Award for Outstanding Councilman of the Year in 1973 and 1975.

Upon his retirement from a long career as an executive with Southern Bell in 1979, Roberts was elected Tax Collector for the City, and was subsequently re-elected to the office without opposition in 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995 and 1999.  He retired from the office in 2003 after 24 years as Tax Collector. 

In addition to his more than 3 decades in public office, Lynwood Roberts was also active in many other civic causes, including the Boy Scouts, Police Athletic League, and Vision is Priceless.

After the dedication ceremony, Council Vice President Fussell presented Mr. Robert's family with a framed copy of the renaming ordinance during the meeting of the City Council.

Contact:  Mina Hosseini, Executive Assistant to Council Member Fussell, at (904) 630-1393.