Buz Oldaker

Seat 4, District 2; Commissioner

Phone: (954) 530-5279

Biography

Commissioner Buz Oldaker was born and raised in Poughkeepsie, New York, a small town upstate two hours due north of New York City. Poughkeepsie is very similar to Lauderdale-By-The-Sea with the exception that it is not on the ocean, although it has a very scenic location on the eastern banks of the Hudson River. At a young age, he was fortunate enough to be exposed to small town government with his father becoming a councilman (similar to our Town Commissioner) and eventually deputy supervisor (similar to our Vice Mayor) on the Town Council.

Education

After graduating high school, while working his way through college, Oldaker attended college in Virginia, and then transferred to New York University in Manhattan graduating with a degree in Accounting. He later earned his MBA in Finance from Pace University in Manhattan.

Professional Experience

After receiving his undergraduate degree, he settled in a small town in the suburbs of north central New Jersey, forty miles west of Manhattan. Daily he commuted that distance both ways while working for the State of New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority at headquarters located on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, a multi-billion dollar organization with tens of thousands of employees responsible for the administrative, capital, and financial management of the subways, buses, commuter railroads and an airport serving New York City. For almost a decade and a half, he worked his way up through the organization, finally leaving as Deputy Director of Treasury.

Early in the 1990’s, relocating to south Florida, Oldaker purchased a small business in the materials testing industry in Hialeah, Florida, selling it several years later. Currently, he is employed by a prestigious building envelope testing firm specializing in hurricane resistant products.

Time in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea

Living in small towns all his life, he still desired that small town charm. After an exhaustive search for a new home, he discovered Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, a small community perfectly nestled between the ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway. Since January of 1994, he has proudly called Lauderdale-By-The-Sea home, and currently resides in his future retirement home.

Serving Residents

After his election to the Town Commission in 2016, Oldaker was selected to be the Town’s representative on the Hillsboro Inlet District. He served on the inlet commission from 2016 until 2018, when he was then appointed to serve for two years as a director with the Broward League of Cities. Oldaker was re-elected without opposition to a second term on the Town Commission in March 2020. On April 14, 2020, Oldaker was elected by the Commission to serve as Vice Mayor of the Town of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea. He was nominated by former Vice Mayor Elliot Sokolow, and unanimously supported by the Mayor and his fellow Commissioners. From 2016 to 2019, Vice Mayor Oldaker served as Chairman of the Town’s Fourth of July celebration. He was appointed in April 2020 to serve as Lauderdale-By-The Sea’s representative to the Broward County Metropolitan Planning Organization. Before his election in 2016, Vice Mayor Oldaker served on the Town’s Planning and Zoning Board for several years, leaving as Chairman in 2014.