David Fischer , who served as Mayor of St. Petersburg for 10 years from 1991 until 2001 , has passed away peacefully, his daughter announced Wednesday. He was 92.

Fischer was the city of St. Pete’s first strong Mayor, meaning his predecessors served as leaders of the City Council while a City Manager ran day-to-day city operations while he and all of his successors served as the city’s chief executive.

“Nice long life,” his daughter, Susan Fischer McGarry wrote of her father. “First strong Mayor of St Petersburg, overall extraordinary, 3 term Mayor and civic leader who will be greatly missed.

McGarry pointed to the more than 10,000 (18,000, to be specific) trees he had planted in the city as its “tree czar.”

“He leaves an incredible legacy of philanthropy and development of the

See Full Page