Gavin Buckley (born 8 February 1963) is a South African-born Australian-American politician and former restaurateur who has been the mayor of Annapolis, Maryland since 2017. Born in South Africa and raised primarily in Perth, Western Australia, he moved to Annapolis in 1992, eventually opening multiple bars and restaurants in the city. A Democrat, he was elected mayor in 2017, his first bid at elected office, defeating incumbent Republican mayor Mike Pantelides. He was re-elected in 2021. As mayor, Buckley has worked to allow denser development in the City Dock district, drawing opposition from historic preservation advocates. He was in office during the Capital Gazette shooting on 28 June 2018, and has advocated for stricter gun control laws in its wake. Early life and education Gavin Buckley was born in Boksburg, South Africa, and lived briefly in London before growing up in Perth, Western Australia. Because their father traveled often for work and then died at an early age, Buckley and his twin, Paul, who died at age 14, were primarily raised by their mother, Pauline Brosnan, an Irish native active in the Australian Labor Party. Gavin was expelled from two Australian high schools, St. Norbert and Belmont Senior High School, for poor attendance; and began working in the countries of Scotland and France, and the U.S. State of Florida, where he arrived in 1985. Career Business Buckley came to Maryland in 1992 by boat, with only 200 dollars in cash; in the region, he found work as a waiter and farm labourer, among other jobs. He overstayed his initial visa, but was granted amnesty under Reagan administration-rules through his agricultural work, and was naturalized in 2009. Buckley eventually settled in Annapolis, Maryland, where he began a business career, first opening a coffee shop called The Moon, and later four restaurants, Tsunami Seafood, Metropolitan Kitchen and Lounge, Lemongrass Thai, and Sailor Oyster Bar, in the West Street area. He was one of several partners in West Village LLC, which renovated a strip of dilapidated buildings on West Street near Tsunami in 2001 and restored a variety of businesses to what had become a "relatively desolate" part of the city. Buckley's businesses accrued several debts and contract disputes between 2006 and 2012, which he attributed to cash flow problems due to the Great Recession. Buckley was also cited by local authorities for failing to display boat registration numbers and failing to obtain