Mon, Apr 16
|Acropol Family Restaurant
April Membership Meeting! Commissioner Pat Gerard
Registration not required (they do help us plan) Please feel free to come. IF you have any questions, contact Mary Lou Ambrose at (727) - 433-40045. The speaker for our April meeting will be County Commissioner Pat Gerard. Pat was a founding member of our club, and continues to be a member.
Time & Location
Apr 16, 2018, 6:30 PM – 8:45 PM
Acropol Family Restaurant, 1170 Starkey Rd, Largo, FL 33771, USA
Guests
About the event
The monthly meetings include a social period - 6:30 - 7:00, during which time you have an opportunity to order dinner.
Then we have a brief business meeting, followed by our featured speaker.
Any candidates wishing to speak will be allowed 3 minutes to introduce themselves and their platform.
April meeting:
Patricia (Pat) Gerard was the first female mayor for the city of Largo, Florida. Gerard was born in Paterson, New Jersey.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a Master of Arts in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of South Florida. Gerard was a mental health worker in a community-based rehabilitation program after graduating from USF. From 1984 to 1986 she worked as Victim's Advocate for the Largo Police Department. From 1986 to 1992 she worked as director of the Spouse Abuse Shelter of Religious Community Services, where she stayed until 1992. After that, she worked for Family Resources, Inc. as Executive Director of Helpline. She is currently their COO.
She has served on numerous boards, including Suncoast Tiger Bay Board, the Business and Professional Women of St. Petersburg, Leadership Pinellas, Pinellas County Homeless Leadership Board, the United Way Council, Pinellas County Victim Rights Coalition, Pinellas County Domestic Violence Task Force, Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Governor's Coordinating Council on Victim's Rights, and the Florida Alliance of Information and Referral Services Board.
During Commissioner Gerard’s tenure with Largo, the city built Pinellas County’s first Platinum LEED certified building and streamlined the permit application process, allowing small businesses to grow and create new jobs during the economic downturn. Under her leadership, the city commission cut $12 million from the city budget in five years, keeping tax rates low.
Commissioner Gerard was elected to the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners in 2014. Pat's addition to the Pinellas County Board made the Board majority Democratic for the first time in fifty (50) years. As a County Commissioner, Pat is active on a number of boards and committees.