Margate City Commissioner Arlene Schwartz. {City of Margate}
By Bryan Boggiano
The Florida League of Cities (FLC) University honored Margate City Commissioner Arlene Schwartz with a silver certificate of leadership for completing coursework through their Certificate Program for Elected Municipal Officials.
The FLC’s certificate achievement program recognizes municipal officials for their commitment and dedication to training and continuing education, according to a press release.
From the program, municipals could receive one of three certificates, depending on how much training they completed.
These accolades include a bronze certificate of merit (level one), a silver certificate of leadership (level two), and a gold certificate of excellence (level three).
Municipal officials earned points toward their certificates by attending various FLC University trainings and orientations, webinars, and legislative events.
“This achievement is a testament to Florida’s municipal elected officials’ commitment to the cities and residents they serve,” said Jolien Caraballo, FLC 2022-2023 president and Port St. Lucie vice mayor, in a press release.
She continued, “On behalf of the Florida League of Cities, I applaud Commissioner Schwartz for taking the time out of her busy schedule to participate in this valuable program.”
Voters first elected Schwartz to the Margate city commission in 1991. She was reelected in 1997 and 2000. From 1999 through 2001, her fellow commissioners appointed her to the mayorship, making Schwartz Margate’s first woman mayor.
After departing the commission in 2004, she was reelected in 2016 and 2020.
Schwartz said the classes updated her on what she learned through her experience as an elected official, including her ability to inspire others to work together and compromise.
She said these skills are essential when fighting for issues related to home rule and the state’s volatile insurance market, which localities are slowly losing control over due to preemptions and the state of the economy.
“We’re trying to bind together the 31 cities in Broward so that we speak with one voice,” Schwartz said, “because right now, in Tallahassee, we have very little voice.”
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