Meet Cindy
Taking on Corruption & Special Interests
From County Hall, to City Halls throughout Miami-Dade, our community is suffering from a crisis of ethics and a lack of leadership. That's why Cindy Lerner is precisely the type of County Commissioner District 7 needs right now. Throughout her career, Cindy has stood up to corrupt special interests - and won!
As a State Representative, Cindy took on powerful special interests and entrenched Florida state government officials that threatened our drinking water. She defeated their efforts to allow untreated stormwater to be injected into our aquifer. She also fought against the powerful citrus lobby to protect our local fruit trees from elimination.
And when FPL wanted to install giant new power transmission lines, along with giant rate hikes to pay for them, through the heart of Miami-Dade, Cindy - as the Mayor of Pinecrest - organized residents, businesses and neighboring cities to fight the plan. Despite opposition from the Governor and the most powerful utility in the state, Cindy and her coalition prevailed, stopping the project in its tracks.
Mayor of Pinecrest
In addition to her successful efforts taking on FPL, as Mayor of Pinecrest from 2008-2016, Cindy created a Climate Action Plan, and organized dozens of Mayors from across Miami-Dade to address the threats from sea level rise, flooding and extreme weather. She also transformed Pinecrest Gardens into a beautiful botanical garden and a popular cultural arts facility for the entire county which attracts significant cultural arts grants.
As Mayor, Cindy created numerous “Advisory Councils” comprised of residents, to helped guide Pinecrest's future. She led by giving residents an outsized voice in their local government - instead of leaving all the decisions to politicians.
A Lifetime of Service and Advocacy
In addition to raising her three own children, Cindy spent sixteen years advocating for children in Florida's foster care system. She worked as lead attorney for the Florida Guardian Ad Litem program, representing the best interests of thousands of abused and neglected children, and training and supervising hundreds of volunteer attorneys helping our most vulnerable children.
And as a community organizer, when women’s health care services were threatened, Cindy built and led a coalition of community advocates, concerned women, and doctors to defeat the merger of hospitals that would have denied women access to important health care services. When funding for our public libraries was threatened, Cindy lent her strong voice to the coalition fighting to protect and restore that funding.
Cindy has never stopped advocating for causes and issues important to Miami-Dade, and currently serves on the boards of: Miami Waterkeeper, The Cleo Institute, Tropical Audubon Society, and the Pace Center for Girls.
Cindy & her husband, Dr. Irv Lerner, DVM have been life-long residents of Miami-Dade County. Cindy graduated from Palmetto Senior High and Irv graduated from Coral Gables Senior High. They own a veterinary clinic in Kendall. Cindy & Irv have three adult children and five grandchildren.