Name: Lauren Linville
Seat you are running for: Coconut Creek City Commission District E
Education and the highest degree attained: Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice magna cum laude with emphasis on Legal Processes, Youngstown State University (Ohio). Executive Master’s Degree in Public Administration, FIU in Miami.
Occupation: Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. I also own a small emergency and facility management company, Optimum Consulting. (consultoptimum.com)
Outline your work history for the past 15 years. (Please do not attach a resume.)
For over 15 years, I have served my country as a member of the Coast Guard. Enlisting as a junior in high school in 2005, I worked in human resources and legal technician (paralegal) for Judge Advocate General (JAG). I was accepted to attend officer candidate school at the Coast Guard Academy in 2010. I was then stationed as a reservist at the Marine Safety Unit in Cleveland.
In 2010, I transferred to a reserve unit in Miami and took a full-time job working as a paralegal for Peach Tree. In 2011, I took a job working as an assistant for a private correction company, The GEO Group, Inc.
In 2012-2014, I was recalled onto active duty as the Military Outload Program Manager Responsible for oversight of operations in four ports for military cargo, supporting DOD Overseas Contingency Operations. Oversee $10 million budget, staffing and management of 137 positions assigned to waterside security and cargo inspections.
In 2014, Released from Active Duty, returned to Geo Group, company relocated me to contracts department, and then business development for a year. Now a reservist, I am stationed in Cape Cod, MA as a Lieutenant Commander. I am 3rd in Command for our reserve unit and the senior most ranking officer at our base.
Inspired by my experiences during Hurricane Maria, I opened a small business last year in Coconut Creek, an emergency, disaster and facility management consulting firm (Optimum Consulting) dedicated to helping clients prepare, plan, and recover from disasters (consultoptimum.com). We recently were tapped to represent, and project manage the rebuilding of homes in the Abacos, Bahamas.
Have you ever been arrested, charged or convicted of a crime? Have you ever received a “withheld adjudication” or had a matter sealed or expunged? If yes, please explain. (We have had a number of candidates answer yes and still get our endorsement.) No.
Have you ever been a plaintiff or a defendant in a civil action, including bankruptcy or foreclosure, or had a restraining order issued against you? If so, please explain (Same as above). No.
Are you a member of any civic groups? I sit as a board member on Beacon for Change (Beaconforchange.org), a nonprofit providing humanitarian outreach to the Bahamas with a primary focus on children. I am a sponsor and an active volunteer to Legacy Leagues of South Florida, providing financial literacy to high school sports teams in Broward. I am an active member and past VP/treasurer of the Women’s Club of Coconut Creek, a long-standing local nonprofit. I am a member of the Guild of Art and Literature (GAL), which is about bringing a voice to local artists, history and art appreciation in our city.
I was appointed by the City Commission in 2019 as chair of our city’s Public Safety Advisory Board and am vice chair. Our initiative this year is Unity in the Community, which is one of my campaign platforms. I am a member and former vice chair of the Seventh Coast Guard District Leadership Diversity Advisory Council (LDAC), which promotes inclusion and diversity among service members.
Have you ever run for office before? If so, where and when? No
Why are you running for this office?
I have a passion for this city, its residents and the small-business community. The COVID-19 pandemic has destroyed many of our small businesses while large corporations are moving in. We need local leadership that will safely guard these businesses, as they are the backbone to our neighbors and communities. With my work experience, JAG paralegal certifications, FEMA qualifications and Executive Master’s in Public Administration, I can quickly transition into this role.
If you have chosen to run against an incumbent, why specifically have you done so?
The incumbent resigned to run for Broward County State Attorney last year. He lost and was subsequently re-appointed by the commission approximately 50 days before the election and with an opponent. In his absence, we had substantial changes to our programming, including the loss of our recycling program. Our fire department has separated from the City of Margate, and we are seeing massive infrastructure changes in the forms of more apartment complexes, storage units and industrial buildings that are encroaching on existing neighborhoods. Residents feel left out of the conversation and not properly represented.
Please describe your city and/or your district as you would to someone who has never visited.
Coconut Creek is a family-friendly city that allows you to feel like you’re in a small town with the big-city amenities.
In your view, what are the top three issues facing your city or district?
1. Public Safety/COVID. Residents deserve to live and raise their children in a safe environment, particularly in these COVID times. I believe the skills of emergency/operational management are more important than ever at the local level, as our work, school and seniors are being affected daily by the virus. Over the summer, I was contracted as the deputy of operations for Joint Base Cape Cod, working with our Base partners, assisting in the standup of field hospitals, delivering daily senior briefing and COVID19 testing. I am currently short-listed to lead the COVID personal protective equipment logistics for our service members. As a disaster planner, I have the skills and qualifications to work with our industry partners, local and state leaders to get the job done.
Additionally, our fire department separated from the City of Margate earlier last year. As we begin to stand up a new fire station, hire staff and allocate the budget for new resources, including equipment, residents are concerned about the service delivery and how it will affect our budget for the years to come.
2. Overdevelopment/Transportation Capacity Resiliency and sustainability are a key focus to creating a better tomorrow for our cities. As our city continues to grow, we must consistently remember the important impact overdevelopment can have on our communities and environment. We need to rethink the traditional approaches to land management, building and infrastructure design. Though I am not against development, it needs to be done with careful considerations of our current infrastructure capacity, our established neighborhoods, transportation and with resiliency in mind.
Now with the turnpike extension, our residents’ homes will be exposed to massive infrastructure changes, increased highway noise, exhaust/carbon exposure, encroachment on property lines and property value loss. We need to provide better solutions for our residents.
3. Resident Transparency. Our city is changing rapidly and many residents feel left out of the conversation. Even I have had a lot of challenges and obstacles to ensure we were not left out of the conversation when development started coming around our neighborhood. As a public safety advisory board member, our board was not even notified when the city called a special commission meeting to separate from our fire contract with the City of Margate. The city had over two hours of public comment, and due to COVID we were unable to come into city hall to get answers. The meeting was conducted over Zoom and no answers were provided. This is not how we should be conducting business.
Additionally, we need to figure out a better way to communicate with our residents. As a resident, I find it too hard for residents to stay engaged and informed. Notifications of planning and zoning meetings are not properly sent out, and our residents typically have no knowledge of planned development in their areas. By the time we learn of development, we are typically past the point of civic engagement.
How would you assess the performance of the city commission? What grade would you give the commission for how it works? C. First, I think we are incredibly lucky to have such a hard-working city staff, and they make the commission look good. From what I have seen, we have some commissioners who do not engage with residents and small-business communities as much as they should. Additionally, some of our commissioners show up most only for bi-weekly commission meetings and are seldom in some neighborhoods.
Though our City is divided into districts, we ask our residents to vote for all of us. If we expect the entire city to vote for us, we need to work for the whole City. The issues in South Creek are different from the issues in the Township or in North Creek. During my time canvasing neighborhoods throughout the City, many residents feel left out of the narrative and feel disengaged from their leadership. I am offering the residents a 50/50 promise. If elected, I promise to set aside 50% of my time to aid staff, non-profit organizations, meet with small-business owners, and residents.
Is there anything you want us to know about your opponent(s)? He is in favor of developing our mobile home communities in our district, which will displace many of our most vulnerable residents. We do not need new development in these areas; that would only add to the issues of neighborhood encroachment and transportation/traffic issues.
Is there anything that we didn’t ask about that you would like to bring up? What is the city doing to inform the residents of the upcoming election? Though, this is not a Top 3 issue, I think leadership and transparency are the most important issue facing our city and the #1 discussion I’m having with residents while canvassing? As folks receive their ballots, it is not displayed on our city’s main page of its website. This is a problem.
Many of our residents do not know who their commissioner is, are upset with their leadership and want to change it, but at the same time are unaware of the upcoming election. Of the 60,000 people is Coconut Creek, and half of them vote in primaries, perhaps only 3,000 vote in a March election. That means that 5% of residents are choosing our leadership.
We are trying to change that with our grassroots style campaign. I have personally been knocking up to 100 doors a day for weeks now, engaging with residents and handing out my personal cell phone number.
Is there anything about yourself that we didn’t ask about that would embarrass you if an opponent found out? No.
Why should voters vote for you?
Because I am like them. Our local government/commission has become so politicized. It is time to have leaders who are not looking to use local government as a stepping stone to something bigger. I am running for this office because I have a passion for community, its people, and the small-business community. The COVID-19 pandemic has destroyed many of our small businesses at the same time corporations are moving in. We need local leadership to safeguard these businesses; they are the backbone to our neighborhoods and communities. With my work experience, JAG, FEMA qualifications, and an executive master’s in public administration, I can quickly transition into this role and work for our residents.
How much money have you raised so far? Please include today’s date.
I loaned my campaign $10,000 and have raised $15,900 in the first month since filing. If I am elected, every dollar donated by a city resident to my campaign will be donated back into Coconut Creek non-profits from my first year’s salary. This is a genuine grassroots campaign.
Have you received any other endorsements? If so, which ones?
Hispanic Vote of Broward; School Board member Debbi Hixon.
