By Coral Springs Mayor, Scott Brook
Congratulations to former JPT Principal, Shawn Cerra, on becoming our newest City Commissioner! Our City Commission team is excited to work with you and create a strategic plan that works for all of our 130,000 residents and over 5,000 businesses. On that note, if you are a small business owner, please know that you are valued and I would like to connect with you and visit your business. If you are interested in setting up a visit or a meeting, please call Randi Odette at 954-344-5906.
My condolences go out to the family of Lisa Boccard as she recently passed after many years of successfully battling Breast Cancer. She was a tireless advocate and supporter of women with breast cancer and I can never recall seeing Lisa without a smile on her face. My good friends, Former Mayor Vince Boccard and his wife, Terry, founded the Lisa Boccard Breast Cancer Fund in 2003. Through the Fund’s commitment and with the support of Broward Health, over 2,000 women have been screened for breast cancer and over 90 were identified with cancer, who remain alive today! I am so proud that my colleagues voted unanimously at the last meeting to honor Lisa and her commitment to our Community with naming a future day in her honor and paying respect to her family at a future City Commission meeting. Lisa, you are already missed greatly.
As you may know, since I was elected we lost two beautiful souls to suicide after they were impacted by the tragedy at Stoneman Douglas. As you may not know, I lost my dear Mom, Marcia, to suicide when I was only 23 years old. Suicide is devastating to the family and survivors. Our City is committed to continuing to share Eagles Haven and 2-1-1 Broward as resources. I am personally committed to helping to eliminate the stigma so often associated with someone’s need for mental help. So far, over 35 people and businesses have expressed an interest in a campaign I am calling #ELIMINATETHESTIGMA. If you would like to join me and many others to help reach the tipping point so that people can share openly the need for assistance with mental health issues, like anxiety and depression, please email me at Sbrook@coralsprings.org or text me at 954-494-9872. Thank you to Nora Elatab for creating the logo and thank you to all of my Mayoral interns for assisting me on this and other endeavors. Jonathan, Jaylene, Zachary and Nico, you are awesome! I also want to thank the Parkland Mayor and the 50+ individuals who have been working on suicide prevention in our County.
Kudos to Commissioner Joshua Simmons for your recognition as a Hometown Hero for your commitment to Hometown Rule! This summer, your Commission team will be attending retreats, workshops and Commission Meetings that are all open to the public as we prepare for our two budget hearings in September. Please look at our website www.coralsprings.org for the dates so that you can learn about the details, hear our discussions and ultimately give your input as to what you think our priorities should be.
Lastly, and not least, thank you again State Representative Dan Daley for your ongoing commitment to our community. We are glad you are sworn in and will be having an office on the second floor to meet with your constituents, if you are looking for the latest news, start by checking this post about Jimmy John Shark.
Enjoy the summer and your families.