Audrey M. Edmonson has served on the Miami-Dade County Commission as District 3 commissioner since December 2005. On November 20, 2012, she was sworn-in to a four-year term.
She represents the communities of Liberty City, Little Haiti, Overtown, the Upper East Side, Edgewater, Buena Vista, Allapattah, Wynwood, Venetian Causeway and Watson Island, all located in the City of Miami; Brownsville, Biscayne Shores and Gardens Park area, the Village of El Portal and the City of Miami Shores.
On November 16, 2010, she was elected by her peers as Vice Chair of the County Commission to a two-year term.
Commissioner Edmonson currently serves as chair of the Health and Social Services Committee and as a member of the Land Use and Development and Public Safety and Animal Services Committees. She also serves on the Scrap Metal Task Force.
In January 2010, Commissioner Edmonson was named by former Commission Chairman Dennis Moss, as the Commission's Haiti Earthquake Relief Effort Coordinator. In 2007, former Mayor Carlos Alvarez Commissioner Edmonson as "Honorary Chairperson" to the City of Cape Town, South Africa and Dakar, Senegal for the Miami-Dade County Sister Cities Program.
She serves as the co-chair for the Public Safety Committee and is an Ambassador for newly-elected County officials for the Florida Association of Counties (FAC). Commissioner Edmonson also serves as Subcommittee Chair, Housing Subcommittee, Economic Development Steering Committee and is a member of the Large Urban County Caucus Steering Committee, the Immigration Reform Task Force, the Healthy Counties and Green Government Advisory Boards, and the International Economic Development Task Force of the National Association of Counties (NACo).
Since her arrival on the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners, Commissioner Edmonson has initiated the following legislation:
- Combated the scrap metal and copper wire theft epidemic by amending the County ordinance related to scrap metal processors and junk dealers to increase penalties for the illegal purchase of scrap metal; urged the State to increase penalties for the illegal purchase of scrap metal, and urged all Florida counties to enact similar ordinances. Created a task force to review the ordinance and other issues affecting the industry.
- Directed the County administration to secure a firm to conduct a full disparity study of black, Hispanic and women-owned business participation in County contracting with data to be collected in a centralized and consistent manner in a cross section of trade areas.
- Increased contractor monitoring and compliance programs to ensure local hiring.
- Urged the State to oppose legislation related to immigration reform unless reform is comprehensive.
- Expedited the procurement process, to ensure the County runs more efficiently; and directed the administration to report on further measures that can be taken to shorten the County’s overall procurement timeline.
- Assisted the Historic Hampton House Community Trust with obtaining funding to renovate the Historic Hampton House Motel.
- Established safety measures for manufacture, installation, and use of cranes and hoisting equipment including hurricane preparedness measures.
- Urged the Florida Department of Corrections to cease, directly or indirectly, sending sex offenders to Shorecrest neighborhood.
Co-Sponsored legislation:
- Established a First Source Hiring Referral Program to help ensure Miami-Dade County residents get employment opportunities from County projects.
Born and raised in Liberty City, Commissioner Edmonson became active in local politics by first serving as Mayor of the Village of El Portal in 1999. She was re-elected Mayor by the Village Council in 2002 and 2003. In November 2004, she became the municipality's first mayor to be elected by residents rather than by the members of the Village Council. During her tenure serving the residents of El Portal, she successfully lobbied federal, state, county and private agencies for more than $3.5 million in grant funding for Village improvement projects; a $350,000 grant for a Community Outreach Program; revised the Village's comprehensive plan; successfully negotiated the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) contract; implemented a citizens' committee to revise the Village Charter; and successfully lobbied the State for $150,000 for a Storm Water Master Plan. Under her leadership, the Village hired its first Village Manager.
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