District 3

About the Vice Chairwoman

Audrey M. Edmonson has served on the Miami-Dade County Commission as District 3 commissioner since December 2005. On November 16, 2010, she was elected by her peers as Vice Chair of the County Commission to a two-year term.

On August 26, 2008, Vice Chairwoman Edmonson was elected to serve a four-year term, representing the communities of Liberty City, Little Haiti, Overtown, the Upper East Side, Allapattah, Spring Gardens and Wynwood, all located in the City of Miami, Brownsville, the Village of El Portal, the City of Miami Shores and a portion of North Miami.

Vice Chairwoman Edmonson currently serves as Vice Chairwoman of the Internal Management and Fiscal Responsibility Committee and is a member of the Regional Transportation and Public Safety and Healthcare Administration committees. She was also appointed to serve as the County Commission's representative on the Children's Trust and the Miami-Dade Canvassing Board, and is Chair of the Census Redistricting Committee. 

In January 2010, she was named by former Commission Chairman Dennis Moss as the Commission's Haiti Earthquake Relief Effort Coordinator. Vice Chairwoman Edmonson was recognized by Success South Florida magazine as one of South Florida's 50 Most Powerful Black Professionals.

Vice Chairwoman Edmonson is Chairperson of the Miami-Dade County Value Adjustment Board.  In 2007, former Mayor Carlos Alvarez appointed Vice Chairwoman Edmonson as "Honorary Chairperson" to the City of Cape Town, Africa for the Miami-Dade County Sister Cities Program.

She is co-chair of the President's Task Force on Homelessness and Hunger, serves on the 2060 Florida Transportation Plan (FTP) steering committee and chairs the Urban Caucus of the 2010-2011 Policy Committee of the Florida Association of Counties (FAC). Vice Chairwoman Edmonson also is a member of the Community and Economic Development Steering Committee of the National Association of Counties (NACO), serving on its Immigration Task Force.

Since her arrival on the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners, Vice Chairwoman Edmonson has initiated the following legislation:

• sponsored legislation urging the Florida Legislature to restore funding for refugee services provided by the County following the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake;
• co-sponsored legislation to prevent wage theft;
• sponsored creating the Miami Children's Initiative which will provide a network of support for at-risk children and families in the zone through support systems ranging in prenatal care and education to financial literacy and homeownership;
• co-sponsored a resolution establishing procedures providing preference to local certified service-disabled veteran's business in County contracts;
• sponsored legislation banning the use of chains and shackles on detained children;
• created a Crane and Heavy Equipment Regulation and Safety Workgroup composed of industry experts and protection advocates to ensure the safety of construction workers in Miami-Dade County;
• with the support of the residents of Overtown, helped defeat the Florida Department of Transportation's proposal to build an access ramp from NW 14th Street to Interstate 95 Highway;
• in an effort to address and solve crime throughout Miami-Dade County, Commissioner Edmonson sponsored legislation to air unsolved drug related, violent and unsolved crimes on Miami-Dade TV.  

Born and raised in Liberty City, Vice Chairwoman 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.

Vice Chairwoman Edmonson received a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Florida International University and a dual master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling from Barry University.

Vice Chairwoman Edmonson resides in El Portal.  She is the mother of Ebony Nicole and Louis Ivory and grandmother of Bianca Alexandria Casher and Lorielay Edmonson.  Vice Chair Edmonson is active in several charitable, women's and community organizations.