Advocacy for Children and Families

• Created the Working Group on Public Schools Overcrowding Relief which is tasked with devising workable solutions to school overcrowding and providing constructive suggestions on ways to ensure that adequate schools are built concurrent with new development.
• Fought for increased funding to expand Head Start.
• Sponsored legislation requiring day care centers to be included in all new county buildings.
• Sponsored resolution urging state legislation providing for a domestic violence task force.
• Supported legislation to assist in finding missing children.
  Sponsored the parks bond issue, ensuring that south Miami-Dade received more than $52 million to fund much-needed capital improvements for our parks, beaches, natural areas and recreation facilities.
• Served as Governor Lawton Chiles' appointee to the Governor's Commission to Study Building Codes and has been an outspoken advocate to retain hurricane protection provisions in the code.
• Co-sponsored resolutions objecting to windstorm insurance rate increases and urging the Florida governor and legislature to address the rate increase and the structure of the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association.
• Sponsored legislation requiring common walls of townhouses to be designed and built as strong as outside walls.
• Sponsored a resolution providing $150,000 to assist immigrant farm workers during the winter freeze of 1997.
• Actively supported the creation of a performing arts center in Miami.

Improving Health Care

• Was instrumental in the creation of the Office of Countywide Healthcare Planning.
• Sponsored a resolution designating the Miami-Dade Biomedical Corridor in the south Miami-Dade area and sponsoring a resolution urging Florida legislature to provide funding for the development of a biomedical new business incubator
• As Public Health Trust member, responsible for expanding services provided by Community Health of South Dade (CHI), including 24-hour urgent care.
• Sponsored resolution urging Florida legislature to remove the local matching funds requirement from the Healthy Kids Health Insurance/Health Care Program, which provides low-cost health insurance to underprivileged youth.
• Advocated for HIV/AIDS prevention education.

Protecting Civil Rights

• Sponsored the Human Rights Amendment to the county's anti-discrimination ordinance, adding "sexual orientation" to the list of protected classes.
• Sponsored legislation creating pay equity for women county employees and mandating sexual harassment training for all county employees.
• Sponsored legislation establishing a more equitable hiring selection process for women County employees.
• Sponsored ordinances requiring dry cleaners and other services to charge equal prices regardless of gender.