Broward County Mayor
Jane M Rentas
HAS 339 Health Law
Professor Moss
Barry University

I usually do not follow politics, but when I was assigned this assignment, I found myself interested in our Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief. Sharief was born and raised in South Florida. Sharief graduated from North Miami Senior high school and right after high school, she immediately enrolled in Miami Dade community college. She later obtained several degrees in nursing, the last being a Master’s of Science in Nursing and Advanced Nurse Practitioner Degree from Florida International University. She became one of the youngest RN to pass the Florida state boards. Apart from her professional life, Sharief is also a mother of five and actively involved as a member of the PTA. She is one of eight children of a self-employed clothing salesman and a retired schoolteacher. At age fourteen, She witnessed her father get killed by a 15 year old robber which at the time her father was Forty seven. Sharief decided to get a job and help her mother out with bills. She had lived through hard times and through her Muslim faith she got through her dismay at the time.
In 2009, Sharief was elected to the Miramar City Commission, where she served as Vice-Mayor in 2010. While she was serving on the Miramar City Commission, she donated her annual salary to charities. In May 2010, she filed to run for Broward County Commission, seeking the District 8 seat being vacated by Diana Wasserman-Rubin She was elected that November, to serve residents of the cities of Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Weston, Southwest Ranches, Hallandale Beach, Pembroke Park and West Park.] In 2012, she was named vice mayor of Broward County. Sharief was elected as Mayor by County Commission members along with Vice Mayor Tim Ryan. The Mayor and Vice mayor positions are only a one year term. In Broward County, these officials are elected the third Tuesday of each November by the Commission members. According to the Broward County’s website, the Mayor’s responsibilities include: “serving as presiding officer, and as the County Attorney and County Auditor.” It was also noted that Borward County made history in November 2013 by appointing their first black woman mayor, Barbara Sharief. According to the Suns Sentinel Sharief said “her intended focus on small business is an outgrowth of her personal story, a "tough road'' to success that she rarely discusses in public.” In Sharief acceptance speech, she stated, “Broward County means