Joanne Simone

Joanne Simone is the City Commissioner for Seat 5 of the City of Margate, Florida, a nonpartisan office she first attained through election in November 2012 and has held continuously following subsequent re-elections in 2014, 2018, and 2022. During her tenure, her colleagues selected her to serve as Margate's Vice Mayor from 2013 to 2014 and as Mayor from 2014 to 2015. Prior to and during her initial years in public office, Simone worked as a Broward County public school teacher for 35 total years—including 30 years at Atlantic West Elementary School right in Margate—before retiring in 2012. She has been a Margate resident since 1989 and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida Southern College, which she earned in 1977. Throughout her service on the commission, Simone has been an active member of the Margate Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), the Northwest Focal Point Senior Center District board, and the Employee Benefit Trust Fund Board. She is also a trained member of the Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T.) and volunteers locally with organizations like Feeding South Florida, Shop with a Cop, and First United Methodist Church of Coral Springs. Consistently campaigning on the principles of transparency, honesty, and integrity, Simone is currently serving out her four-year term, which runs through November 2026.

The City Commissioner is a member of Margate's elected municipal legislative body, a city-level office within Florida's system of local government. Commissioners are collectively responsible for setting city policy, adopting the municipal budget, enacting local ordinances, and providing oversight of city operations and services.