Candidate: Michelle Miller

Michelle Miller is a Florida native who graduated from Fort Pierce Central High School. She received her Associates Degree from Indian River State College in Psychology then graduated Summa Cum Laude from Florida Atlantic University with a Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice. While at FAU, she was the recipient of the prestigious “Owl of the Year Award!”

Michelle has always had a passion for serving. At 17, she enlisted in the United States Army. She served as an air traffic controller, ensuring the safety and efficient flow of airspace traffic. She quickly rose in rank and left the service as a Specialist E-4.

Michelle Miller has been an effective and successful business woman with over 25 years in the insurance and financial industry. She successfully owned & operated Miller Insurance, LLC for over 16 years and remained extremely active in the community. After many years working in the insurance industry she was given the opportunity for a change of career. This led to her appointment as Vice President of Admissions and Operations at Aviator College of Aeronautical Science and Technology in St. Lucie County. In this capacity, the college grew exponentially and continues to see tremendous growth even today.

Michelle is currently employed in the Law enforcement community in the Detentions Investigations unit. Four years ago she was asked to help create a unit that would provide valuable intelligence and services to the legal and various policing entities. This unit has steadily grown and provided additional resources, at a significant cost savings to the Department.

Michelle’s lifetime commitment of service has allowed her the opportunity to serve on many boards and community groups. Currently, she serves on the Board of Trustees for St. Lucie Medical Center and Main Street Fort Pierce. She has been a Governor’s appointee twice to the Early Learning Coalition, served on the boards of the St. Lucie County Chamber of Commerce, Education Foundation, Sunrise Theatre, Castle, Council on Aging , United for Families, and many others. While her children were in high school she served as a member of the executive board for the FFA Alumni.

Michelle’s keen sense of fiscal responsibility, accountability, and distinguished accomplishments have led her to run for the position of St. Lucie Clerk of Court. Her desire to serve our residents and develop partnerships between the many agencies make her the best and only candidate for your next St. Lucie Clerk of Court!  

My Goals in the first year of office; I want to move the Clerk’s office forward utilizing technology to enable seamless flow throughout the criminal justice system.  We deserve a full-time, dedicated clerk, focused on reducing wasteful spending to help reduce our tax burden and who is transparent in dealing with every tax dollar. I will institute a real constituency group that meets regularly to address issues and meet the needs of our growing community. Looking at the budget, one can see that there is little regard for where this money comes from. Though the cash back system has returned dollars to the County,  the actual cost of having the various county departments submit this paperwork is too time consuming and much too costly!   As a former business owner in this community I know that every dollar spent, must be spent wisely.

I have integrity and good moral character.  We need a Clerk collaborating on ideas with the entities that use the office regularly, so goals are more easily accomplished.  As Clerk, I want an office that develops those partnerships throughout the community to better serve our residents.  Relationships within the judicial system, other County entities, the judges, and the office staff have not been nurtured and these relationships are in desperate need of repair.  With a strong and full-time clerk working to develop these partnerships and to constantly improve processes, we can save more of our tax dollars. I will not foolishly spend your hard – earned tax dollars on outside legal counsel! The Clerk’s Office has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on outside counsel when the same legal services are provided by the County. Yet no reason has ever been given for such wasteful spending. The current Clerk hiring his own personal attorney at our expense, creates conflict between attorney-client privilege and the transparency the residents of this county require and deserve. We can do better! Additionally, I will be a full-time Clerk; someone who actually comes to the office and does the job I will be elected for.  There are so many employees that would love to have a “career” instead of a job until something better comes along.  Through positive leadership, I will foster the potential for each of these individuals and help them to build a future by always building them up and giving them the tools they need to go further in their careers. 

I am not a career politician and believe that term limits allow for fresh and new ideas! I love our community and it is my personal mission is to serve the people with integrity, professionalism, accountability, and respect.  These are vital elements that must be restored to the Clerk’s office so that we can begin to build partnerships throughout our County.   After I returned home to St. Lucie County after my time in the United States Army and my enthusiasm to serve continued.  I began getting involved in numerous organizations throughout our community and formed partnerships to be able to move our County forward. Through these various partnerships we will be able to restore accountability and integrity to the office.

Notable Accomplishments:

In 2004, as chair of local governmental affairs for the St. Lucie Chamber of Commerce, I was tasked with launching a referendum for the construction of a third roadway and bridge in Port St. Lucie.

Together with the Treasure Coast Builders Association Exec. Director, Maddie Williams, and the Realtors Association President, Stacy Storms we formed a partnership to transform the need for the additional roadway and bridge into a reality. On June 7, 2005, a City-wide election for the bond referendum to fund the design and construction of the Crosstown Parkway and Bridge was overwhelming approved by over 89 percent of Port St. Lucie voters!

In 2006, I was awarded the Richard L. McLaughlin Award, Volunteer of the Year, District #8 by the Florida Economic Development Council, in recognition of the outstanding volunteer contributions to economic development in Florida.

In 2007, I had the opportunity to accompany Commissioner Frannie Hutchinson to Washington D.C to lobby for the construction of an additional runway at the St. Lucie County Airport which was approved and constructed! This dual runway system allowed for much needed, expansive growth at our airport.