Jerry for Pinecrest: Candidate for Council

Most people wake up, go to work and come home day-after-day, not giving much thought to the town they live in. Not so for Jerry Greenberg. He’s lived in the Pinecrest area his whole life and has somehow always known in his bones that he was meant to serve his community. “My Dad worked as the Miami-Dade County Attorney almost his whole career and he brought that home with him,” explains Greenberg. “It inspired me to want to work in government too.” Now seems to be that time.

“It's already wonderful in Pinecrest! Besides the trees, weather, houses and the people, it is the well-functioning Council, administration and government that make this such a great place to live,” opines Greenberg. “To keep that going, we need people to step up and keep it going. When the opportunity came up, I decided it was my time to run. I feel it is my obligation to contribute to this great Village and make it even better.”

On November 5, Pinecrest will elect three new members to their Village Council. While the Mayor and At-Large Seat will remain, all the number seats (1, 2 and 3 - where you need to live in the zone) are up for grabs. Jerry is running for Seat 2, which is currently held by Katie Abbott, who will not seek re-election. Interestingly enough, Katie and Jerry have known each other ‘forever’ and Katie encouraged him to run.

Greenberg with his wife and kids

Greenberg has a wife, Maya, and three children. Growing up, he went to Beth Am (where Maya now teaches), played in Howard Palmetto Baseball, went to Palmetto High School and was very involved with student activities.

Professionally, Greenberg served as a law clerk to a federal appellate judge before becoming an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Florida. After leaving that post, he became a partner at one of South Florida’s most prestigious law firms, Stearns Weaver. In 2012, he joined two friends to open the law firm, Gelber Schachter & Greenberg, P.A. which focuses on civil litigation, white collar criminal defense, and mediation.

Today, Greenberg is involved with several charitable organizations and is particularly proud to have started an award-winning debate team at Palmetto Middle. With his aspirations to be on Village Council, Greenberg says, “This is a way for me to do something meaningful on a hyperlocal and effective level. Pinecrest’s Council makes an impact on people’s true day-to-day issues by being smart, thoughtful and collegial.”

In regards to what he wants to do on Council, “Some of the challenges we have are continuations of where we’ve been,” explains Greenberg. “I’m not looking to radically change anything, but I know that fresh thoughts and people will move Pinecrest forward.” Jerry cited traffic, US-1 development, climate and parks/trees/sidewalks as his focal points where he’d like to make his mark. “We should constantly be analyzing our traffic, support public transportation efforts and I like traffic circles to keep cars moving along.”

Regarding US-1 development, Jerry was very involved with the referendum that might have hamstrung the Pinecrest government from making intelligent zoning and code choices. With his and others’ efforts, the referendum went the right way and Pinecrest can now focus on avoiding overdevelopment. “But in the same breath, I recognize the other side of the referendum and they have valid points,” said Greenberg. “We always need to see the other side.” He thinks incentives for beautification of the US-1 corridor are a good idea and in reach.

Specific to hardening the electrical grid in Pinecrest, Greenberg says that he was undergrounded by FPL and saw an immediate improvement. “I was shocked how much better it was,” remarked Greenberg. He would continue to partner with FPL to ensure as much of Pinecrest as possible had their power from underground.

In regards to water, Greenberg recognizes that many Pinecrest residents are still using well water. He is a large proponent of making sure everyone who wants to move to municipal water can, since it has health implications. “We got lucky with a large Federal grant during COVID and Pinecrest used these funds well. I was incredibly impressed with how quickly they connected homes and we need to continue this project as swiftly as possible,” said Jerry.

Tangentially, he is also all in on getting everyone onto sewer and off failing septic tanks. “Connecting to sewer is incredibly expensive and it will need County involvement, but with the years of persistence Pinecrest showed in getting water to our homes, I am sure we will succeed in our sewer efforts as well,” projected Greenberg.

One of Jerry’s specialties at work is mediation. He believes a lot of the Council work will involve listening, respect and mediation to achieve the best results for Pinecrest.

Greenberg officially starts his campaign on February 29 with an evening kick-off event. He plans on knocking on doors and meeting as many people as possible to have an even richer understanding of Pinecrest residents and their needs. To learn more or to get involved, go to jerryforpinecrest.com or email him at jerry@jerryforpinecrest.com.