Meet Phyllis Smith
Fifty-six years in North Miami Beach. Still here, still working.
A neighbor before she was a commissioner — and the reason she keeps showing up.
A North Miami Beach life
Phyllis Smith is not a recent arrival to North Miami Beach. She has lived here for more than five decades, graduated from North Miami Senior High with the Class of 1964, and has been married to her husband Woody for nearly six decades. They raised two children in this city. They have been blessed to have added a wonderful daughter-in-law and three grandchildren to their family.
She built a 47-year career in real estate as a licensed Real Estate Broker and Salesperson — a career spent, quite literally, helping families figure out how to live here. That work is also why she reads a site plan differently than most people do: she knows what a zoning change does to the street behind it.
Service before, and beyond, the dais
Phyllis has served this city through its boards and committees — the Commission on Aging and Senior Citizens Advisory Board, both Eastern Shores Security Districts, the Economic Development Commission, the Education Committee, and Public Utilities. She has served as City Liaison to the Library and the Community Redevelopment Boards, and has represented North Miami Beach on Miami-Dade County committees including Budget and Transportation. She has represented the city internationally, including on an official self-funded visit to Haiti. She has completed numerous state and local League of Cities courses — the unglamorous continuing education that makes the difference between having an opinion about a budget and being able to read one.
On the Commission
Phyllis was first elected to the North Miami Beach City Commission in May 2007. She served until November 2020, when she was term-limited out of office. In November 2022, voters returned her to the Commission for a four-year term, and she currently serves as Commissioner for Group 6.
Her focus has been consistent across both tenures: local control of the city's water utility, real support for police and city employees, transparent governance, growth for local businesses, and expanded programs for seniors, children, and families.
Biographical facts on this page come from the City of North Miami Beach’s official biography for Commissioner Smith. View the source (opens in a new tab). That is the City’s page, not a campaign page.
Why I'm running again
Because the work is not finished, and because the things that make this city amazing are the things that get quietly traded away when nobody is watching. The parks. The single-family streets. The budget line that funds an officer in a school.
I have been here for fifty-six years. My children grew up here. My grandchildren know these parks. I do not have another city to move to if this one is run badly, and neither do most of my neighbors. I am dedicating my sunset years to serve you.
A.C.T. — Accurate, Complete, and Transparent — is the standard I have held myself to since 2007, and it is the standard I am asking you to continue to hold me to.
— Phyllis Smith
Record
Votes, not promises
A handful of votes and fights that show how she works. Each of these is a matter of public record — the meeting minutes are at citynmb.com.
Brought the water plant back under city control
Voted to return the city's water utility to local control, improving accountability over water quality and, by the campaign's accounting, saving taxpayers millions.
An officer in every school
Supported placing police officers in every school in the city and protecting that funding through budget cycles.
Funded body cameras and police equipment
Backed funding to update police equipment and to put body-worn cameras on officers — accountability and officer protection in the same vote.
Fiscally responsible policies and lower taxes
Supported a set of fiscally responsible budget policies that reduced the tax burden on residents.
Preserved parks and green space
Consistently voted to protect the city's parks and remaining green space from conversion and sale.
Pushed to investigate garbage service costs
Called for a hard look at what residents are actually paying for sanitation service, rather than letting the contract roll over unexamined.
Timeline
1964
Graduates from North Miami Senior High.
2007
First elected to the North Miami Beach City Commission in May.
2007–2020
Serves on the Commission until term-limited out in November 2020. Serves as City Liaison to Public Utilities, the Library, the Senior Advisory Board, and the Community Redevelopment Boards.
2022
Elected again in November to a four-year term representing Group 6.
2026
Running for re-election. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.
A few things that don't fit on a résumé
- She and Woody have been married for nearly sixty years.
- Three grandchildren, all of whom know exactly which park has the good playground.
- Forty-seven years in real estate means she has probably shown a house on your street.
- She still takes calls from residents on her own phone, which her family considers both admirable and slightly excessive.
The best way to know a candidate is to contact her
Phyllis is out in the neighborhoods most days, ask her something directly here.