Life and Career
Garcia was born in Marianao, Cuba on December 8, 1945 and moved to Florida in 1960. He was certified as an E.M.T. in 1974, and as a paramedic in 1977. He earned his Associate of Science degree from Miami-Dade Community College in 1990 in Emergency Medical Services Management. In 1997, he completed training as an Executive Fire Officer at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Garcia, has been serving the residents of Miami-Dade County for the last 36 years. Early in his life, Garcia demonstrated his commitment to public service when he joined the Miami Beach Fire Department; the first Cuban-American to serve with the Miami Beach Fire Department.
In 1996, as a testament to his commitment to his community and the well-being of the residents of Miami Beach, Garcia was named as the city's first Cuban-American Fire Chief. Under his watch, fire-related deaths were reduced to zero in 2 years. Identifying the vulnerability of Miami Beach during hurricane season, he launched a public awareness on "hurricane evacuation" and "high rise fire safety" that aired on public television.
After retiring as Miami Beach Fire Chief in 1999, Garcia successfully ran for the Miami Beach City Commission and continued to serve in that capacity for 7 years. As a Commissioner of Miami Beach, Garcia worked with bipartisan support to introduce the Florida Fire Safety Bill in 2002-03, sponsored by former State Representative Gus Barreiro (R-Miami) and former State Senator Ron Silver (D-Miami). This legislation ensures that safety violations identified by Fire departments do not go ignored. He also created the Senior Crime Task Force to protect Miami Beach’s elderly citizens and the Condo Task Force to identify and deal with condominium legislation to protect the rights of individual owners.
In November 2006 Garcia was elected by the people of District 107 and sworn into the Florida House of Representatives. He was subsequently re-elected in 2008; 2010. Representative Garcia still serves the people of South Beach in addition to areas of Downtown Miami, Little Havana, Overtown, Allapattah, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Key Biscayne, Fisher Island, Coco Plum and a small section of Pinecrest.
He currently serves as the Ranking Member on the State Affairs Committee in addition to serving on the State's Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Committee; Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee and the Federal Affairs Subcommittee. He is the past Vice-Chairman of the Miami-Dade County Legislative Delegation and is the former Vice-Chairman of the Florida Democratic Party and former Vice-Chairman of the Florida Legislative Hispanic Caucus.
In 2009 he was appointed by Florida Speaker of the House, Larry Cretul to serve as one of five Florida leaders on The Education Commission of the States; a national education organization dedicated to helping states develop effective education policy.
In 2009 Garcia was honored by the Florida Nurses Association as their “Legislator of the Year”.
Read more about this topic: Luis Garcia (politician)
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