What people are saying...

Dear Michelle,Through its many programs and activities for the young people of Port St. Lucie, PAL has become a vibrant part of the community. Thank you for supporting PAL's efforts to provide quality programs for our youth.On behalf of the Port St. Lucie Police Athletic League, Inc., I would like to thank you for your support. Our Golf Tournament was a huge success because of folks like you.

Sincerely, Sue Hayes Treasurer PSL Police Athletic League

"We have been fortunate to have had Michelle as an active board member for the past few years at the PSL Police Athletic League. She does her homework, and her ability to see the big picture allows her to make good decisions for the community."

Tom Filipkowski

President, Board of Directors PSL Police Athletic League

Math & Science Teacher F. K. Sweet

“I support councilwoman Berger for her total dedication to the members of this city and most important for her understanding on the several issues that those who trust in her are worry about. She has delivered time and again what she promissed.”

Victor Rivera

“Michelle has proven herself as a stand up person. Politics have two different styles, leaders and followers. She is a leader and will stand up for what is right and will not follow just because others do.”

Don Warburton, Kaizen Karate

“Michelle Berger is well read and understands the issues that concern the residents of Port St Lucie. She faces opposition with facts, knowledge and a firm commitment to whatever is BEST for our City. Never led, but always LEADS!”

Arlene Brown

“Michelle's record speaks for itself. She is an advocate for our children, the arts, sustained growth in Port St. Lucie and all thats important for our future.”

Christine

“I have been impressed with Michelle from the first day I met her with Chamber representatives for breakfast.”

John Donahue"

Michelle Berger has always been very responsive to concerns that the people of Port St Lucie have, she jumps right in a does her best to help the people, she is not just looking for praise, this is her job, she feels."

Jane Rowley, Former city councilwoman & resident of Port St. Lucie

"On behalf of the St. Lucie North Homeowners Association, Inc. The enclosed check is given for your Re-Election campaign. We wish you the best."Don WilsonPresidentSt. Lucie North H.O.A.
"I am pleased to inform you that the RASL (Realtors Association of St. Lucie, Inc.) Board of Directors unanimously support your candidacy for the 2008 Port St. Lucie City Council, District 2 race. We believe you will offer a wealth of experience, great education, and approachable qualities. Your commitment to serve our citizens is exemplary and we are very pleased to recommend you to our membership."

Eugene Gibbins Governmental Affairs Chair

Volunteers rescue gopher tortoises from PSL work sites

By CHRIS YOUNG
chris.young@scripps.com
July 9, 2007
PORT ST. LUCIE — They inspect the loosely disguised bucket traps three times a day, hoping for a catch. Most of the time, the volunteers find nothing, but four times so far their efforts paid off: an adult gopher tortoise emerging from its burrow into the care of a zoologist to document and take it — and six eggs — away to a relocation site, said volunteer Carol Brick. The tortoises lived in an area near Selvitz Road and Peachtree Boulevard, where a Miamibased developer will soon build about 420 condominiums called Villa Vizcaya. The developer had a state permit
allowing the tortoises to be buried under the project, but he allowed the volunteers to stake out the site for several weeks in hopes of finding some tortoises. "We're not going to say we're just going to kill them," said Omar Fonte, manager of Pride Homes of Peachtree. "If they have the means to move them, I said go ahead and move them."

But if City Councilwoman Michelle Berger gets her way, this operation would be mandatory in the future, even for developers who already have an incidental-take permit to build over them. In recent years the public has rallied against the permit idea because it results in the tortoises becoming entombed in their burrows.

Berger said she'll ask for council support in August to go beyond a tentative state rule that would protect the tortoises and relocate them all. The city would follow the lead of Martin County commissioners, who recently decided to require developers of plannedunit developments to relocate tortoises. The city could force developers with grandfathered-in permits to relocate them the same as developers applying for new permits, said Harold Phillips, conservation officer with the St. Lucie Audubon Society who spearheaded the volunteers' effort at Villa Vizcaya. Berger agreed. "I'd like to see us put mandates on residential properties," Berger said. "In St. Lucie County there have been a high number of tortoise deaths in the last couple of years."
In mid-June the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission upgraded the gopher tortoises' status from a species of special concern to threatened and drafted a management plan to ensure the species' survival. After July 30, all gopher tortoises would have to be relocated rather than entombed in their burrows by development. A city policy going beyond the state's ruling targeting the existing permits "would still be very valuable from our point of view," Phillips said. The city has relocated tortoises for its own projects, including the Crosstown Parkway. Biologists with an environmental consultant firm worked with city crews to relocate 21 tortoises on the Crosstown segment east of Florida's Turnpike and six on the segment west of the turnpike, according to city engineers. To get the tortoises, crews used a backhoe to excavate a burrow until the machinery got close, then the biologists hand-dug the tortoises out. The tortoises were relocated to a 92-acre city-owned site near the Tesoro development, city engineers said

A little about Michelle...

Michelle Berger was elected to the Port St. Lucie City Council in November 2004 with 60 percent of the voters approving of the fresh ideas and positive message she offered during her campaign.

As the mother of two boys and the wife of a Palm Beach County firefighter, Michelle understands the expectations of Port St. Lucie’s families, and has been a strong proponent of the quality-of-life issues that make the city the destination of so many new residents.
And with more than 14 years of management and small business owner experience, along with a bachelor's degree in business management, she understands the important role businesses play in the city’s stability and development. That’s why she has been a supporter of policies that ensure the city’s growth will include a healthy mix of commercial and residential areas, and that the local infrastructure will be among the best in Florida long into the future.

As a persistent advocate for fiscal responsibility, Michelle urges that taxpayer money be used only for those projects that bring the most value to the city, and her support of a proposal to change the financing plan for construction of the Crosstown Parkway will help the city save millions of dollars on a project that won approval of 89 percent of Port St. Lucie’s voters in 2005.
Perhaps her greatest strength, however, is her contagious energy and her ability to build consensus for the programs and projects she believes in.

As a volunteer in several local organizations and committees, Michelle has demonstrated this to the residents and officials who have worked with her, and who now see the positive impact she has had on the future of the city.

Her favorite activity is spending time with her family, and their boating and camping experiences have allowed them to enjoy the best of what the magnificent state of Florida has to offer.

She currently serves on the North Fork of the St. Lucie River Management Advisory Committee. Volunteer with Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. Volunteer for the Executive Board of the YMCA of the Treasure Coast, Habitat for Humanity of St. Lucie County and the Police Athletic League in Port St. Lucie. Currently serve on the St. Lucie County Bridge and Expressway Authority, St. Lucie County Tourism Development Council, SLC/Martin County Transportation Planning Organization, Florida Atlantic University Advisory Committee, and as an alternate to the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council. In the recent past, I enjoyed serving on Hibiscus Childrens’ Foundation and the Seacoast National Bank Community Advisory Board. Nominated for the 2008 Soroptimist Women of Distinction award.