23 Facts About Kristin Jacobs

Kristin Diane Jacobs was an American politician who served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2014 until her death in 2020.

Kristin Jacobs represented the 96th District, including Coconut Creek, Margate, Coral Springs and Parkland in northeastern Broward County.

Kristin Jacobs served on the Broward County Board of Code and Zoning and the Community Action Agency Advisory Board, founding the Coalition of Unincorporated Broward Communities, and becoming president of the North Andrews Neighborhood Association.

In 1998, Kristin Jacobs ran for a seat on the Broward County Commission from District 2, challenging incumbent Commissioner Sylvia Poitier in the Democratic Party primary.

In 2008, Kristin Jacobs was invited by Congress to testify on the Clean Water Act and in 2013, she was invited by the Senate to testify on Climate Change.

Later in 2013, the White House asked Kristin Jacobs to meet President Barack Obama and to be a part of his address on National Climate Change Policy at Georgetown University.

Kristin Jacobs was then asked by the White House to serve on the National Climate Preparedness and Resilience Task Force.

Kristin Jacobs was an advocate for women and children and introduced Broward County's Human Rights Act to prevent discrimination.

Kristin Jacobs was known as the "mother" of Broward's Living Wage Ordinance, which guarantees a decent salary for county workers and contracted employees.

Kristin Jacobs was a longtime advocate of light rail and successfully fought for the passage of Broward's first streetcar, The WAVE, and Complete Streets, which added bicycle and pedestrian-friendly urban design to county roads.

Kristin Jacobs worked to expand affordable housing, revitalize neighborhoods, encourage sustainable development and was an advocate for making solar energy a viable option for homeowners.

Kristin Jacobs supported the classifying of kratom as a Schedule I controlled substance.

On February 20,2012, Kristin Jacobs announced that she would run for Congress in the newly redistricted 22nd Congressional District, which stretched along the coastline in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Kristin Jacobs campaigned as "a consensus builder" and emphasized her ability to work with others to enact public policy while maintaining her core values of protecting reproductive rights and marriage equality.

When incumbent state representative Jim Waldman was unable to seek re-election in 2014 due to term limits, Kristin Jacobs, who was prevented from seeking another term on the County Commission due to term limits, ran to succeed him in the 96th District.

In 2010, Kristin Jacobs was invited to participate in a media event with several congressional members in Washington, DC, to encourage Congress to pass the America's Commitment to Clean Water Act.

In 2011, Kristin Jacobs was selected to serve as Chair of the White House National Ocean Council's Governance Coordinating Committee, which advised President Barack Obama on local government perspectives on ocean policy.

In 2014, Kristin Jacobs continued to speak out nationally, as she was the only elected official in the United States asked to speak at the White House unveiling of its third update of the National Climate Assessment, which featured her work in Southeast Florida.

Also in 2014, the US Senate twice invited Kristin Jacobs to testify in Senate hearings on climate change policy.

Kristin Jacobs sponsored Broward's Complete Streets program adding bicycle and pedestrian-friendly urban design to county roads.

Kristin Jacobs was the lead in bringing forward Broward County's first streetcar project, the Wave, which received a line-item mention in President Obama's 2014 proposed budget.

The combination of environmental and transportation projects sponsored by Kristin Jacobs have combined to place the Broward County Commission on target to reach its adopted goal to reduce CO2 emissions 20 percent by 2020.

Kristin Jacobs died on April 11,2020, in Coconut Creek, Florida, of colon cancer.