If you’re reading this, that means you’re likely a resident of Port Saint Lucie. A fast growing, evolving, clean, safe city that we are blessed to be a part of! While we’re on the chapter of “Thankful” for this November issue, my gratitude goes out to our Mayor of the city, Mayor Shannon Martin, who I’d like to introduce on a more personal level.
We’ve all heard her name, we all know she’s the Mayor of the city, but what we might not know is the passion behind her career for our town and residents, along with who she is as a person outside of this career. Shannon has a son and a daughter; Nick and Jordan, along with her husband, Aaron, who moved together to PSL from Baltimore in 2006. Her husband was a police officer up north in an extremely dangerous area, which prompted their thoughts of moving to the Sunshine State for retirement, a bit early. Instead of waiting, they packed up and moved to Port St. Lucie after doing heavy research for a safe, good city to work in and raise a family. Her husband is now the Detective Sergeant with the PSL Police Department and both kids are finishing up school to get their Bachelor’s Degrees.
Over the years, Shannon started getting involved and paying more attention to learning about this new town she’d be raising her children in. She started attending council meetings, planning & zoning meetings and getting an understanding of the decisions being made and where the city was heading. In 2010 there was a city councilman seat up and after she learned about a few decisions that were in the works, she felt that the financial decisions being made were irresponsible and problematic and decided to get involved and run for office. After winning, she ran again in 2014, was then appointed Vice Mayor in 2016 and her journey has continued going upward. In 2021 the opportunity came up to run for mayor to fill the vacancy since the previous term was vacated early and then in 2022 she officially won for her 4 year term.
A lot of times when you’re reading about or talking about an elected official, you paint them as a politician. You see them like you see those in the federal government and don’t understand the reality of the position at the local level. Shannon expressed, “When it comes to leading a city of 240,000 people, it’s about our residents first and what’s in the best interest of our community. I have the ability as Mayor and elected official to do the most that I can, touch the people closest to me and my community, where I also live, work, play, and raise my family. That’s the most important thing to me; making sure everyone knows this is not about ME. It’s about our community and that we’re doing what is best to grow the community and provide services our residents want and need in order to continue providing a safe, clean, beautiful city.” As a Port St. Lucie resident, it was extremely comforting hearing our Mayor express that she isn’t just an elected official, she’s a person too, raising a family in the same town we are, who wants the same amenities and safety throughout the community. I was able to feel the passion in her work and understand that she believes in service and the residents above all else.
In addition, all of these decisions aren’t only made by her. She has a strong, educated team beside her that helps bring the community together and make it the best it can be. Her team, council and community are all a part of coming together and creating what we have today. Mayor Martin continues to serve on different committees to keep herself involved and volunteers with local organizations. She is the Vice President of the Humane Society and has been serving on the Fire District Board of Commissioners for 13 years, just to name a couple. If she’s asked to volunteer, she’ll be there. She is always doing what she can to stay involved and help the community however they need.
It’s always interesting though to learn about a person and be able to connect with them on a different level. Maybe your background doesn’t call for politics, but you’re an animal lover, or nature lover. These are qualities that Shannon can easily connect with you on! She considers herself to be a crazy cat lady, as she’s a huge cat and overall animal lover. In addition, camping with her family is one of her favorite things to do. She loves the outdoors, nature, state parks and traveling. “I’m never off duty in a way, because even if I’m on vacation, I’m always looking around, comparing the cities and thinking of new ideas to bring home to make our city better,” Shannon says. We are thankful to have a Mayor who keeps us, our families, and our city in her best interest. Here’s to many more incredible additions coming ahead, Port St. Lucie!
“I’m never off duty in a way, because even if I’m on vacation, I’m always looking around, comparing the cities and thinking of new ideas to bring home to make our city better.”
