Patricia Gerard

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Patricia Gerard

In office 2006 – present
Preceded by	Robert E. Jackson
Constituency	Largo, Florida

Patricia "Pat" Gerard is a politician the first woman mayor for the city of Largo, Florida. Gerard was born in Paterson, New Jersey, she is married to Eric and has one child.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a Master of Arts in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of South Florida. Gerard was a mental health worker in a community-based rehabilitation program after graduating from USF. From 1984 to 1986 she worked as Victim's Advocate for the Largo Police Department. From 1986 to 1992 she worked as director of the Spouse Abuse Shelter of Religious Community Services, where she stayed until 1992. After that, she worked for Family Resources, Inc. as Executive Director of Helpline. She is also a member of the Pinellas Planning Council.

She was elected to the City Commission in 2000 and again in 2003.^[1] She defeated her predecessor, Dr. Robert E. Jackson, in 2006 in a bitterly contested race. ^[2] She and Commissioner Rodney Woods were the two dissenting votes when the Largo City Commission voted to terminate City Manager Stanton following her announcement of her decision to undergo sex reassignment surgery.^[3] In a CNN interview, Gerard explained her position of support for Stanton saying, "We're making a decision here about whether we're going to be an inclusive and compassionate community or are we going to be small-minded and bigoted." ^[4]