Representative Jeff Clemens 

Jeff has long had an interest in politics, but until recently never thought he would run for office. As early on as eighth grade, Jeff’s sole ambition was to be a reporter. He was editor-in-chief of both his middle school and high school newspapers, and was named one of the top 12 high school journalists in the state of Michigan as a senior, winning a prestigious Scripps Howard scholarship. He attended Michigan State University, where he worked as a reporter, opinion page editor and assistant managing editor at The State News, which won the Pacemaker Award as one of the best college daily newspapers in the country during Jeff’s time there. 
After graduating with a degree in Journalism (minor: Political Science), Jeff worked for newspapers in Virginia, Ohio and West Virginia before landing at the Naples Daily News. During that time, he won more than 12 statewide writing awards, including six in Florida. 

He moved to Lake Worth in 2000, and in 2002 took a job working as an aide to a State Representative. He later was hired by the Florida Secretary of Health as Chief of Strategic Planning for the Florida Institute of Public Health, before contracting out his public relations skills to various non-profits. In 2003, Jeff was appointed to the Lake Worth Civil Service Board, dealing with police and fire personnel matters, where he served as Vice-Chair. In 2004, he was appointed to the Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency Board, and nine months later was named chairman. During his time with the CRA, the board finalized the popular Gateways project, which saw the redevelopment of both 6th and 10th Avenues, the gateways to the city off of Interstate 95. The projects were not solely beautification, but also included necessary underground structural and utilities work, as well as safety improvements and electrical upgrades. 
Jeff was elected Mayor of City of Lake Worth in 2007. During his time as Mayor, the city started or completed too many projects to mention. A few highlights include: the public/private partnership with Compass that brought a $1.2 million investment into city-owned property; the attraction of a new Publix and its 90 jobs to downtown; the first unanimous vote on a proposed beach project in the past two decades, as well as the saving of the $5 million county grant for the project; an enormous increase in city recycling due to the single-stream recycling conversion (still the only one in Palm Beach County); a $23 million federal grant for rehabilitating foreclosed and abandoned property in the city (one of only seven in the state); the re-location of the PBC Cultural Council to downtown; the first vegetable oil-run city vehicle in the county; and the hiring of 10 new department heads. All this was accomplished as the city collected 25 percent less taxes in his final budget season, compared to the amount upon his arrival. 
Jeff also had the opportunity to improve the city’s image on a regional scale by serving with distinction on the executive board of the Palm Beach County League of Cities, and on the board of the Palm Beach County Metropolitan Planning Organization, the regional transportation funding group. 
Outside of politics, Jeff served as the president of the Lake Worth Kiwanis Club and as Lt. Governor for Division 21 of Kiwanis. He is a former president of the College Park Neighborhood Association and served on the Neighborhood Association Presidents Council and the Stakeholder Advisory Council for the city’s master plan. He loves sports and continues to play music as the front man in a local rock cover band in his spare time.