Smith Joseph, the Democratic mayor of

North Miami, Florida North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University, and the North Miami camp ...

and a physician, was born in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

in 1961. Joseph emigrated to the United States in 1979 with his family to Miami, Florida. He graduated from

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the U ...

and

Nova Southeastern University Nova Southeastern University (NSU or, informally, Nova) is a private nonprofit research university with its main campus in Davie, Florida. The university consists of 14 total colleges, centers, and schools offering over 150 programs of study. ...

, later opening a medical practice in 2001. Joseph was also the co-founder of the Society of Haitian American Professionals. Following the suspension from office of Mayor Lucie Tondreau in 2014, Joseph was elected Mayor of North Miami against former Mayor

Kevin Burns Kevin Burns (June 18, 1955September 27, 2020), was an American television and film producer, director, and screenwriter. His work can be seen on A&E, National Geographic Channel, E!, Animal Planet, AMC, Bravo, WE tv, Travel Channel, Lifetim ...

. After the

shooting of Charles Kinsey On July 18, 2016, Charles Kinsey, a behavior therapist, was shot in the leg by a police officer in North Miami, Florida. Kinsey had been retrieving his 27-year-old autistic patient, Arnaldo Rios Soto, who had run away from his group home. Police ...

, Mayor Joseph apologized to the family of the victim and promised a complete investigation stating "I have made it clear that I will not tolerate anything that goes against the process." On 28 May 2019, Philippe Bien-Aime was sworn to succeed Joseph as mayor of North Miami.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Smith 1961 births Living people American politicians of Haitian descent Haitian emigrants to the United States Mayors of places in Florida Florida Democrats People from North Miami, Florida African-American mayors in Florida 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people