Commissioner Debbie Lightsey
Debbie Lightsey was first elected to the Tallahassee City Commission in March of 1989. She served as Mayor from March 1991 to March 1992. She has subsequently been re-elected to the City Commission in 1993, 1997, 2003 and 2006. She has twice served as Mayor Pro Tem.
During her years of serving on the City Commission, Ms. Lightsey has worked on many issues including affordable housing, transportation, the environment and economic development. Since 2003, she has been the lead commissioner on Environmental & Energy Resources, which covers all water resource issues and those relating to energy conservation and sustainable development. She is co-lead on the Long Range Community Based target issue committee, which focuses on managing growth and planning for future development of the community.
Commissioner Lightsey is active in the following local and state organizations: city representative on the Downtown Improvement Authority; former chair and member of the Apalachee Regional Planning Council and the Florida Regional Councils Association Policy Board; member of the Florida League of Cities' Energy & Environmental Quality Committee, the John G. Riley House Museum, and Capital Tiger Bay Club.
Commissioner Lightsey has an extensive history of service, including volunteer Crisis Counselor at the Refuge House, President of the Lake Bradford/Cascade Lakes Neighborhood Association, member of the Board of Directors of the Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science, and ex-officio member the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science.
In 1993, was awarded the Carol Bellamy Official of the Year award by the Council of Neighborhood Associations. She received the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence 1998 Advocate Award, the 1998 Outstanding Woman Award, presented by the Tallahassee Branch of the American Association of University Women, and that same year, The Refuge House presented her with the Freedom From Violence Community Awareness Award. In 2001, the Girl Scout Council of the Big Bend named Commissioner Lightsey a "Woman of Distinction" in the Environmental category. Also in 2001, she received the Bob Graham award from the Florida Lake Management Society, in recognition of her outstanding commitment to conserve, protect and restore Florida's surface water resources. In 2004, Commissioner Lightsey was one of three finalists for the Florida League of Cities' Council Member of the Year award.
A native of West Virginia, Commissioner Lightsey attended West Virginia State College, where she was editor of the student newspaper and a member of Alpha Kappa Mu National Honor Society. She earned a B.A. degree from West Virginia University Institute of Technology. Prior to moving to Tallahassee in 1984, Ms. Lightsey resided in Washington, D.C.
Commissioner Lightsey has two sons, Mark S. Earley and Eric C. Earley, and two grandsons, Preston and Braden Earley. In her leisure time, she enjoys reading, tennis, horseback riding, and classic movies.