About Kathleen

Kathleen Peters was elected to the Pinellas County Commission in 2018, and re-elected without opposition in 2022. As your Pinellas County Commissioner, Kathleen has been a strong voice for residents, businesses and our local economy. She was the only Commissioner to oppose raising taxes in 2021, and opposes the proposed gas tax increase. Because of Kathleen’s leadership, Pinellas County is moving closer to creating a coordinated access model for mental illness and addiction—a true “no wrong door” approach for those who need help. Kathleen fought to keep Bunces Pass open to boaters, and has supported the acquisition of critical environmental lands for conservation purposes. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kathleen assisted local business by working with law enforcement and Tallahassee to allow them to operate.

Kathleen moved to Pinellas County in 1985. She received her BA degree from Eckerd College majoring in Human Development. Prior to serving on the County Commission, she represented District 69 (southwest Pinellas) in the Florida House of Representatives.

In the Florida Legislature, Representative Peters served on the Commerce Committee, Ways and Means, Government Operations and Technology Appropriations Subcommittee, and served as Chair for the Energy and Utilities Committee.

In her freshman year as a state legislator, Representative Peters successfully acquired funding to establish the first and only Center of Excellence for Orthotics and Prosthetics at St. Petersburg College. She also secured funding for beach re-nourishment for our local Pinellas County beaches and passed several bills to benefit residents here and across Florida, including reducing taxes for apartment and condominium owners. In the name of a local teenage girl who lost her life in a boating accident, Rep. Peters also passed legislation for better boater safety requirements. She is also spearheading a social marketing campaign “Who knew?” to bring attention to the true face of the homeless, veterans, single moms and children.

Her past employment included working at the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County where she coordinated a statewide advocacy group to develop a legislative agenda for positive youth policies associated with juvenile justice. She also coordinated a group of more than 70 youth for developing program criteria and acquiring funding to open a local teen center as a millennium youth legacy project.

In 2001, she began work at the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg as grant manager and later as the Financial Development Director. Along with developing numerous partnerships for the YMCA, Kathleen built consensus to identify strategies to combat the high rate of school suspensions and school related arrests among middle school students. This research resulted in the development of the award winning YMCA Youth Enhancement Skills Program, which demonstrated strong positive outcomes. In 2004, Kathleen presented this award winning program at a Congressional Briefing for the U.S. House and Senate.

In 2015, Representative Peters was awarded the “Legislative Champion” from Florida Partners in Crisis and the Florida Sheriffs Association. She was also named “Legislator of the Year” by the Osteopathic Medical Society, the Suncoast League of Cities, and the Florida Veterinary Medical Association. For her extensive work on homelessness and on mental health, she was named the Florida Housing Coalition’s “Housing Champion”, and received the M.A. Bernstein Award for Mental Health Awareness. Just recently, Representative Peters received recognition from the Suncoast Center for her extensive legislative work in mental health. She is a past member of the Advisory Board for the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Central Florida Behavioral Health Network.