Nationality American | ||
Occupation Former mayor of Miami Beach, Florida, former Judge and former president of Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy Known for First orthodox Jewish mayor of a US city | ||
Norman Ciment is the former mayor of Miami Beach, Florida, and considered to be possibly the first Orthodox Jewish mayor of any American city. He served as Judge on Florida's Industrial Claims Court, and was President of Miami Beach's Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy. He was also a practicing attorney and realtor for 45 years.
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Life and career
Ciment was born on Bryant Avenue in the Bronx, New York and attended nearby Public School 48. His parents were Hungarian, and owned Ciment Brothers, a picture frame factory. The family moved to Miami Beach, Florida, to be in a warmer climate, and relocated their picture frame factory. Ciment worked for Ciment Brothers as a teenager, and recalled winning an early sales contest which earned him a trip to Havana, Cuba. He attended Miami Beach Sr. High School while still working, graduating in 1953. He then attended the University of Miami, graduating in 1957. He enrolled in University of Miami School of Law, graduating in 1961.
In 1967, he was elected to the Miami Beach City Commission, and served until 1971. He was then appointed by Florida Governor Reubin Askew as Judge of Industrial Claims Court, on the state's Industrial Labor Commission, serving until 1974. He then left the Judgeship to serve as President of Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy, a modern Orthodox Jewish day school located in Miami Beach. He was President until 1977.
Returning to politics, he was elected Mayor of Miami Beach in 1981. He served one two-year term, leaving office in 1983. He returned to private legal practice, having worked as an attorney for 45 years when he retired. He also held a real estate brokers license for 45 years.
Mayor
Ciment spearheaded the creation of Miami Beach's Art Deco District, the Beach expansion and the Boardwalk. In 1982, The New York Times covered a trip Ciment made to New York to meet with Mayor Ed Koch. The trip was part of a publicity campaign to extol the benefits of Miami Beach and differentiate the city from Miami.
On April 4. 2011, the City of Miami Beach unveiled a commemorative plaque for Ciment, in honor of his years of service to the community.
In February 2012, Ciment was interviewed along with two other former mayors of Miami Beach, at the Miami Beach Taxpayer's Association, and called for the replacement of the City Manager system with a more powerful Mayor, as a way to spur progress.
The Miami Beach Eruv
Ciment was instrumental in the construction of the Miami Beach Eruv, a ritual enclosure that orthodox Jewish communities erect in order to allow residents to leave their homes on Sabbath and Yom Kippur yet remain observant of Jewish Orthodox law. He convinced city workers to volunteer their time and allow the use of their vehicles including cherry pickers to erect a string perimeter around Miami Beach.
Norman and Joan Ciment Charitable Foundation
Along with his wife Joan, Ciment manages the Norman and Joan Ciment Charitable Foundation. Part of the foundation's mission is to manage a Refrigerator/Oven Program, which provides new ovens and refrigerators to poor families in Israel. Ciment also serves as executor to several estates, assisting them in charitable giving.
In 2003, Ciment wrote in the Jewish Journal about his charitable work, including a 2002 bikur cholim (visit the sick) mission to Israel, to offer support to poor people within Israel.
Personal life
Ciment is married to wife Joan. They have three children - Ivan, Jason and Avi.