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Highland Beach Mayor Natasha Moore, 55, is the youngest member of the Town Commission. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

Natasha Moore had been on the Highland Beach Town Commission for just two years when her role switched overnight from vice mayor to mayor.

As vice mayor, Moore had watched then-Mayor Doug Hillman lead a mostly unified commission. So when Hillman died in March 2023 just days before he was to start his second term, Moore had a good idea of how a town should be run.

Doing the job, however, was a different story.

“I don’t think I was that well prepared,” Moore says. “Sitting on the commission, you tend to take for granted what the mayor does.”

Now three years later, Moore is in the beginnings of another term as mayor, after having been reelected without opposition.

Those who have worked with Moore and have watched her in the mayor’s role say she has evolved well as a leader.

“I believe she has gotten better every year,” says former Commissioner Evalyn David, who spent six years on the commission, four of them overlapping with Moore’s tenure.

“She’s really stepped up to the plate.”

Moore says that becoming mayor and taking on a leadership role where she’s encouraging discussion and consensus, is more of an evolution than something that happens overnight.

“It takes some time to grow into it,” she said.

David says that Moore’s ability to take charge when necessary has grown stronger over the years but at the same time she still creates a welcoming environment.

“I think she’s gotten tougher but she’s still very approachable,” David said.

Moore said that early on, it was easy to be influenced by those residents who came to meetings with specific issues or ideas. As time passed, she said, she learned to reach out to others and to get input from those with differing viewpoints.

“The people who come to meetings are not always with the majority of residents,” she said, adding that she’s focused on being approachable and getting feedback.

“I think more and more people feel comfortable reaching out to me,” she said.

Moore credits much of her success as mayor to the collaboration with her fellow commissioners and with Town Manager Marshall Labadie.

“I’m incredibly impressed with how active my fellow commissioners are,” she said. “They’re truly an inspiration.”

Labadie, she said, has been instrumental in helping her evolve in the mayor’s role through his guidance and support.

At 55, Moore is the youngest member of the commission and the only one still working full time. She is also the only member of the commission who lives in a single-family home.

Born in Miami with a Cuban mother who loved the name Natasha, Moore graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in statistics. That led to a job at NCCI in Boca Raton, a firm that collects data on worker’s compensation and helps states set rates based on that information.

In 2016 she and her husband started their own real estate firm focusing on homes in the coastal South Florida area.

She has two daughters, 19 and 20, who are students at Florida State University, and a 17-year-old son still in high school.

Moore will tell you that the best part of being mayor is getting to know residents and being involved in major decisions facing the town.

“I like being part of the conversation that helps Highland Beach evolve in a responsible way,” she said. “I want to keep a good thing going.”

For her part, David sees Moore as a solid match for the “concierge town” she believes Highland Beach is.

“It’s kinder and gentler and she fits in perfectly,” she said.