Deb is along-time resident of Hillsboro Beach. She has been actively involved in community issues for over a decade. Before being elected as a Commissioner for the Town of Hillsboro Beach in March 2015, and being chosen by her fellow Commissioners to sit as Vice Mayor, and subsequently Mayor, Deb dedicated full-time volunteer service to a citizens' group known as Hillsboro Beach Advocates. This group's focus was beach erosion and better fiscal oversight for the Town. It was a desire to address these issues more directly that prompted Deb to run for elected office.
Deb was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was Valedictorian of her highschool class of 565 graduates. After graduating summa cum laude from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Deb began a career as a Buyer for major department stores across the country. She managed profit and loss centers of $10M+ for Macy’s California, Lazarus in the mid-west, and Foley’s in Texas and the southwest. Deb joined Office Depot in 1998 where she managed the National Sales Accounting Department at the company’s Florida headquarters.
Today, in addition to serving as Mayor for the Town, Deb serves as Vice President of the Richard E. and Deborah L. Tarrant Foundation. The primary focus of the Tarrant Foundation is technology integration and personalized learning in middle schools, specifically through the Tarrant Institute at the University of Vermont. Deb was the commencement speaker at the University’s 2018 graduation ceremony for the College of Education and Social Services.
Deb enjoys spending time with her husband Rich, their seven children and eleven grandchildren, and her four-legged boys, Rusty, a Shetland Sheepdog, and Josh, a Papillon.