HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 2004-06-10 MinutesCity of Miami
City Hall
3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, FL 33133
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Verbatim Minutes
Thursday, June 10, 2004
9:00 AM
REGULAR
(Verbatim Minutes)
City Hall Commission Chambers
City Commission
Manuel A. Diaz, Mayor
Arthur E. Teele, Jr., Chairman
Joe Sanchez, Vice Chairman
Angel Gonzalez, Commissioner District One
Johnny L. Winton, Commissioner District Two
Tomas Regalado, Commissioner District Four
Joe Arriola, City Manager
Jorge L. Fernandez, City Attorney
Priscilla A. Thompson, City Clerk
City Commission
Verbatim Minutes June 10, 2004
CONTENTS
PR - PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS Page 3
MV - MAYORAL VETOES Page 3
AM - APPROVING MINUTES Pages 3-4
M - MAYOR'S ITEMS
D1 - DISTRICT 1 ITEMS
D2 - DISTRICT 2 ITEMS
D3 - DISTRICT 3 ITEMS
D4 - DISTRICT 4 ITEMS Pages 6-8
D5 - DISTRICT 5 ITEMS Pages 8-16
PH - PUBLIC HEARINGS Pages 17-89
EM - EMERGENCY ORDINANCES Pages 90-95
RE - RESOLUTIONS Pages 96-103
BC - BOARDS AND COMMITTEES Pages 104-106
DI - DISCUSSION ITEMS Pages 107-126
PART B
PZ - PLANNING AND ZONING ITEMS Pages 126-159
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Verbatim Minutes June 10, 2004
9:00 A.M. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Present: Commissioner Gonzalez, Commissioner Regalado and Chairman Teele
Absent: Commissioner Winton and Vice Chairman Sanchez
On the loth day ofJune, 2004, the City Commission of the City ofMiami, Florida, met at its
regular meeting place in City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida, in regular
session. The meeting was called to order at 9:39 a.m. by Chairman Arthur E. Teele Jr., with
Vice Chairman Sanchez and Commissioner Winton absent, recessed at 12:28 p.m., reconvened
at 3:09 p.m., recessed at 4:58 p.m., reconvened at 5:28 p.m., and adjourned at 7:42 p.m.
Note for the Record: Vice Chairman Sanchez came in at 9:42 a.m. and Commissioner Winton
came in at 9: 48 a.m.
ALSO PRESENT:
Joe Arriola, City Manager
Alejandro Vilarello, City Attorney
Priscilla A. Thompson, City Clerk
Sylvia Scheider, Assistant City Clerk
PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS
DELIVERED
Commissioner Regalado recognized the Shenandoah Park Cheerleading and Dance team for
winning the 2003 & 2004 National Championships.
Chairman Teele: Please be seated. Thank you very much.
Commissioner Regalado: Can we do the --
Chairman Teele: Yeah. Just go ahead and do that. We have a wonderful day today -- in
addition to our Community Development day, we've got world champions here in the audience,
and so without further ado --
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): We're back --
Chairman Teele: We're back on?
Ms. Thompson: I'm sorry.
Chairman Teele: Without further ado, let me present Commissioner Regalado and
Commissioner Gonzalez to make a presentation for some great Miami citizens.
Presentations made.
MAYORAL VETOES
NO MAYORAL VETOES
Chairman Teele: I should announce that there were no mayoral vetoes.
APPROVING THE MINUTES OF THE FOLLOWING MEETINGS:
Motion by Vice Chairman Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, to APPROVE
PASSED by the following vote.
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Verbatim Minutes June 10, 2004
Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
Absent: 1 - Commissioner Winton
Chairman Teele: And, Madam Clerk, would you read the minutes for adoption, please?
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): The minutes that need to be approved are the special meeting
ofApril 29, 2004 and the regular meeting ofMay 6, 2004.
Chairman Teele: Is there a motion?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: So move.
Commissioner Regalado: Second.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: Is there objection? All those in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All those opposed have the same right.
ORDER OF DAY
Chairman Teele: Where's your sign guy, the interpreter? But who's the sign person, where's the
sign person? I don't see them. OK. I just want to make sure he's here.
Unidentified Speaker: They're here.
Chairman Teele: But he should be down here. I mean, he should be sitting down here.
Commissioner Regalado: He should be in front of the camera. That's where he should be.
Chairman Teele: But not -- we're not -- I don't think we're ready, but I just want to make sure
we're not -- Sir, are you the sign person? Yeah. You need to have a seat right here, yes. All
right. Ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to proceed this morning. We'd like to have an early break
for lunch. We have some items coming back this afternoon. Is there a request for deferrals or
withdrawals from the agenda?
Alejandro Villarello (City Attorney): Mr. Chairman, the Manager has requested that item RE.1
and Discussion Item 4, both related to bus benches and bus shelters, be deferred to the next
meeting.
Chairman Teele: RE.1 and what?
Mr. Vilarello: Discussion -- DI.4.
Commissioner Gonzalez: RE.1 and what else?
Mr. Vilarello: And DL4. They're both related to bus benches, bus shelters.
Chairman Teele: Is there a --
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): Excuse me. Excuse me, it's -- DI.1 is the item for bus benches,
DI.1.
Chairman Teele: DI.1 and RE -- oh, DI.1, not 4?
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Ms. Thompson: That's correct.
Chairman Teele: Mr. Attorney.
Mr. Vilarello: Yes.
Chairman Teele: And RE (resolution) what?
Mr. Vilarello: RE.1 and DI.1.
Chairman Teele: All right. Is there a motion, please?
Commissioner Sanchez: So move.
Chairman Teele: Is there a second?
Commissioner Regalado: Second.
Chairman Teele: Is there objection? All those in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed? Other items for deferral. All right. What time are we scheduled
to come back after lunch, Mr. -- Madam Clerk, Mr. Attorney?
Ms. Thompson: We have advertised -- the PZ (Planning & Zoning) items are advertised to start
at3p.m.
Chairman Teele: At 3 p.m., the PZ items, and Mr. Budget Director, Mr. Manager, what time --
what is the item relating to the update on the budget? Is there a budget item on here today?
Isn't there a budget item?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Yes, there is one.
Joe Arriola (City Manager): Yeah, EM.1.
Chairman Teele: Huh?
Mr. Arriola: Oh, I'm sorry. EM.1.
Chairman Teele: OK. What time did you all want to take that item up today?
Mr. Arriola: We could do it now, if you want.
Chairman Teele: No.
Commissioner Gonzalez: No.
Mr. Arriola: No.
Chairman Teele: Well do it this morning.
Mr. Arriola: OK.
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Chairman Teele: There has, apparently, been several press inquiries about that, so just make
sure the Budget Director has all of his facts together, please.
MAYOR AND COMMISSIONER'S ITEMS
CITYWIDE
HONORABLE MAYOR MANUEL A. DIAZ
DISTRICT 1
COMMISSIONER ANGEL GONZALEZ
DISTRICT 2
COMMISSIONER JOHNNY L. WINTON
DISTRICT 3
VICE CHAIRMAN JOE SANCHEZ
DISTRICT 4
COMMISSIONER TOMAS REGALADO
D4.1 04-00555 DISCUSSION ITEM
DISCUSSION CONCERNING AN UPDATE FROM THE ADMINISTRATION
REGARDING THE QUALITY OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
AND THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF ADMINISTRATIVE ERRORS.
04-00555-cover memo.pdf
DEFERRED
A motion was made by Commissioner Regalado, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez, and was
passed unanimously, with Commissioner Winton absent, to DEFER item D4.1 to the next
Commission Meeting.
Chairman Teele: All right. Further items to be taken up by any member of the Commission,
pending the presence of the fifth Commissioner. Commissioner Gonzalez has no district items.
Commissioner Regalado, did you want to discuss the update from the administration regarding
the City ofMiami Street Feeding Program? No, not now. No, please don't, no. We'll be doing
that all day. Capital improvement, economic impact.
Commissioner Regalado: I will defer that to the next Commission meeting (INAUDIBLE).
Chairman Teele: Motion to defer Item D4.1 to the next Commission meeting is moved.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: Is there objection? All those in favor of the deferral, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: Those opposed have the same right.
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D4.2 04-00638 DISCUSSION ITEM
DISCUSSION CONCERNING AN UPDATE FROM THE ADMINISTRATION
REGARDING THE CITY OF MIAMI STREET FEEDING PROJECT.
04-00638-cover memo.pdf
DISCUSSED
Direction to the City Attorney by Commissioner Regalado to draft language for an ordinance
that the City will eventually propose to stop the feeding of homeless on City ofMiami sfreets.
Commissioner Regalado: Mr. Chairman, can I --
Chairman Teele: Pocket items, please.
Commissioner Regalado: -- can I have the report on the homeless feeding? Brad is here. As
you know, the City sent a letter to all the religious organizations. We have gotten some feedback
. Also, the City Manager sent a letter to a religious group in Key West, Florida, asking them to
cease and desist of sending homeless by bus to the City ofMiami and, also, there is a forum that
has been called for the 21 st, I think --
Brad Simon: 21 st.
Commissioner Regalado: -- and we will be attending. As you know, when you directed me to go
before the Trust, the Trust offered the City and myself a seat in the Trust, representing the
League of Cities, and I will be part of the Trust so, having said that, we have not gotten a very
favorable response from the religious groups regarding the feeding in the sfreets of the City of
Miami, so maybe Brad can -- would you?
Mr. Simon: Brad Simon, Homeless Program Administrator. Actually, there were 75 letters that
went out to various agencies. I have received 10 phone calls. They are on the fence; some are
for, some are against. Some of the agencies have said that they would support the busing idea.
Some have said that they will not. There was a forum that was put together between the Miami
Coalition for the Homeless and the Homeless Formerly Homeless Forum, which is a voice for
the homeless for, as Commissioner stated, June 21 st, at 1:30, where all of the churches are going
to be getting together. I have been invited. Commissioner Regalado has been invited, as is any
other City administrator or official, and all of the organizations are going to get together, and
they would like to come up with a dialogue. It is called just a dialogue, where they can make
recommendations to the City as to how we can all work together.
Commissioner Regalado: Mr. City Attorney, two questions: I have suggested that
Commissioner Gonzalez would attend that. Is that OK in terms of -- that meeting is public. It's
noticed.
Alejandro Vilarello (City Attorney): If it's at a public meeting, Commissioner Gonzalez can
attend.
Commissioner Regalado: OK. The second question: As a representative of the City
Commission, I would need to have the exact ordinance that the City would eventually propose to
stop street feeding, because what you gave us in the package is a very comprehensive package,
but it's a whole package, and it has a lot of components, so --
Mr. Vilarello: Certainly, if you were going to impose only one of those ordinances, it wouldn't
be my recommendation, but the ordinance that's in that package, which prohibits street feeding,
is the form of the ordinance that would recommend.
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Commissioner Regalado: But we can do that alone, by itself?
Mr. Vilarello: My recommendation includes that as a piece of five different components of
dealing with some of the symptoms that we --
Commissioner Regalado: Yes or no?
Mr. Vilarello: No.
Commissioner Regalado: OK, but will take it with me so they can understand the consequences
when this is passed by the City Commission.
Mr. Vilarello: Mr. Chairman, you could adopt it by itself. I just would not recommend it.
Commissioner Regalado: I understand that, Alex, but I'm just telling you that -- you know, so
they know. OK, so we will be able to come back on the 24th and give you a report about the
feedback from these religious groups. As of now, they keep feeding?
Mr. Simon: As of right now, everything is as it was. They are feeding in the two locations, yes,
sir.
Commissioner Regalado: So no one has met with you in order to facilitate the busing of
homeless?
Mr. Simon: No, they have not.
Commissioner Regalado: OK, so the 24th, Mr. Chairman, I'll be back to the City Commission
with the report. Thank you.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Good to see you, Brad. Keep up the good work.
Chairman Teele: All right.
DISTRICT 5
CHAIRMAN ARTHUR E. TEELE, JR.
D5.1 04-00568 DISCUSSION ITEM
DISCUSSION REGARDING MR. ROGER SNELL AND THE FAMILY
REHAB PROGRAM.
04-00568-email.pdf
DISCUSSED
Direction to the City Attorney by Chairman Teele to work with the City Manager and Mr. Snell
regarding Mr. Snell's concerns about the Family Rehab Program work for his home and come
back to the Commission with a report and recommended solution; further stating that ifMr.
Snell is not satisfied with the recommended solution, the matter will come back at the
Commission Meeting currently scheduled for July 8, 2004.
Chairman Teele: Barbara, you're back on now. Now, that you've got your accolades.
Barbara Rodriguez (Director, Community Development): Now you're going to take them away.
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Chairman Teele: Do we have a satisfactory -- Barbara, why don't you take this mike, just --
Ms. Rodriguez: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: Or so --
Commissioner Winton: So what are we on now?
Ms. Rodriguez: Let me give him --
Chairman Teele: This is Discussion Item 5.1, Mr. Roger Snell and Family Rehabilitation Plan.
It's a CD (Community Development) related item.
Commissioner Winton: Oh, it is? Fine.
Chairman Teele: All right. Barbara, just tell us that everything has been worked out, and you
all have an agreement. Not that simple?
Ms. Rodriguez: I wish I could say that. Barbara Rodriguez, Department of Community
Development. I can tell you that everything has been approved, according to H.J. Ross' report,
that the plans are approved. Mr. Snell has a letter from me that basically says that Joe Arriola
has given him the waiver. There are two issues that he has some concerns. One is, he wants to
pick the highest bidder, which we can't. He can choose the highest bidder, but we would have to
pay at the lowest bidder, and the other issue is --
Chairman Teele: In other words, he can pick the highest bidder -- you don't have an objection --
but you can only pay at the lowest --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- responsible bid?
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: OK.
Ms. Rodriguez: And the second thing is that he would have to sign a note modification to
include all the increases that would go against his house. In the event that he sells it in the next
10 years, he would have -- that money would have to come back to the City. If he lives that, then
he won't have to pay.
Chairman Teele: Mr. Attorney, what's the issue on the note modification? Is there an issue?
Alejandro Vilarello (City Attorney): I'm not sure butl (INAUDIBLE).
Ms. Rodriguez: No. I don't think that -- it has not reached the Law Department. We sent him
the letter and I think that's what he wants to address to the City Commission, Mr. Snell, but -- Mr
. Snell can --
Chairman Teele: All right. Mr. Snell.
Roger Snell: Yes.
Chairman Teele: Welcome. Thank you for being here.
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Mr. Snell: Thank you. I do have questions about this --
Chairman Teele: Your name and title -- address for the record, please.
Mr. Snell: Roger Snell, 920 Northwest 10th Avenue, and there are a number of issues involved
in this. To increase the note to $82, 000 is to increase without reason. I -- the original note was
for $40, 000, for improvements to be made, and those improvements were made at substandard
level, and I objected to the quality of those improvements, and it seems that this is punitive to
then charge me for the increase in cost that will be involved in removing that poorly installed
work, and then reinstalling it at what would be a higher rate because contractors simply do not
want to clean up the mess that others have made.
Chairman Teele: Is that the only issue at this point where we are now?
Mr. Snell: Pardon me?
Chairman Teele: Is that the only issue, Mr. Snell, that we have left open now?
Mr. Snell: That's the key issue. I --
Chairman Teele: Are there any other issues other than that?
Mr. Snell: Yes, the low bid amount. I picked the middle bidder as my preferred contractor. The
low bid actually came in incomplete in many ways and, typically, a bid is given out where -- at
the city or government level where a low bidder isn't necessarily the highest qualified bidder,
and because that bid came in incomplete, I was uncomfortable with it. It was also from a
company that was recommended by --
Chairman Teele: Well, if the bid's incomplete, it's a non -responsive bid, so that's a matter that
the Attorney needs to sit down with the Director on. An incomplete bid is a non -responsive, or a
bid that has irregularities; one of the two.
Commissioner Winton: That shouldn't be accepted.
Chairman Teele: And it does not -- if it's non -responsive, it is not acceptable. If it has
irregularities, it may be waived, and if it's an irregular bid, then that's something the Attorney
and you, and the Director can sit down on, and then there may be a way to go to the next --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- or to provide that as a credit.
Mr. Snell: I was further uncomfortable with it because the contractor was recommended by
Department of Community Development, and I have been through two contractors --
Chairman Teele: Wait, wait, wait. What did you just say?
Mr. Snell: It was recommended --
Commissioner Winton: The contract was --
Mr. Snell: -- through the Department of Community Development, and I'm uncomfortable with
that because I've been through two previous --
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Chairman Teele: Butl thought you said it was a bid.
Mr. Snell: It is a bid from a confractor --
Commissioner Winton: A bid -- but the confractor that bid was one that came through
Community Development, and he's saying he's uncomfortable with that because he's already
been burned twice by contractors that came through CD.
Mr. Snell: Thank you.
Commissioner Winton: Is that what you're saying?
Mr. Snell: Yes, exactly.
Ms. Rodriguez: We can look at the bids and determine if the bids were not accurate. We will go
to the next one and determine that the -- you know, that the charges are correct. Right now, we
have three bids -- his is the highest -- and the issue --
Chairman Teele: He said it's not the highest; it's the middle.
Ms. Rodriguez: Well --
Commissioner Winton: The middle.
Ms. Rodriguez: No. We have --
Mr. Snell: No. It is the middle, and --
Commissioner Winton: The one he wants is the middle.
Mr. Snell: -- it was reviewed by H.J. Ross, line item. It was complete in every way when it was
submitted, and it was noted by H.J. Ross that it was the only --
Chairman Teele: Are those the only three issues that you have?
Ms. Rodriguez: I think he said two, the note modification and the bid -- the selection of the
contractor, which a selection --
Mr. Snell: My exposure --
Ms. Rodriguez: -- I wouldn't have a problem having the Law Department review it.
Chairman Teele: Huh?
Mr. Snell: My exposure should not be increased.
Commissioner Winton: Your what?
Mr. Snell: My exposure should not be increased.
Chairman Teele: That's the first item.
Commissioner Winton: No. That's that first item.
Mr. Snell: That's one.
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Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Winton: We already --
Mr. Snell: And should be allowed a contractor that I'm comfortable with.
Commissioner Winton: OK, so that's two issues.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: All right, so the appropriate action would be to recess this item; to instruct the
City Attorney to work with the Manager, and to come back within 30 days -- within 30 days -- on
a recommendation -- recommended solution.
Ms. Rodriguez: No problem.
Chairman Teele: Is that satisfactory to you, Mr. Snell?
Commissioner Winton: Is the issue on the --
Chairman Teele: Well, why don't we say at the next regular meeting? Is that satisfactory?
Mr. Snell: When is the next regular meeting?
Chairman Teele: When is the next meeting?
Ms. Rodriguez: Can it be July 8th? Because the next one will be the 26th.
Commissioner Winton: Oh, that's too long.
Ms. Rodriguez: We won't be here.
Mr. Vilarello: 24th.
Ms. Rodriguez: Could it be July 8th?
Chairman Teele: Within the next 30 days, so it can be the 28th, or the next meeting or --
Ms. Rodriguez: It could be July 8th.
Chairman Teele: -- the next one after that, whichever one the Attorney decides to put it on the
agenda on, but we've got to get him to get out here and work with the facts, with the Manager --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- and to work with Mr. Snell, and to come in with a --
Mr. Snell: Does this have to be treated at a public hearing, because --
Chairman Teele: Say again?
Mr. Snell: -- you assigned H.J. Ross -- tasked them with --
Chairman Teele: I didn't task anybody. I tasked the Manager -- the Attorney.
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Mr. Vilarello: Mr. Chairman --
Commissioner Winton: No, he's --
Mr. Vilarello: -- we could review the item with Mr. Snell. If he's satisfied with our review --
Ms. Rodriguez: Then we don't bring him back.
Mr. Vilarello: -- and our conclusion, we could come back to the City Commission without
further public discussion. His question was: Does it have to come back to a discussion? We
can meet independent --
Chairman Teele: It does not need to come back for a discussion.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Mr. Snell: I need it resolved. I need my home repaired.
Chairman Teele: All right. Well, what we would like to do is get a report after it's been
resolved, but you all resolve it and move on, if that's satisfactory to the Commission.
Commissioner Winton: Well, I'm just curious -- I'm wondering about this -- the note, the
difference between the 40 and 82,000, whether that's a -- is that a public policy issue, or is that
some -- is that some HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) rule?
Ms. Rodriguez: That's the fund -- no. This is funded by the State, and any money we put out on
a house has to be secured because of an affordability period.
Commissioner Winton: But his point that this was paid for, I'm assuming, by other public funds,
the first 40,000, became totally unsatisfactory, didn't work, and it's being redone, so ifI own a
private house and I have a private contractor, unless he goes bankrupt, I'm going to -- he's going
to be stuck with his $40, 000 price, some minor overages, and I'm going to ultimately get my work
done, unless he goes bankrupt, and if he goes bankrupt, then I'm going to have to pay again.
That's the way it works in the private world. In this case, if it's public funds -- and, again, I don't
know where the contract was that the first and second were -- but it seems to me to not
necessarily be great public policy that he's going to get stuck with a second mortgage for $82,
000 because we've had confractors that couldn't get the job done right, so I don't know if it's a
policy issue, or whether this is something that works -- tied to rules and regulations related to
funds.
Ms. Rodriguez: The -- there were two confractors selected by Mr. Snell, and Mr. Snell approved
the payments for those contractors. If we would have been able to do something then, where he
would say, in not signing the payment request to pay the contractor, " maybe, you know --
unfortunately, he did. Not $40, 000 have gone out, only $6, 700 to one, and 8,000 to the other so,
in reality, there's only --
Commissioner Winton: 14,000.
Ms. Rodriguez: That's the only money that has gone out from the $40, 000. The problem that we
have now is more expensive because they're demolishing what the other contractors did, so that's
why it goes up to 83,000.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Well --
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Hs. Rodriguez: 13,000 went out --
Commissioner Winton: Who administered the original $14, 000 of the work?
Hs. Rodriguez: It was the City, in the year 2000 and 2001.
Commissioner Winton: Yeah, but so --
Hs. Rodriguez: So there's $13,000 that --
Commissioner Winton: So we have --
Hs. Rodriguez: -- were a problem.
Commissioner Winton: And our system back then, we had a homeowner that was signing off on
the inspection --
Hs. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Winton: -- to determine whether or not the work was quality or not?
Hs. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Winton: That doesn't seem logical to me.
Hs. Rodriguez: There's $13, 000 that they were paid.
Chairman Teele: But I do think -- Johnny, I agree that the homeowner should not be signing off
on an inspection, but I think -- in this program, where you're doing the rehabilitation for a
homeowner, with a homeowner, in fact, living in the building, the homeowner should be required
or allowed to certify that he's satisfied with the work.
Now --
Commissioner Winton: But it ought to be kind of a joint deal there where --
Chairman Teele: It ought to be sort of a joint thing.
Hs. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Winton: So that he's not just the technical guy.
Chairman Teele: But he should not be the technical guy, at all.
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Hs. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Winton: But does -- going from the 40 today, too, if -- what I'm hearing, I think,
is that this -- is this going to be a second mortgage, treated as a second mortgage?
Hs. Rodriguez: Yes, it is a second mortgage. He doesn't pay for it if he lives the property.
Commissioner Winton: It what?
Chairman Teele: But I --
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Ms. Rodriguez: He does not pay for it if he lives the property, so every year it gets
reduced --
Chairman Teele: But let's assume that he sells the property.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Mr. Vilarello: Then he's got to pay it back.
Ms. Rodriguez: Then that money comes back.
Commissioner Winton: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) $82, 000 second, and that's my -- my whole issue is
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Winton: -- I can't get to the math on the 82. It doesn't seem logical to me, and
I'm -- that's the only question on it.
Chairman Teele: We all are sympathetic, Mr. Attorney --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- to the fact that somebody should not be required to have a mortgage on
work that has to be redone in the full amount of the work that was done. I mean --
Ms. Rodriguez: Let me go back, see what all the new additions are, and maybe it's not the whole
83, but there might be new work that was never taken into consideration, and come up with that
cost.
Commissioner Winton: And what's the forgiveness period?
Ms. Rodriguez: Ten years.
Chairman Teele: Ten years.
Commissioner Winton: OK.
Ms. Rodriguez: Prorated ten years.
Commissioner Winton: OK, got it. I'm clear. Thank you. Come back.
Chairman Teele: And this is the program that I discussed with the Mayor yesterday, and again
this morning, that we really -- we've had so many administrative problems with it --
Ms. Rodriguez: We have.
Chairman Teele: -- that everybody's frustrated, but we cannot walk away from this program
because this program, according to your own FIU (Florida International University) studies, are
saying that the biggest problem that we're having in the Community Development area are
houses that are deteriorated --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
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Commissioner Winton: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- that need --
Ms. Rodriguez: To preserve.
Chairman Teele: -- to be rehabilitated, preserved, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera; thatl think
that's you all's finding.
Commissioner Winton: Which --
Ms. Rodriguez: Correct.
Commissioner Winton: -- is a lot cheaper than building a new house.
Chairman Teele: Which is a lot cheaper than building new houses.
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes. We will work --
Commissioner Winton: And, frankly, pretty good quality stock, if you can rehab them.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: Exactly. Are you satisfied with the Attorney working on this matter, and not
having to come back to us if you all can work it out satisfactorily? If it's not satisfactory, then I'll
come back to us.
Mr. Snell: Yes, I am. I'm not satisfied with certain aspects of this discussion.
Commissioner Winton: Well, we know -- we don't --
Mr. Snell: If we can work it out --
Commissioner Winton: But you don't have any answers yet.
Mr. Snell: -- where I'm not exposed more than $40, 000, I can have a satisfactory contractor,
and that am accredited with the four years --
Commissioner Winton: But you're not --
Mr. Snell: -- that have been funded --
Commissioner Winton: -- you're not listening to us. There have been no decisions made today.
Mr. Snell: Yes.
Commissioner Winton: None, and there's been a series of recommendations made that are
designed to address your issues.
Mr. Snell: OK
Commissioner Winton: Whether they get finally resolved in these further negotiations between
you all to your satisfaction or not, we don't know.
Mr. Snell: OK
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Commissioner Winton: And you don't know yet.
Mr. Snell: Then we'll give it a fry.
Commissioner Winton: Within another week or two, you're going to know, and if they're not
resolved to your satisfaction, you're going to be back here on June 9th.
Mr. Snell: Thank you. That's perfect.
Ms. Rodriguez: That's fair.
Chairman Teele: Or July 8th.
Mr. Vilarello: July 8th.
Commissioner Winton: Yeah. That's what I meant, July 8th. I didn't give you the right date.
Chairman Teele: All right. Further discussion. Then this requires no formal action, Mr.
Attorney?
Mr. Vilarello: No.
Ms. Rodriguez: No.
Commissioner Winton: No.
Chairman Teele: And we appreciate very much your being here and your neighbor. Are there
any other matters that need to come before us this morning? Is there anybody here that was here
for an item that they just have to be heard this morning? We probably won't be able to hear it,
but at least be recognized. If not, can we come back at 2:30 and fry to resolve some of these --
or you want to do it at 3? Whatever is convenient.
Commissioner Winton: Oh, I don't care.
Chairman Teele: 2:30, and try to resolve some of the issues before --
Commissioner Gonzalez: I believe Commissioner Sanchez is under the impression that it's going
to be at 3 o'clock; also, Commissioner Regalado.
Chairman Teele: He's under 2:30, OK. We'll say 3 o'clock then.
Commissioner Winton: OK, fine.
Chairman Teele: Thank you.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Thank you.
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PUBLIC HEARING
PH.1 04-00427 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S
), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO DECLARE SURPLUS THE CITY -
OWNED PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1390 NORTHWEST 24TH AVENUE,
MIAMI, FLORIDA ("PROPERTY"), AS MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN
"EXHIBIT A," ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED; AUTHORIZING THE CITY
MANAGER TO EXECUTE A PURCHASE AND SALE AGREEMENT ("
AGREEMENT"), IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, WITH
ALLAPATTAH COMMUNITY ACTION, INC., ("PURCHASER"), A FLORIDA
NOT -FOR -PROFIT CORPORATION, FOR THE SALE OF THE PROPERTY,
TO DEVELOP A UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT ("HUD") ELDERLY HOUSING FACILITY FOR VERY
LOW, LOW AND/OR MODERATE INCOME FAMILIES AND/OR INDIVIDUALS,
FORA MINIMUM PURCHASE PRICE OF $248,141, PENDING
VERIFICATION OF CONSTRUCTION COST ESTIMATES AND TO
CONSUMMATE SUCH TRANSACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS
AND CONDITIONS OF THE AGREEMENT, SUBJECT TO THE CONDITIONS
CONTAINED HEREIN; ALLOCATING PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF THE
PROPERTY TO A CITY-WIDE AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST FUND.
04-00427-cover memo.pdf
04-00427-public notice memo.pdf
04-00427-public notice .pdf
04-00427-exhibit 1.pdf
04-00427-exhibit 2-agreement.pdf
04-00427-exhibit 3-legal description. pdf
04-00427-exhibit 4-map.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Winton, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton and Teele
Absent: 2 - Commissioner Sanchez and Regalado
R-04-0380
Keith Carswell (Director, Economic Development): Miriam's here.
Commissioner Gonzalez: PH.1.
Mr. Carswell: I don't know if she --
Chairman Teele: PH.1.
Mr. Carswell: Keith Carswell, Director for the Department of Economic Development. PH.1 is
the authorization for the sale of the 1.6 acre surplus property to Allapattah Community Action
Agency.
Chairman Teele: All right. This is a public hearing. Any person desiring to be heard on PH.1
should come forward. Are there any persons coming forward on the sale of the acreage in
Allapattah? If not, the public hearing is closed. Is there a motion by Commissioner --
Commissioner Gonzalez: I'll move --
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Chairman Teele: -- Gonzalez?
Commissioner Gonzalez: I'll move PH.1.
Commissioner Winton: Second.
Chairman Teele: Second. Madam President, Ms. Urra, did you want to put -- Ms. Urra, did you
want to put your name and address on the record, and did you want to say --
Miriam Urra: Yes. My name is Miriam Urra. I'm here representingAllapattah Community
Action, Inc., located at 2257 Northwest North River Drive.
Chairman Teele: And you're satisfied with the transaction?
Ms. Urra: I am very happy with everything, and I would like to congratulate the staff here with
us today. They've been very helpful, and I'd like to say thank you for these Commissioners -- all
these Commissioners' support, especially my Commissioner, Angel Gonzalez, that he's been very
helpful through all this work that we've been doing. Thank you, Commissioner.
Chairman Teele: Ms. Urra, as you leave --
Ms. Urra: Thank you very much.
Chairman Teele: -- please step over the blood and guts that he beat out of people getting this
thing right.
Commissioner Winton: Yes, I remember some of that.
Chairman Teele: So thank you for being here.
Ms. Urra: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: And I'll tell you, your Commissioner has done a wonderful job on this, I think.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Thank you so much. OK. On the motion -- with a motion and a second, all in
favor, say "aye.
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed? The item is unanimously adopted by a vote of 3/0, with the item
PH.2 coming back right after lunch, requiring a four fifths vote.
Mr. Carswell: Correct.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Commissioner Gonzalez: All right.
PH.2 04-00569 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, BY A FOUR -FIFTHS
(4/5THS) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE, AFTER AN ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARING,
RATIFYING, APPROVING AND CONFIRMING THE CITY MANAGER'S
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DETERMINATION THAT IT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI ("CITY") THAT UPON THE CONVEYANCE OF CITY -OWNED
PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1390 NORTHWEST 24TH AVENUE, MIAMI,
FLORIDA ("PROPERTY"), THAT ALLAPATTAH COMMUNITY ACTION, INC.,
A FLORIDA NOT -FOR -PROFIT CORPORATION ("PURCHASER"), RECEIVE
AN EXEMPTION TO SECTION 18-182(a)(3), OF THE CODE OF THE CITY
OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, REQUIRING A PURCHASER OF CITY -
OWNED PROPERTY TO MAKE ANNUAL PAYMENTS IN THE AMOUNT OF
TAXES THAT THE CITY WOULD BE ENTITLED TO RECEIVE FROM THE
PROPERTY, BASED ON FAIR MARKET VALUE SHOULD THE PROPERTY
BECOME IMMUNE, OR EXEMPT FROM PAYMENT OF AD VALOREM TAXES
FOR SAID PROPERTY.
04-00569-cover memo.pdf
04-00569-public notice memo.pdf
04-00569-public notice .pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
Absent: 1 - Commissioner Winton
R-04-0382
Chairman Teele: And we have four Commissioners present. Can we take up Item PH.1? PH.1,
which is a public hearing. Madam --
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): Commissioner, excuse me. It's actually PH2.
Chairman Teele: PH2. Mr. Director, you're recognized.
Joe Arriola (City Manager): Put the microphone on.
Chairman Teele: Go right ahead, Keith.
Keith Carswell: Keith Carswell, Director for the Department of Economic Development. This is
actually a companion to PH.1, which was the sale of the property to Allapattah for the 202
program. Typically, when we convey property to organizations for affordable housing, we
require a -- that the property has a deed restriction, where they make payments in lieu of taxes.
Well, HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development), through the 202 program, does
not allow any deed restrictions on the property. By a four fifths vote of the Commission, this will
enable the organization -- you'll be able to waive the deed restriction, which will require it be
payments in lieu of taxes against the property.
Chairman Teele: Is there -- This is a public hearing. Any person desiring to be heard on the PH
.2, relating to the Allapattah property at 1390 Northwest 24th Avenue should come forward. Are
there persons coming forward? There are no persons coming forward. The public hearing is
closed. Commissioner Regalado -- Commissioner Gonzalez.
Commissioner Gonzalez: I'll move PH2, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Teele: Motion --
Commissioner Regalado: Second.
Chairman Teele: -- by Commissioner Regalado. Is there objection? Madam Clerk, call the roll.
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A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above.
Ms. Thompson: The resolution has been adopted, 4/0.
9:30 A.M.
PH.3 04-00583 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE
CONVEYANCE, WITH PARCEL REVERTER PROVISIONS, OF THE CITY -
OWNED 12 UNIT MULTI -FAMILY APARTMENT BUILDING LOCATED AT
2368 NORTHWEST 35TH STREET, MIAMI, FLORIDA ("PROPERTY"), TO
ALLAPATTAH BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, INC., A NOT -FOR -
PROFIT CORPORATION, TO REHABILITATE THE PROPERTY AND
PROVIDE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ELIGIBLE LOW-
INCOME PERSONS; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO
EXECUTE ALL NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO
THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR SAID PURPOSE.
04-00583-cover memo.pdf
04-00583-notice of correction.pdf
04-00583-public notice.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
R-04-0370
Chairman Teele: All right. This morning, we have a scheduled Community Development
hearing. What we'd like to do is dispense with those items, and those items that require our sign
interpreter, as the first item of business, and these items will be public hearing, and they will be
signed in accordance with our new ordinance, or rules relating to public dissemination of
information. Welcome, Madam Director.
Barbara Rodriguez: Barbara Rodriguez, Department of Community Development. PH.3, we're
requesting approval to fransfer a building located at 2368 Northwest 35th Street --
Chairman Teele: All right.
Ms. Rodriguez: -- to the Allapattah Business Development.
Chairman Teele: All right. Before you start that, Ms. Rodriguez, I think we ought to -- All right.
Is there a -- this is a public hearing. Any person desiring to be heard on PH.3, the fransfer of
these items, or PH.4, or PH.5?
Ms. Rodriguez: PH.5 is accepting funds.
Chairman Teele: PH.3 or 4, please come forward. Any item regarding the transfer of land for
development. Are there any persons coming forward? There appear to be no persons coming
forward. The public hearing is closed. All those -- discussion.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Teele: Madam Director. Mr. -- Commissioner -- the Commissioner Gonzalez.
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Commissioner Gonzalez: Mr. Chairman, let me give you a story -- the history of this building.
This building was -- the City contributed to the rehab of this building some ten years ago. The
prior owner was not able to comply with the commitment that he made to the City. After three
years, the City repossessed the building, and for seven years, the building has been abandoned
and the probable situation -- I know there was some negotiations with another CBO (Community
Based Organization) to take care of the -- to take possession of the building and rehab the
building. Three years have lapsed. I've been patient enough. The amount of complaints that
I've been getting from the neighborhood and from the church, and the people that attend church
two blocks away from this building is incredible and, you know, and I said enough is enough. I
want this building to be transferred to Allapattah Business Development, whom are capable and
have the necessary funding to do the rehab of this building and put it out for rentals, which is
very much needed in the community, for low or moderate income families, so I would like to
move this item.
Chairman Teele: There's a motion.
Commissioner Regalado: Second.
Chairman Teele: There's a second. Further discussion. All those in favor of the item, say "aye.
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed have the same right. The -- PH 3 is adopted by a unanimous vote
of 5. I should take --
Ms. Rodriguez: P --
PH.4 04-00584 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE DE -
OBLIGATION OF HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS ("HOME")
PROGRAM FUNDS, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $650,000,
PREVIOUSLY ALLOCATED TO THE MODEL CITY HOMEOWNERSHIP
ZONE/PILOT PROJECT, AND ALLOCATING SAID FUNDS TO AN IN -FILL
AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT IN THE MODEL CITY AREA.
04-00584-cover memo.pdf
04-00584-notice of correction.pdf
04-00584-public notice.pdf
04-00584-pre legislation.pdf
04-00584-model city reso.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Winton, seconded by Vice Chairman Sanchez, that this matter be
ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
R-04-0371
Direction by Chairman Teele to the City Manager to work with the Model City Homeownership
Trust to ensure that a model house be built on a corner lot to showcase the pilot project in the
Model City Trust zone.
Barbara Rodriguez (Director, Community Development): PH 4, we're requesting a de -
obligation from the Model City Homeownership Zone of $650,000, and to be transferred to the
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Model City Infill Affordable Housing of 650, 000. This was approved by the Trust, and it will be
-- to be funded by the Housing and Commercial Loan Committee, and it will be to build 13
homes.
Chairman Teele: This is a public hearing. Any person desiring to be heard should come
forward. There appears to be no persons coming forward. The public hearing is closed.
Commissioner Winton: So move.
Chairman Teele: Is there a motion?
Commissioner Winton: So moved.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Second.
Chairman Teele: Second by Commissioner Sanchez. Two questions and -- director. Are these
lots primarily outside of the focus area of the Model City --
Ms. Rodriguez: It's all over.
Chairman Teele: -- Trust?
Ms. Rodriguez: It's all over from the Trust area. They have identified the lots that they will be
transferring also.
Chairman Teele: All right. What's the question, and what's the answer?
Commissioner Winton: But it's in the zone.
Ms. Rodriguez: It's in the zone, all over.
Chairman Teele: Is it in the -- well, the -- there's two things here, and the zone is all ofModel
Cities.
Commissioner Winton: Right.
Chairman Teele: The zone is 95 to 112, to 19th Avenue, to the City limits. Now -- so let's don't
get confused about the zone. The Model City Homeownership Program is a targeted program
within the zone, which is 12th Avenue to 9th Avenue, generally bordered by 54th Street on the
south -- although it goes down to 112, between 17th and 19th Avenue -- and 62nd Street on the
north. Are these lots within that area? It was my understanding that they were not; that these
are primarily east of the zone.
Ms. Rodriguez: I couldn't answer. I really don't have --
Chairman Teele: Well, I think it's a very important point, with relation to our ordinance that
governs this, that says we're going to dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, and I think we ought to
make sure that we're conforming. I mean, I think --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: -- this is a great program. I think it's a good thing and, in that regard --
Ms. Rodriguez: We're not transferring the lots here, so what -- if you want, we can amend it to --
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Chairman Teele: No.
Ms. Rodriguez: -- make sure that they're within the area.
Chairman Teele: I don't want to amend it.
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: I just want you all to know what we're doing, and to make sure that we are
fully coordinated on what we're doing, so we don't have the problems --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: -- of lack of coordination. All right. We have a motion and a second. Is there
further discussion or objection? If not, all those in favor of the item, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed, say "no." Barbara, one of the things that we approved recently
on the Model City Trust was these houses for them to do, and we instructed them to work with
you and, I think, the Manager's Office -- I assume, Karen Cooper is working on this -- but, you
know, the same way developers do all over the city, they build a model house first, one that, you
know, sort of gets everybody to look at it, and we ask that you all work -- so would you all work
to make sure --
Ms. Rodriguez: We will.
Chairman Teele: -- that we don't -- that the first house that's built over there isn't on the smallest
lot, you know; kind of thing that we build a model house, preferably on a corner, you know, dah,
dah, dah, dah, dah. I'm talking now about the Model City Trust Program, and we really need to
have better coordination, please.
Ms. Rodriguez: We will.
Chairman Teele: OK. Further dis --
PH.5 04-00585 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE
ACCEPTANCE OF STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP ("SHIP")
FUNDS, IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,756,498, FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004-2005,
FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LOCAL HOUSING ASSISTANCE
PLAN; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE
NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY
ATTORNEY, FOR ACCEPTANCE OF SAID FUNDS.
04-00585-cover memo.pdf
04-00585-notice of correction.pdf
04-00585-public notice.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
R-04-0372
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to accept the State Housing Initiative Partnership funds for fiscal year 2004-2005. The amount
that we will be receiving is a million, seven fifty-six , four ninety-eight.
Chairman Teele: This is a public hearing. Any person desiring to be heard regarding this item
should come forward. There appears to be no persons coming forward.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Move PH.5.
Chairman Teele: It's a motion on PH.5.
Commissioner Regalado: Second.
Chairman Teele: Discussion. Discussion. Barbara, as you know, the Mod Rehab issue is a very
difficult issue. Have we -- do you have a plan to distribute the Mod Rehab component of this, the
Section 8 (Low Income Housing) Mod Rehab component?
Commissioner Regalado: The Section 8 is PH.6, right?
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: That's the item we're on, right?
Commissioner Regalado: No. We're on PH.5.
Ms. Rodriguez: PH.6 is -- PH.5 is just --
Chairman Teele: I stand corrected.
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: PH.5. Thank you for correcting me. All right. Is there further discussion?
There is no further discussion. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor of the motion,
signify by the sign of "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed have the same right. The item is unanimously adopted by a vote
of 5/0.
PH.6 04-00586 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S
), APPROVING THE CITY OF MIAMI'S ("CITY") PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY
("PHA") PLANS WHICH INCLUDE THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN FOR FISCAL
YEARS 2005-2009, AND THE ANNUAL PLAN FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004, IN
CONNECTION WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF
THE CITY'S SECTION 8 MODERATE REHABILITATION HOUSING
PROGRAM, AS SET FORTH IN THE HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER
PROGRAM ADMINISTRATIVE PLAN, ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED;
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO SUBMIT THE PHA PLANS,
ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, FOR REVIEW AND APPROVAL BY THE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN
DEVELOPMENT ("HUD") FOR THE CITY'S CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN
THE ABOVE MENTIONED FEDERAL RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, AS
SET FORTH IN THE HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM
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ADMINISTRATIVE PLAN, ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED; AUTHORIZING
THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE ANY AND ALL DOCUMENTS AND
CERTIFICATIONS REQUIRED, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED
FORMS, AND IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR
SAID PURPOSE; FURTHER ALLOCATING SECTION 8 MODERATE
REHABILITATION PROGRAM FUNDS, IN THE AMOUNT OF $3,100,000,
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004.
04-00586-cover memo.pdf
04-00586-notice of correction.pdf
04-00586-public notice.pdf
04-00586-exhibit 1-certification of plans.pdf
04-00586-exhibit 2- 5year-annual ver.pdf
04-00586-exhibit 3- cert. of compliance.pdf
04-00586-exhibit 4- admin. plan.pdf
04-00586-exhibit 5- drug free cert.pdf
04-00586-exhibit 6- anti -lobbying cert.pdf
DEFERRED
PH 6 was DEFERRED to the Commission Meeting currently scheduled for July 8, 2004.
Chairman Teele: Madam -- Item 6.
Barbara Rodriguez (Director, Community Development): PH 6 is requesting approval of the
City ofMiami Five -Year Strategic Plan for the Section 8 (Low Income Housing) Moderate
Rehabilitation Housing Program that we administer for USHUD (United States Department of
Housing and Urban Development), and this is basically project driven. There are two buildings
in Overtown, and there are 12 buildings in Little Havana in District 3.
Commissioner Regalado: Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner Regalado.
Commissioner Regalado: I think it's important that we make sure that the people understand
what we're doing, because what some people are reading is that it's going to be a huge cut in the
federal budget for Section 8, which would impact in about 1,000 certificates in Miami -Dade
County, most of them in the City ofMiami. This is totally apart.
Ms. Rodriguez: Correct. This does not have nothing to do with vouchers. These were project
driven, building driven, and it was a contract that the City did with USHUD and these buildings
15 years ago, and there's three years left in most of them.
Commissioner Regalado: So we still have three years --
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes.
Commissioner Regalado: -- of funding --
Ms. Rodriguez: Correct.
Commissioner Regalado: -- for this. We cannot expand it though.
Ms. Rodriguez: We cannot.
Commissioner Regalado: OK.
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Commissioner Winton: Did you say expand or extend?
Commissioner Regalado: Expand.
Commissioner Winton: OK.
Commissioner Regalado: Because, you know, what is going to happen is that, somehow, some
people are going to be out of their apartments. They won't be able to pay the regular monthly
payment, and they're going to come to the City complaining, and there's no way that we can get -
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Regalado: -- more people into this program. OK.
Ms. Rodriguez: No.
Commissioner Regalado: We've got to make sure of that, you know.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner Winton.
Commissioner Winton: How many units involved --
Ms. Rodriguez: 485 units.
Commissioner Winton: How many?
Chairman Teele: Where is that in the memo?
Ms. Rodriguez: The units?
Commissioner Winton: I didn't hear the answer.
Ms. Rodriguez: It's part of the plan.
Chairman Teele: 400 units, 485. Did you say 485?
Ms. Rodriguez: 485.
Commissioner Winton: And so, in three years, this program goes away --
Commissioner Regalado: 485 people will be out their home.
Commissioner Winton: -- and 485 -- Wow.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Regalado: That's what I'm asking.
Ms. Rodriguez: The one that Commissioner Regalado is asking is -- right now there is -- HUD
has reduced the Section 8 vouchers, and they are not only approving new vouchers, they are
cutting people that have existing voucher, and that is right now in litigation. We don't have any
of those vouchers in the City. However, Miami -Dade County --
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Commissioner Regalado: Oh, yes, we do.
Ms. Rodriguez: Miami -Dade County runs the program, but there's people that live in the City of
Miami, right.
Commissioner Regalado: I would think that --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Regalado: -- a lot of people that would be impacted to live in the City ofMiami.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: Commissioners, I -- where are the lists of the projects that are being funded in
the background information, Barbara?
Ms. Rodriguez: Let me look for it.
Chairman Teele: I would ask that we would just temporarily pass over this, and we need to get
somebody from your staff --
Ms. Rodriguez: To give you the list?
Chairman Teele: -- to help get you the list --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: -- and we need to see where it was in the notice, and the notification that went
out.
Ms. Rodriguez: Yeah. This one has special hearing where the tenants get to come, and it's a
long process, but we will give you a list of all the buildings.
Chairman Teele: OK. Can we temporarily pass that, and then let's come back to this --
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes, we can.
Chairman Teele: -- just so we don't tie this meeting up on one item?
Ms. Rodriguez: We can.
Chairman Teele: All right. The next one.
Ms. Rodriguez: OK PH.7, is basically --
Commissioner Regalado: We vote on that?
Ms. Rodriguez: We are re -- PH.6, yeah.
Chairman Teele: We voted on PH.6.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: We're on PH.7 now.
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Ms. Rodriguez: Right. PH.7 is de -obligation and allocation --
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): Sir -- excuse me. Excuse me.
Commissioner Gonzalez: No, we didn't vote on 6.
Ms. Thompson: No. We did not --
Commissioner Regalado: We didn't vote.
Ms. Thompson: We did not vote on P --
Chairman Teele: Did we have a public hearing?
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah.
Commissioner Gonzalez: We did not vote --
Commissioner Regalado: We didn't vote on 6.
Ms. Thompson: You didn't open the public hearing. You started with a discussion.
Chairman Teele: I'm sorry.
Ms. Rodriguez: Oh, OK.
Chairman Teele: PH.6. Public hearing. This is a public hearing on PH.6.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Move PH.6.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Second.
Chairman Teele: PH.6 is the Mod Rehab, right? That's the one we said we were going to defer
to the end of the public hearing process, and let them get us the information on where --
Ms. Rodriguez: Oh, I thought you had said to move it, and to bring you back the list.
Chairman Teele: No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: Because that's the issue, is do we have the proper notice here.
Ms. Rodriguez: OK, we'll do that.
Commissioner Gonzalez: So you want to table it?
Chairman Teele: Table it for the time being, and bring it --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: -- back when we've got the notice -- when she can show us where the notices
are.
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Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: Barbara, we did not deal with PH.6, I believe.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: So that item is still pending, and we'll wait 'til we get everybody here, butl
think the smart thing may be -- is to do it on July 8th, because the information does not appear.
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes.
Chairman Teele: OK.
Ms. Rodriguez: I would really appreciate that.
Chairman Teele: OK, great.
Ms. Rodriguez: Thank you.
PH.7 04-00589 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S
), AUTHORIZING THE DE -OBLIGATION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
BLOCK GRANT ("CDBG") PROGRAM FUNDS, IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $
151,960, FROM THE FOLLOWING AGENCIES: ARTZ-N-THE HOOD, INC., $
20,000, HAITIAN AMERICAN FOUNDATION, INC., $11,960, FLORENE
LITTHCUT INNER-CITY CHILDREN'S TOURING DANCE COMPANY, INC., $
85,000, AND HAITIAN AWARENESS & CULTURAL FOUNDATION, INC., $35,
000; ALLOCATING $151,960 OF CDBG FUNDS TO THE
FOLLOWING AGENCIES: THE ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM, INC., $23,000,
BAME DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA, INC., $7,000,
THE EMBRACE FOUNDATION, INC., $22,960, UNITED HAITIAN AMERICAN
ARTISTS, INC., $47,000, AND FANM AYISYEN NAM MIYAMI, INC., $52,
000, FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $151,960; AUTHORIZING
THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE AGREEMENTS AND/OR AMENDMENTS
TO EXISTING AGREEMENTS, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED
FORMS, WITH SAID AGENCIES.
04-00589-cover memo.pdf
04-00589-notice of correction.pdf
04-00589-public notice.pdf
04-00589-exhibit 1-allocation detail.pdf
04-00589-exhibit 2-amendment.pdf
04-00589-exhibit 3-agreement.pdf
Motion by Vice Chairman Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
R-04-0373
Chairman Teele: All right. PH.7. This is a public hearing on PH.7. You want to give us a
quick --
Barbara Rodriguez (Director, Community Development): PH.7 is de -obligation and allocation
of various District 5 public services agencies. These were agencies that were funded on the 29th
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Year, and we have noticed that they will not be using all of the funds, and we want to make sure
that we utilize them, so we are reallocating it to new agencies.
Chairman Teele: Why don't you also put on the record that every year -- and this is very
important, Johnny, because it also is happening in your district -- every year, on September 30th,
any public service dollars that have not been expended, not committed for, not contracted for,
but expended by September 30th, or some reasonable time in that --
Ms. Rodriguez: September 30th.
Chairman Teele: September 30th -- are no longer available to be used by anybody for public
service.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: So they're lost.
Ms. Rodriguez: They lose their identity.
Chairman Teele: They lose their identity as public service.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: Every year, we are losing about two hundred thousand or $300, 000 of money,
and it becomes -- of public service dollars. We don't lose the dollars. The dollars then come
back in --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- as sort of like a program income for reallocation.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right, right.
Chairman Teele: But, you know, we fight this hard battle over public service every year at the
beginning of the year, and then when we start looking now, like in the end of the third quarter,
we find that some of the agencies that did a great job in telling us why they needed the money
and what they were going to do, have not been able to expend it and, in fairness to the agencies,
a lot of it has to do with the long time that it takes to get contracts done, and bonds, and
insurances, and all of that. Is that a fair statement?
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes.
Commissioner Winton: Kind of.
Chairman Teele: Kind of?
Ms. Rodriguez: Kind of.
Chairman Teele: So I would encourage each of the Commissioners to look very closely, one by
one, with the Director and the Manager on expenditure levels of your public service dollars.
Now, if you have a food program, a food feeding program, this does not apply to you, because
they're always expending beyond --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
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Chairman Teele: -- the amount that is allocated.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: You know, so -- but it really gets into culture programs,
sports programs --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- inner -- programs that are designed to basically enhance the quality of life.
This is a public hearing on PH 7. Any person desiring to be heard should come forward on PH.
7. There are no persons coming forward -- Yes, ma'am.
Cynthia Blanc: Good morning. My name is Cynthia Blanc. I'm with the Haitian Awareness and
Cultural Foundation, 6863 North Miami Avenue, and I'm here this morning to respectfully
request that the amount that we are not -- well, the amount that we are not using -- that we will
not be using from our grant is $15, 000, and I'm respectfully requesting that the amount that is
transferred be 15,000, instead of the 35,000 that is on the agenda.
Chairman Teele: All right. What was the total amount of the grant in October?
Ms. Rodriguez: It was 35,000, and it's still 35,000.
Ms. Blanc: It's 50,000.
Ms. Rodriguez: Let me verify. Hold on.
Chairman Teele: I thought the total amount of your grant was 50,000.
Ms. Blanc: Yes, sir.
Ms. Rodriguez: Hold on. Let me see ifI got it. That's correct, it's $50, 000, and our records
show that they have not used $35, 000.
Chairman Teele: Well, that's not -- The grant was $50, 000.
Ms. Rodriguez: Correct.
Chairman Teele: To date, they don't have a contract with you.
Ms. Rodriguez: As of now, the understanding that we have is that they will not be using $35, 000.
Ms. Blanc: Right.
Ms. Rodriguez: Regardless with the contract or not, they've had problem with insurance.
Ms. Blanc: We've --
Ms. Rodriguez: They've had problems with bonding.
Ms. Blanc: Right. We did have issues with bonding and insurance, and client certification, but
we are prepared -- at present, Mr. John Lyons of your staff --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
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Ms. Blanc: -- he has all of -- everything, and we're set to start on Monday, so we actually do
need 35,000. We don't need 15.
Chairman Teele: All right. Let me do this. I'm going to support the Director. If you come up
with the requirement for the additional $15,000 -- or, actually, you're saying $20,000 --
Ms. Blanc: Yes, sir.
Chairman Teele: -- then I will work with your program over the summer to make those funds
available, based upon expenditure drawdown. We'll take --
Ms. Rodriguez: That's fair.
Chairman Teele: We'll find some other source to take the money from.
Ms. Rodriguez: That's fair.
Chairman Teele: Is that fair enough?
Ms. Rodriguez: Very fair.
Chairman Teele: And we'll put everybody that has money now on notice --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- that they are subject to be modified to accommodate, but the problem is this:
We cannot afford to risk losing the money for the whole public services when you've not
expended any of the money.
Ms. Blanc: Yes.
Chairman Teele: OK?
Ms. Blanc: I understand.
Chairman Teele: All right, so I'm not going to support changing it, butt will publicly support to
you that if your expenditure levels reach the point that you'll need up to an additional $15, 000,
we'll find a way to find that money --
Ms. Blanc: Thank you very much.
Chairman Teele: -- from other programs that are being funded.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Ms. Blanc: OK Thank you very much.
Ms. Rodriguez: Very fair.
Ringo Cayard: Good morning. Ringo Cayard, Haitian American Foundation. I'm speaking on
the same subject, PH.7. Last time when I spoke to the department, Ms. Rodriguez, my
understanding was we will be willing to give back to the City and to the program an amount
much lesser than that, which was, I think, $12, 000.
Chairman Teele: How much?
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Mr. Cayard: It was supposed to be 12,000.
Ms. Rodriguez: We're only taking away 11,900.
Chairman Teele: They're only taking away 11,900. They're taking away less than you were
willing to give back.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Mr. Cayard: Oh, OK. That's fine, because it says an amount not to exceed $20, 000.
Ms. Rodriguez: So we have 200 for the other program.
Chairman Teele: Yeah.
Mr. Cayard: No, because I want to make sure because it says not to exceed 20,000, so I was --
Ms. Rodriguez: No. It's taking transfer of -- so we're only taking $11,960.
Chairman Teele: Is the notice wrong; is that what you're saying?
Mr. Cayard: No. I was worried that you will be taking 19,000 --
Ms. Rodriguez: No.
Mr. Cayard: -- nine hundred, so that's --
Chairman Teele: I'm glad you got up because I want the Commission to know how closely we're
monitoring this. We're down to arguing about $200 now, but everybody has been very
cooperative, and we do project that you will not be able to expend approximately --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- $12, 000. The only amount effected is $11,960, I believe.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Mr. Cayard: Yes, and with all due respect to your department, I think something is definitely
going wrong in the way that the CBOs (Community Based Organizations) are not really treated
properly in the way that it takes six months sometimes to get a contract back from the time --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Mr. Cayard: -- that the City voted on it, so small agencies are facing with the situation that they
will have to give the money back, and worse than that, the City will lose the money, so something
has to be done until you guys pass a resolution or find a way --
Chairman Teele: One of the things we're trying to do is we're frying to make the decision here
today -- later on -- on what the dollars are going to be, to give the department now five months,
four months to get the contracts ready and done, so they'll have --
Ms. Rodriguez: By October lst.
Chairman Teele: -- ofJuly, August and September, and half ofJune to do the contracts. We
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won't wait until October 1, like we have been in the past.
Mr. Cayard: OK, thank you.
Chairman Teele: Further discussion? All -- the public hearing is, therefore, closed. Is there a
motion on PH.7?
Commissioner Regalado: Second.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: So move.
Chairman Teele: Moved by Commissioner Sanchez. Seconded by Commissioner Regalado. All
those in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed have the same right. The item is unanimously adopted by a vote
of 5/0.
PH.8 04-00587 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S
), APPROVING THE CITY OF MIAMI'S ("CITY") CONSOLIDATED PLAN ("
PLAN") FOR FISCAL YEARS 2004-2009 AND THE ANNUAL ACTION PLAN
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004-2005, WITH FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT ("CDBG") PROGRAM, HOME
INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS ("HOME") PROGRAM, EMERGENCY
SHELTER GRANT ("ESG") PROGRAM AND HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES
FOR PERSONS WITH AIDS
("HOPWA") PROGRAM FUNDS, AS APPROVED BY THE CITY
COMMISSION; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO SUBMIT THE
CITY'S PLAN FOR FISCAL YEARS 2004-2009, AND THE ANNUAL ACTION
PLAN FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004-2005 TO THE UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT ("HUD") FOR
REVIEW AND APPROVAL; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER
TO EXECUTE THE NECESSARY AGREEMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE
TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR SAID PURPOSE.
04-00587-cover memo.pdf
04-00587-notice of correction.pdf
04-00587-public notice.pdf
04-00587-exhibit-plan 1.pdf
04-00587-exhibit-plan 2.pdf
04-00587-exhibit-plan 3.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Vice Chairman Sanchez, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
R-04-0374
Chairman Teele: Next item.
Barbara Rodriguez (Director, Community Development): PH.8 is requesting approval to have
our consolidated plan from 2004 to 2009 for a comment period of 45 days, and the goals of the
consolidated plan is to develop a five-year interdepartmental plan for housing, economic
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development, social service that will inform the citywide strategic plan; improve services to the
neighborhood and encourage greater efficiency in the use of resources; improve information
regarding projects, program among City agencies. This was a process that was taking -- we had
a team working on. Professor Ned Murray from FIU (Florida International University), and we
have Ines Hernandez and Rosa Davis from Urbana Research and Consulting. They've been
working with the City. We've been meeting with all of you, and it's going to be open now to a 45-
day comment period. We will bring back to this Commission any concerns, any
recommendations, any findings that we get in the next 45 days.
Chairman Teele: All right. This is a public hearing. Any person desiring to be heard should
please come forward on the Consolidated Plan, which is a five-year plan.
Ms. Rodriguez: Correct.
Chairman Teele: Are there any persons coming forward on PH 8? There appears to be no
persons coming forward. The public hearing is closed. Is there a motion to approve?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Move PH8.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Second.
Chairman Teele: Moved by Commissioner Gonzalez. Second by Commissioner Sanchez.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Second.
Chairman Teele: Is there discussion? Is there discussion? Is there objection? All those in
favor, signify by the sign of "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed have the same right. The item is unanimously adopted by a vote
of 5/0. Let me compliment you, Madam Director, because it's very obvious that you all have
done an outstanding job of letting the public know what we're doing.
Ms. Rodriguez: Thank you.
PH.9 04-00590 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S
), ALLOCATING 30TH YEAR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT
("CDBG") PROGRAM FUNDS, IN THE AMOUNT OF $9,928,000, 28TH YEAR
CLOSE-OUT FUNDS, IN THE AMOUNT OF $805,918, AND PROGRAM
INCOME FUNDS, IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,100,000, FOR A TOTAL
ALLOCATION OF $11,833,918, FOR THE 30TH PROGRAM YEAR
BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2004, AS SPECIFIED ON "ATTACHMENT A,"
ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED.
04-00590-cover memo.pdf
04-00590-notice of correction.pdf
04-00590-public notice.pdf
04-00590-exhibit-allocation chart.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Vice Chairman Sanchez, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
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R-04-0375
Direction to the Administration by Chairman Teele to provide a detailed report at the
Commission Meeting currently scheduled for July 8, 2004, on the housing activites for the last
three to four years, speficially, what is being done and what is being proposed to do, and a
recommendation as to whether or not the City should roll back on its agreement with Federal
Housing and Urban Development (HUD); further instructing the Administration to schedule a
report and update on the Office of Inspector General (OIG) report, beginning with the
commencement of this problem and what the Commission resolution mandated.
Barbara Rodriguez (Director, Community Development): PH9 is basically accepting the
Community Development Block Grant, and dividing the money into the different categories;
Grant Administration, a million, nine eighty-five, six hundred; Section 108 Loan Guarantee, a
million, one hundred; the City ofMiami Building Department for Unsafe Sfructures, two
hundred thousand; City ofMiami Capital Improvement Projects, six hundred thousand;
Community Development Block Grant for public service is a million, six seventy-seven, seven
sixty-eight; Economic Development with Public Facility Improvement, four point one seven three
million; housing activities, two million, ninety-seven, five fifty -- housing activities will be funded
through the Housing and Commercial Loan Committee -- for a total of eleven million, eight
thirty-three, nine eighteen.
Chairman Teele: This is a public hearing. Any person desiring to be heard should come
forward at this time. There are no persons coming forward and, therefore, the public --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Yes, sir. There is, Mr. Chairman, one.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Marcia Toussaint: I am Marcia Toussaint, and I'm representing ADGAM, and I'm at 3050
Biscayne Boulevard. I want to thank you for the opportunity to comment on the City's letter that
we received on yesterday, which informed us that our proposal was not recommended for
funding.
Ms. Rodriguez: Your proposal is on Item 13.
Ms. Toussaint: OK.
Ms. Rodriguez: So that if you want to speak --
Ms. Toussaint: So we come back on --
Ms. Rodriguez: Yeah.
Ms. Toussaint: OK.
Chairman Teele: Let me see the letter, though, while you --Anyone here -- are you here on this
item, sir? Please come forward.
Mario Echevarria: My name is Mario -- sorry -- my name is Mario Echevarria, and I'm the
president of the Lions Home for the Blind.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Your item is on --
Ms. Rodriguez: That's --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Yes.
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Commissioner Gonzalez: -- social service.
Ms. Rodriguez: That's Item 13.
Commissioner Gonzalez: 13.
Chairman Teele: You're Item Number 13. Just hold on for Item Number 13.
Mr. Echevarria: OK.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: All right. Public hearing. Any person desiring to be heard? There are no
other persons coming forward. Discussion. Commissioner Regalado.
Commissioner Regalado: On, Barbara, economic development, whatever happened of the
money, CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) money that was fransferred to Economic
Development to do some kind of programs in Southwest 8th Sfreet and Flagler that never
happened?
Ms. Rodriguez: That one will be Item 12, butl can tell you that right now the only one that
we've gone to get Miami -Dade County match is for the Martin Luther King Initiative. We're
working on to do something -- or in 8th Street, and we talked to you about maybe doing
something in Flagler or 8th Sfreet, but it's going to be coming back.
Commissioner Regalado: Right, but that money has not been spent --
Ms. Rodriguez: No.
Commissioner Regalado: -- in other --
Ms. Rodriguez: There's $250, 000 that has not been spent.
Commissioner Regalado: OK, and that money will be fransferred --
Ms. Rodriguez: Will be coming back as soon as we have some confirmation from Miami -Dade
County that we can get some match for it, because the intent of that resolution originally was
that we were going to get a match from Miami -Dade County as to the money that we were
putting in, and that's what we're getting.
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah, but if we do not get a match --
Ms. Rodriguez: Then we bring it back with another type of project.
Commissioner Regalado: For economic development?
Ms. Rodriguez: Correct.
Commissioner Regalado: Facade.
Ms. Rodriguez: Correct.
Commissioner Regalado: For facade.
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Ms. Rodriguez: Correct, whatever pilot project we would have.
Commissioner Winton: (INAUDIBLE)
Commissioner Regalado: No, I mean --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Regalado: -- I'm talking in District 4 --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Regalado: -- because that money --
Commissioner Winton: Oh, I see.
Commissioner Regalado: -- was supposed to be --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Regalado: -- for Commissioner Sanchez and --
Ms. Rodriguez: Correct.
Commissioner Regalado: -- myself in terms of grants or loans, or whatever.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: All right. That item is Item Number 12, right?
Ms. Rodriguez: Correct.
Chairman Teele: So why don't we hold that, and let's get right into that in Item Number 12?
Commissioner Regalado: OK.
Chairman Teele: This is on the generalized allocation, Item Number 9. Did you want to be
heard, as well, ma'am?
Elsa Hernandez: I'm sorry. I'm not sure if this is the right item number.
Chairman Teele: Your name and address for the record.
Ms. Hernandez: It's Elsa Hernandez, and I'm with Centro Hispano Child Care Center, and I
wanted to --
Ms. Rodriguez: 13.
Commissioner Gonzalez: 13.
Ms. Hernandez: It is 13, OK
Chairman Teele: You're Item Number 13, but it's --
Ms. Hernandez: Thank you very much.
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Chairman Teele: -- we welcome you to come up. If anybody else isn't sure, please don't be
hesitant to come up, and we'll get to that item.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: So the public -- is there anyone else who desires to be heard on Public
Hearing Item Number 9? If not, the public hearing is closed. Discussion on this item. Madam
Director, Mr. Manager, I have two comments and two concerns I shared with you and the Mayor
on yesterday. Number one, the overwhelming consensus of virtually every public hearing that
I've been in in the community is that we need to reestablish the program that we suspended, and
that was the emergency repairs for the elderly. What was that program called? Residential
what?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Rehab.
Ms. Rodriguez: No. What I believe that issue was the paint, right? The residential paint?
Commissioner Gonzalez: No. We're talking --
Chairman Teele: The Residential Rehab Program that has been suspended.
Commissioner Gonzalez: It's a program where we --
Chairman Teele: Is that program being funded this year?
Ms. Rodriguez: It's not -- first of all, it has not been suspended. We are taking applications. It's
been advertised every year.
Chairman Teele: What category is that?
Ms. Rodriguez: It's under SHIP (State Housing Initiative Partnership Program) Program.
Chairman Teele: OK. Then I'm in error again.
Ms. Rodriguez: But I will make sure to provide you -- we have brochures that we've been giving
out.
Chairman Teele: No. We just would like to make sure that --
Ms. Rodriguez: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: OK.
Ms. Rodriguez: We will.
Chairman Teele: The second thing is this -- and Commissioner Winton, I hope you'll listen to
this very carefully. On the housing activities, we have never had a report from the management
in five years on the housing activities that we're doing.
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: Now let me explain why. Five years ago, six years ago, the City entered into a
consent agreement with federal HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) to avoid
the Commission from involving itself in the housing activities, as defined in this program, that
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are -- have commercial implications. You'll remember we had the issue of one Commission who
was a chairman, who apparently directed subordination of loans and this and that, and we
basically formed an agreement, which I was the chairman on behalf of the Commission, as a
select committee -- this is under Mayor Suarez -- that we would not engage ourselves -- we
would not approve, but we would authorize a community group of bankers to basically act as the
Commission on all of these matters, so for the last five years, about $10, 000, 000 of activities
have been going on that we have no knowledge of directly. What am -- and that's not a bad
thing. How -- although, I do think, in the terms of oversight and accountability, we need to get a
detailed report of the housing activities, and what is being done, and what is being proposed to
be do --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: -- and we need to revisit whether or not we want to rollback on that agreement
that we made with federal HUD. I will say on the record -- and I am not a rumormonger, but the
kinds of rumors that are going on make me more uncomfortable --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: -- than having it here, so I think, as a start, in July -- the first meeting in July --
Ms. Rodriguez: July 8th.
Chairman Teele: -- July 8th -- we should get a full report on the item that we're approving
today, on what is being contemplated, and a review of the last three or four years of activities, in
detail --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: -- in terms of results, or in terms of activities that have gone before them. They
have done a splendid job in not letting people off the hook, in terms of debts that are owed,
which this Commission did a horrible job in, in letting everybody off the hook who came before
us. As a result, the program income -- and I think the best case story for the management is the
program income profile and how it's gone up, because every time we make people pay back
money, every time we make it --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- then that money comes back as program income, and the program income
has probably increased by three to four hundred percent over where it was six years ago, and
that's a direct reflection on the good job that that committee has done, in my opinion, in the past.
Ms. Rodriguez: And we still have -- the OIG (Office of Inspector General) still has that pending
item that we still have not been able to release, so in a quarterly basis, we send them a report of
all of our collections, settlements, and anything that we don't settle for a hundred percent, they
need to get a report of why, so --
Chairman Teele: Then why don't you also schedule that item and agenda that item as a report
and update --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: -- of the OIG report over -- and going -- starting with the period of time that
we had the problem, and what the Commission resolution was, because at least two or three of
the -- at least three people were not even on the Commission --
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Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: -- when that was done, so everybody is up to speed on that; is that all right?
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes.
Chairman Teele: Mr. Manager, do you have a -- OK.
Ms. Rodriguez: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: All right. Did we vote on 9? Further discussion on Item Number 9. Is there a
motion to approve?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Move PH.9.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Second.
Chairman Teele: Is there objection? All those in favor, signify by the sign of "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: Those opposed have the same right.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Mr. Chairman, we have PH.14 pending.
Chairman Teele: PH.14 was deferred this morning.
Commissioner Gonzalez: It was deferred?
Chairman Teele: Yeah. RE.3.
Commissioner Regalado: For when? I don't remember when PH.14 is coming back.
Chairman Teele: It was deferred to the next meeting.
Commissioner Regalado: But we got to get some information. I don't understand that.
Chairman Teele: Did you want to move to defer PH.14 to the first meeting in July?
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah, during the --
Chairman Teele: When we have the other public --
Commissioner Regalado: During the other CDBG (Community Development Block Grant).
Chairman Teele: Is there a second?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: Is there objection? All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed?
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PH.10 04-00591 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S
), AUTHORIZING THE ACCEPTANCE OF HOME INVESTMENT
PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM ("HOME") FUNDS, IN A TOTAL AMOUNT NOT
TO EXCEED
$5,117,000; ALLOCATING SAID FUNDS TO THE VARIOUS HOUSING
ACTIVITIES LISTED IN "ATTACHMENT A," ATTACHED AND
INCORPORATED, FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING;
ADOPTING THE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT POLICY, ATTACHED AND
INCORPORATED, RELATED TO THE ALLOCATION OF COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT ("CDBG") PROGRAM FUNDS, HOME
PROGRAM FUNDS AND STATE HOUSING INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP ("
SHIP") PROGRAM FUNDS, FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE 30TH
PROGRAM YEAR, COMMENCING ON OCTOBER 1, 2004.
04-00591-cover memo.pdf
04-00591-notice of correction.pdf
04-00591-public notice.pdf
04-00591-exhibit 1-chart.pdf
04-00591-exhibit 2-policy.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Vice Chairman Sanchez, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
R-04-0376
Direction to the Administration by Chairman Teele to provide a detailed report at the
Commission Meeting currently scheduled for July 8, 2004, on the housing activites for the last
three to four years, similar to the report being requested in Item PH9.
Barbara Rodriguez (Director, Community Development): PH 10 is allocating the HOME (Home
Investment Partnership Program) funds for the year -- for the 30th Year, effective October 1st;;
511,700 for administration; $500, 000 is the second year of District 5 Housing Pilot project,
which is a --
Chairman Teele: Is it 4 or 5?
Ms. Rodriguez: District 4. This is the one that it was a three-year commitment. This is the
second year of three. A million, five for the Little Havana Homeownership Zone; a million, nine
fifty-three, nine seventy-five is for homeownership programs, which is 75 percent of the dollars
available, according to your ordinance, and 651, 325, which is for rental project, which is 25
percent of the funds available and, again, these projects will be -- going to be funded through the
Housing Commercial Loan Committee.
Chairman Teele: And the same comments --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- on the July 8th meeting.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: Separate discussion items on each one, the results, et cetera.
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Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: This is a public hearing. Any person desiring to be heard should come
forward on PH 10. PH 10. Are there any persons coming forward? There are no persons
coming forward on PH 10.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Move PH 10.
Chairman Teele: The public hearing is closed. Motion is by Commissioner Gonzalez.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Second.
Chairman Teele: By Commissioner Sanchez. Discussion by any member of the board? No
discussion.
Commissioner Regalado: Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner Regalado.
Commissioner Regalado: Just to make sure on the District 4 housing. Barbara, you're looking
for some empty lots so we can start building.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Regalado: We haven't been able to, at least, acquire anything yet?
Ms. Rodriguez: My understanding is our Department ofAssetManagement has been working on
it. We had a meeting with some realtors in your area to see if they knew of any vacant property,
and we're waiting for the results.
Commissioner Regalado: The Department is frying to sell little pieces of land.
Ms. Rodriguez: You mentioned that me -- you mentioned that to me when I went to see you. I
did have a conversation with Keith Carswell, which is the one that is handling that. Keith, would
you like --
Keith Carswell: Keith Carswell, Director for the Department of Economic Development. We've
met with Zully, who actually chairs the homeowners -- Little Havana Homeownership Advisory
Board, to get some ideas on how we can move forward with an affordable housing program. She
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah. She also -- by the way, she also is the Governor's appointee in
some housing -- State -- the Florida Housing. She said that there is money from the State of
Florida for the City ofMiami.
Ms. Rodriguez: She's also the chairman of the Little Havana Advisory Board.
Commissioner Regalado: Right. No, I don't --
Ms. Rodriguez: Yeah.
Commissioner Regalado: I know that, but --
Ms. Rodriguez: She's helping us bring some of those dollars and do match so that people not
only get our 30,000, but can get the thirty thousand, fifteen from the state, and we're working on
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her on that.
Chairman Teele: What are we talking about?
Commissioner Regalado: But --
Chairman Teele: Are we talking about the Little Havana, or we're talking about the District 4?
Commissioner Regalado: No. He mentioned Little Havana because she --
Chairman Teele: But I thought your question was Disfrict 4.
Commissioner Regalado: My question was District 4.
Mr. Carswell: Well --
Commissioner Regalado: That's what I mentioned, that she is also on the State of Florida, and
she's been trying to help Disfrict 4. However, the reason that it is there is because your
department did send some letters asking people to buy some empty lots. I now know what
happened, but the letter -- it can be very confusing, as you know, because they are telling people
this lot is zoned R-2, two-family residence, but it doesn't say that you cannot build it there, and
the guy was about to go to the bank --
Mr. Carswell: Right.
Commissioner Regalado: -- and send you the check.
Mr. Carswell: Right. Well, I had a -- Commissioner -- and just for informational purposes -- we
received approximately 30-some odd properties that were CL UC (County Land Usage Code) -90
properties from the County. These lots are undevelopable sites, but through Florida Statute, the
County can convey those properties to us, and in effort to basically purge our inventory of excess
property, we offered them -- which is -- we're permitted to do by Charter, to the adjacent
property owners, and those letters did go out, and I was -- there's another process that we have
in dealing with CL UC-90, and we are working through that process with -- that is being chaired
by Frank Castaneda.
Commissioner Regalado: Sure. I mean, no problem, but my problem was that we didn't say you
cannot build a duplex in that house, because the guy was very enthusiastic about buying the
property to build a duplex because it doesn't say it, and then maybe we should say, you cannot
build there anything -- I mean, you can use that for playground for your kids or something.
Commissioner Winton: Well, worse, he would have been willing to overpay the City in
anticipation of that building, and then we've got the mess, so I agree with Commissioner
Regalado 100 percent. You -- if -- and I think neither one of us disagree with the fact that you're
going -- following the Charter, you're going to the adjacent property owner --
Commissioner Regalado: Right.
Commissioner Winton: -- but you've just got to say, the only thing this is for is the ability to
expand your lot. You might be able to do an add -on to your house, but you can't build a --
Commissioner Regalado: R-2.
Commissioner Winton: -- freestanding building on the lot. You need to be very clear about that.
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Mr. Carswell: Yes.
Chairman Teele: Well, I don't know. I dis -- I don't know ifI agree with you two but, I mean, I
want to agree. Where is this in the Charter now?
Mr. Carswell: 20 --
Commissioner Winton: The Charter allows -- Go ahead, Keith.
Mr. Carswell: In 29(b), this was adopted about two or three years ago by the Commission that
properties that we receive --
Chairman Teele: Is this a Charter provision?
Mr. Carswell: In the Code. Sorry, in the Code, 29(b).
Chairman Teele: Johnny.
Mr. Carswell: Charter? Charter.
Chairman Teele: It's in the Charter?
Mr. Carswell: Right.
Chairman Teele: And it says what?
Mr. Carswell: As property --
Chairman Teele: Hold on. Mr. Attorney, what does the Charter say?
Alejandro Villarello (City Attorney): I believe it's properties that are less than 7500 square feet
and are -- surplus properties can be sold to the adjacent property owner.
Chairman Teele: Can be or shall be?
Mr. Vilarello: Can be.
Commissioner Winton: Can be.
Chairman Teele: See, that's where I have a problem, because if we have -- if this Commission
has said we have a District 4 pilot program, and we're scurrying around looking for vacant lots,
it would seem to me that the policy of this Commission would frump that provision, as it relates
to any vacant lot, and the first thing we should do is look to determine whether any vacant lots
that we have in our inventory can be made proper through zoning, through whatever --
Commissioner Winton: Or through addition.
Chairman Teele: -- for the pilot program.
Commissioner Winton: I don't disagree with that.
Chairman Teele: I mean --
Commissioner Winton: Yeah. I don't disagree with that, yeah.
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Chairman Teele: You know, because, otherwise, what we're going to wind up doing is going out
buying lots --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Exactly.
Chairman Teele: -- on the market --
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: -- for the pilot program, so -- I mean, maybe it's an industrial lot, or maybe it's
an R-3, maybe it's not appropriate, but I think the first thing that should happen is that all of the
wheels of City government should stop and say any land that the City owns, the County owns, or
the State owns that's in Disfrict 4, is that land suitable to help carry out this affordable housing
program. To me, that's the first --
Commissioner Winton: I don't disagree with that at all.
Chairman Teele: You don't?
Commissioner Winton: Right.
Chairman Teele: OK.
Commissioner Winton: And then, if it isn't --
Chairman Teele: And then, if it isn't --
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: -- then you start talking about the Charter provisions, and this and that, but I
just think --
Commissioner Winton: And I agree.
Chairman Teele: -- the biggest problem that we've got in this City -- and this is why Frank is
going to be giving a report -- is that the vacant land is disappearing, you know, and the tax -- the
land -- CL UC-90 land is disappearing, and we're never going to get an effective program in
Disfrict 4 if we don't first look at what government lands can be made available for that program
Commissioner Winton: See, I was only looking at this one individual thing, which is the 1900
square foot lot that you can't build on, but your idea is absolutely right. That gets you at the
global level review, and then you come down to the individual pieces, and that's the right
approach always.
Chairman Teele: Because the problem is --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Teele: How many lots, Barbara, have we acquired for the Disfrict 4 housing
program?
Ms. Rodriguez: None.
Commissioner Regalado: None.
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Commissioner Gonzalez: Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner Gonzalez.
Commissioner Gonzalez: And the problem gets even greater when you look at some of these lots,
Johnny. They're 4900 square foot, OK. They don't meet the 5,000 square foot. They're not
buildable on 4900 square foot, not even a single home. We cannot build them, and on the other
hand, we have to clean them; we have to maintain them. We don'tget taxes; we don'tget
anything, and they're going to be sitting there forever, and ever, and ever, and let me tell you.
You know, your real estate, on a 4900 square foot, you can build a heck of a house. I mean, you
could build easily a 2300 square foot house, which is usual with double garage and everything,
and still, you have enough setback in the back and the front, and the sides so, you know,
definitely, we're going to be needing to do something in reference to these CL UC-90 lots and
these City owned lots because, otherwise, you know, we're losing revenue, we're losing taxes,
and we are required to maintain the property.
Commissioner Winton: Well, I'm not an expert at all in single-family residential. Does our Code
-- or is it South Florida Code that says the lot size -- minimum lot size is 5,000?
Commissioner Gonzalez: No, it's our Code.
Commissioner Winton: It's our Code?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: Yeah, but --
Commissioner Winton: So we ought to be -- exactly -- we ought to be -- that's Commissioner
Teele's point. We ought to be looking at --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Yeah.
Commissioner Winton: -- on these that are -- you know, they're not 5,000, but there's a
difference between a 2,000 square foot lot --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Yeah. That's different.
Commissioner Winton: -- and a 4,000 square foot lot, and we ought to be -- we ought to have
some mechanism where staff is figuring out what we have to do where you could, in fact --
because that -- the price of that lot's -- 4,000 square foot lot, smaller house, smaller price --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Exactly.
Commissioner Winton: -- more affordable.
Commissioner Gonzalez: More affordable.
Commissioner Winton: So --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Exactly, and we've been -- you know, in the case of let's say, 2500
square foot lot and next to it you have a 1,700 square foot lot, you know, we can do a Unity of
Title --
Commissioner Winton: Right.
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Commissioner Gonzalez: -- and come up with a good lot --
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- that can be buildable.
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Commissioner Gonzalez: I mean, we could get some revenue to the City.
Commissioner Winton: Bingo.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Otherwise, it'll be sitting there forever, and they've been sitting there
forever, as a matter of fact.
Commissioner Winton: So Commissioner Teele's idea is absolutely right. You've got to look at
this globally before you start --
Mr. Carswell: And just for informational purpose, we have reached out to Habitat for
Humanity, and none of the properties on this list meet the criteria that they would consider for
development of housing. They've been able to build on lots as small as 3200 square feet, but
there are certain constraints that they require, such as the property being platted, that the
property also has the zoning in place, as well as they need at least 35 feet fronting the street.
None of the properties that we sent the letters to the adjacent property owners met that criteria.
Commissioner Winton: I mean, they are doing what we want.
Anne Manning: No. I just wanted to clarify -- Anne Manning, with Habitat for Humanity -- that
you can build on properties less than 5,000. There's an exemption in the building code. If it was
platted prior to -- I don't know what the date is 7 --1970--1950, and most of your property in
the City was platted prior to that date.
Chairman Teele: Uh-huh.
Ms. Manning: So we've been building on 3200 square foot properties going up, two stories.
Chairman Teele: Well, why is it that nobody in the department -- in the City staff came up to
clarify the record.
Ms. Manning: He did. I just was speaking to --
Chairman Teele: Anne, thank you for being here, and we're going to be hearing from you later
on but, again, Mr. Manager and to Commissioner Gonzalez, in your absence, since you weren't
here to defend him, we appointed, as a committee from the Commission, your chief of staff to
begin to help us look at this on a global basis, because this CL UC-90 thing has many, many
opportunities and many, many implications, but we've really got to think outside of the box on it.
Commissioner Winton: And that's because you were absent, so we drafted him.
Chairman Teele: Where are we now, Barbara, on this item?
Ms. Rodriguez: Did they vote on PH 10?
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): We need to vote. We have a mover, second; we just need a
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vote.
Chairman Teele: Further discussion on the housing program. All those in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed have the same right.
PH.11 04-00588 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S
), APPROVING THE ALLOCATION OF FISCAL YEAR 2004-2005 HOUSING
OPPORTUNITIES FOR PERSONS WITH AIDS ("HOPWA") PROGRAM
FUNDS, IN THE AMOUNT OF $10,715,000, AND HOPWA PROGRAM CLOSE
-OUT FUNDS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2003-2004, IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,035,
495, FOR A TOTAL ALLOCATION OF $12,750,495, AS SPECIFIED IN "
ATTACHMENT A," ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, TO PROVIDE
HOUSING ASSISTANCE AND HOUSING RELATED SERVICES TO LOW-
INCOME INDIVIDUALS LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS; AUTHORIZING THE CITY
MANAGER TO EXECUTE AGREEMENTS, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE
ATTACHED FORM, WITH SAID AGENCIES FOR SAID PURPOSE.
04-00588-cover memo.pdf
04-00588-notice of correction.pdf
04-00588-public notice.pdf
04-00588-exhibit 1-funding allocation.pdf
04-00588-exhibit 2-agreement.pdf
Motion by Vice Chairman Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
R-04-0377
Barbara Rodriguez (Director, Community Development): PH.11 is funding for our Housing
Opportunity for Persons With AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) Program, and this
is a Countywide program. There's an attachment to your agenda that says all the agencies that
we're recommending, and we're projecting an amount of ten million, $715, 000 for fiscal year
2004-2005, and there was an approval by this Commission on closeout funds of two million,
thirty-five, four ninety-five from fiscal year 2003-2004, so the total amount of funding is 12, 750,
495. We will be increasing our long-term tenant based rental subsidy program by 50 additional
clients, so it will get us to a total of 1,250. It's a public hearing.
Chairman Teele: Any person desiring to be heard on the HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for
Persons With AIDS) item, Item Number 11, should come forward. Are there any persons coming
forward? The public hearing is, therefore, closed. Barbara, this Commission --
Commissioner Winton: What a change from a few years ago.
Chairman Teele: -- really owes you a debt of gratitude for the manner in which you're doing
your job. We are really grateful.
Ms. Rodriguez: Thank you.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Mr. Chairman, ifI may.
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Commissioner Regalado: If we just flashback to Miami Arena --
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Commissioner Regalado: -- and that meeting of the Miami City Commission, Barbara,
congratulations, OK
Ms. Rodriguez: Thank you.
Commissioner Regalado: Because I mean --
Chairman Teele: We're very proud of you, Barbara.
Ms. Rodriguez: We're frying very hard.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner -- Vice Chairman Sanchez.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, this really goes to show -- a
couple of years ago we stood here and we had individuals show up to the Commission meeting
and really show their brave hearts to come here and fight to try to get additional housing, and
I'm very excited to see that we've been able to get 50 more, but let me just tell you that the
epidemic continues to grow. It's sad, but it continues to grow, and it's a disease that really does
not discriminate. It could affect anybody.
Ms. Rodriguez: That's true.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: And one of the things that just wanted to make sure that was brought
forth here is -- and I know that they have changed the way -- housing now where they are not
forced to go to certain buildings to live there, andl have heard horror stories, you know, of
people that are affected by this disease, and then they're all put in a building together and, of
course, the building is labeled, and especially when you have children involved --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- and families. It's really tragic and it's sad, so I am very glad to see
that some changes have been made now where they choose to live among the community --
Ms. Rodriguez: Correct.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- where they could continue to try to live a normal life, and many of
them do, thank God, so I'm very excited about the changes, and I hope that we continue to lobby
to fry to add more living facilities for them, because I could guarantee you that next year there
will be more people knocking on our doors, waiting to get on a waiting list to fry to get this
assistance, and I take this very seriously and to heart because I wish that, you know, we don't
ever -- are put in a situation where these people that are affected with that disease are, so I
commend you for your efforts in this and --
Ms. Rodriguez: Thank you.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- it'll be an honor to move this, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Teele: Moved by the Vice Chairman. Is there a second? By Commissioner Gonzalez.
Is there objection? All those in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
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Chairman Teele: All opposed? The item is unanimously adopted by a vote of 5/0.
PH.12 04-00592 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S
), AUTHORIZING THE ALLOCATION OF 30TH PROGRAM YEAR
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT ("CDBG") FUNDS, IN THE
AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $4,173,000, IN THE ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT AND/OR PUBLIC FACILITIES AND IMPROVEMENTS
CATEGORY, TO THE AGENCIES SPECIFIED IN "ATTACHMENT A,"
ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND/
OR PUBLIC FACILITIES AND IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES IN THE 30TH
PROGRAM YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2004; ADOPTING THE
ATTACHED COMMERCIAL FAQADE TREATMENT PROGRAM POLICIES
FOR THE 30TH CDBG PROGRAM YEAR; AUTHORIZING THE CITY
MANAGER TO EXECUTE INDIVIDUAL AGREEMENTS, IN SUBSTANTIALLY
THE ATTACHED FORMS, WITH EACH AGENCY, FOR SAID PURPOSE.
04-00592-cover memo.pdf
04-00592-notice of correction.pdf
04-00592-public notice.pdf
04-00592-exhibit 1-policy attachment.pdf
04-00592-exhibit 2-agencies reommended.pdf
04-00592-exhibit 3-agreement 1.pdf
04-00592-exhibit 4-agreement 2.pdf
04-00592 - submittal - SBOC.pdf
Motion by Vice Chairman Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez, that this matter
be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
R-04-0378
Direction to the Adminisfration by Chairman Teele to schedule a discussion on the City's
contract with the Small Business Opportunity Center for the July 8, 2004 Commission Meeting;
further requesting that Item PH. 12 be rescheduled at the July 8, 2004 Commission Meeting for a
rehearing; Vice Chairman Sanchez further requested that Mr. Luis Sabines from the Small
Business Opportunity Center meet with the City Attorney prior to this item being heard on July 8,
2004.
Direction to the Adminisfration by Chairman Teele to bring back the final memorandum of
agreement with the Little Haiti Credit Union at the Commission Meeting currently scheduled for
July 8, 2004; further to ensure that all meetings between the Adminisfration and the Board of
Directors of the credit union are noticed as public meetings.
A motion was made by Commissioner Regalado, seconded by Vice Chairman Sanchez, and was
passed unanimously, stipulating that facade projects are to be done by agencies other than
government unless specifically approved by the City Commission.
A motion was made by Commissioner Regalado, seconded by Commissioner Winton, and was
passed unanimously, with Vice Chairman Sanchez absent, to instruct the City Manager and City
Attorney to work with the County to provide $250, 000 in matching funds for the SW 8th Street
and Flagler Street Corridor and report back to the Commission in 30 days or at the July 8, 2004
Commission Meeting.
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Chairman Teele: Next item.
Barbara Rodriguez (Director, Community Development): The next item, PH 12, I'm respectfully
recommending to the City Commission to adopt the resolution allocating economic development
and/or public facility and improvement funding for $4,000,173 of the 30th Year Community
Development Block Grant, and there is an attached -- attachment with all of the agencies that we
are recommending.
Chairman Teele: This is a public hearing. Any person desiring to be heard should come
forward regarding Item Number PH 12.
Ms. Rodriguez: Economic development and public --
Chairman Teele: Economic development. This does not include public services.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: This does not include public services. Folks, please get the program and pass
it out and look at the public notice. Yes, sir, welcome.
Luis Sabines: How are you? Good morning, Commissioners, Madam Director, Mr. Manager.
My name is Luis Sabines, Jr., Small Business Opportunity Center. Just want to reiterate
something that Mr. Regalado was saying about the $250, 000 that were issued and nothing was
done with that money. Mr. Regalado -- Commissioner, the $250, 000 that you were talking about
is Resolution 03-710. It was on June 24, 2003. I want you to realize that not only those $250,
000 were they issued to that department, they were issued money for an FEC (Florida East Coast
) railroad pilot project, which was never done. They were issued money for a 62nd Martin
Luther King Project, which she says they're trying to get funds from the City. I'm also trying to
win the Lotto on Saturday. They also got the $250, 000 from Little Havana, which is $600, 000,
plus this year they're recommended for another $250, 000, so that's $850,000 that has been
allocated. I would very much want to know what has been done with that money, because that's
money that could go to my agency and other agencies, so somebody has an answer for me?
Commissioner Regalado: Well, look, I don't know what has been done with that money, but I do
know that we spoke to Barbara and Keith, and that money -- at least for District 4 purposes --
that money should be used in facade in the Flagler Sfreet Corridor. We have 890 small
businesses in District 4, 890 businesses in the Flagler Street Corridor and the Southwest 8th
Sfreet Corridor. What you've done is extraordinary because you have done, in Southwest 8th,
like 60 or 80 -- more than --
Sabines: 180.
Commissioner Regalado: 180 in 8th Street. Flagler, we need to do --
Mr. Sabines: A little more.
Commissioner Regalado: -- something there so, you know -- I mean, there is a sense of urgency
on this because we don't have other ways to help these people.
Mr. Sabines: Right.
Chairman Teele: Part of the problem -- What has Miami -Dade County put on the table on this
project?
Ms. Rodriguez: What happened -- when we put it -- the $500, 000 that the Department of Real
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Estate was going to be working on was $250, 000 for the MLK (Martin Luther King) Initiative,
and 250, 000 for the Southwest 8th Sfreet. They've been working on it. The reason that the two --
Chairman Teele: Barbara, what's the question?
Ms. Rodriguez: They were going to do --
Chairman Teele: What --
Ms. Rodriguez: -- two for one.
Chairman Teele: No. What the question was -- Would everybody on staff -- let's work together
today. Listen to the question.
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: Think about the question and answer the question.
Commissioner Regalado: Dade County -- what's Dade County's --
Chairman Teele: What is the amount -- Why you got to bring Martin Luther King in here?
We're talking about 8th Sfreet.
Ms. Rodriguez: It was a pilot project --
Chairman Teele: This has -- my question has --
Ms. Rodriguez: -- that was combined.
Chairman Teele: -- nothing to do with MLK Boulevard. What has the County put in on 8th
Sfreet?
Mr. Sabines: Nothing.
Keith Carswell (Director, Economic Development): At this point, nothing. Nothing.
Chairman Teele: And can we, through the Manager's office, or through the good offices of the
Mayor or somebody -- we keep talking about how great everything is going. Can't we at least --
I mean, this is a high priority for this Commission, and who's the Commissioner from the
County?
Commissioner Regalado: Jimmy Morales and Rebeca Sosa.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Plus Bruno --
Commissioner Winton: Bruno --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Barreiro.
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah. Well, yeah. I'm talking in District 4, but in Joe's district --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Look --
Chairman Teele: But who's the -- who has the district --
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Vice Chairman Sanchez: Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Teele: Yes, sir.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: I have inquired on this issue. I am very aware of the issue. Staff has
told me that we received zero money from the County. Now, what I've heard from Mr. Sabines is
that he's saying that, in that allotment of money, that $250, 000 were given to the City?
Mr. Sabines: Well, they were given to Economic Development, and they're going to give them
another 250, 000. I come here every year and I hear that organizations that don't produce are
not going to get refunded.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Well --
Mr. Sabines: And I look at this --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: That's always been at least my philosophy --
Mr. Sabines: Well --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- and my policy.
Chairman Teele: Oh, that's a very --
Mr. Sabines: -- it should be everybody's philosophy.
Chairman Teele: -- interesting argument he's frying to make.
Mr. Sabines: You guys are elected officials.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: No. On that --
Chairman Teele: He's trying to make an argument that if the City hadn't produced, why --
Ms. Rodriguez: And we did fund --
Chairman Teele: -- is the City getting refunded if we defund organizations --
Commissioner Regalado: Well, that's frue.
Ms. Rodriguez: We did defund them.
Commissioner Regalado: And that is true.
Mr. Carswell: Right.
Commissioner Regalado: That is true.
Ms. Rodriguez: We did defund them. Remember that we took the $500, 000 from them, and we
gave it to Capital Improvement Projects with the understanding that when they were ready to go,
we would come back and fund them. Right now --
Chairman Teele: I apologize. Mr. Vice Chairman, you have the floor.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Barbara, I just have a very simple question
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for you, and I know that you and I have had several meetings pertaining to this.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: It is my understanding -- and clear this out -- that we have not
received the $250, 000 from the County for 8th Street.
Ms. Rodriguez: Correct.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: So you're stating on the record that you have never -- the County has
not given us -- the City the money.
Ms. Rodriguez: Correct.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: OK. That's clear.
Ms. Rodriguez: And we are working with them to make sure that our 250,000 that was de -
obligated from Real Estate and Economic at the last two Commission meetings will come back
for a Southwest 8th Street program.
Commissioner Regalado: And Flagler.
Ms. Rodriguez: And Flagler.
Mr. Sabines: May I ask what program that is?
Ms. Rodriguez: We are coming --
Commissioner Regalado: It's what you're doing.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: It'll be a facade program.
Commissioner Regalado: It's facade.
Mr. Sabines: Is it going to be run by my department or by their department?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: I don't see --
Commissioner Regalado: No, no, no, no, no.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Well -- can -- let's clear this, because let me tell you, we've had --
Commissioner Regalado: But --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- I think we need to clear this, Mr. Chairman. I just -- I would like to
Chairman Teele: Take your time and clear this up.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- to reserve five minutes because I --
Chairman Teele: Take your time and clear this up --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- you know.
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Chairman Teele: -- or whatever you need to do.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: I could sense the bad vibes here. I mean, there is tension, and I think
we need to clarify it because we've had several meetings between your agency and the
administration to resolve this, so let me just state for the record that have always been a
Commissioner that supports agencies that produce. If you don't produce, don't come see me
because I'll take away your money, and I'll give it to agencies that produce. That's always been
my philosophy as a Commissioner. Your agency produces. Your agency has a solid record -- a
track record of producing in our community. Based on the records that you turn every year,
your agency goes beyond what it does, so I've always supported your agency. Any facade
program that's done -- at least in my district -- I will always support your district -- your agency,
because let me tell you something. The professionalism in your agency when it comes to my
office and the clients you serve, it's -- it deserves an A+, " but think that we need to clarify
from the administration certain issues that you have brought forth that we have not been able to
resolve it in my office; we have not been able to resolve it in Commissioner Regalado's office,
which I have not been there because it would be a violation of the sunshine, and also the
meetings that you've had with the City Manager pertaining to the problems that you're having
with the administration. Those issues need to be addressed so you could continue to provide the
service that you provide our businesses, and the City administration continue to move forth to
assist you to provide that service. I think we need to clear that today because, you know, if we
don't, we're going to continue to do this, so I just want to make it very clear -- and I think
Commissioner Regalado stated the same thing -- any facade done in my district, your agency will
continue to do because you produce.
Mr. Sabines: Thank you, sir.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: If you didn't produce, then we'd find somebody else to do it.
Mr. Sabines: Now, can I bring up my other issues? This is very --
Commissioner Regalado: Wait, wait, wait. You done?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: I'm done. I just wanted to clarify it.
Commissioner Regalado: Mr. Chairman, I -- you know, if anybody asks me what do we need in
Disfrict 4, where we have three corridors, basically; the Coral Way, the Southwest 8th Street and
Flagler Street, is help for the small businesses. Everything, except one or two, like Home Depot
or Sears, everything that there is in Disfrict 4 are small, very small "mom and pop" businesses.
They do not have the money even for a new sign. They do not have the money. They cannot
afford new painting. Now, I don't know why, but everything that has to do with the small
business in District 4 is always complicated. There is no money from Economic Development.
We couldn't give the grant because the County didn't come through. That's been sitting there two
years. Then he's going to do a facade; no, Historic Preservation won't let him do it. He's going
to have -- there is a new cafeteria that is going to open. No, we cannot do it because the census
tract says this and that. The bottom line is that Disfrict 4 is being neglected, no question about
that, and the only thing we have going for us is the small facade program, so I don't know who
told you that but, certainly, I am not going to vote for any project for the City to do the facade,
you know.
Mr. Sabines: Thank you, sir.
Commissioner Regalado: You do the facade, and you do it very well because you have shown it
in Commissioner Sanchez and my district. You know, 190 facades; nobody complained. We
have -- only thing we have gotten is "thank you." No complaints and nobody complaining about
that so, you know, I don't know what's going on in terms of offering that, but do think that at
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least these people deserve a good painting for their businesses.
Commissioner Winton: You said something and it's a question I have -- and my apologies to
Barbara because I wasn't available when she had time to meet, but you said something that
triggered the question, and I don't understand about this schedule. It's -- this -- Community
Development -- Department of Community Development commercial facade, and there's about a
million two as the overall --
Ms. Rodriguez: That's --
Commissioner Winton: What is that?
Ms. Rodriguez: That is the money that we pay out to the business owner. When you see an
agency with an amount of money, that's through administration.
Commissioner Winton: OK, so this --
Ms. Rodriguez: The money that you see with Department of --
Commissioner Winton: That goes to the agencies --
Ms. Rodriguez: Correct.
Commissioner Winton: -- that are doing the facade?
Ms. Rodriguez: Right, and then --
Commissioner Winton: We're not doing facades?
Ms. Rodriguez: No. We -- Department of Community Development has never done facades.
Commissioner Winton: OK. I just want to make -- OK. I'm sorry --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Winton: -- Commissioner Regalado. I just --
Commissioner Regalado: No, no. I --
Ms. Rodriguez: This is money going straight -- that they send us the bill, and we pay the
business owner for their --
Chairman Teele: Barbara --
Commissioner Regalado: I just want to make sure --
Chairman Teele: Hold it, hold it. One minute. Let's make sure that your answer's correct. Did
we say the City or the Department of Community --
Ms. Rodriguez: No. The Department of Community Development has never done facades.
Chairman Teele: OK. The question is --
Commissioner Regalado: The City.
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Chairman Teele: -- does the City ofMiami have a facade program?
Ms. Rodriguez: No. The City -- the Department of Real Estate and Economic tried last year to
do a pilot project, which included Southwest 8th Street, which is the one Commissioner Regalado
is talking about. They were going to do a pilot project. That's the one that we recaptured their
dollars --
Chairman Teele: Why is it you can't answer my question this morning?
Ms. Rodriguez: Because I'm frying to explain to you.
Chairman Teele: You've done -- but just answer -- was the City ofMiami, whether it's your
department, his department, was any department proposing to do a --
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes.
Commissioner Regalado: Yes --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Yes.
Commissioner Regalado: -- Economic Development.
Ms. Rodriguez: They were.
Chairman Teele: OK, so --
Commissioner Regalado: Economic Development.
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes.
Chairman Teele: And I'm hearing the tension --
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes.
Chairman Teele: -- and I don't -- you know --
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes.
Chairman Teele: -- this is a public hearing --
Commissioner Regalado: And --
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes.
Chairman Teele: -- so let's clear the air on everything.
Ms. Rodriguez: And trust me, I would not support for the City to do the facade.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Winton: Neither would I.
Chairman Teele: Neither will I, so whenever that item comes up --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Neither will I.
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Chairman Teele: -- Madam Manager, we'll get a vote on that. Whoever's frying to do a pilot
program, whatever way, they're going to have to work through an appropriate community based
organization --
Commissioner Winton: Bingo.
Chairman Teele: -- but we will have a discussion on that item --
Ms. Rodriguez: There's one right now in your chart.
Commissioner Winton: In whose?
Chairman Teele: It's not on the agenda right now.
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes.
Mr. Carswell: Yes, it is.
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes.
Chairman Teele: Where?
Mr. Carswell: It is.
Ms. Rodriguez: The --
Mr. Carswell: The 250, 000.
Ms. Rodriguez: The 250,000 is for Martin Luther King Initiative for them to do the facade
program with the County.
Chairman Teele: If it's sauce for the goose, it's sauce for the gander. It ain't -- it's nothing to
discuss. We're not going to have a rule in Little Havana and a rule in Little Haiti, and a rule --
we're going to try to have one rule. If there's a good policy, then let's go ahead and do that.
Mr. Carswell: Can I --
Commissioner Winton: Commissioner Teele, can I comment about that? See, I wouldn't be
opposed for a different thing going on in a different district if we were convinced that this other
way would work, because what I'm interested in is the end result.
Chairman Teele: You're interested in results.
Commissioner Winton: So -- but my view is, the City has no track record in doing facades. It's a
business -- there's agencies out there that have outstanding frack records -- not a lot of them --
but there are a few of them that have outstanding track records in this regard, and my vote
would be --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: You're looking at one of them.
Commissioner Winton: I understand that.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: You're looking at the one.
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Commissioner Winton: And my vote would be that we find those agencies -- somewhere in the
City ofMiami -- that we already know have an outstanding frack record and can perform, and
they do that somewhere else, rather than the City trying to gear up to get in the construction
business.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Johnny, there's a saying that goes, If it ain't broken, don't fix it."
Commissioner Regalado: And that is my point. My point is, you know, whatever money is
coming back to this City Commission and whatever money is allocated to District 4 -- I don't
care if they want to divide it in 10 parts -- but whatever money is allocated to District 4, it has to
go to the facade program, hopefully, for the Flagler Street Corridor.
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Commissioner Regalado: Hopefully, because we have done nothing in the Flagler Street
Corridor, and my vote, it will be for them to continue doing it.
Chairman Teele: OK. Hold on just for a minute. Mr. Carswell.
Mr. Carswell: May I? Keith Carswell, Director of Economic Development. Let me try to
provide a brief historical perspective on this.
Chairman Teele: We don't want the history.
Mr. Carswell: OK. Well --
Chairman Teele: We don't want the history. Tell us what your justification is -- and rationale --
Mr. Carswell: This was --
Chairman Teele: -- for you and your department doing facades. That's the issue.
Mr. Carswell: This was an opportunity where we wanted to leverage our existing dollars with
the County dollars, where we were going to get a one to one match. The County approved 250,
000 for a pilot facade program along MLK Boulevard. We've been negotiating through the
administration to try to get the additional 250, 000 for Southwest 8th Street. The pilot facade
program will be run, or administered, through the County. They have a CRP program. Their
program provides funding up to 50, 000 per business in the form of a grant. They have the
architects on board; they have the contractors on board, where it will be a turnkey process.
Through a memorandum of understanding or an interlocal agreement, we would basically
provide the funding. The County would match that funding. This is leveraging dollars, and we
would go forward with that initiative.
Chairman Teele: And so, the County would be doing the --
Mr. Carswell: We would identify the corridor. We've --
Chairman Teele: Who would be doing -- this is about one thing: Who's going to do the work?
Commissioner Winton: The construction.
Chairman Teele: Who's going to do the construction?
Mr. Carswell: Local contractors.
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Chairman Teele: Who's going to award the contract?
Commissioner Winton: Administered by whom?
Mr. Carswell: We will go through the County's process.
Chairman Teele: So the --
Mr. Carswell: Right.
Commissioner Winton: It's County.
Mr. Sabines: Can I say something?
Chairman Teele: No, no, no, no. Hold on a minute because we've --
Commissioner Regalado: Well --
Chairman Teele: I think -- hold on -- I think the motion should be -- when we approve this, as an
amendment -- is that no work will be done by government agency on facades without a specific
approval by the City Commission, and I think that way you got -- you're still preserved. You can
come back and explain to us what it is you want to do, but the policy thatl think four people
have said up here -- andl don't know where Commissioner Gonzalez is, butl could imagine --
four people are saying clearly that we don't want government involved in facade programs if
there is a viable --
Commissioner Winton: Except for funding.
Chairman Teele: -- CDC (Community Development Corporation) or organization out there to
do that.
Mr. Carswell: And I --
Commissioner Winton: Amen.
Chairman Teele: And so that would the policy. Then you come back on the MLK. If you get the
money, you come back on Southwest and explain, by resolution -- and explain to us why you
want to do it that way, and if you've got a good reason, you're going to have five people listening
to you; is that a fair compromise?
Commissioner Winton: Like it a lot.
Commissioner Regalado: Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Teele: But the policy is, is that the government is not going to be doing facades.
Ms. Rodriguez: That's very fair.
Chairman Teele: We're willing to entertain exceptions.
Commissioner Winton: So move.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Rodriguez: Very fair.
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Commissioner Regalado: Mr. Chairman.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner Regalado, Commissioner Gonzalez.
Commissioner Regalado: OK. Now, I'm more confused. OK -- and excuse me because, you
know, like not to -- intelligent people do not understand this.
Ms. Rodriguez: You are very intelligent.
Commissioner Regalado: Barbara said that we de -obligated --
Ms. Rodriguez: Correct.
Commissioner Regalado: -- $250, 000 from Economic Development --
Ms. Rodriguez: We de -obligated $500, 000.
Commissioner Regalado: $500, 000 from that money allocated --
Ms. Rodriguez: From them.
Commissioner Regalado: -- to Economic Development, so I thought that was the end of it.
However, Keith now says that they're still working with the County to see if they can match
dollar by dollar, and then identify a corridor, and then for the County that has their own
architects and construction do the facade. Does that mean that you still think that you have $
250,000 to match, if the County will come through after how many, three years?
Mr. Carswell: Commissioner, ifI may clarify? Actually, it's been one year. The County
Commission approved, Tuesday, 250, 000 for the MLK Corridor. The corridor for the program
is being I-90 --
Commissioner Regalado: But we're not talking -- Commissioner Teele already said that. We're
not talking --
Chairman Teele: We're not talking aboutMLK.
Commissioner Regalado: -- about Martin Luther King Corridor.
Chairman Teele: This is about Southwest 8th Street.
Commissioner Regalado: That's what I'm frying to understand.
Mr. Carswell: When we receive funding for Southwest 8th Sfreet --
Commissioner Regalado: I'm sorry?
Mr. Carswell: When, and if, we receive funding for Southwest 8th Sfreet, we will come to the
Commission; we would identify the target area. We will work with the Commissioners and
identify --
Commissioner Regalado: No, but see, that's the confusion. See, you are complicating this. Let
me --
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Ms. Rodriguez: Can I --
Commissioner Regalado: -- explain --
Ms. Rodriguez: Let me --
Commissioner Regalado: -- the way I see it.
Mr. Carswell: OK.
Commissioner Regalado: If we get that money, whenever we get it, whenever the esteemed
County Commission decides to get money for the Southwest 8th Street Corridor, we do not have
the money to match because we already have said that he will start doing the facade with that
money.
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Commissioner Regalado: You understand what I'm saying?
Ms. Rodriguez: Can I make a recommendation? You have $250, 000 for 8th Street. We haven't
allocated to nobody; it's here. We can bring it back to you on July 8th, since we're bringing
other items; allocate it to SBOC (Small Business Opportunity Center). When we get the match
from the County, we will work with SBOC to run the program that you want on 8th Street, if
that's what you and Commissioner Sanchez has said all along, instead of waiting for the County
to give the money.
Commissioner Regalado: That's what I'm saying --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Commissioner Regalado: -- from the beginning.
Ms. Rodriguez: So, then, we will come back --
Commissioner Regalado: But let me tell you, let me tell you. The County works slower --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Commissioner Regalado: -- than the City, and what is going to happen --
Commissioner Winton: Is they'll stall.
Commissioner Regalado: -- is that we are -- he works very fast. You tell him --
Ms. Rodriguez: But he currently --
Commissioner Regalado: -- go get them, and he will do ten facades --
Ms. Rodriguez: He currently --
Commissioner Regalado: -- in two weeks.
Ms. Rodriguez: Commissioner, he currently is being funded by you.
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Commissioner Regalado: I understand that.
Ms. Rodriguez: So right now --
Commissioner Regalado: I understand that, but I'm --
Ms. Rodriguez: So right now, he can still work. We're not going to stop him. If he finds
anything in 8th Street, we will fund.
Commissioner Regalado: Barbara.
Ms. Rodriguez: He's being funded --
Commissioner Regalado: I understand that.
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Commissioner Regalado: But we're talking that we sat on that money for one year.
Ms. Rodriguez: That's true.
Commissioner Regalado: And my concern is sitting on that money for another year.
Ms. Rodriguez: We will not.
Commissioner Regalado: OK.
Ms. Rodriguez: And will be back July 8th.
Chairman Teele: You have a commitment.
Mr. Sabines: Commissioner.
Ms. Rodriguez: I have a commitment.
Mr. Sabines: May I say something?
Chairman Teele: You've said a whole lot. Now, how much --
Mr. Sabines: Well --
Chairman Teele: -- more time you're going to need? Just --
Mr. Sabines: Well, I'm going to need -- I asked Commissioner -- I have a couple of issues that
are a little bit more important than --
Chairman Teele: On this item?
Mr. Sabines: Yes, sir.
Chairman Teele: All right. Let's put your issues on the table so they can be thinking about them.
Mr. Sabines: OK. Number one, let me just reiterate that already have matching funds. I don't
need them from the County. I'm getting funded by the Knight Foundation, so in Commissioner
Sanchez' district, I already have my matching funds. I could use them in Mr. Regalado's district
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because the Knight Foundation doesn't go all the way to his district, but in Commissioner
Sanchez' district, I already have matching funds.
Chairman Teele: But what does that have to do with the item that we're doing now?
Mr. Sabines: Well, if you're going to let me go to my --
Chairman Teele: Please.
Mr. Sabines: -- other item, please, so I can hurry this up. I know there's a lot of people waiting.
At the beginning of the year, we signed a confract with the Department of Community
Development. They were going to award us $400, 000, and our --
Chairman Teele: Four hundred.
Mr. Sabines: 400,000 -- and our job was to do 160 facades. They were going to pay us $2,500
per facade. Now, let me just say that this was a decision that was made by the administration,
not by the Small Business Opportunity Center. We signed that contract. On April the 21 st, I
received a letter in my office stating that she had made an amendment to that contract that no
longer we would get $2,500 per facade; that her confract, retroactive of October the 1st, when I
first signed that contract --
Chairman Teele: Mr. Attorney, I hope you're listening to this.
Mr. Sabines: No, no. I got it here from Mr. Attorney, because we've got our own attorney, so if
we can't settle it here, we're going to litigate this, OK. Let me just explain to you. Now she
wants to pay us 40% of whatever the facade cost is. Let me explain something to you
Commissioners. We're not in the pricing business.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Mr. Sabines: I'm not going to cheat, and I'm not going to steal federal --
Chairman Teele: All right. Hold on.
Mr. Sabines: Please, please.
Chairman Teele: No, no, no, no, no. I can't let you do this. The items that we're dealing with
today is the award -- no, hold on -- of the money. If you want to come back and discuss your
contract, your specific contract and the terms and conditions, I will basically support putting it
on the agenda, giving you 30 minutes, giving you an hour to do it --
Mr. Sabines: I don't --
Chairman Teele: -- but in the context of what we're doing now, we're not making any contracts
with anybody. We're frying to allocate dollars, and I would respectfully ask --
Mr. Sabines: This is my issue. They owe me $65, 000.
Chairman Teele: I would respectfully request, sir, that you allow us to let the staff get this item
before us, with the attorney; give us all of the backgrounds and document, and we will give you a
hearing that will last for an hour, you know, but we can't --
Alejandro Villarello (City Attorney): Mr. --
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Vice Chairman Sanchez: Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Vilarello: Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Teele: I'm not going to let you destroy --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Yes.
Chairman Teele: -- or distort the whole public hearing process to get down to one contract item.
I can't afford that.
Mr. Sabines: I don't have a problem with that.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Mr. Chairman, as the Commissioner who -- he represents my district.
I would -- at his request, I would be more than glad to allow him, as a public appearance at any
Commission meeting, to discuss that item, but I don't want to mix apples and oranges now.
Mr. Sabines: The sooner, the better.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Let's just go ahead and get this approved, and then, if you would like,
contact our office, and we'll get you an opportunity to come in a public forum to express your
concerns.
Mr. Sabines: No problem. Then I'll bring my last item, OK My last item --
Mr. Vilarello: Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Sabines: -- is that next year --
Mr. Vilarello: Mr. Chairman, since he's threatening litigation in that regard, why don't you
direct him to meet with me, and his lawyer --
Mr. Sabines: No problem.
Mr. Vilarello: -- prior to coming to the City Commission, so that at least I can give you advice
on the issues.
Chairman Teele: Vice Chairman, is that satisfactory?
Mr. Sabines: Were you handed the file?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: That is more than satisfactory.
Mr. Vilarello: I was handed the file two minutes ago, yes.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: As a matter of fact, the recommendation being made by the attorney --
I hope you would accept it -- to meet with him before --
Mr. Sabines: I'll be more than glad to.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- we proceed because you're threatening the City with litigation.
Mr. Sabines: Well, you know, if that's my choice, I don't have any other choice. I mean, the
amendment is totally illegal. It says it on page 27.
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Chairman Teele: You know, guys, you all are obviously --
Mr. Sabines: So I'm not -- OK.
Chairman Teele: -- very frustrated --
Mr. Sabines: No, no.
Chairman Teele: -- and I really want to apologize to you --
Mr. Sabines: I'm not --
Chairman Teele: -- and your organization --
Mr. Sabines: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- for whatever you've gone through that's got you -- because you have been a
very reasonable person.
Mr. Sabines: Right.
Chairman Teele: But let me just tell you some advice. Will you listen?
Mr. Sabines: Sure, sure, sure.
Chairman Teele: I'm a lawyer. The best thing you can say to a company that has a bunch of
lawyers is, I'm going to sue you." Do you realize all those guys back there are smiling? You
know, lawyers --
Mr. Sabines: I'm not scared of them.
Chairman Teele: That's the only way lawyers -- You get paid doing facade, right? That's like
me threatening, if you keep talking, I'm going to give you a facade to do.
Mr. Sabines: Commissioner, listen. Let me put it to you this way. I came here today, and I'm
willing to lose my job because I'm not going to steal and cheat merchants to keep a job.
Chairman Teele: You're not going to lose your job --
Mr. Sabines: Well, I don't really care, is what I'm frying to tell you.
Chairman Teele: -- by expressing your views. Just work -- let your lawyer and you work with
our attorney.
Mr. Sabines: Fine.
Chairman Teele: Work with the District Commissioner, and he's indicated that he's -- the Vice
Chairman's going to put it back on the agenda.
Mr. Sabines: No problem.
Chairman Teele: And we'll give you an hour.
Mr. Sabines: OK. Now, my last issue is, how am I going to get paid next year? I'm not going to
get paid on a commission basis, not even 20, not even 40, OK. I don't know how they came up
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with this. They say they have a consultant or somebody that made a study. Barbara, I would
like you to know, we don't have anything to do with adminisfration. We're called project
delivery, and we are paid per project. We don't have anything to do with adminisfration. If you
want, you can ask Commissioner Gonzalez' Chief of Staff, Mr. Castaneda, who is an expert on
this.
Chairman Teele: But isn't this a --
Mr. Sabines: Bring him out here and let him explain to you --
Chairman Teele: -- isn't this an extension of the same issue?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Teele: Aren't we talking about the same contract?
Mr. Sabines: It's the same issue. Commissioner Teele, you don't understand that for me working
at 40 percent, she has to allocate $1, 000, 000 just for me, which she doesn't even have in the
budget, so what she's trying to do to me -- she's going to shut me down sooner or later, and I'm
not going to allow that, but for the last six years, I've been the number one agency in the City of
Miami, and I've just -- I've had nothing but problems with her department this year, and I'm not
going to put up with this next year again.
Chairman Teele: Mr. Vice Chair, if you will allow me, I am prepared to do the following: I am
prepared to place this entire item back on the agenda on July the 8th, but we're going to vote on
it today and approve it today, and we will rehear it, the whole item, so that you're not boxed in, if
that's what you're saying; by what we're doing, we will box you all in and box you out, because
that's a very profound argument, and I don't want to unintentionally box you out, butl don't
think you should basically use a confract issue to hold up the entire public hearing process about
Mr. Sabines: I'm not. I'm done, I'm done. Thank you very much.
Chairman Teele: Would you agree to that, Commissioner?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Yes, Mr. Chairman, but would request -- since already allegations of
litigation have been made -- that we allow both sides to sit down in my office anytime they want
to see, if this could be resolved and, if not, then we could move forward. Either side could
request it come in front of the Commission meeting for a personal appearance that'll go, at my
request, to you, Mr. Chairman, to be placed on the day that you stated.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Mr. Sabines: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: So what we're going to do is we're going to place this item on -- back on the
agenda on July 8th. There will be a separate item to discuss your confract and the issues that
you want to raise, and you want to do. Hopefully, it'll just be a love feast by then, and we'll all
be smiling.
Commissioner Regalado: Mr. Chairman, just to mention. I -- you know, I just want to say to
you that we owe you gratitude because you have worked very hard in our district, butt got to say
also that Barbara has fried. I don't know what's really going on in terms of details, but Barbara
has shown that some things can be resolved, you know, looking at all sides of the issue.
Hopefully, it would be resolved. I trust that we can do that, even before July 8th, because you
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know what? You know how hard it is for the businesspeople in Flagami, especially Flagami now
. These people are hurting, and these people are not closing their business because they're
working with the heart now, but they have problems, and if we can only help them by doing a fac
ade and by helping the idea you have of buying new equipment, freezers and cafeteria, you
know, stuff like that, it's important and, you know, I really appeal to you and to Barbara because
we need that help for Flagami. Thank you.
Ms. Rodriguez: Thank you.
Mr. Sabines: Thank you very much. I --
Chairman Teele: Hold on, hold on. Commissioner Gonzalez.
Mr. Sabines: Oh, OK I'm sorry.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Yes, Mr. Chairman. On the issue of who's going to do facades, let me
tell you. I'm only one vote here.
Commissioner Winton: I'm sorry?
Commissioner Gonzalez: In the issue of who's going to do facades, I am one vote here, only one
vote, butt will always vote against the administration doing facades.
Chairman Teele: Well, that's fine now.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: That's fine.
Commissioner Regalado: That's fine.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Unanimous.
Commissioner Regalado: Do you need a sixth?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Let me tell you.
Commissioner Regalado: We need a sixth vote.
Commissioner Winton: There are five votes here for that.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Let me tell you.
Commissioner Regalado: Six --
Commissioner Gonzalez: They're talking about --
Commissioner Regalado: -- number six.
Commissioner Gonzalez: They're talking about --
Ms. Rodriguez: There's six.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- six years doing facade. This Commissioner did facades for 15 years
before being a Commissioner, and I go back 15 years ago, when the City ofMiami Planning
Department and Building Department were doing some of the facade procedures, and planning
and sketches, and all of that and, Johnny, it took us, the agency, four months to be able to paint
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one facade. Ever since that was abolished by Frank Castaneda, who was the director of
Community Development back then, every agency has started to produce facades. Let me also
put on the record that the agencies that have always been in first place on the Facade Treatment
Program has been SBOC, Josie Correa Downtown Development Corporation, and Allapattah
Business Development Authority; always hitting over 100 projects a year. Now, going to the
issue of the allocation of monies, Allapattah Business Development, who is in my district, OK, is
also confronting the problem of the cuts of the amount that is being paid to the agencies per
project, and that is not a fault of Barbara Rodriguez; it's not a fault of any of the Commissioners.
It's not a fault of anybody but USHUD (United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development). USHUD has determined that the amount of money that was being paid by project
was completely out of line, and they have determined that they just want to pay 40 percent of the
actual cost of the facade. The same impact that he's getting -- and let me tell you. He's getting
funded $400, 000 to do facade. Allapattah Business Development is getting funded $50, 000 to do
facade, so it's quite a difference between 50,000 and 400, 000. I don't have a problem with that.
I don't have a problem if he gets $500, 000 and Josie gets $1, 000, 000, as long as my agency can
perform the work that they're supposed to perform and keep enhancing the area, I'm all right
with it, all right? But the thing is that it is very unfair to blame the administration for something
that USHUD is sending down to us. It's like blaming the agencies that provide social services
because they cannot provide social services because they are not getting the funding, and the
problem is not the City Commission. The problem is USHUD. USHUD costs $10, 000, 000, and
we don't have $10, 000, 000, we cannot give away $10, 000, 000, so I just want to put on the record
the same directive that have been given to him was given to my agency in Allapattah. They
called me, and I said --
Commissioner Winton: And I just asked my staff to ask Josie --
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- there's nothing I can do.
Commissioner Winton: -- if she was dealing with the same issue, and she says absolutely. She
got the same exact letter --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Exactly.
Commissioner Winton: -- so the three major facade organizations are --
Ms. Rodriguez: And I do --
Mr. Sabines: Where's that letter at?
Commissioner Gonzalez: What I honestly recommend --
Ms. Rodriguez: And I do --
Mr. Sabines: Where's that letter at?
Ms. Rodriguez: -- want to say, Commissioner Winton, that Josie Correa from DMP (Downtown
Miami Partnership) has been working with the administration. They have brought us
consultants that had had this issue with HUD at Miami Beach to help us out. The problem was
that HUD did an audit of all the facades that were turned in from October to now, and we were
paying an average of 120 percent over the benefit of the commercial, and that's where the
problem is.
Commissioner Winton: But I think Commissioner Teele said we don't want to get into the details
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Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Winton: I just made a simple point. Don't want any details. We're going
to --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Winton: Those details we'll deal with on the 8th.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Commissioner Gonzalez: And, you know, and the problem is that --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Mr. Chairman.
Commissioner Gonzalez: And this is a message that I'm going to give you, you know. Ifyou
want to change the rules at our level, you have to go to Congress and sit over there and see if
they want to listen to you, and then maybe, if you're lucky, Congress will listen to you and say,
well, you know, instead of paying you $2, 000 per facade, we're going to pay you $5, 000 per fag
ade, but until we get that done, it's very difficult, and there's nothing actually that we can do.
Thank you.
Mr. Sabines: May I? The last thing --
Chairman Teele: No, no, no.
Mr. Sabines: Please, please, please, please, please. Commissioner Gonzalez, isn't there a
difference between administration and project delivery? Now think about what I'm going to tell
you. A businessowner calls me.
Commissioner Winton: Wait, wait. I thought we were --
Mr. Sabines: He has a broken sign. I can fix the plastic for $700.
Commissioner Winton: Are we going to --
Mr. Sabines: I'm going to get 40 percent of that, right?
Commissioner Winton: Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Sabines: When that guy calls me, I'm going to tell the contractor to tear the sign down and
put a reverse channel letter that costs $5, 000 because I need 40 percent. Once I work for
commission, I'm not a non-profit anymore. I'm a salesperson --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Well, let me tell you.
Mr. Sabines: -- for these people.
Commissioner Gonzalez: I don't expect you to do that because I do respect you a lot. I know
that you --
Mr. Sabines: No, no.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- are a man of integrity.
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Mr. Sabines: I learned from you --
Commissioner Gonzalez: And --
Mr. Sabines: So, you know, if there's somebody that knows what they're -- but I'm telling you
that the 40 percent has nothing to do with the project delivery.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Well --
Chairman Teele: Sir.
Mr. Sabines: Listen, let's clear this up. What are we --
Chairman Teele: Now, wait a minute. Now, you're way out of line now. You have just gone too
far.
Mr. Sabines: No, I haven't.
Chairman Teele: You've gone too far. You have dis -- look. Look around you. Look at all these
people. They are here, patiently, to discuss their item. You've been at the dais for 30 minutes.
We have recognized that you have a legitimate issue.
Mr. Sabines: I do.
Chairman Teele: We've scheduled you. Now please have a seat, and we will discuss your item
fully at that time, butl think it's almost unbelievable that you would go on, and on, and on, and
on.
Mr. Sabines: Of course Igo on and on.
Chairman Teele: Public hearing.
Mr. Sabines: I'm notgoing to steal to keep a job is what I'm trying to tell you. I'm notgoing to
cheat and I'm not going to steal to keep a job. I don't need it that bad. It's your decision. You're
the public officials. You live with it. I don't care, OK? I'm not going to work on a commission
basis because that's illegal. I don't see a letter from HUD saying that. I see a letter from their
department saying it. You want to bring it July the 8th, I'll be back. You want me to go to the
attorney, I'll go to the attorney, butt got a right to stand here and say what say, because I've
worked damned hard for this City.
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much, sir.
Mr. Sabines: You're welcome.
Chairman Teele: Further discussion on the item. Further discussion.
Commissioner Winton: What is that, how to influence friends, or whatever that --
Chairman Teele: You know, the guy walks in here with five people willing to support him on the
merits, andl assume we all will. OK.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Mr. Chairman --
Commissioner Winton: He managed to irritate me.
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Commissioner Gonzalez: -- I'm going to move PH 12.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: No --
Chairman Teele: Public hearing -- the public hearing on this item is closed.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Teele: Discussion on the item. Vice Chairman.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Mr. Chairman, I'm going to be very brief. There's one item I'd just like
to give more clarification on. That's the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. It's creating a
Hispanic Business Initiative Fund. This may be a very fine program and, of course, the idea of
providing loans and technical assistance, we all support here, but let me just state that there are
certain things that I'm not very informed with. Would we -- Barbara, I have a couple of
questions. Are you going to be able to answer it, or is somebody here from that organization?
Ms. Rodriguez: Unfortunately, I believe that the gentleman had another meeting, and he left. I
believe that we sent to your office all of the documents you requested.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Well, the thing is, I didn't see anything in the background material that
outlined the specifics of it, and I just wanted to ask some questions on it because it was an item
that was on my --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- CDBG programs and --
Ms. Rodriguez: If you want, I can bring back that program --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: No, no, no, no. Listen, I just want to know -- would we specific -- what
is specifically going to be the role of the Hispanic of this community, and what is it going to
basically do? The other issue I have is, are you going to have to be a member of the Greater
Miami Chamber of Commerce to participate, because I think that will put a burden on these
small businesses to seek assistance, and the other issue -
Ms. Rodriguez: Commissioner --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- is that on the language, it states that there's something about serving
Monroe County, and I want to make sure that if any money is coming out of my district, you
know, I don't want it to go anywhere -- the Keys.
Commissioner Gonzalez: I join you on that.
Ms. Rodriguez: I could not answer those questions, so if you want, I can -- if you want to pull
that funding, and I will be back and give you all the details of the project.
Commissioner Gonzalez: I think that's what I want to do.
Ms. Rodriguez: I don't have it with --
Chairman Teele: I think that would be a good thing to do.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Yeah.
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Vice Chairman Sanchez: Because it's not only me who's giving 50,000.
Commissioner Gonzalez: No. I'm also --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: There's three -- there are another two Commissioners --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- that are giving 50,000.
Commissioner Regalado: What -- excuse me. I wasn't paying --
Ms. Rodriguez: I would recommend that we pull -- that you do not fund right now the Greater
Miami Chamber of Commerce until I provide you all the details of the program.
Chairman Teele: What we'll do is, we will ask that you reschedule -- we're going to ask that we
have a reschedule of that item on July 8th, and let's fry to deal with all of the Community
Development items.
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: So we've already pulled about four or five items that we've got to have
discussion --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: -- on the 8th.
Commissioner Regalado: But didn't that -- didn't they have some auditing problems?
Ms. Rodriguez: The --
Commissioner Regalado: They lost some money or something like that.
Ms. Rodriguez: Well, this is a new program that we're frying to establish for the City with some
matching funds from the State, but instead of me going through the detail, I think I should give
you something in writing --
Chairman Teele: Right.
Ms. Rodriguez: -- of what they're going to do to make you comfortable of what you're voting on,
so --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: And --
Ms. Rodriguez: -- I will bring back that one on July 8th.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: If you can, can you clarify another thing? Are they the Greater Miami
Chamber of Commerce?
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: OK, and they're going to create a Hispanic Business Initiative Fund?
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Ms. Rodriguez: Correct.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: For --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: OK.
Ms. Rodriguez: That, I can respond; the other, I can't, butt will have it back July 8th.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: OK.
Chairman Teele: All right. Without objection, we'll do the motion that'll modify -- it'll contain
that --
Ms. Rodriguez: With a modification.
Chairman Teele: -- as a modification. Mr. Attorney, we have about two modifications already.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: Further discussion on this item, PH.11? Where's the Budget Director? The --
Commissioner Gonzalez: PH 12.
Commissioner Winton: What are we on? PH.12.
Chairman Teele: I'm sorry, PH 12. PH 12.
Commissioner Regalado: 12.
Chairman Teele: Where's the Budget Director on the report from the Little Haiti Credit Union?
I'm surprised and disappointed that no one is here from the credit union, or spoke on behalf of
the credit union when we have the public hearing.
Ms. Rodriguez: There is a gentle --
Chairman Teele: But -- I mean, the public hearing is closed on that item. I mean, we called for
it, but now we're up to discussion. Mr. Cayard, did you want to say something?
Ringo Cayard: I'd like to speak on behalf of the credit union, if it's possible.
Chairman Teele: Yeah. It's -- we've had a public hearing on it for -- going on 45 minutes.
Mr. Cayard: Oh, because I was yielding the time --
Chairman Teele: Go right ahead.
Mr. Cayard: -- to the other person. I think the credit union in Little Haiti is --
Commissioner Winton: Ringo, your name. Name and address.
Chairman Teele: Ringo, your name and address for the record.
Mr. Cayard: Ringo Cayard, Haitian American Foundation. I could have said Johnny Winton,
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or Arthur Teele, for that matter. I think it's something very good for the community, especially
for the small businesses that the credit union exist in Little Haiti. It took a long time to come
through, and they have seen the problems that every lending institution is facing, so I think the
City has, basically, an obligation to help out a neighborhood credit union. This is the first, and
this is servicing people in an area who have needs, so I'm for the fact that you guys are coming
forward to help them out with, of course, the condition that they have a few years to perform
and, if they don't, you won't give them any money anymore, so I think this is pretty much good
news for our community, because the bottom line, credit union there is creating jobs and also
helping the small business to keep the job that they are providing.
Chairman Teele: All right. Thank you very much, sir.
Marleine Bastien: My name is Marleine Bastien from 8320 Northeast 2nd Avenue. I'm the
Executive Director of FANA4 (Ayisyen Nan Miyami), a CBO (Community Based Organization)
located in the City ofMiami, and that has business with the Little Haiti Credit Union. I really
strongly encourage you to support the credit union. I had my account as a CBO at the Bank of
America. I transferred my account to the Little Haiti Credit Union because I believe, I strongly
believe that it is very important for this community to have its own bank to assist Haitians who
have small businesses and, oftentimes, do not have access anywhere else; oftentimes, they do not
have access anywhere else, so I urge you to continue to support the Little Haiti Credit Union, to
do your best to make it a viable institution in Little Haiti. I thank you.
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much. Yes.
David Harder: My name is David Harder. I'm the chair of the Little Haiti/Edison Federal
Credit Union, and let me just apologize for not coming up during a public comment. I just got
caught up and distracted with the previous conversation, and was not paying attention, so --
Commissioner Winton: So did we.
Mr. Harder: -- that's my fault. I appreciate the work thatHr. Springs has done with us, and
Chairman Teele, your support of our credit union, and we're working very, very hard to build
and strengthen the credit union, and want to continue to work with you. Whatever we can do to
grow, benefits the community, the businesses, and the members -- the individual members of the
credit union. We have approximately 2,000 members right now. We want to develop and
continue to develop a 4-year self-sufficiency plan that would, essentially, more than double our
membership, and more than triple our asset base with the credit union, and we thank you in
advance for your support. Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Thank you. Mr. Spring. Mr. Spring, let me just tell you where I am. I'm going
to defer this item today for the following reasons: First, you were instructed to develop a
memorandum of agreement and a working document with the board of directors of the credit
union. I know that you all have had a number of meetings. I know that the Director of
Technology has worked very hard with you, and I commend you and the management team for
doing that but, to date, we still don't have that agreement. The elements that I'm concerned
about in the agreement is, obviously, the staff programming, strengthening the staff
strengthening the board, and ensuring that all meetings are public meetings, as it relates to the
public. If we're going to put in money, you know, I want to make sure that they -- during this
period of time, or this building of it, that it's done very, very transparently, and so, one of the
conditions is that the annual meeting -- the board meeting shall be done in the public, in the
open, and everybody knows what's going on. I went to a meeting last night, and I got a baptism
of fire about using City monies and meetings are going on behind closed doors, and this, that
and the other, so I am asking -- and I recognize what Mr. Cayard and Ms. Bastien have said, and
I support it, but the goal was for this to be a self-sufficiency plan that, at the end of three years,
four years, that this -- whatever that is, and we need to get that in writing, and that we can all
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agree to it. I think, from my district point of view, the strongest thing that I can do to help 1,000
businesses is get a credit union in the community that's functioning and viable. I'd much rather
support getting a credit union than providing $10, 000 for this facade, and $3, 000 for this
parking lot, and this, this, and this. This is the way, I think, to do it, but I think we need to be
very clear on what it is we're doing, so with the understanding, Mr. Harder, that this item will
come back on July 8th, and your board will have up until that time to get into writing an
agreement with the City on that, so that we all know what we're doing, if that's satisfactory to
you.
Larry Spring: Yes. Larry Spring, Chief of Strategic Planning, Budget and Performance.
Commissioner, I have worked with them very closely. A lot of the items that you are requesting
have been substantially completed, but we will get a formal report with all of those elements
included.
Chairman Teele: Do you have an interlocal -- do you have a memorandum of agreement with
you, on behalf of the Manager or the City, and their board?
Mr. Spring: That would be the final piece. As far as the numbers are concerned, as far as
forecasting and membership plans, board (UNINTELLIGIBLE), all of those items have been
discussed and substantially agreed upon, so I think it's just a matter of finalizing it; getting that
memorandum together, and we can -- we'll be prepared for July 8th, it is.
Chairman Teele: Thank you.
Unidentified Speaker: OK. Thank you.
Chairman Teele: All right. Further discussion. If not, is there a motion on the --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: So move.
Chairman Teele: -- public hearing item, as amended?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: As amended.
Chairman Teele: Mr. Attorney, read into the record --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: -- the amendment.
Commissioner Regalado: 12.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Just for the record, Mr. Chairman, could you state the two items that
we're amending?
Chairman Teele: I'm going to ask the Attorney --
Ms. Rodriguez: There are two items: the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce that we're
bringing back July 8th with the information.
Chairman Teele: One.
Ms. Rodriguez: We're bringing back the Little Haiti Credit Union.
Chairman Teele: Two.
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Ms. Rodriguez: And we're bringing back information as to SBOC contract.
Chairman Teele: Three. Four, the proviso that -- provided that no funds shall be used by any
governmental agency to implement facades without the approval --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: -- of this board --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: -- for --
Commissioner Winton: Shouldn't that be a separate resolution? Probably be safer.
Ms. Rodriguez: Yeah.
Commissioner Winton: You know, if --
Chairman Teele: Well make that --
Commissioner Winton: -- you really want it to stick.
Chairman Teele: -- one a separate resolution.
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: So there's three amendments. Are you --
Ms. Rodriguez: Three amendments and one resolution.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: The maker of the motion accepts all three amendments, and the
resolution will be done separate.
Commissioner Winton: Yes.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Second.
Commissioner Winton: And, Barbara, if you don't mind, I want to talk to you. I don't want to
take up y'alls time, but the commercial facade administrative allocation, I don't understand how
the math works --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Commissioner Winton: -- so I want to meet with you afterwards --
Ms. Rodriguez: Good.
Commissioner Winton: -- and not take up y'all time.
Ms. Rodriguez: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: All right. On the motion, maker and the seconder agree to the amendments.
Yes?
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Vice Chairman Sanchez: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Yes, sir.
Chairman Teele: All those in favor of the item PH.12, as amended, please say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed? On the separate motion relating to the facades by Commissioner
Regalado that no --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Second.
Chairman Teele: -- governmental funds will be used for facade by governmental agencies unless
specifically approved by this board, it's moved and seconded by the Vice Chairman. Is there
objection? All those in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed? Mr. -- Commissioner Regalado, would you also move that the
City Manager and City Attorney work with the County to provide matching funds for the $250,
000 for the 8th Street --
Commissioner Winton: Second.
Chairman Teele: Moved by Commissioner Regalado. Seconded by Commissioner Winton, with
a report to come back within 30 days, or on July 8th, as well, on that item. Is there discussion or
objection? If not, on the motion, all those in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: Those opposed have the same right. That item is unanimously adopted.
PH.13 04-00593 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(
S), AUTHORIZING THE ALLOCATION OF 30TH PROGRAM YEAR
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT FUNDS, IN THE AMOUNT OF
$1,677,768, A CONTRIBUTION FROM COMMISSIONER TOMAS
REGALADO'S CAMPAIGN ACCOUNT, IN THE AMOUNT OF $25,000, TO BE
EVENLY DISTRIBUTED AMONG THE FIVE DISTRICTS, AND
TRANSPORTATION AND TRANSIT SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS, IN THE
AMOUNT OF $300,000, FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $2,002,
768, TO THE AGENCIES SPECIFIED IN "ATTACHMENT A," ATTACHED AND
INCORPORATED, FOR PUBLIC SERVICES ACTIVITIES IN THE 30TH
PROGRAM YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2004; AUTHORIZING THE CITY
MANAGER TO EXECUTE INDIVIDUAL AGREEMENTS, IN SUBSTANTIALLY
THE ATTACHED FORM, WITH EACH AGENCY, FOR SAID PURPOSE.
04-00593-cover memo.pdf
04-00593-notice of correction.pdf
04-00593-public notice.pdf
04-00593-exhibit 1-policy attachment.pdf
04-00593-exhibit 2-agreement.pdf
04-00593-exhibit 3-recommended agencies.pdf
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Motion by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Winton, that this matter
be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton and Teele
Absent: 2 - Commissioner Sanchez and Regalado
R-04-0379
Direction to the City Manager by Chairman Teele to inquire how much funding the County has
set aside for the Neighborhood Center in Little Haiti in the County's Bond issue and report back
to the Commission at the July 8, 2004 Commission Meeting.
Direction to the Adminisfration by Chairman Teele to meet with Ms. Marcia Toussaint from
ADGAM, Inc., to discuss the evaluation of her organization's Request For Proposals (RFP) for
solicitation of public service funding and reschedule her organization to come before the
Commission at the July 8, 2004 Commission Meeting with any adjustments or recommendationss
that may be made.
Direction to the Adminisfration by Chairman Teele to readvertise the economic development
program for the July 8, 2004 Commission Meeting and work with FAMN AYISYEN NAN
MIYAMI, INC. to see if additional funding can be obtained for its economic development
program and further requesting that the administration meet with the County to see how they are
assessing the FAMNAYISYENNANMIYAMI, INC. program.
Direction to the Adminisfration by Chairman Teele to place a discussion item on the July 8, 2004
Commission Meeting related to elderly programs that received funding from the Mayor's Poverty
Initiative.
Direction to the City Manager by Commissioner Gonzalez to look into ways of how the City can
alleviate the situation of lack of funding for elderly feeding programs.
Chairman Teele: Ladies and gentlemen, Item 13. Start lining up. Go right ahead. Those
persons who want to speak will be limited to two minutes.
Barbara Rodriguez (Director, Community Development): PH (public hearing) --
Chairman Teele: Before anybody speaks, what we want are those people who are in opposition
or asking for a change. Anybody who wants to say "thank you," we'll let you speak, and we
want to hear anybody that wants to say "thank you," but you'll speak last, OK? You want to go
right ahead?
Ms. Rodriguez: OK PH 13 is the recommendation for the public service category, and we have
three funding in this category. We have 1,677,768 of CDBG (Community Development Block
Grant). We have the $25, 000, which was from Commissioner Regalado's campaign account,
which was distributed at 5, 000 per district, and $300, 000 from transportation is also included in
this funding.
Commissioner Gonzalez: How much is transportation?
Ms. Rodriguez: 300, 000, and it's a public hearing.
Chairman Teele: All right. This is a public hearing. Any person desiring to be heard should
come forth on PH 13, public services category. Yes, sir.
Fernando Colon: Hello. Good morning, everybody, Commissioners. My name is Fernando
Colon, Director atASPIRA Florida. We're located at 3650 North Miami Avenue. We submitted
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funding for 75, 000 for youth leadership programming to go on in the Wynwood, Overtown,
Liberty City. We asked for 75; we were awarded 10,000. That will not even hire a full-time staff
in order to work with the youth. We programmed ourselves to work with youth from 12 to 21
years of age. The need is there. We can barely do nothing with $10, 000. We could only work
with five clients with that amount. In the area right now, we have over 300 youth that need the
services in that area; prevention, leadership development, resources in the community. Right
now, we're just asking that they amend and they change those figures a little bit so that we're
able to at least hire one full-time staff to work with at least 50 clients within the Wynwood,
Overtown, and Liberty City. Thank you.
Chairman Teele: All right. Commissioner Winton made the allocation. All right. Next person.
Ringo Cayard: Ringo Cayard, Haitian American Foundation, 5080 Biscayne Boulevard. I'd
like to congratulate Ms. Rodriguez for the work that she's been doing, butt would also be even
more gratified if the 35,000 recommended to us could have been addressed to -- as you know, we
spoke some weeks ago and the City needed some money, and for the City not to lose the money, I
was willing to work with your office to give back almost $12, 000, which was reallocated to some
other agencies. We put two applications to your department in the amount of $70, 000 each, and
we're getting a little bit less than half of that. I don't think it's right. I don't think that's going to
help us out, due to the fact that even though we give you back 12, 000 from 56,000, we have -- we
will be operating on 44,000, and for the past 13 years, we've been getting the grants from you,
we've never been as low as 35,000, and you know, Barbara, there is nothing we could really do
with $35, 000, especially servicing so many people. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) service over 6,000
people yearly, and we have another program servicing an additional 6,000 elderlies throughout
the County.
Chairman Teele: Ringo, you know -- OK. What are you asking for?
Mr. Cayard: I'm asking for an increase of the 35 to 45, to add 10,000.
Chairman Teele: You're asking for an additional $10, 000.
Mr. Cayard: That is correct, yes.
Chairman Teele: OK. Thank you very much.
Mr. Cayard: I also would like to tell the City Commissioners that there is a bond coming up that
Dade County is putting out -- Miami -Dade County. It's a $2, 300, 000, 000 bond issue. I think the
City should take the lead, not only supporting that bond, but also ask for certain items to be
included for the Haitian community, which happen to be one of the largest block of blacks living
in Florida -- in the City ofMiami. I think there is money allocated to do some -- a neighborhood
center. We -- here, the City should put a little pressure on the Commissioners and the Mayors,
or send somebody to have that included. The area where they're going to build a park could be
having some kind of lift if they put that money into it, because we'd end up paying the taxes
anyway, so all that money would be paid back by our community.
Chairman Teele: All right. Madam Manager, do you know how much money the County has put
in for the neighborhood center for Little Haiti in the bond issue? Would you check that out,
because we do have a resolution, I think, endorsing that and asking that the Manager is directed
to seek those funds and, candidly, I forgot. I'm appreciative that you brought --
Commissioner Winton: I don't remember that, though, by the way.
Chairman Teele: Which one?
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Commissioner Winton: I mean, you may -- the resolution -- you may be right, but I don't
remember so --
Chairman Teele: When we did the Little Haiti Park, there were two components that were built
into that that were a part of the overall study that we identified specifically -- she can't hear you
-- that we identified specifically that required County funding; one was the library, and the other
was the neighborhood center, you know, like the Culmer Center or --
Commissioner Winton: Yeah, right.
Chairman Teele: -- you've got one.
Commissioner Winton: Right.
Chairman Teele: And the one in Little Haiti is woefully, woefully, woefully inadequate.
Commissioner Winton: I just didn't remember --
Chairman Teele: Yeah.
Commissioner Winton: -- us doing it, and wanted to make sure we focus on it.
Chairman Teele: And, in fact, the County Assistant Manager sat in on all of those meetings and
participated. His office participated, and they endorsed it -- or they say they're -- they recognize
the need, so we do need to go back and look at that, Madam Manager. Could we get a report on
that on July 8th, as well?
Linda Haskins (Deputy City Manager/Chief Financial Officer): Yes, sir.
Mr. Cayard: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Thank you. Madam Director, I'm going to be looking at Embrace Girl Power!
for 7,000, and JESCA (James E. Scott Community Association) for 3,000. Those are two newly
funded activities that were not funded last year. That is minus, minus -- minus seven, minus
three.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Mario Echevarria: Good morning, Mr. Chairman. My apologies. I didn't have an agenda
before and that's the reason I was jumping in. My name is Mario Echevarria. I live in 399
Golden Beach Drive, Golden Beach, Florida, and I'm a member of the Lions of South Florida,
and we are really work on behalf of the blind community. Then -- and today, I'm here to talk on
behalf of the Lion's Home for the Blind, and the situation with the home is the following: Last
year, the allocation from the City went down from 60 to $20, 000. We trimmed the cost or the
expenses of the home. We got the employees without health insurance. We eliminated some of
the teachers, or people that daycare, and even so, we ate the reserve that the home had for years.
Now, this year, I received this communication that we -- or the City was coming down from 80
last year to 20, to $5, 000 this year. Really, I don't believe that we can survive with this $5, 000. I
did my best, and I promised to the blind community, the blind clients that we serve, that -- I said
last year that over my dead body, the facility was going to be closed, but now I believe that with
$5, 000, we cannot survive. Then I'm here just to ask you and the Commissioners that we would
like to receive at least the same $20, 000 that we received last year.
Chairman Teele: What district is this being funded from, Madam Director?
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Ms. Rodriguez: 3, 3.
Chairman Teele: All right. OK. Thank you very much, sir.
Mr. Echevarria: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Good morning.
Marcia Toussaint: Good morning. I am Marcia Toussaint and I'm representing ADGAM, 3050
Biscayne Boulevard, and I'm here -- or I'm commenting on the letter received on the 9th, which
informed us that we were not recommended for funding. I wanted to review the assessment and
the instruments used to evaluate the proposal and requested that, butt had not received it as of
yet so, unfortunately, I'm not able to speak on which areas we were lacking, or we felt were
unfair in the evaluation of our proposal. We are here this morning asking for consideration --
reconsideration because we're not sure whether it was a fair assessment or not. The plan --
excuse me -- the plan identified critical areas that we'll be contributing to the improvement of the
quality of life for the residents in Miami -Dade County, and ADGAMhas been doing that for the
last four years, and we want to continue on in doing that kind of activity, so that's --
Chairman Teele: Have you -- are you currently receiving funds from the City?
Ms. Toussaint: We are not currently receiving funding.
Chairman Teele: All right. Let me do this: You said you don't have all the information.
Ms. Toussaint: No, I don't.
Chairman Teele: Obviously, we don't get any of that information. What we'll do is invite Ms.
Rodriguez and her staff to meet with you, and we will reschedule this -- your -- we'll reschedule
your organization on July 8th to come before us with any adjustments or recommendations Ms.
Rodriguez might like to make at that time. Is that satisfactory to you?
Ms. Toussaint: It is. I appreciate -- if you don't mind, can I approach to retrieve the letter?
Chairman Teele: Yes, ma'am. It's sort of a form letter that they put out at the last minute to tell
you to meet the requirements of notification, OK. Thank you very much for being here.
Elsa Hernandez: Good morning. My name is Elsa Hernandez, and I'm the new program
administrator for Catholic Charities Centro Hispano Childcare Center. We --
Chairman Teele: Which district is this funding through?
Ms. Hernandez: Disfrict 2.
Ms. Rodriguez: 3. 3.
Ms. Hernandez: 3?
Ms. Rodriguez: No. District 2.
Ms. Hernandez: Disfrict 2.
Commissioner Winton: Well, I don't have any money anyway. Mine goes down every year.
Ms. Hernandez: Well, the reason I was here today was to ask if it would be possible to be fully
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funded for the project. We have a brand new building under new administration. We are
currently serving 90 children more than we did last year.
Chairman Teele: Where is that new building?
Ms. Hernandez: It's 125th Street and Northwest 25th Street. A hundred and twenty --125 --
Chairman Teele: That's Miami Shores.
Ms. Hernandez: No. 125 Northwest 25th Street, in Wynwood.
Chairman Teele: Oh, in Wynwood.
Ms. Hernandez: Right. We --
Commissioner Winton: OK. Now, you've got me totally confused. Because you said --
Chairman Teele: 125th Street?
Commissioner Winton: -- 125th Street, so where are you now?
Ms. Hernandez: I'm sorry. It's 125 Northwest 25th Street.
Commissioner Winton: Got it.
Ms. Hernandez: So, 25th, between 1st and 2nd.
Chairman Teele: Northwest or northeast?
Ms. Hernandez: Northwest. Before, we were in trailers, and we've just opened up a brand new
building. Yes. New administration. We're serving approximately 90 more children than we did
last year. The reason that I had requested this funding was specifically to help the children that
-- and the families that do not meet Head Start and child development services. Many of those
children fall between the cracks either because of the age of the child, the income that the child
makes, or the work status, and this money is specifically to give full scholarship -- full, year-
round scholarships, 11 hours of childcare per day, and that's why we are here respectfully
requesting additional funding.
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much for coming.
Ms. Hernandez: Thank you.
Commissioner Winton: And could I -- I'd like to respond to you, just so you understand. District
2 public service dollars last year -- in the two -- last year and year before last, District 2 public
service dollars had been decreased by 61 percent. This year, we're down almost another 10. It
looks to me like, you know, eight to nine percent, so District 2, in public service dollars over
three years, is down by 70 percent, so I'm almost running out of money to even talking about
giving out period, never mind how to reallocate it. I mean, it's just -- it's awful, and so --
Ms. Hernandez: Let me thank you for what you did offer.
Commissioner Winton: And I think y'all are doing a great job, and I wish I had a heck of a lot
more money to fully fund y'all but --
Ms. Hernandez: OK. Thank you very much.
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Chairman Teele: Thank you for being here.
Commissioner Winton: It's a bad experience here.
Chairman Teele: We'll sit down and work with you. Yes, ma'am.
Cynthia Blanc: Good morning, again. My name is Cynthia Blanc from the Haitian Awareness
and Cultural Foundation. I am the executive director, and I'm here respectfully requesting that
we be considered for 30th Year CDBG public service funds. We are currently being funded by
the 20th Year CDBG funds. Barbara's office has been extremely helpful in helping us process
our application and meeting all the requirements, but we were not recommended for the 30th
Year CDBG, so I'm respectfully, again, requesting, Mr. Chairman, if we could have a meeting
with your office and Barbara's office to reconsider our application so that we can continue
providing youth enrichment activities, after school programs and summer camp programs for
youth in Little Haiti.
Chairman Teele: All right. Ms. Rodriguez.
Ms. Rodriguez: We will.
Ms. Blanc: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much.
Marliene Bastien: Good morning, Mr. Chair, Commissioners. I'm here today with some of our
after school students -- kids -- mainly to thank you for your support over the years to help FANM
(Ayisyen Nan Miyami) build a first quality program visited by people from China, Italy and all
over the world. FANM, because of your support, and because of the vision and leadership of our
Chairman, Mr. Arthur Teele, has become probably the most visited CBO (Community Based
Organization) in Miami, and I'm here mainly with them today to thank you for your support. The
reason why FANM is so successful is because, over the years, we've been able to combine
services with sfrong advocacy. This is unique in the City ofMiami, and that's why we are able to
attract so many visitors. This year we applied for the support service -- that was for to support
our social service program. We provide services for aftercare for the kids, domestic violence
intervention counseling, mental health services. We also provide sfrong advocacy to our
immigration services, as you know, and we also have an economic development program that
was not funded. While I'm here mainly to thank you, I hope that you will eventually consider
funding our economic development program because that's what makes FANM so good and so
unique in the City ofMiami, because we are able to combine the social service that stabilizes
family, help them sustain themselves, and help them help the children. We are able to provide
strong advocacy to help Haitian refugees become U.S. citizens, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in the
political process, and we help families who are unemployed and unable to find jobs to develop
small businesses. We hope that you will -- as you supported the support service -- the social
service program over the years, that you will eventually also support our economic development.
Again, I thank you for your support, and I think the kids also from our after school have
something to say to you, too. What do you say?
Children (Collectively): Thank you, Commissioners.
(APPLAUSE)
Chairman Teele: Madam Director, even though she appeared to thank me, she was basically
saying that she didn't get funded in the economic development area.
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Commissioner Winton: Yeah, I heard that.
Chairman Teele: So, how much -- and this is a request for an appeal -- how much funding are
they getting for their economic development program from other agencies now?
Ms. Bastien: Other agencies for --
Chairman Teele: For economic -- Are you getting any money from the County?
Ms. Bastien: Yes, 75,000.
Chairman Teele: How much?
Ms. Bastien: 75,000.
Chairman Teele: For economic development?
Ms. Bastien: Yes, and if we get at least 50,000, we will be able to assist all of the women who
are on waiting lists. What we're doing here is that we take women who are unemployed, unable
to find jobs, we provide them with technical assistance and we put them in business. This is a
program that has been written about. FANM is a nationally awarded organization because of
our programs, because of our programs.
Chairman Teele: You were recently named Woman of the Year for who?
Ms. Bastien: Woman of the Year --
Chairman Teele: For what maga -- who?
Ms. Bastien: Miss Magazine.
Chairman Teele: Miss Magazine.
Ms. Bastien: And we also received the National Leadership Award for the work that we're doing
at FANM because of your support, so we hope that with your support -- no, with your support --
if you fund this economic development program, I mean, combined with all we're doing, just
imagine. Just imagine.
Chairman Teele: All right. What we would like to do is, we will advertise, again, on July 8th,
the economic development program for public hearing --
Ms. Rodriguez: We will work with --
Chairman Teele: And you all work and see -- and I'm willing to de -obligate, or to take money
from somebody that's underperforming, to see if we can work -- butl think you need to meet with
the County and see how the County is assessing their program, and we need to have a record --
Ms. Rodriguez: We will.
Chairman Teele: -- as to what the County is doing.
Ms. Bastien: Yes. We have a --
Ms. Rodriguez: We will work with them and come back and --
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Ms. Bastien. We have a strong background. The Miami Herald has written about our program,
our economic development program, our social service program, so we're doing great.
Chairman Teele: OK.
Ms. Bastien: And we hope to count on your continued leadership and support.
Chairman Teele: Thank you again, ma'am. Welcome.
Elaine Black: Good morning. My name is Elaine Black. I'm Executive Director of Tools for
Change, the Black Economic Development Coalition, Inc., and on behalf of our board of
directors, I'd like to thank you for your support. Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much.
Commissioner Winton: Thank you, Elaine.
Chairman Teele: You don't hear that enough.
Althea Jackson: Good morning. My name is Althea Jackson. I'm the senior administrator for
the elderly program at the James E. Scott Community Association. I just came up this morning
to thank you and thank the staff for your -- our -- your recommendations and for all the support
you have given to our seniors. Thank you very much.
Chairman Teele: Can you -- let me -- can -- let me ask you this. You were not funded last year.
Ms. Jackson: No, sir.
Chairman Teele: Where -- you were not funding this way. Now, you've --
Ms. Jackson: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- got funding on that secondary --
Ms. Jackson: This -- the Mayor Initiative.
Chairman Teele: -- on the secondary funding from --
Ms. Rodriguez: The Mayor's Initiative.
Chairman Teele: Where did the money come from? Where did the money come from?
Ms. Rodriguez: From his poverty initiative. From the poverty initiative.
Chairman Teele: I thought there was a supplemental -- some federal monies came down for hov
-- food. OK, fine. Is that initiative going to be funding this year?
Ms. Rodriguez: No.
Chairman Teele: OK. Can you live with a $3, 000 cut of what we've recommended, please? In
other words, instead of 50, 47,000.
Ms. Jackson: If you'll consider us when there's -- some additional funds become available.
Chairman Teele: OK.
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Commissioner Regalado: That's fair.
Chairman Teele: So that was the $3,000, and I think we said we'd take the 7,000 from Embrace
Girl Power!.
Ms. Rodriguez: And she's coming next.
Chairman Teele: And she's coming up, so thank you very much.
Ms. Jackson: Thank you.
Velma Lawrence: Good morning. My name is Velma Lawrence and I'm the Executive Director
for the Embrace Girl Power! after school programs and camps. We are a program that's been in
business now for three years, operating primarily via funding from the Governor's Mentoring
Initiative and funding from Miami -Dade County sources. This is our first experience with the
City ofMiami, and when we entered into a serious funding slump, we found our way to
Commissioner Teele, and he sat and he listened to our program and all of the issues that we
were having that were immediate to us, and pledged to assist us, and so we are funded this year
for a first time, and I'm up here to basically say, Barbara Rodriguez, and Chairman Teele, and
all of your Commission staff and personnel, thank you so very much for the funding we have
received. Thank you so much for the technical support. I know you don't hear that enough, and
I think that people need to know that you guys are working diligently. The calls are being
returned; the services are being provided by your office. Barbara, thank you. I just have to say
that because I know I am very anal about my program, and I'm very passionate, and I can get on
your last nerve, but I appreciate all of the support that this -- City ofMiami has given this
program. We serve at -risk girls who reside in the inner-city communities ofMiami-Dade
County, and we are, too, doing a very fabulous job with little girls in that we're making them
very, very beautiful young women, socially, academically and all around, so thank you so much
for your continued support and your commitment to this program, and that's really all I wanted
to say.
Chairman Teele: Ms. Lawrence --
Ms. Lawrence: Yes, I'm sorry.
Chairman Teele: -- two quick things: Number one, you do -- I realize that you're a Countywide
program, but you do realize that our funds restrict you to servicing primarily children from the
City, or children in our Parks program, so they could come from somewhere else, but those
services would have to be --
Ms. Lawrence: That is correct, and we currently have a waiting list of about 160 girls from the
City.
Chairman Teele: And I also want to commend you for using the Overtown Youth Center --
Ms. Lawrence: Absolutely.
Chairman Teele: -- and the Hadley Park facility as venues, and we commend you. Now,
previously, when we were frying to make an adjustment for the Haitian Foundation, since you
weren't here -- at least, I thought you weren't here -- I had indicated that we would withdraw $7,
000from your program for the next coming year, that's the FY (fiscal year) -- the program that's
coming up in September, not the one that you have received the adjustment for. Can you live
with that $7,000 cut, now that you're here?
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Ms. Lawrence: I cannot live with it, but I think that we all should support each other, so if it is
going to assist another agency, we would just work diligently and try to recoup it from another
area.
Chairman Teele: OK, so why don't we just -- thank you for that -- why don't we just reduce that
then from 7,000 to 3,000, and then find somebody that's not here and take the 4,000? OK.
Commissioner Winton: Oh, my -- oh, no, don't say that. They'll all come.
Chairman Teele: No. I'm --
Commissioner Winton: They'll all come.
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much.
Ms. Lawrence: Thank you very much again.
Sabrina Baker-Bouie: Good morning. I'm glad I'm here. Sabrina Baker-Bouie from the
Belafonte Tacolcy Center, 6161 Northwest 9th Avenue, and I'm really here to say "thank you."
We have received funding for the first time, and we're planning to see how we can match it with
some of our existing dollars to expand our aftercare program, so thank you for the support.
Chairman Teele: Thank you.
Helena Del Monte: Helena Del Monte, Executive Director, Association for the Development of
the Exceptional. Mr. Chair and all the Honorable Commission, I'm here to say a big and loud "
thank you" for making one ofyour priorities assisting and serving, and awarding dollars for the
very needed population, which are persons with developmental disabilities. I always say that it
is up to the strong in society to look out for those that are less strong, and today you have all
shown monumental strength in making persons with developmental disabilities one ofyour
priorities, and now I'd like to address Madam Chair and all of the Community Development staff
. It was a welcomed sophisticated change from the RFP (Request for Proposals), to the bidders'
conference. Really, I commend the department. It was the first year that the RFP was available
through Internet. We had multiple bidders' conferences and, honestly, it was a very, very
difficult year, and I think that it turned out that you were miracle workers, and you were
extremely fair, and it has to be said and it has to be commended, so thank you.
Commissioner Gonzalez: That's good.
Ms. Rodriguez: Thank you, Helena.
Jacquelyn Knowles: Good morning. We've got five more minutes for this morning. My name is
Jackie Knowles. I am the Executive Director for Regis House. We are located at 2010
Northwest 7th Street, in District 3. I am also here to say "thank you." This is the third year that
we will receive City ofMiami funding for our after school program at Citrus Grove Elementary,
and we are very happy and grateful, and excited about being able to double the slots with the
City award and I'm here, so I hope it's not going to be taken away, so we're just very excited and
very grateful. Unfortunately, Commissioner Sanchez isn't here to hear this, but I will personally
thank him. He's been a very strong supporter of our programs in District 3. Thank you very
much.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Thank you.
Miriam Urra: Good afternoon. My name is Miriam Urra, Allapattah Community Action, 2257
Northwest North River Drive. Commissioners, I'm here to thank you all for the wonderful work
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that you're doing for the needy people, the needy residents of the City ofMiami, including my
area, Allapattah, and I'm very glad to be here in front of all of you, and I'd like to say that for
many, many years back, I have seen Commissioners working strongly to better this community,
butl think, at this present time, we have a strong leadership in the City ofMiami, and I'd like to
acknowledge that in front of everybody here, and thank you for your support. Thank you.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Thank you so much. If there are people in the community that have never been
to the Orlando Urra Center, what's located -- where is it, Angel?
Commissioner Gonzalez: 2259 Northwest North River Drive.
Chairman Teele: 2259 --
Commissioner Gonzalez: 5-7, I'm sorry.
Chairman Teele: 2257 North River Drive, especially the JESCA people, I would welcome, if
anybody from District 5 would go over there, because that is a model program in providing
services to elderly, to you, and to the community, and we really appreciate what you're doing,
and we appreciate the legacy of your late husband.
Ms. Urra: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Thank you.
Cristina Penedo: Good morning. My name is Cristina Penedo, and I'm representing Southwest
Social Services Program. We provide services in the Flagami area at Armando Badia Senior
Center, and I just want to take this opportunity to thank the Commissioner for -- the Commission
for being so helpful with the needs of the elderly in the Flagami area, and I also want to
commend the staff of Community Development. They really were very helpful this year with the
transition from the reimbursement process into the client unit service process. It was a little bit
difficult at first, but now that everything is in place -- thanks to their help -- everything is running
very smoothly. Thank you.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Thank you so much.
Lourdes Santos: Good morning. My name is Lourdes Santos. I'm with Catholic Charities
Elderly Services. This year, we have two centers that we applied for. The GESU center, located
downtown, and the Claude Pepper Towers, located in Allapattah. Last year, we were able to
successfully --
Chairman Teele: What's the address of the Claude Pepper?
Ms. Santos: The Claude Pepper is 750 Northwest 18th Terrace.
Commissioner Gonzalez: The Claude Pepper Center, Mr. Chairman, serves residents of your
area --
Chairman Teele: Right.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- and my area. Something -- it's a center that we share.
Unfortunately, they're being cut --
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Ms. Santos: Well --
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- very seriously.
Ms. Santos: OK. This year, the GESU site, located downtown, where we serve over 30 elderly
was not recommended for funding. The Claude Pepper went -- last year, as I said, there was
ninety-two thousand some dollars. We were recommended for $6, 000.
Chairman Teele: How much did you get last year?
Commissioner Gonzalez: 97.
Ms. Santos: For both centers, it was 92,350, OK. Now, there's a little bit of history behind the
Claude Pepper Tower. March, last year, we were asked by the City ofMiami to step in and take
it over after three agencies left; let's put it that way, OK.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Ms. Santos: When we came in, we were able to get things going. We have -- all clients are
cooperating. Everything is very smooth, OK, and now -- last year, again, we were not
recommended. We got money through the Mayor's Poverty Initiative, and now, this year, we find
ourselves, again, in the same situation so, basically, I'm asking you all, please, for your help to
try to save these two centers.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Barbara.
Chairman Teele: How many people do you serve at the Claude Pepper?
Ms. Santos: Claude Pepper, I believe there is 62 registered right now. On a daily basis, we
serve 45 meals.
Chairman Teele: See, this supplemental funding last year just creates a problem for the current
year. Madam Manager, do we have any rabbits in a hat that we can pull out to help the elderly?
How much money did we net on that initiative -- that Poverty Initiative last year?
Ms. Rodriguez: 300, 000. That's what they gave us to use for the elderly program.
Ms. Haskins: Those were originally funds that were awarded out of fund balance for special
initiatives. We can look to see if -- is there -- what are the balances in any of these funds to see
what there might be.
Chairman Teele: I don't know where we are on the budget, per se, but I, for one, will support
something in the fiscal year coming budget, assuming we can make the ends meet, balance the
budget, to do something for these elderlies that we started -- we get them started, see. I have a
very strong position that I had when I got elected, that I wasn't going to start funding elderly.
Today, for the first time, I'm funding elderly in District 5 because the Mayor's Initiative fund it,
see, but I've never funded it because once you start, how do you stop funding people for food? I
mean, you know, nobody's cold enough to say I'm not going to give you money anymore, if
you've got it, and that has to take priority over everything else, so I think the Catholic Charities
and all of these people that had that -- we need to, perhaps, put that on the agenda for the July
the 8th, as a discussion, but recognizing there will be no money available, but what we'll be
trying to deal with is a policy to see how we can get our hands on it, so we'll put it on the agenda
as a public hearing for those agencies that received the funding from the Mayor's Initiative.
There will be no money on July 8th, but we will try to get an understanding of where the
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organizations are so that we don't just walk away cold turkey, if that's fair to you, Commissioner
Winton and Commissioner Gonzalez?
Commissioner Winton: And I'd like to repeat to you -- because you kept looking at me about
GESU, and I don't know if you were listening or not but, in District 2, social services funding has
been cut -- in District 2 in three years -- 70 percent.
Ms. Santos: I'm aware of your -- the district has been hit.
Commissioner Winton: 70 is mind -boggling, and so --
Commissioner Gonzalez: I'm being told that the -- that there may be some money coming down
from Washington, from USHUD, for meals.
Commissioner Winton: Great.
Commissioner Gonzalez: It's a possibility. If that is true, then we'll have a solution to -- because
it's nothing worse than taking away food from people. I mean, you know --
Chairman Teele: Once you start feeding them.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- you're not talking about shoes. You're not talking about clothes,
and you're not talking about -- you're talking about food.
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Feeding people, you know, and Madam Manager, I would appreciate
it, same as my colleague, Chairman Teele, that we start looking somewhere to see if at least, we
can alleviate the situation meanwhile until something is definite because, you know, what are we
going to tell these 45 elderlies? We're not going to feed you. Go out on the street and, you know
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: And, especially, once people change their lifestyle, they make that adjustment -
Commissioner Gonzalez: And on top of that --
Chairman Teele: -- and now they're expecting it. It's one thing when you don't do it --
Commissioner Gonzalez: And on top of that, let me tell you. Let me tell you --
Commissioner Winton: Right.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- add something to it, to the problem. A lot of these people in this
particular building, they're handicapped.
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Commissioner Gonzalez: They're in wheelchairs.
Ms. Santos: The majority cannot cook, literally.
Commissioner Gonzalez: OK
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Commissioner Winton: Wow.
Commissioner Gonzalez: So they can't even go and do part-time in a grocery store bagging
groceries.
Ms. Santos: And they don't even have -- like the Claude Pepper Center and GESU, I mean,
there's no Winn Dixies near --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Exactly.
Chairman Teele: Yeah.
Commissioner Winton: There's nothing.
Ms. Santos: -- grocery stores. You know, there's other areas in Allapattah where you can walk
three blocks, and there's a grocery store.
Chairman Teele: Yeah, yeah.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Right.
Ms. Santos: Not here, so it makes their situation even worse.
Chairman Teele: We want to work --
Ms. Santos: And three times they've been through this already.
Chairman Teele: We want to work with --
Ms. Santos: That makes me feel even worse, you know.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Right.
Commissioner Winton: Well --
Ms. Santos: Thank you all, really.
Chairman Teele: The pub -- Is there any --
Commissioner Winton: Barbara, I want to make a point about that. The Boys & Girls Club's
recommended for $10, 000. They got nothing last year. I know what $10, 000 does to -- adding
to the program after getting nothing last year, and I want to move that $10, 000 to this program.
Chairman Teele: The one downtown.
Ms. Rodriguez: GESU or Claude Pepper?
Commissioner Winton: Yes.
Ms. Rodriguez: GESU?
Commissioner Winton: For GESU.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Thank you, Johnny.
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Chairman Teele: Thank you.
Ms. Santos: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Thank you, Commissioner Winton. All right. The public hearing is closed.
Again, this food thing is serious. What we're recommending, Madam Director, Madam Manager
is --
Ms. Rodriguez: Let me tell you that -- the amendments. We're going to be defunding $3, 000
from JESCA; $3, 000 from --
Chairman Teele: Don't say "defund"; transferring.
Ms. Rodriguez: OK -- transfer from Embrace Foundation; funding an additional $6, 000 to the
Haitian American Foundation; transferring $10, 000 from Boys & Girls Club to GESU -- to
Catholic Charity GESU, elderly feeding, and that's what I have up to now.
Chairman Teele: All right. The public hearing is closed. Is there a motion on --
Commissioner Gonzalez: I move PH 13, as amended.
Chairman Teele: Is -- Commissioner Winton, will you second it, as amended?
Commissioner Winton: Yes. I'm sorry. Second.
Chairman Teele: All right. We also agreed to place several items on the agenda for July 8th.
Ms. Rodriguez: From this -- from public service, I have the -- one ofJuly 8th, ADGAM, and we
will meet with FANM to go over the economic development.
Chairman Teele: No. We asked that that be put on the July 8th agenda, as well.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right, so those are the two that I have for July 8th.
Chairman Teele: I thought it was a third. All right.
Commissioner Gonzalez: All right.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): Commissioner.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Thompson: According to my notes, you talked about looking at money for the elderly
through the Mayor's Initiative. I think that was the last one you just discussed.
Chairman Teele: The last one -- that was the one that we would take --
Ms. Rodriguez: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
Chairman Teele: -- all of those agencies that received money from the poverty initiative --
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
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Chairman Teele: -- and we would schedule those also as a public hearing item, but we're not
going to be giving out money. We're just going to be trying to look at how we can, you know,
deal with the issues that we all are wrestling with here. OK, as amended, we have a motion. We
have a second. All those in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All those opposed have the same right. The item is adopted unanimously by a
vote of 3/0. Now, what other items do we have that are --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Mr. Chairman, I will appreciate if we could take up Item PH 1, 2 and
3, which is related to a housing project, elderly housing project in Allapattah.
Chairman Teele: PH what?
Commissioner Gonzalez: PH 1, 2 and 3.
Ms. Rodriguez: Before you continue, I do want to say thank you to all of you. It's been --
Chairman Teele: No, no, no. Hold it, hold it, hold it.
Ms. Rodriguez: I'm done. CD (Community Development) --
Chairman Teele: Before you do, I think Commissioner Winton was going to make a statement --
Commissioner Winton: Well --
Chairman Teele: -- and --
Commissioner Winton: It was really a question, because I didn't understand it.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner, they need you on that mike. They're going crazy.
Commissioner Winton: Well, I'm in the corner, so switch the mikes, but I'm not talking to you,
you know. I'm talking to my colleagues over here. I was just -- because I didn't under -- I don't
understand. Last year, year before last, year before that, this has been the most acrimonious
meeting I've come to all year. What happened? We have less money again this year. We had
less money three years in a row. What happened?
Ms. Rodriguez: I think we're frying to make sure that we work with everybody, and it's --
Commissioner Winton: Communication; is that it?
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes.
Commissioner Winton: And what a difference communication makes, when everybody knows
what's really going on, when it's transparent, it's crystal clear. We all know the rules. The rules
are the same. You can see it all, and it says a lot about you, and it says a lot about the agencies.
They do get it. They've never been the bad guys. We've probably been the bad guy for so many
years, and you've turned that around, so thank you and thank you to the agencies.
Ms. Rodriguez: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
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Ms. Rodriguez: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: So well-spoken, Commissioner Winton. You're saying it for all of us, and the
one issue that we're dealing with -- that we had the problem with is obviously some lack of
communication, and we're going to deal with that, but I just want to say, again, to the Manager,
that Community Development has not always gotten it right. They have got it right. They are
committed. They are communicating. We don't always agree with their decisions. We're going
to look at some appeals and all of that, but that's a part of what the process is, and I really would
appreciate the continued support for that agency because they are really doing a great job, and
we appreciate it very much.
Ms. Haskins: Thank you, and it's --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Barbara, I also want to commend you --
Ms. Haskins: -- Barbara and -- Barbara's leadership and her entire staff. They have worked
day and night, and we can't say enough about the efforts that they put forward under Barbara's
leadership.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner Gonzalez.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Yes. Barbara, I also want to commend you because, you know, they've
been here for years, as Commissioners, but I've been to these meetings as an activist, as a CBO
Executive Director, and I have -- I know what this meeting has been all about in the past, and let
me tell you. You know, we have to commend you. The way that you have conducted business
with Community Development, and it was proven today, and the people that spoke, everybody
understood the situation. Everybody was pleased with your performance and your staff
performance, and that deserves a big commendation from this government.
Commissioner Winton: Everybody minus one.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Yes, sir. You're right.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Commissioner Gonzalez: So congratulations.
Ms. Rodriguez: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: All right. We have the Snell matter, also, Barbara, so don't -- Barbara.
Ms. Rodriguez: Yes, yes.
Chairman Teele: Don't get lost. We're going to take up PH1. PH2 requires a four fifths vote.
Well take up PH 1. We'll take up the Howard Snell matter, and then we will break for the
morning.
PH.14 04-00373 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE
CONVEYANCE OF VACANT CITY -OWNED REAL PROPERTY LOCATED AT
1611 NORTHWEST 3RD AVENUE, MIAMI, FLORIDA, IN THE OVERTOWN
NEIGHBORHOOD, TO NHDC BARCELONA, INC., A NOT -FOR -PROFIT
CORPORATION, FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AFFORDABLE
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HOMEOWNERSHIP HOUSING, WITH PARCEL REVERTER PROVISIONS;
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL NECESSARY
DOCUMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR
SAID PURPOSE.
04-00373- cover memo.pdf
04-00373- public notice.pdf
DEFERRED
A motion was made by Commissioner Regalado, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez, and was
passed unanimously, with Commissioner Winton absent, to DEFER item PH.14 to the
Commission Meeting currently scheduled for July 8, 2004.
Chairman Teele: The Overtown Advisory Board has requested that the item relating to PH.14
be referred back to them. Could we get it deferred and sent back to the Overtown Advisory
Board?
Commissioner Regalado: Move it.
Chairman Teele: Is there a second?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: Is there objection? All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed have the same right.
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ORDINANCES - EMERGENCY
EM.1 04-00475 ORDINANCE Emergency Ordinance
(4/5THS VOTE)
AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION
AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 12451, THE CAPITAL PROJECTS
APPROPRIATIONS ORDINANCE, TO REVISE CERTAIN ONGOING CAPITAL
IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS BY REPROGRAMMING PREVIOUSLY
APPROVED FUNDS AND APPROPRIATING NEW FUNDING;
ESTABLISHING AND APPROPRIATING NEW CAPITAL PROJECT NO.
326010 ENTITLED "MIAMARINA IMPROVEMENTS"; CONTAINING A
REPEALER PROVISION AND A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE.
04-00475-cover memo.pdf
04-00475-budgetary impact.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Winton, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
12544
Chairman Teele: All right. Next item.
Alejandro Vilarello (City Attorney): FM.1.
Mary Conway: Mary Conway, CIP (Capital Improvement Projects) Director. F.M.1 are some
standard modifications; redistribution of funds, rollover funds allocated within the CIP program.
Chairman Teele: What are the significant changes that we're making, ma'am?
Ms. Conway: The more significant changes would be for -- working from the bottom up --
Roberto Clemente Park, allocation of $300, 000 for structural repairs; additional $500, 000 to
Virginia Key for sanitary sewer improvements. Those are the more significant ones. The others
just deal with rollover funds being allocated to projects or unallocated extra funds that were
available on projects being reallocated.
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much. This is a public hearing. Any person desiring to be
heard should come forward. There are no persons coming forward. The public hearing is
closed. Is there a motion?
Commissioner Gonzalez: So move.
Chairman Teele: Is there a second?
Commissioner Winton: Second.
Chairman Teele: Is there objection or discussion? Mr. Attorney.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): Roll call.
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Roll calls were taken, the results of which are stated above.
Ms. Thompson: The ordinance has been adopted as emergency measure, 5/0.
EM.2 04-00493 ORDINANCE Emergency Ordinance
(4/5THS VOTE)
AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION
AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 12420, THE ANNUAL
APPROPRIATIONS ORDINANCE TO INCREASE CERTAIN
OPERATIONAL AND BUDGETARY APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL
YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2004, CONTAINING A REPEALER
PROVISION, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR AN
IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE.
04-00493-cover memo.pdf
04-00493-exhibits.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Winton, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez, that this matter
be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
12543
Chairman Teele: All right. We'll take up the budget item.
Larry Spring (Chief Strategic Planning, Budgeting and Performance): Commissioner, would
you like to do EM.1 first? EM.1 is the capital one --
Chairman Teele: Anything you want to do, Mr. Budget Director.
Commissioner Winton: But let's move because I needed to be somewhere --
Mr. Spring: Well, I'll move forward with my budget amendment, actually. Commissioners,
before you you have an emergency ordinance amending Ordinance Number 12420, the annual
appropriations ordinance to increase certain operational and budgetary appropriations for the
fiscal year ending September 30, 2004. This -- I've made a -- this is a floor amendment that I'm
making from the version that was included in your agenda books. The substance of that
amendment is two items. First, there's an $8,500, 000 increase in the Police Services Special
Revenue account. That would be to accept the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) grant
for -- that we are the lead agency on, and also, in our Community Development Special Revenue
account, approximately $11, 000, 000 increase from the version in the budget book, appropriating
multi year fund balance rollovers.
Chairman Teele: What other changes -- significant changes are being made?
Mr. Spring: In general, in the budget?
Chairman Teele: Yes.
Mr. Spring: If you look to the last three pages of the ordinance package, I have an
appropriations summary detail. In there, we are appropriating an additional $1, 000, 000 in
grants; one being the Sherman Williams settlement, which is being appropriated through the
Parks special revenue for maintenance, as required by the resolution on that settlement.
Additionally, we're accepting a grant from the Bayfront Management Trust for Parks and special
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events programming. That was received by the Commission also by resolution earlier this year.
The other significant change in the mid year appropriation is the appropriation of additional $3,
800,000 that will be our COLA (Cost Of Living Allowance) contribution to the FIPO (
Firefighters and Police Officers) Pension Plan, as required by our actuary calculation.
Commissioner Winton: Where is that? I don't see that.
Mr. Spring: That's actually -- if you look on page 2 of 3 of the summary detail, it's called the
Fiscal Year 2000Appropriation Adjustment --
Commissioner Winton: 2 of 3?
Mr. Spring; Yeah. If you look at the back of the --
Commissioner Winton: Must be on the wrong page.
Mr. Spring: -- legislative package --
Commissioner Winton: That's EM 1 ?
Mr. Spring: EM.2.
Commissioner Winton: Oh.
Mr. Spring: We're doing EM 2.
Commissioner Winton: No wonder I couldn't find it. OK.
Commissioner Regalado: Larry --
Mr. Spring: Sir.
Commissioner Regalado: -- on the appropriations, Board of Commissioners, 1.5, and now it's 1.
7. What is --
Mr. Spring: The substance of that change is us appropriating the --
Commissioner Regalado: The salary --
Mr. Spring: The salary.
Commissioner Regalado: -- adjustment?
Mr. Spring: Yes.
Commissioner Regalado: OK.
Chairman Teele: All right. Further -- This is a public hearing. Any person desiring to be heard
should come forward on EM.1.
Mr. Spring: EM.2.
Alejandro Vilarello (City Attorney): No, sir. EM2.
Chairman Teele: EM.2. There are no persons coming forward. The public hearing is closed.
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Motion to approve.
Commissioner Winton: So moved.
Mr. Vilarello: This is --
Commissioner Gonzalez: So move -- second.
Mr. Vilarello: This is an emergency ordinance.
Mr. Spring: Yes.
Chairman Teele: I'm sorry.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
Chairman Teele: Motion.
Commissioner Winton: So moved.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: Is there objection? Madam Clerk.
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): Roll call.
Roll calls were taken, the results of which are stated above.
Ms. Thompson: The ordinance has been adopted on emergency measure, 5/0.
Mr. Spring: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Mr. Vilarello: Mr. Chairman, for the record, just to be clear, this was a floor amendment. This
was substitute Item F.M 2.
Chairman Teele: As stated in the record. You're correct. Yes, sir.
EM.3 04-00556 ORDINANCE Emergency Ordinance
(4/5THS VOTE)
AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION,
AMENDING CHAPTER 54 OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS
AMENDED, ENTITLED "STREETS AND SIDEWALKS" BY: AMENDING
SECTIONS 54-1, TO EXCEPT "SPECIAL EVENTS" FROM THE DEFINITIONS
OF "PARADE" AND "ASSEMBLY", TO DEFINE "SPECIAL EVENT" AND "
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY;" AMENDING SECTION 54-3 TO REQUIRE A
PERMIT FOR A "SPECIAL EVENT;" AMENDING SECTION 54-6 TO EXCEPT
CERTAIN PARADES OF LESS THAN FIFTEEN PERSONS FROM PERMIT
REQUIREMENTS, TO SPECIFY ADDITIONAL CRITERIA FOR THE
ISSUANCE OF A PARADE PERMIT, AND TO SPECIFY CRITERIA FOR THE
REVOCATION OF A PARADE PERMIT; AMENDING SECTION 54-6.2 TO
EXCEPT CERTAIN ASSEMBLIES OF LESS THAN FIFTEEN PERSONS
FROM PERMIT REQUIREMENTS, TO SPECIFY ADDITIONAL CRITERIA
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FOR THE ISSUANCE OF AN ASSEMBLIES PERMIT, AND TO SPECIFY
CRITERIA FOR THE REVOCATION OF AN ASSEMBLIES PERMIT;
CONTAINING A REPEALER PROVISION, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND
PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE.
04-00556-cover memo.pdf
04-00556-legislation.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
12545
Chairman Teele: All right. Next item. EM.3.
Julie Bru (Assistant City Attorney): Chairman and members of the Commission, EM.3 is an
emergency ordinance that's being recommended for adoption by the Law Department. This has
the effect of revising the language that currently exists in our rates and assembly ordinances to
bring those ordinance more into compliance with some of the recent case law. These ordinances
have been in the books for about 30 years, and they do not adequately accommodate the interest
of the people and the individuals to gather and engage in expressive conduct in our parks and in
our streets, and our sidewalks, and also the City's need to regulate the permitting of parades and
assemblies so, basically, what we're doing is we're redefining the definition of parades to allow
for gatherings of less than 15 people, without having to permit them. We are also articulating a
criteria for the administrator who grants the permits that will avoid any impermissible use of
discretion, and we're also taking away the content based definition of special events so that we
don't distinguish between commercial events and the noncommercial events, so I think this
achieves a very equitable balance between the needs of the City to regulate, and the rights of the
people to demonstrate and parade.
Chairman Teele: All right. This is a public --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Teele: -- hearing. Any person desiring to be heard should come forward. There are
no persons coming forward. Commissioner Gonzalez.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Move EM.2 -- EM.3.
Commissioner Regalado: Second.
Chairman Teele: There's a motion. There's a second. Madam Attorney, read it into the record.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the Assistant City Attorney.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): Roll call.
Roll calls were taken, the results of which are stated above.
Ms. Thompson: The ordinance has been passed as an emergency measure, 5/0.
EM.4 04-00560 ORDINANCE
(4/5THS VOTE)
Emergency Ordinance
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AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION,
AMENDING CHAPTER 38/ARTICLE II OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "PARKS AND RECREATION/
USE REGULATIONS" BY AMENDING SECTION 38-74 TO PROVIDE FOR
PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA FOR THE ISSUANCE OF PARADE AND
ASSEMBLY PERMITS FOR USE OF PUBLIC PARKS; PROHIBITING
CERTAIN ACTIVITIES WITHOUT A PERMIT; CONTAINING A REPEALER
PROVISION, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR AN
IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE.
04-00560-cover memo.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
12546
Direction to the City Manager by Chairman Teele to develop clear uniform minimum standards
for streets and sidewalks; further directing the Manager to avoid emergency ordinances
whenever possible.
Julie Bru (Assistant City Attorney): OK, and EM.4 is the same kind of ordinance, and I've
already explained it. It deals with the special events, and this one is an emergency ordinance of
the Miami City Commission, amending Chapter 38 of the Code of the City ofMiami, Florida, as
amended, entitled "Parks and Recreation" by amending Section 38-74 to provide for procedures
and criteria for the issuance of parade and assembly permits for use of public parks; containing
a repealer provision, a severability clause, and providing for an immediate effective date.
Chairman Teele: All right. This is a public hearing. Any person desiring to be heard should
come forward. There are no persons appear to be coming forward, so the public hearing is
closed. Madam -- Is there a motion?
Commissioner Regalado: Move it.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Move EM.4.
Chairman Teele: Moved by Commissioner Gonzalez. Seconded by Commissioner Regalado.
Madam Clerk.
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): Roll call.
Roll calls were taken, the results of which are stated above.
Ms. Thompson: The ordinance has been adopted as emergency measure, 5/0.
Chairman Teele: All right. Thank you very much. Madam Manager -- Madam Attorney, don't
leave. Madam Manager, I've spoken to the Public Works Director and Capital Improvement
Director, and I would hope that soon we could bring forth an ordinance that provides for a clear
standard as to what our streets are going to be, sidewalks and all of that, and I know they're
working through that but a lot of issuing are beginning to be raised, and I think, in the spirit of
the bond issue that we're doing and the ones that we may be doing in the future, we really ought
to fry to adopt a uniform minimum standard, and I think the Capital Improvement people are in
agreement with us on that. The other thing is -- and no reflection on the Attorney -- but still
have never understood why these things have to be adopted as emergency ordinances, the last
two. It's just no reason for it. Anytime you're dealing with free speech, you should take your
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time, in my opinion, and do it with two ordinances. I think the entire time I was at the County,
we did about four emergency ordinances in the entire five or six years I was there. Most of them
related to Hurricane Andrew, so I just think we ought to get out of the spirit of doing emergency
ordinances for things that -- because it addresses an emergency is no reason that it should be
treated as an emergency ordinance; that way you invite the ACLU (American Civil Liberties
Union) and other people to come in and comment, and criticize, and complain, and do what
they're charged to do, but I compliment the Attorney's office in bringing them forward, so thank
you very much. Thank you.
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RESOLUTIONS
RE.1 04-00482 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION WITH ATTACHMENT(S)
, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE AN AMENDMENT, IN A
FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, TO THE AGREEMENT
WITH SARMIENTO ADVERTISING GROUP, L.L.C. ("SARMIENTO") FOR BUS
BENCH DESIGN, INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE TO REDUCE, FOR A
PERIOD OF ONE YEAR, THE AMOUNT OF THE REQUIRED
PERFORMANCE AND PAYMENT BONDS TO A TOTAL OF $50,000 AND
THEREAFTER TO PERMANENTLY REDUCE THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF THE
PERFORMANCE AND PAYMENT BONDS TO $250,000 CONDITIONED
UPON SARMIENTO AGREEING TO MAINTAIN, AS AN EMERGENCY, THE
EXISTING BUS SHELTERS IN THE CITY RIGHTS -OF -WAY AS PER THE
ATTACHED PROPOSAL, PROVIDED THAT IF ANY SHELTER IS USED FOR
ADVERTISING THE CITY SHALL NOT PAY TO MAINTAIN THE SHELTER
AND SARMIENTO SHALL PAY THE CITY AT THE RATE LAST PAID BY THE
PREVIOUS BUS SHELTER CONTRACTOR.
04-00482-cover memo.pdf
04-00482-exhibit-letter.pdf
04-00482 - revised attachment.pdf
DEFERRED
A motion was made by Vice Chairman Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, and was
passed unanimously, with Commissioner Winton absent, to DEFER item RE.1.
Note: Minutes relating to Item RE.1 can be located under "Order of Day."
RE.2 04-00619 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO PAY KIM D. LEE, WITHOUT ADMISSION OF
LIABILITY, THE SUM OF $375,000 IN FULL AND COMPLETE SETTLEMENT
OF ANY AND ALL CLAIMS AND DEMANDS AGAINST THE CITY OF MIAMI,
ITS OFFICERS, AGENTS AND SERVANTS, IN THE CASE OF KIM D. LEE V.
CITY OF MIAMI & LOUIS FERRARO, IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT, CASE NO. 98-2814-CIV-HIGHSMITH, UPON EXECUTING A
GENERAL RELEASE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, ITS PRESENT AND FORMER
OFFICERS, AGENTS AND EMPLOYEES FROM ANY AND ALL CLAIMS AND
DEMANDS; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM THE SELF INSURANCE AND
INSURANCE TRUST FUND, INDEX CODE NO. 515001.624401.6.652.
04-00619-cover memo.pdf
Motion by Vice Chairman Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
Absent: 1 - Commissioner Winton
R-04-0381
Chairman Teele: All right. We have certain emergency ordinances -- let's see -- those are all
relating to budget items, so we have RE. 2, as a -- City authorizing the Finance Director to pay
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an individual, without admission of liability, based upon claims and demands relating to the City
ofMiami versus Lee versus Ferraro. Is there a motion to approve the item?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: So move.
Chairman Teele: Is there a second?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: Is there objection? All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed have the same right. Item RE.2 is adopted.
RE.3 04-00501 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S
), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ACCEPT FROM THE STATE OF
FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ("FDOT"), THE
CONVEYANCE OF THE FOLLOWING TWO PARCELS OF LAND FOR
PUBLIC PURPOSE USE SUBJECT TO COMPLETION OF DUE DILIGENCE
BY THE CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY") INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
REVIEW OF THE SURVEYS, APPRAISALS, ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTS,
TITLE WORK AND INSURANCE: (A) PARCEL 1 CONTAINING
APPROXIMATELY 1.7 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY
NORTHWEST 20TH STREET, ADJACENT TO INTERSTATE HIGHWAY NO
. 95, MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN "EXHIBIT
A," ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED; ALLOCATING FUNDS, IN AN
AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $16,000, FROM THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT
PROJECTS ("CIP"), POLICE TRAINING FACILITY FUNDING PROJECT
ACCOUNT NO. 312043.509307.270, APPROPRIATED FROM THE $255
MILLION HOMELAND DEFENSE/NEIGHBORHOOD IMPROVEMENT BOND,
FOR THE COST OF DUE DILIGENCE AND CLOSING EXPENSES; AND (B)
PARCEL 2 CONTAINING APPROXIMATELY 2.31 ACRES OF LAND
LOCATED BETWEEN NORTHWEST 15TH STREET AND 17TH STREET,
ALONG NORTHWEST 6TH PLACE, MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS MORE
PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN "EXHIBIT B," ATTACHED AND
INCORPORATED; ALLOCATING FUNDS, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED
$22,000, FROM CIP, WAGNER CREEK RENOVATIONS - PHASE IV,
PROJECT ACCOUNT NO. 352259.509301.270, FOR THE COST OF DUE
DILIGENCE AND CLOSING EXPENSES.
04-00501-cover memo.pdf
04-00501-budgetary impact.pdf
04-00501-exhibits.pdf
DEFERRED
A motion was made by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, and was
passed unanimously, to DEFER item RE.3 to the Commission meeting currently scheduled for
July 8, 2004; further authorizing the City Manager to sever the two issues, (1) police training
facility and (2) Wagner Creek; further directing the Manager to bring back a complete package
including the funding allocation and all plans for the police training facility; further requesting
the Manager to bring back proposed plans for Camillus House and a complete proposed plan for
Wagner Creek, including environmental concerns which affectAllalpattah.
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Chairman Teele: RE.3.
Keith Carswell: Keith Carswell, Director for the Department of Economic Development. This is
accepting the conveyance of some FDOT (Florida Department of Transportation) surplus
property.
Chairman Teele: Let me do this. Where is the Sergeant -at -arms? Do you have your handcuffs
with you?
Unidentified Speaker: Yes, sir.
Chairman Teele: Would you see where Commissioner Winton is, please?
Officer Frank Pichel (Sergeant -at -arms): Yes, sir.
Chairman Teele: All right. RE.3.
Hr. Carswell: Again, Keith Carswell, Director for the Department of Economic Development.
This is acceptance of conveyance of some surplus FDOT property; two parcels, actually. One
parcel consisting of 1.7 acres, and then another parcel consisting of 2.3 acres.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Commissioner Regalado: Is this -- I've got a question. I've got a question. Is this the Camillus
House property?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Yes, it is, and I asked --
Commissioner Regalado: This is the Camillus House property?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Andl asked this item to be deferred.
Chairman Teele: Is there a motion?
Commissioner Gonzalez: I move to defer this item.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Chairman Teele: Is there a second to defer?
Commissioner Regalado: But thought that for the Camillus House site, we need four votes to
decide.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: This --
Chairman Teele: This is not the Camillus House.
Commissioner Regalado: Yes, it is.
Chairman Teele: This is environmental. Would you second the motion to defer, and then we can
get --
Commissioner Regalado: I'll second.
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Chairman Teele: Now, let's discuss it, so we know what we're talking about. The motion is now
a motion to defer the item, moved and second. Anybody can discuss anything you want now.
Commissioner Sanchez -- Vice Chairman Sanchez, did you have a discussion on this?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: No discussion.
Chairman Teele: Mr. Manager, would you like to clarify what's going on, or Mr. Carswell? Mr.
Carswell, is this your item? Mr. Carswell, is this your item?
Mr. Carswell: Yes. We're actually facilitating -- yes.
Chairman Teele: All right. You want to --
Mr. Carswell: And we're asking that this item be deferred at this time.
Chairman Teele: Better part of valor. All right. We have a motion and a -- How long did you
want to defer it, 'til the July 8th?
Joe Arriola (City Manager): That'll be fine.
Chairman Teele: All right. Defer to July 8th. Is there objection? All those in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed, say "no." The item is deferred. Just as a matter of clarification.
This is not -- has nothing to do -- this item, as stated, has nothing to do directly with the Camillus
House.
Mr. Arriola: Nothing.
Chairman Teele: It very well could be the venue that has been discussed and proposed.
Mr. Arriola: No.
Chairman Teele: What this was doing, as I understood it, was authorizing the environmental to
be done, and to accept, from the State of Florida, the property. Is that a fair statement?
Mr. Arriola: Yes, sir.
Chairman Teele: But, again --I mean, I'm not going to --
Arriola: This has never been discussed, this piece of land, for Camillus House. I want to
make it very clear. This will be the piece of land that we have discussed for the possible site of
the police training facility.
Commissioner Gonzalez: OK That is --
Arriola: And then there's another parcel of land in here that we needed for the dredging of
Wagner Creek in here, but we're going to defer both until July 8th, sir.
Chairman Teele: Yeah, but, Mr. Manager, I respect what you're saying, but this is a part of the
proposed Camillus site -- of their proposed Camillus site location in the general vicinity, or a
part of the land mass that would be there, because I thought we already agreed -- or we, at least,
in principle said we would like to collocate the police training center with the Camillus House.
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Mr. Arriola: Yes, sir.
Chairman Teele: And this is the police training center.
Mr. Arriola: Yes, sir. This is just the police training center piece.
Chairman Teele: Well, it's real close. The Commissioner's got it under a microscope, and I'm
not going to get in the middle of that.
Commissioner Regalado: Does it have to do with this -- you say that this doesn't have to do with
the Camillus House. I was told that the sale of the arena didn't have anything to do with the
Marlins stadium.
Chairman Teele: Now, it depends on --
Commissioner Regalado: Who --
Chairman Teele: -- your perspective.
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah, right.
Chairman Teele: All right. On the motion to defer, with authorization for the Manager to sever
the two issues: one from the -- one relating to the police station, and the other related to Wagner
Creek.
Commissioner Gonzalez: OK
Vice Chairman Sanchez: (INAUDIBLE) motion?
Chairman Teele: On the deferral?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Discussion on the deferral.
Chairman Teele: Yes.
Commissioner Gonzalez: So the administration knows exactly what my concerns are. My
concerns are to, one, this is going to be, as you say, a possible, and it's not been -- and you're
not being definite in the answer -- possible site for the police training center. Well, as far as I'm
concerned -- and, again, I'm only one vote in this Commission. As far as I'm concerned, if there
is not a component of the police training center in this site, it would be a vote against any other
project going into that property, and you know what project I'm talking about.
Mr. Arriola: Absolutely.
Commissioner Gonzalez: So it has to be -- you know, what would like to see is a complete
package. I don't like to --
Arriola: Absolutely.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- bring -- I don't like you to bring it to me in pieces, you know, a piece
now, a piece later, a piece later on. Just bring me a complete package. The $10, 000, 000 for the
training facility is under the --
Mr. Arriola: Yeah.
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Commissioner Gonzalez: -- 255, 000, 000 bond, which was approved, and I think the $10, 000,
000 were approved on the first issue, so what I would like to see is a definite -- not a possible --
but a definite commitment with the funding allocation and everything for the training facility,
and then we talk about the other possibility, which the other is also a possibility. As I -- and I
want to make it clear now that -- since we cannot talk to each other -- Commissioner Teele, since
we cannot talk to each other because of the sunshine law, I have had meetings with Camillus
House people and the City administration. They have presented a plan to me, which I have
discussed with the management, butt would like, Mr. Manager, that the plan be also presented
to the rest of the Commission so they can take a look at it, and they can also have an opinion
and, especially, Commissioner Teele, who is going to be affected for this possible operation. He
is going to be affected as much as I am because we share --
Mr. Arriola: Yeah, the boundaries.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- the disfrict. He's on one side of the street, and I'm on the other side
of the street, and we're both going to be affected by this possible -- let me reemphasize `possible
' -- operation going in there, butt won't be voting on anything --
Mr. Arriola: Yeah.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- unless it's a full, complete, comprehensive plan that includes the
Miami Police Training Facility --
Mr. Arriola: Yeah.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- with funding and everything, and the other operation that we --
Commissioner Winton: Here, here.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- are talking about, OK. It has to be a complete package.
Commissioner Winton: I think that's smart, too, by the way.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Because, you know, later on --
Mr. Arriola: Yeah.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- when we change our mind, now we think that that police training
may be better off in Miami Beach, or in Key Biscayne or, you know, and then I end up with the
you know what, so that is my point. Also, we're talking about using this land in my disfrict and
in your district --
Chairman Teele: Commissioner.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- to dump --
Chairman Teele: Commissioner.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- to dump the residues from these canals. I mean, what else are you
planning on doing to us? I mean --
Chairman Teele: Commissioner, I am 100 percent with you, but let's be clear on the facts. This
is not in your disfrict.
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Commissioner Gonzalez: OK, your disfrict.
Chairman Teele: And you have said it so long that even the Miami Herald is saying it's in your
district.
Commissioner Gonzalez: All right. Let's say in your disfrict. I'm going to defend your district
now.
Chairman Teele: But the fact of the matter is, it is --
Commissioner Gonzalez: OK, let's put it this way.
Chairman Teele: -- it's separated only by a stripe down the highway.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Let's put it this way: They're going to dump it in your district, but
people walking on my sidewalk are going to be smelling it, OK? So let's put it that way. Those
are my two points, OK.
Mr. Arriola: Well -taken.
Commissioner Gonzalez: And the dumping in that site, I want to know what kind of dumping;
what's the contamination; what's the -- you know, what effect it's going to have in my disfrict;
how long is that going to be; how long is it going to take to clean it up, you know? I mean, it's
not -- remember, Allapattah is not the -- is no longer the dumping site of the City ofMiami. It
used to be for many years, but not anymore. Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much.
Mr. Arriola: Fair enough.
Chairman Teele: And I agree with your sentiments. On the motion to defer, with authority for
the Manager to sever the Wagner Creek issue from the police issue, we have a motion and a
second. All those in favor, signify by the sign of "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: Those opposed?
RE.4 04-00545 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, BY A FOUR -FIFTHS
(4/5THS) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE, RATIFYING, APPROVING, AND
CONFIRMING THE CITY MANAGER'S FINDING OF AN EMERGENCY
APPROVING AN INCREASE IN THE PURCHASE ORDER WITH COHABI
GROUP, INC., FOR THE PROJECT ENTITLED "OVERTOWN SHOPPING
CENTER -GREASE TRAP, B-3279," IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $35,
000, INCREASING THE PURCHASE ORDER FROM $21,840 TO $56,840,
FOR ADDITIONAL WORK REQUIRED; ALLOCATING FUNDS FOR SAID
INCREASE FROM CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT NO. 311062;
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE NECESSARY
DOCUMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR
SAID PURPOSE.
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04-00545-cover memo.pdf
04-00545-budgetary impact.pdf
04-00545-purchase orders.pdf
04-00545-pre memo 1.pdf
04-00545-pre memo 2.pdf
04-00545-pre legislation.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
R-04-0386
Chairman Teele: What other item, Madam Director? We have the committees of the
Commission, and we have the --
Linda Haskins (Deputy City Manager/Chief Financial Officer): RE.4.
Commissioner Regalado: Can we do the committees?
Chairman Teele: OK, real quickly, RE.4 is the Overtown Grease Trap. Why is that back? I
thought we did it.
Ms. Haskins: You did it when I was Budget Director once or twice.
Chairman Teele: Is there a motion to approve -- who's the Overtown --
Commissioner Gonzalez: So move.
Commissioner Winton: What are we approving?
Chairman Teele: Overtown Grease Trap. We --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Move RE.4.
Chairman Teele: Motion by Commissioner Gonzalez. Second by --
Commissioner Regalado: Second.
Commissioner Winton: Me, Johnny.
Chairman Teele: -- Commissioner Winton. All those in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed?
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BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
BC.1 04-00311 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING
MEMBERS OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AS CHAIRPERSONS,
VICE -CHAIRPERSONS AND/OR MEMBERS ON VARIOUS TRUSTS,
AUTHORITIES, BOARDS, COMMITTEES AND AGENCIES FOR
TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
Joe Sanchez as Chairperson of the Bayfront Park Management Trust
Johnny L. Winton as Chairperson of the Downtown Development
Authority
Angel Gonzalez as Chairperson of the Orange Bowl Advisory Board
Arthur E. Teele, Jr. as Chairperson of the OMNI Community
Redevelopment Agency
Johnny L. Winton as Vice Chairperson of the OMNI Community
Redevelopment Agency
Arthur E. Teele, Jr. as Chairperson of the Southeast Overtown/Park
West Community Redevelopment Agency
Johnny L. Winton as Vice Chairperson of the Southeast Overtown/
Park West Community Redevelopment Agency
Tomas Regalado as Vice Chairperson of the Miami Sports and Exhibition
Authority
Angel Gonzalez as a member of the Commercial Solid Waste
Management Advisory Committee
Tomas Regalado as a member of the Dade County Visitors Industry
Voluntary Education Service Training Trust
Joe Sanchez as a member of the Dade League of Cities
Arthur E. Teele, Jr. as a member of the Enterprise Zone Advisory Council
Joe Sanchez as a member of the Florida League of Cities
Manuel A. Diaz, Mayor as a member of the Greater Miami Convention
and Visitors Bureau
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Joe Sanchez as a member of the Metro Dade Community Action Board
Manuel A. Diaz, Mayor as a member of the Metropolitan Planning
Organization (MPO)
Joe Sanchez as a member of the Miami River Commission
Angel Gonzalez as a member of the South Florida Employment and
Training Consortium
Angel Gonzalez as a member of the Tourism Development Council
Tomas Regalado as an ex-officio, nonvoting member of the Little Havana
Festival Committee
Joe Sanchez as an ex-officio, nonvoting member of the Miami -Dade HIV
/AIDS Partnership
Johnny L. Winton as Chairperson of the Coconut Grove Special
Events and Marketing Committee
04-00311-memo-1.doc
04-00311-members-2.doc
Motion by Commissioner Regalado, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
R-04-0387
Direction to the City Attorney by Chairman Teele to provide a written opinion and
memorandum, prior to leaving employment by the City, regarding the Community
Redevelopment Agency (CRA) based upon actions taken by Chairman Teele before the Oversight
Board that set aside the ordinances relating to the CRA; further directing the City Attorney to
meet with each of the members of the CRA (as City Commissioners) relating to the ordinance
that governs the operations and the organizational structure of the CRA.
Chairman Teele: The only item left is the committees and the pocket items.
Commissioner Regalado: Can we do the committees now?
Chairman Teele: Yes.
Commissioner Winton: No, I've got to go.
Commissioner Regalado: You've got to go.
Commissioner Winton: I've got to go.
Commissioner Regalado: Just do the committees.
Commissioner Winton: All right. Fast.
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Commissioner Regalado: OK. Mr. Chairman, Bayfront Park Management Trust, I'll move that
Commissioner Joe Sanchez be appointed --
Chairman Teele: Why don't you do it based on changes? That's the easiest way to do it.
Commissioner Regalado: I don't see any changes here.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: I mean, does anybody want to take over Bayfront Park? I don't want it
Chairman Teele: Well, I'm going to say this so that -- because I think that this is important. This
is your last meeting, but I think it's --
Alejandro Vilarello (City Attorney): The 24th will be --
Chairman Teele: -- on notice. I'm asking the City Attorney to provide a written opinion and
memorandum regarding the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency), based upon the actions
that were taken by me before the Oversight Board that set aside the ordinances relating to the
CRA, and I think it's really important that they be clarified before you leave because those
ordinances currently are no longer in effect, as set aside by the Oversight Board, so you need to
meet with each of the members of the CRA, not as CRA Board members, but as City
Commissioners, relating to the ordinance that governs the operations and the organizational
structure of the CRA, all right? Just so that's very clear, and we need to get this cleaned up and
decide which way we want to do it on the organization of the CRA. This would be a good time to
also inculcate any of the recommendations of Commissioner Sanchez, which I'm very much
prepared to move toward at this time.
Mr. Vilarello: Bring it back --
Commissioner Regalado: So --
Mr. Vilarello: -- any recommendations --
Chairman Teele: For the next meeting. For the next meeting.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: And -- yes.
Commissioner Regalado: So, Mr. Chairman, I move to reappoint same Commissioners in their
respective boards, committees, and trusts, authorities and agencies of the City ofMiami.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: Is there objection?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Just based on (inaudible).
Commissioner Gonzalez: It's reappointment.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: (Inaudible).
Commissioner Regalado: No.
Chairman Teele: That's what he's saying. He's moving --
Commissioner Regalado: I'm moving the whole --
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Chairman Teele: -- a slate, as -is. Anybody want to make a change?
Commissioner Gonzalez: No. Second.
Chairman Teele: All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed have the same right.
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DISCUSSION ITEMS
DI.1 04-00594 DISCUSSION ITEM
DISCUSSION CONCERNING A STATUS REPORT OF BUS BENCHES,
BUS SHELTERS AND ALL RELATED MATTERS.
04-00594-cover memo.pdf
DEFERRED
A motion was made by Vice Chairman Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, and was
passed unanimously, with Commissioner Winton absent, to DEFER item DI.1.
Note: Minutes relating to Item DI. I can be located under "Order of Day."
DI.2 04-00429 DISCUSSION ITEM
A DISCUSSION CONCERNING A FINANCIAL UPDATE AND A BUDGET
OUTLOOK.
04-00429- cover memo.pdf
DISCUSSED
Direction to the City Attorney and the City Manager by Chairman Teele to meet with the Chief of
Police and the Chief of Fire Departments to review and explain the provisions of the Anti -
Deficiency Ordinance; further directing the City Attorney to come back at the next Commission
meeting to report on the meeting with the Fire and Police Chiefs.
Direction to the City Manager by Commissioner Gonzalez to provide a report covering the
following:
1. How much overtime has been recorded this fiscal year for each City department;
2. Rental cars for Police and Fire Departments listing models and cost;
3. The operational hours of the Police Internal Affairs Unit.
Direction to the City Manager by Vice Chairman Sanchez to provide him with a copy of the
City's expenditures and the City's revenues.
Direction to the City Manager by Chairman Teele to meet with each member of the Commission
for their input on the Quality of Life Task Force and to schedule an emergency ordinance at the
next meeting instituting what the Commission wishes related to said task force, particularly its
code enforcement effort.
Chairman Teele: We have two other items. The Budget Director, are you going to give us a
financial update? Is the coast clear? Is everybody gone now?
Commissioner Regalado: There's no reporters. Nobody's watching, so you can say --
Chairman Teele: No reporters --
Commissioner Regalado: -- that the City is in trouble.
Larry Spring (Chief Strategic Planning, Budgeting & Performance): That's for the next meeting
. Actually, the most recently published financial report is actually as of March 2004. I think, as
I've stated actually already on the record, that as of that date, we're forecasting the City will
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probably exceed its appropriated expense budget, particularly as it relates to personnel costs, as
a lot of that is attributable to the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas), overtime, and the
overtime caused by the large number of vacancies in the Police and Fire Department. The
action that you took earlier today actually, the mid year appropriation has significantly helped
us reduce that issue. However, in my write-up, I am recommending that we continue to focus a
lot of attention on those personnel -related costs, because I do have some concerns about our
structure and -- as we move forward and into the next fiscal year.
Chairman Teele: What are you just saying? Are you saying that the current year that we're in,
seriously --
Mr. Spring: Seriously.
Chairman Teele: You're saying that for the current year we're in, what?
Mr. Spring: For the current --
Commissioner Regalado: That we have a deficit.
Mr. Spring: For the current year we're in, I had fore -- as of this date, I had forecasted a deficit
. That deficit was related to the FTAA overtime, which we had not yet been reimbursed for; the
overtime and personnel costs related to vacancies in Police and Fire, and the 3,700,000 pension
contribution that -- for COLAs (Cost of Living Allowances) that we needed to make. Today, you
took action on all of those issues, with the mid -year, and thus, we are in a better position.
However, I'm just recommending that we continue to monitor those items, particularly personnel,
as we move forward.
Commissioner Regalado: Is the City spending more than we are receiving as revenues?
Mr. Spring: Actually, as I work on my outlook for 2005, yes. It's my opinion that we are
structurally out of whack, and we are spending more than we are receiving in revenue.
Chairman Teele: Mr. Budget Director, in all seriousness, I don't think a statement like "We are
structurally out of whack" is the way we want this report to come to us, really. Now, if you're
telling us now that we are, for the current year, going into a deficit, or perhaps bordering
around a deficit, will you identify the departments by name that are having the deficit -- the
problem, please?
Mr. Spring: I guess I feel like I just did.
Chairman Teele: I heard you say Police --
Mr. Spring: And Fire.
Commissioner Regalado: Police -- he said Police.
Mr. Spring: I said Police and Fire.
Chairman Teele: Those are the only two departments?
Mr. Spring: Yes.
Commissioner Regalado: How about Parks?
Mr. Spring: Parks has -- had a deficit issue, but through garnering our salary savings in use of
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special revenue grants and things of that nature, we feel that we'll be able to make it through the
rest of the fiscal year.
Chairman Teele: Have you read the anti -deficiency ordinance?
Mr. Spring: Yes, I have, sir.
Chairman Teele: Are you suggesting that there may be an anti -deficiency issue being triggered?
Mr. Spring: Not at this time, butt would have to officially report -- but like I said, I'm just being
prudent that we continue to monitor the situation, and when that time does come, I will do my
official reporting as required by the ordinance.
Commissioner Regalado: When is the next payment for pension and how much is it?
Mr. Spring: The next official payment will be actually October 1, 2004, first day of the fiscal
year, and it's approximately -- about $69, 000, 000.
Commissioner Regalado: 69 --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Million.
Mr. Spring: Million.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: 69 melons.
Commissioner Regalado: 69, 000, 000.
Mr. Spring: $69, 000, 000.
Commissioner Regalado: In October?
Mr. Spring: October 1st.
Chairman Teele: So, technically, that payment will not be in this fiscal year?
Mr. Spring: Absolutely not.
Chairman Teele: So, technically, that could not trigger an anti -deficiency --
Mr. Spring: No, it would not.
Chairman Teele: -- notification this year?
Mr. Spring: No, no, no.
Chairman Teele: But you are serving us notice that the Police Department and the Fire
Department and not Parks, just those two departments are in a position where a deficiency could
be noted?
Mr. Spring: Could be. Again, I will reiterate, the action taken in the mid year helps that
situation, with the FTAA.
Chairman Teele: Have you notified and met with the Police Chief personally and the Fire Chief
personally, and with the lawyer, and to go over the anti -deficiency for them?
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Mr. Spring: We've not met to go over the anti -deficiency. However, myself and the Manager
have met with Police and Fire and have worked out a plan that we feel will get us through the
year within budget, and they've complied with that.
Chairman Teele: Well, the purpose of the anti -deficiency is to put the accountability on the
department heads, and so I'm going to request of the City Manager -- the City Attorney that you
meet with the management -- whoever the Manager directs, with those two department heads, to
go over the anti -deficiency ordinance so that it's very clear that it's on those, as I read the
ordinance or as I wrote the ordinance. That was the intent.
Joe Arriola (City Manager): I understand, sir.
Chairman Teele: I don't want the Police Chief that's, you know, not aware of it, coming in
saying, nobody told them.
Mr. Spring: No, absolutely. I have no problem doing that, and actually, in the consult --
meetings that we had, they're very aware of it and concerned about it, and we're monitoring it as
an administration, as we're supposed to.
Chairman Teele: Well, I know the Vice Chairman's going to say something here, but let me just
say this. The purpose of the anti -deficiency was and is is to put accountability on Department
Directors, as well as the Manager, who's ultimately responsible, but to put some of that direct
responsibility for ensuring that they don't go over their budget on the department heads. That's
one of the purposes of the anti -deficiency, and so it's very important, Mr. Attorney, that you come
back here in the next meeting and give us a report of your meetings with them regarding the anti -
deficiency and the overall budget, please.
Alejandro Vilarello (City Attorney): All right. And ifyou recall, also the -- puts the burden on
staff department heads and the Manager to get that information to the City Commission.
Chairman Teele: Right.
Mr. Vilarello: On a timely basis.
Chairman Teele: He's done his job. The Manager's doing his job. At least, he's alerting us.
He's not -- the ordinance requires that you provide us a written notification, as I recall, to each
of the Commissioners and the Clerk, of an anti -deficiency once it has occurred, and an anti
deficiency is just when there's no way to avoid it. In other words, everybody's got notice now,
start frying to avoid it, but if there's no way to avoid it, it's going to happen, then we need to be
on notice so we can fry to take some other actions.
Mr. Spring: Absolutely, absolutely.
Chairman Teele: Vice Chairman.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is an overall picture. You're talking
about $68, 000, 000 --
Mr. Spring: For next year.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- for next year, so I see this as a warning before the storm. This is
the warning before the storm, and I think that we need to be very careful because -- I mean, if
you're talking about dipping into our reserves for whatever amount it may be, you know, there's
a lot of things that could go wrong. I mean, we need to project into the future -- always thinking
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about the future, and you're talking about maybe a hurricane, another Andrew, talking about
another dip in the market. I mean, a couple of things that could happen that could toss this City
-- and it will be a whole six -years -ago type a deal, where we might be a situation where this time
we may not be able to get out, so I'm very concerned with that, especially with statements you've
made here today on these $68, 000, 000, and of course, you don't know what's going to happen
next year.
Next year could be another $68, 000, 000 or more, so I'm very concerned with that.
Mr. Spring: Myself, the Manager and our entire executive management team are con -- have
the same concern. That concern and that information has been shared with each of the
Commissioners in detail and with Department Directors. As you know, their budgets are -- their
budget requests are due to me tomorrow, so we can start that official, you know, balancing act
process. We will prepare a draft budget, you know, full picture with -- making strategic
decisions, and you know, have the workshops and all that information, provide it to the
Commission in the next probably about 45 days or the next 45 days.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner Gonzalez.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Mr. Spring, I know that the FTAA cost a lot of overtime, butt would
like to know, aside from the FTAA, which supposedly we're going to be reimbursed by the federal
government, supposedly and hopefully, aside from the FTAA, I would like to know how much
overtime have we put into the Police Department and into the Fire Department. Another serious
problem that I have seen -- and I asked for -- and I've been asking for all of this information -- is,
I have serious concerns with the rental cars that are being used by the Police Department. I've
seen that, according to the information that I was provided, that we are paying almost $800
rental fees on some of the cars that they are using, and I have a serious problem because let me
tell you, I just went to Braman Cadillac last week to look at cars, and I can get a Cadillac CTS
for $325 a month, just one car. When we're talking about contracting for a whole fleet, I'm sure
that Braman Cadillac or anybody else, as a matter of fact, could give us a much better rate. I
hear -- and this is not confirmed, and I'm going to keep asking about it -- I hear that we're
renting BMWs (Bavarian Motor Works) and, you know, these type offancy cars for police
operations. I don't see why we need to rent these type offancy cars. Another problem, I asked
for the -- for information in reference to a particular department, and I'm going to ask about
other departments, but I -- you know, just one particular department, after I was informed that
we were going to be in a critical financial situation. I started looking at that, what the problems
could be, and looking at the Internal Affairs Department or section of the Police Department, I
see a list of -- I see, you know, pyramid, that it starts with the Mayor, a commander, two
lieutenants, six sergeants, 14 officers, you know. I'm not a policeman. I'm not -- I don't have
any experience as a policeman, but let me tell you, with that amount of personnel, I can keep my
district out of crime. I also -- I would also like to know what the operation hours are for Internal
Affairs Unit, because if they can avoid doing what they're doing now, they're doing their
investigation or their interrogation at night on overtime, if we do that during the day, we'll be
saving some money. The extended shifts in the Fire Department is another problem that really
concern me. How much overtime are we putting on the Fire Department? How much money are
we spending in overtime? We've got to look at ways to avoid this overtime, because that is going
to kill us. It's been killing us and it's going to murder us at the end of the road, so we have to
look at different options. Cars is, you know, a must that we have to look at. Overtime is another,
and the structure of each of these units, you know, it would be perfect and beautiful to have three
majors, and two captains, and four lieutenants, and 20 sergeants but, you know, we have to start
trimming down and look for efficiency in our departments, and I also like to know -- you know,
because we're singling out the Police Department and the Fire Department as the problem of the
financial situation. I would also like to know the numbers for the regular employees, you know,
for the civilian employees of the City ofMiami; Solid Waste and, you know, all the departments
in the City ofMiami, and then we're going to have to start taking measurements in each
department, but this has to be controlled;; otherwise, you know, next year we're going to be in the
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same situation that we were six years ago.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Director, I just have one. Could you provide us -- have you done a
comparison, reference revenue versus expenditures as to how much money's coming in and how
much money's going out?
Hr. Spring: Yeah. You mean for the upcoming fiscal year?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Yes.
Hr. Spring: Yes, I have.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Do you have those numbers?
Hr. Spring: Actually, I have that, but I can speak to it right now.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: If you don't have them -- I just need to see them. I mean --
Hr. Spring: OK. I can provide you with a copy of it. In general, I don't know the specific
bottom line number, but I can tell you, the growth that we're projecting from 2004 to 2005 in
revenue overall is growing about 4.38 percent. Our corresponding expenses -- recurring
expenses are growing at about 11 percent from 2004 to 2005, so all the issues you brought up
about looking at overtime, not only in Police and Fire, but all the other departments. These are
issues that we are addressing --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: So, based on a percentage factor, you're bringing in 4 percent or
close to 4.5 -- 5 percent in your expenditures, 11 percent?
Hr. Spring: Our increase in revenue from this fiscal year to the next fiscal year is 4.38 percent.
our increase in expenses from 2004 to 2005 is 11 percent, so there's a 7 percent approximately
deficit there that we need to work out.
Chairman Teele: Hard to figure that math.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Yeah.
Commissioner Regalado: Hey, that credit --
Chairman Teele: All right.
Commissioner Regalado: -- card philosophy, but just one question. Do you also understand --
and I know that you're aware -- that the law of probability says that the double Homestead
Exemption, if it gets on the ballot, probably it will pass and it will kick in in 2005. That's a $9,
000,000 hit, and that will be budgeted -- is it on the year 2005/2006?
Hr. Spring: If they make it before -- I think it's --
Commissioner Regalado: They make it on January.
Hr. Spring: Yeah, before January 1st, it will effect the current years.
Commissioner Regalado: The current year.
Hr. Spring: The 2005 --
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Commissioner Regalado: The 2005.
Mr. Spring: -- fiscal year.
Commissioner Regalado: So it doesn't -- but I don't -- probably, I don't think so. I think it will
probably be in February --
Mr. Spring: So 2006.
Commissioner Regalado: -- of 2005, so -- but the question is, so with all that in mind, the
pension and the run -away spending, the City ofMiami may be in trouble if we don't take strong
measures.
Mr. Spring: I would agree with that, sir. The time, I think, from a fiscal standpoint -- and you
know, that's generally my focus -- we have to make some serious decisions on how we deliver
service, how we deliver City service. This Commission has already acted in making sure that the
Solid Waste fee does notgo up. It has made a commitment that millage rate does notgo up and
actually go down; Fire fee, so with that action, this Commission has told me what needs to be
done, and we're going to make steps in those directions.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Commissioner Regalado, would you yield?
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah, sure.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Something else just came to my mind that I knew that I was forgetting
something. As you all know, I'm the Chairman of the Quality of Life Task Force.
Commissioner Regalado: I thought you resigned.
Commissioner Gonzalez: From my arrival from Spain, I found out that -- and I'm glad that
Chief Fernandez is here -- I found out that my unit was -- that all overtime was suspended to my
unit. Nobody had the respect or the consideration of waiting for me to arrive to make that type
of decision, and this is practically disassembled the unit without talking to me, but that's the way
some things happen in this City, and I have no problem with that. They discontinued the
overtime for that unit. Fine, no problem, butt want to know if we are discontinuing overtime for
the rest of the Police Department --
Mr. Spring: I'll have them address that.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Because I was told that there would be no more overtime. That's what
I was told by the Manager, no more overtime, and I want to know from you, who is the Budget
Director -- because you need to respond to me as the Budget Director, OK -- they don't have to
respond to me as bad as financing. You have to respond to me about financing. Are we
suspending all overtime for the Police Department --
Mr. Spring: What we've done --
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- or just for my unit?
Mr. Spring: I don't -- I can't speak to it being specifically for that unit. I don't believe it is.
What we've done, in dealing with the spending issue for this fiscal year, like I said, we've gone to
the --
Commissioner Regalado: Faith, ask the Chief. He's here.
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Mr. Spring: Yeah, the Chief. We've gone to the Police Chief and the Fire Chief and ask that
they help us deal with this budget issue.
Commissioner Regalado: What do you mean, help us?
Mr. Spring: Well, we have to deal with the issue --
Commissioner Regalado: Give us a break?
Mr. Spring: Well, not give us a break, but, you know, we're a team. Work together in making
our budget and make operational decisions, so I'd have to get the Chief to answer that question
for you.
Commissioner Regalado: But what is help? I don't understand.
Mr. Spring: Help is, ifI forecasted --
Commissioner Regalado: You're responsible for the budget.
Mr. Spring: I am, and --
Commissioner Regalado: You've got to tell them the way to do it.
Mr. Spring: Well, I give them the information. I go and I do a financial forecast and I say,
based on this spending, it looks -- it would appear to me that you're going to go over in this area
and that area, and then I report back to them and tell them.
Commissioner Gonzalez: So, actually, you tell them, based on this information --
Mr. Spring: Right.
Commissioner Gonzalez: -- we're going to have financial problems and you need to cut
overtime, and they are the ones who decide who they're going to cut the overtime on, is that the
way it is?
Mr. Spring: It's a simple --
Commissioner Gonzalez: I mean, just -- you know, just lay the cards on the table.
Commissioner Regalado: That's the way it is.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Let's lay the cards on the table.
Commissioner Regalado: Angel, that's the way it is.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Let's not start kidding each other. Let's -- we're talking serious
business here now.
Mr. Spring: Absolutely, sir.
Commissioner Gonzalez: We're talking serious business.
Mr. Spring: Absolutely.
Commissioner Gonzalez: You tell them that we're facing critical financial situations; that they
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need to make adjustments, and they are the ones that make the decision to make the adjustments
on the group that I'm working with.
Mr. Spring: Yes.
Commissioner Gonzalez: That's it?
Mr. Spring: That's it.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Thank you very much. It's very simple.
Chairman Teele: All right. Gentlemen, look, this is going to be very frustrating. We need to all
stay, I think, calm about this. I think we have -- the good news is we have enough time to work
with the management and the various departments to avoid it. That's the really good news.
Usually, in the past, we got it six months after the end of the fiscal. Oh, by the way, last year,
dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, so -- I mean, we're making great steps. I think we need to be positively
engaged, butl also think -- and I'm glad the Chief is here, because the Chief may be not familiar
with the City's anti -deficiency ordinance -- but think we've asked the City Attorney to work with
the management to make you personally aware of it. It's not something that's designed to sneak
anybody, but to just let every department head know that ultimately, if there is an anti -deficiency,
it's not just going to get him standing there. It's going to be the department head there, as well,
and so it's called share the responsibility kind of provision, and I think, if we all work together,
we can avoid it.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Mr. Chairman, it's not a matter of frustrations. It's a matter of
speaking the truth, and that is something that, many times, doesn't happen in this City. I'm told
that all overtime is going to be shut down for the Police Department, and that's why --
Chairman Teele: Who told you that?
Commissioner Gonzalez: I was told that by the administration, OK
Chairman Teele: But only the Chief or his people can make that decision, subject to the
Manager working through that, and I think it would be a terrible statement for us to be on record
saying we're going to shut down overtime, because that's almost like a gold-plated invitation to
people who want to do things at a certain time of day to do it that way.
Imean --
Commissioner Gonzalez: That's what I'm told. I said, fine. You know, if it's going to be cut for
everybody, it's fine. I can understand. Then I start asking questions and I find out that
everybody is working overtime, as usual, except the Quality of Life Task Force, and let me tell
you. You know why it bothers me? Because while a lot of people have been sleeping on Fridays
and Saturdays, I've been out there until 2, 3 and 4 a.m. in the morning, OK, taking care of
business, all right, and working with the Police Department on making sure that I'm present at
every operation; that nobody can accuse them of any wrongdoing because I've been there myself
and I have been a witness of everything that has been done, so I wanted to preserve the image of
whatever we were doing, so they make this decision, and I'm the last one to find out about it.
Chairman Teele: Well -- but let's look at it this way, positively.
Commissioner Gonzalez: And that's why I sent the letter that sent resigning to the
chairmanship of the Quality of --
Chairman Teele: I did not see that. I apologize.
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Commissioner Gonzalez: You didn't get it? Well, I think you got it, Commissioner Regalado.
Commissioner Regalado: I have it. I have it.
Commissioner Gonzalez: The Manager has asked me -- the Mayor have asked me to sit down
with him and discuss it before I take a final action on my resignation.
Chairman Teele: And I would urge --
Commissioner Gonzalez: I mean, you know --
Chairman Teele: -- I would urge you to do that, as well. Let me urge you -- take it a step further
. Why don't you sit down with the appropriate people in the Manager's office and let's come up
with what would it take -- let's look at this positively -- to continue the Quality of Life Program,
through the end of this fiscal year, in terms of overtime or whatever else, and if it's a policy
decision of this Commission that we want to do that, then we -- it's up to us to find the money,
and I think part of what we've got to do is legislate and not try to operate it, and if you're saying,
as the Chairman of that committee, that it's important -- and you and the Chief and the Manager
all sit around the table and say, OK, to finish this program out properly through the end of this
fiscal year, September 30th, you know, working with the command and doing some staffing
adjustments and maybe times and shift change, but it's going to take this number of dollars, then
give us the opportunity to work with you to find and make those dollars available, but don't
resign, please, and --
Commissioner Gonzalez: And, by the way, the Chief was not at the City the time all of this
happened. I believe he was out and doing some kind of City business.
Chairman Teele: But, again, I think the way the information is being pushed up now is an
opportunity for us to solve problems and to correct problems and if it's a legislative priority of
this Commission, we'll make the dollars available some kind of way to do that. It means we're all
going to take a five percent cut in our office budgets for this year or we're all going to reduce the
Manager's budget by two percent or something. I mean, there's a way to do this legislatively
without everybody being at each other's throat and sending the wrong message to the bad guy,
because you've done a yeoman's job. I had no idea that there were 1930/1950 era one-armed
bandits all over the place. I mean, I really -- I mean, I may be the dumbest guy on the dais, but I
had no idea that there were literally hundreds of casino operations out there in the City, and I
think you've done a wonderful job with the Police Department, and the Code people -- and even
the City Attorney, I understand, has had people riding this, so I don't think we ought to form a
circle now and start shooting at each other. Let's keep the line straight and shoot out, and
hopefully, nobody gets too far up front.
Deputy Chief Frank Fernandez: Commissioner, may I clarify the record, please? Deputy Chief
Frank Fernandez, Miami Police Department. Commissioner, we've done, in essence, looking at
the financial situations that we're in and what Larry Spring alluded to, certainly we have not --
and I want to just clarify the record -- we have not cancelled the Quality of Life Task Force, but
in looking at these financial situations, we want to make sure we align it properly with our
organization, so we're not meeting -- or we don't have an issue with the anti -deficiency
ordinance. Having said that, all we've done is realigned it to use on duty resources to
accomplish the same things that we've been doing with the Quality of Life Task Force.
Certainly, by no means, are we canceling the operation. We're actually expanding it citywide to
include all those problem -solving teams. We've implemented a component, a training component
to expand that knowledge, that knowledge based to other officers within the organization in
those problem -solving teams throughout the City, so we can expand that operation even further
than what we're doing right now, but understanding what Mr. Larry Spring has alluded to
throughout his presentation here, we have an obligation, as he said, as a team to properly align
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our organization to meet our financial obligations, and having said that, it wasn't just a Quality
of Life Task Force. I met with them. I met with every major, and yes, we have to limit overtime
to its bare, bare bottom. We have to bare down now, fight crime, provide the same quality of
service, while minimizing the impact on overtime. Overtime is always an issue. However, we're
trying to minimize it as much as possible, so just to recap what I've just said, I want to make sure
we perfectly understand this. We are not canceling the Quality of Life Task Force. We're
expanding the program. We're putting a training component in there, and we're using on duty
resources to accomplish the same task as been done in the past. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Any
other questions for me?
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much.
Deputy Chief Fernandez: Thank you very much.
Commissioner Regalado: Frank -- Chief I have a question.
Deputy Chief Fernandez: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Regalado: Do we have an idea how many sworn police officers are leaving the
force, retiring this -- the next three or four months?
Deputy Chief Fernandez: Yes, sir, we have that number. Major Mirabile can give it to you. I
have it in my book also. Major, could you give him that number, please?
Major Hector Mirabile : Major Hector Mirabile , Miami Police Department, Business
Management section. There will be 274 -- as of now, today, there are 274 individuals that are
eligible to retire in the Miami Police Department.
Commissioner Regalado: 274?
Major Mirabile : Yes, sir.
Commissioner Regalado: Eligible or willing?
Major Mirabile : No, sir, eligible. As to the willing part, that's an individual item. We have not
taken a poll.
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah, but we -- do we know about notice -- because the question is --
because I have heard that several dozens of police officers will be retiring in the next month, and
the question is, are we able to bring the replacement for those officers?
Major Mirabile : We have a plan in place where we're going to be bringing 70 police trainees,
as soon as we're able to do so, where we get the openings available. We currently have 16
openings, where we can go ahead and fill, which we're frying to do that at this time, with the
available registers that we have, and then after that, we continue with the openings. As they
retire and the openings are opened up, financially, then we can go ahead and fill those positions.
It does take time, unfortunately, but we do expect to be able to meet the 70 by the end of the year.
Commissioner Regalado: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Commissioner Regalado: All right.
Deputy Chief Fernandez: Any other questions? Thank you, sir.
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Chairman Teele: No, but we really appreciate the time that you all are taking to come here, and
what would like to do, Mr. Budget Director, if possible, is be prepared at the next meeting, is
put in a holder under, I guess, Commissioner Gonzalez's blue pages, since this period is
probably closed -- for an emergency ordinance related to the Quality of Life Task Force.
Mr. Spring: Absolutely, sir.
Chairman Teele: So we could all start -- and just come meet with me. I'll give you some ideas.
Meet with each of the Commissioners, et cetera, butl think the critical thing is to figure out --
assuming a majority of the Commission -- assuming four Commissioners, I would suppose, agree
that we want to continue the Quality of Life program in terms of this Code Enforcement effort,
particularly over the summer. You know, kids are out of school. It's sort of the wrong -- I mean
-- we may not carry it through in the winter, but certainly we want to carry it through, I would
imagine, you know, now because I'm sure there are kids who are coming back that know the
places to go, that used to go to, you know, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, and we don't want to drop
our guard during this period of time, so if you all could sort of work on what it's going to come
up with --
Commissioner Regalado: Mr. Chairman, can I -- yield one second? I don't understand. I'm
ready to support the Quality of Life Task Force and any resources that you need and that we
need, but unfortunately for you guys, I read everything that get in the office, so I keep reading
about this operation difference. The next one is next Friday, in Legion Park.
Deputy Chief Fernandez: That will be tomorrow, sir, this Friday.
Commissioner Regalado: Right. Oh, OK. I still have it, but my question is, is that overtime or
that's just regular --
Deputy Chief Fernandez: No, sir, that's all on duty, and officers have changed their schedules.
Commissioner Regalado: All on duty?
Deputy Chief Fernandez: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Regalado: So you pay all the police officers from one area -- my area and bring
it to Legion Park?
Deputy Chief Fernandez: No, sir. What we do is, we take our specialized operation section for
that one day. That's our mounted, K-9, marine pafrol, PSAs (Public Service Announcements),
motors, narcotics team. Those are officers that are -- supplemental support services for pafrol
officers, and then whatever neighborhood we go into, we will seek out that major supplemental
support, such as NROs (Neighborhood Resource Officers), their community involvement
specialists, community affairs, and also their problem -solving teams to partner up with the
specialized operation section to accomplish the mission of the day.
Commissioner Regalado: Well --
Deputy Chief Fernandez: Again, those are on duty.
Commissioner Regalado: What see on TV (television) is a real COPS program, you know,
going in and out, which I love it. I mean, you know, I think it -- you guys are doing great, but if
you're telling me that you're using the regular officers, I have to think that somewhere in this
City street is not being patrolled, because we have everybody --
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Deputy Chief Fernandez: No, sir, absolutely not. We are not taking patrols from any of the
neighborhoods. We're only using the officers from our specialized operation section. We have
maybe one or two officers that come down from administration to partake in the operation. We
have those that come down from investigation section to interview subjects that may be involved
in robberies or burglaries, and that's what encompasses the entire team, but we do not pull
resources from other neighborhoods to compromise the day-to-day service.
Commissioner Regalado: OK You can do that for the Quality of Life --
Deputy Chief Fernandez: But we have. We actually have done that.
Commissioner Regalado: Bring everybody.
Deputy Chief Fernandez: We actually -- we have done that. We've aligned our resources to
continue the service, but doing it on duty to, you know, help us out with the financial
complications that we have right now, but we're still continuing to provide that service.
Commissioner Regalado: Go ahead, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much.
Deputy Chief Fernandez: You're welcome, sir.
Chairman Teele: And let me just say this. I really appreciate you all coming down, and I don't
know who told you that -- to be here this afternoon, but appreciate, you know, you coming
down and responding. I think, though, this is an opportunity to solve some issues and to address
some policy concerns, and I don't think you should view this as, you know, harassment or in any
form of -- I mean, I'm just so delighted that we know now that we've got a challenge, and we can
all come together and fry to figure out how to solve it. As I said this morning, and I want to
reiterate it, we have no summer jobs program for the kids. There's very little going on. One of
the few things that we're doing is an aggressive program in the Parks Department, which, I
think, is very, very important, but we have to be very careful right now. This is going to be a hot
summer. There are a lot of people that are coming into this community that I've not seen in a
long time, at least sense the FTAA. There are people in the community that don't fit into the
community that are organizing and raising issues about all kinds of things. You know, there's a
lot of let's just say, people who are opposed to the war in Iraq are now fomenting issues in the
community, and I think, you know, we need to all be working very closely together, and I think
the Quality of Life Task Force is one of the ways to make sure that we don't let the juvenile stuff
get out of control in this same area, and I don't know if you were around or were aware of it, but
we had to bring in the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigations) and the ATF in that whole little
Allapattah area off of 36th Street some two or three years ago. Everybody there was carrying
oozies and AK-47s, so this is a very important -- Quality of Life is a very important message, not
to let these communities get out of control, I think, particularly with young guys coming back for
the summer to do their thing, so --
Deputy Chief Fernandez: Commissioner, we're well aware of that, and that's why we have our
problem -solving teams out there. What the Quality of Life Task Force does just to make sure
we're clear on this, is they go out and they enforce the City ordinances and laws that pertain to
cafeterias, and bars, and taverns, things of that nature, and certainly it compliment the other
efforts that we have, but we're constantly out there providing that. I just want to make it clear
that we're not compromising services. We're trying to provide and realign ourselves to meet, you
know, our goals and our objectives of the Police Department, as outlined by the Manager.
Chairman Teele: OK. We've beat this horse to death.
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Deputy Chief Fernandez: OK, sir.
Chairman Teele: By the way, someone told me from the County -- I was up in North Dade --
somebody up there told me that you or somebody in the department doesn't like horses, the
mounted anymore -- that mounted is having a very hard time, and I would hope that we don't,
you know, start making the mistakes that we made in the past. We may not build our mounted
efforts, but let's retain -- let's don't start -- you know, we lost our helicopter and all of that. A
City this size should have very well maintained a helicopter. Should have a helicopter right now.
I don't know why we don't, but that's another issue, but let's don't start reducing services. I want
to see this City grow to 500, 000 people, and we need all of the elements to be maintained in
place. I just hope it's not true that you all are --
Deputy Chief Fernandez: No. Mr. Chairman, that's actually not correct at all.
Chairman Teele: Y'all are buying cheap feed for the horses and hoping they'll leave, or so.
Deputy Chief Fernandez: That's actually not correct. It's actually the opposite. We're working
to identify a location right now. I think the last Commission initiative was brought up by
Commissioner Gonzalez as to what we're doing with mounted. We're re -exploring other
possibilities right now. We have one plan in place. I'd rather not get into it right now before I
brief all of you individually, but we think we've identified a place to keep mounted, but certainly,
the Chief is committed, so is the City Manager to keeping the mounted patrols out on the streets,
so that -- what you heard was actually the opposite. We're fighting very hard to keep that in lieu
of the financial restrictions that we're faced with.
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much.
Deputy Chief Fernandez: You're welcome.
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much, Chief and Mr. Budget Director, thank you very, very
much.
DI.3 04-00623 DISCUSSION ITEM
DISCUSSION CONCERNING A REPORT FOR A PLAN TO IMPLEMENT
STATE LAW RELATED TO CLUC 90 OF COUNTY DELINQUENT TAX LAND.
04-00623 - report.pdf
DISCUSSED
Direction to the City Manager by Chairman Teele to provide by the July 8, 2004 Commission
meeting, a plan to acquire lots for affordable housing and a status report on the sale of liens
filed by the City ofMiami.
Chairman Teele: The next item we're going to take up is the CLUC (County Land Usage Code)
90 issue, and I think it's very important. Can we get Community Development and all of the
appropriate people -- Public Works and -- to join us here? This item occurs as a special
committee appointed by the Commission -- seriously, although the Commissioner from the
district was not -- was not present, Frank Castaneda, who has previously served in the City,
agreed to coordinate and chair this effort.
Frank Castaneda (Chief of Staffi: Commissioner, my name is Frank Castaneda. I work for
Commissioner Angel Gonzalez. The Commission requested basically three things: 1, to find out
where are the CLUC (County Land Usage Code) 90s; number 2, to look at governmental vacant
land in the City ofMiami, and number 3, to look at properties that had been in default, and that
tax liens had been sold on it. We had been able to research items 1 and 2, and I have maps for
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each disfrict, as to where those properties are, and so forth. As to item 3, Larry Spring is
working with the County in determining where -- what properties are on default, and what
properties have tax liens been sold on. That information still not available, but Larry Spring is
working on that. Let me give you your maps and any information. In the CL UC-90 category,
Commissioners, most of the CL UC-90s are in District 5, which is Commissioner Teele's disfrict,
which might be of interest to Commissioner Teele. We've also mapped CRA (Community
Redevelopment Agency) property, so the Commissioner can see how far away the surrounding
properties are to CRA property. In -- there are significant numbers of CL UC-90 properties. I
think Commissioner Gonzalez has four properties, which are in excess of 5, 000 square feet,
which are developable lots. In the information that I'm giving you, in the CL UC-90 section, it
will tell you the zoning for the property and also the lot size. Commissioner Gonzalez , District 1
, has 10 CL UC-90s, and Commissioner Johnny Winton has also 10. District 4 --
Commissioner Winton: Is that in my whole district?
Mr. Castaneda: I'm sorry?
Commissioner Winton: Is 10 in my whole district?
Mr. Castaneda: 10 in your whole district, correct. You have the addresses of those 10 properties
under CL UC-90 in there, yes. CL UC-90s are lands available -- it's called List of Lands, and
they are lands available for taxes, and we can request those properties from Dade County.
CL UC-80 properties, which is the bigger lists, are properties that are owned by government.
There's a whole bunch of properties there that are owned by the City ofMiami, which the
Manager will be looking into to see what are those properties are being used, and what are those
properties can be used for affordable housing. We'll also be taking a look at Dade County on
vacant land property, which is also included in that list, and we also have vacant land property
there, which is owned by the state and the school system. Any questions? Keith, you want to add
something to that?
Keith Carswell: Keith Carswell, Director for Department of Economic Development. I thought it
was a very productive meeting, and we're going to go through the exhaustive process of basically
cataloging and identifying what the uses are for these properties, and see if they are something
that we would want to consider for an infill housing program.
Chairman Teele: How long is it going to take you all to do that and when can you report back
on that?
Mr. Carswell: It will take us -- we're going -- we're actually looking at hiring interns. The list is
quite voluminous. Actually --
Mr. Castaneda: I think that we can divide it into two parts, Commissioner. CL UC-90 is fairly
simple. I would look under the first batch, any property over 5,000 square feet, in area --
Chairman Teele: Why don't you say any property over 4,000 square feet?
Mr. Castaneda: OK, we can do that.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Over 4,000.
Mr. Castaneda: But you -- and we can do that. For that matter, in Commissioner Gonzalez'
disfrict, we're looking at one which is 4,950, which, as far as we're concerned, that's 5,000
square feet, so we can determine a list and submit that list to Dade County, I would assume,
within a week. As to the City ofMiami property and the County property, I would assume that
that would take an additional period of time, but as to the CL UC-90s, we can respond to --
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immediately to everything.
Commissioner Winton: Hey, Frank, how do I figure out the 10 that are in District 2 from this?
Chairman Teele: You've got to do it on the mike, Frank or take --
Priscilla A. Thompson (City Clerk): Here you go.
Commissioner Winton: Well, then, I'll ask him off the mike, because I don't care. I mean --
Mr. Castaneda: It's from here to here.
Commissioner Winton: Thank you. Great. Thanks.
Chairman Teele: I think --
Commissioner Winton: Oh, I get it. Yeah.
Chairman Teele: I think there's two or three issues that we need to clarify with the City Attorney,
number one.
Mr. Castaneda: OK.
Chairman Teele: One of the issues that has come to mind now is that in conversations with
Habitat for Humanity, that is having a tremendous problem now identifying suitable lots that
were previously CLUC-90, where we were just giving away the CLUC-90, the CLUC-90 lots are
evaporating.
Mr. Castaneda: Yes, they are.
Chairman Teele: One of the main things that I'm driven to is to recommend, on July 8th, a
policy related to affordable housing, a la, Habitat for Humanity, and other organizations that
are doing this, that goes beyond CL UC-90, because right now, we have -- we're just sort of
waiting for properties to become available. That's never been a problem in the past. That's
going to be a problem going forward, so one of the recommendations that I'm trying to focus in
on as a result of this -- and ask Frank to continue to help us -- is a policy recommendation going
forward relating to how we can purchase or acquire lots for Habitat and other organizations in
Habitat shoes.
Mr. Castaneda: Right. Commissioner, what I would recommend -- again, CL UC-90 will get out
of here in a week. CL UC-80s are vacant land owned by government. We have numerous lots in
the City ofMiami, which are vacant, and we should look at those properties to see which of those
properties can be developed for affordable housing.
Chairman Teele: Well, what I'm frying to do, though, is this: There's no new information here
today. There is nothing new here today. All of this information has been in the City, on
computers for the last 10 years, OK, so that this is not directed at Mr. Carswell or anybody. The
problem is getting this kind of information and an analysis from the various departments so that
we're tied into one integrated policy relating to housing and, you know, I think the Law
Department has as much to do with this as anyone else, which is the issue that I'm trying to raise
with the City Attorney. I am being told now that the County is moving quickly to convert CLUC-
90 properties to County -owned land. In other words, they are transferring CL UC-90 now to
GSA (General Services Administration) of the County, and just sort of -- what do you call it --
land banking it.
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Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: And "A," is that legal? "B, " is the County obliged or not obliged to fransfer
lands to us?
Commissioner Winton: I think that's land grabbing.
Chairman Teele: "C, " have we made any requests of the County to transfer lands to us in the
normal course of business? I'm not talking about a lot here or a lot there, but do we have a plan
that each year, as CL UC-90s are coming forward, are we saying, OK, here are the CL UC-90s
that are going to be coming forward as of January 1 or whatever date, or have we -- or do we
submit a list of those to the County so that they can do that, and if not, do we have a program or
can we develop a program to do that? Correspondingly, one of the things that has happened in
the CRA is that we directed staff to go down there and buy land on the 11 th hour so that the land
would literally be converted over to the CRA for taxes, because remember, 60 percent of all the
taxes paid goes back to the City, so if the CRA goes down and buys the lands for taxes, we're just
taking money out of the CRA pot and putting it into the City pot, but the land is being transferred
because what we saw were land speculators were lined up ahead of government, of course,
because you know, we're all working 9 to 5, and they're down there buying up the land from us,
and we have no control over it, so it's a lot more complicated than what fell in our lap. We know
what fell in our lap. The question is, how do we manage this as a program going forward? So,
Mr. Attorney, I need the answer to those questions.
Alejandro Vilarello (City Attorney): Certainly, and we'll -- most of those will be incorporated in,
I guess, a policy statement coming back to you on July 8th.
Chairman Teele: No. I thought we were getting those answers today.
Mr. Vilarello: Well, you can get -- with regard to CL UC-90 properties, the County does have
the option to convert that for its use. If it doesn't, you know, we would --
Chairman Teele: So they can land bank it or convert it to their use?
Mr. Vilarello: Yes.
Chairman Teele: Which one?
Mr. Vilarello: Under certain conditions. They have a series of conditions. In fact, we issued an
opinion in this regard. I just don't have it before me. There's a series of options the County has
that they can use the property for.
Chairman Teele: Is the County obliged to fransfer lands within a municipality that are properly
requested to the City, to the municipality?
Mr. Vilarello: They have the obligation to transfer the property to us, so long as they are not
using it for infill housing or dedicated for some other public purpose by the Board of County
Commissioners.
Chairman Teele: Well, you know, the other side of this coin is this. There's a significant amount
of CL UC-90 properties that are in Unincorporated Dade County that nobody can have but the
County, and we need to look at that also, because I think part of what we need to arm the
Attorney or the Manager, whoever's going to be working with the City County Manager and
County Attorney, is that this is sort of a ridiculous position the County is putting themselves in.
Do we have any idea how many CL UC-90 properties there are in Unincorporated Dade County?
I would venture to say there's probably thousands of them.
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Commissioner Gonzalez: Thousands of them.
Chairman Teele: Thousands, you know, so this whole thing is just typical government just being
big dog on government, and we need to try to get a working relationship with the County on this
issue, because we need to maintain the program for Habitat and other organizations, so have we
ever requested, as a routine course, not a particular lot, but at the end of the year or at the
beginning of the year any CL UC-90 transfers?
Mr. Vilarello: I'm not aware of any. I know we have with the CRA. I know we did for the Model
City Trust use, but other than that, I'm not aware --
Chairman Teele: But I'm saying, is there a citywide program where somebody is directed to
evaluate CL UC-90 properties or properties that could be CL UC-90 and to transfer them?
Because, again, this is the issue, folks. We've got a program in District 4, where we say we're
going to build houses. We still -- we've been doing this now for two years. We still have not got
one lot in District 4, is that -- OK We have Habitat for Humanity that's out there making a great
statement for the City and for the community, and they're telling us they're going to move on to
another City because we don't have enough available land. They can't work on onesies, twosies.
They've got to have a plan of 25 lots a year, and we can't give them that anymore, so this is not
just politics at all. This is really about the future of the City, in terms of maintaining an
affordable program. Madam Manager, we still need to hear from you on whether or not we have
a program?
Linda Haskins (Deputy City Manager/Chief Financial Officer): No, we do not, sir. We have not
had a program. This has been something that has been discussed to put together this for a
formal infill housing program, and this would be part of it. However, it has not been
implemented.
Chairman Teele: Would it be fair to ask on July 8th -- that's about a month from now -- for a
program or something to be brought back to us?
Ms. Haskins: I think we can give an outline of a program by July 8th.
Chairman Teele: Frank, what are the other comments that you have on this?
Mr. Castaneda: Well, as I said, we have identified all the CL UC-90s, all the CL UC-80s. What
we have failed to identify so far are properties that liens are being sold on --
Chairman Teele: That what?
Mr. Castaneda: Liens are being sold -- I'm sorry. Liens are being sold on properties. We have
not been able to identify that so far.
Chairman Teele: Does the City sell liens?
Mr. Castaneda: No, but the County does for us. Larry --
Chairman Teele: On our behalf?
Mr. Castaneda: On our behalf and we get --
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah, but, Frank, the County, as we speak now, is selling about 26,
000 liens on properties and what they're doing now, instead of having the ceremony on the
courthouse step, they're using the web page, so everybody can bid on it. They -- they're selling
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the houses and properties of thousands ofMiamians as we speak now.
Mr. Castaneda: Well, our Finance Department -- our Budget Department has a request with
Dade County right now of all vacant property, where liens are being sold. OK. Oh, there you
are.
Larry Spring: Larry Spring, Chief of Strategic Planning, Budgeting & Performance. Per
Frank's request, we contacted the tax -- the County in order to obtain a list of the requested
properties. Commissioner, you are correct, that they are going through a tax sell at this current
time. In fact, they informed me, the week that I made the request, that they wanted to wait until
after the sale so they could give me a more detailed list of what was out there, so yeah, you are
correct, they are doing that.
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah, but -- I was thinking and wondering if those liens that the City
had imposed -- because of Code Enforcement cases that we have to clean the properties and then
charge the property owner? That becomes part of the lien for the County to sell, right?
Mr. Vilarello: Code Enforcement liens are not included --
Commissioner Regalado: No, no, no, no, I'm not talking -- I'm talking of the City going into an
empty lot, cleaning, and then billing the property owner, and if the property owner didn't pay,
lien the property. That lien has been sold, I think.
Mr. Vilarello: There are some, over the last several years, that were sold. The County,
approximately a year and a half ago, stopped selling those liens with their tax liens.
Commissioner Regalado: So the question is, we never get the money back?
Mr. Vilarello: Prior to having the County sell, we used to sell our own liens. I believe the
Finance Department is reviewing -- going back to that process of selling the municipal liens and
that's how we'll get -- collect those dollars and the individuals that buy the liens would be
foreclosing on those properties if tax -- if those liens aren't paid for.
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah, but my question still is, do we get the money from the County --
do they sell on our behalf and then we get the money?
Mr. Vilarello: For the type of liens that you're talking about, lot clearing or code enforcement
or those, they do not. Tax liens, yes, they sell those and yes, we do get the benefit of that tax lien
sell.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Let me see ifI understand correctly what you said. We sent somebody
to clean up a lot, to cut the grass and clean up a lot, and we paid for the service. We billed the
owner of the property and the owner of the property doesn't pay us for that service?
Mr. Vilarello: We place a lien on the property.
Commissioner Gonzalez: We place a lien on the property, and then what happens?
Mr. Vilarello: We -- there's a couple of different processes. For several years, they were
including those liens together with the tax liens and the County was selling them for. About a
year and a half they stopped doing -- a year and a half ago, they stopped doing that for us for a
series of reasons. One, it was apparently some problem with the state statute authorizing it. The
County has now -- no longer selling those liens, so -- but the liens are still on the property. If the
property is sold, we do collect on it, or if we independently start a cause of action, we also
collect on it.
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Commissioner Gonzalez: But we don't lose the money, right? I hope that we collect --
Mr. Vilarello: We have not -- there is not a process currently in place to sell those liens
independent of the County process.
Chairman Teele: But let me just give another perspective to what the Commissioner's asking.
This is what's happening. Once the CL UC -- once the property becomes CL UC-90, the County
doesn't transfer their -- the land in most cases, in most cases. It stays in CL UC-90, so if it's
owned by Joe Blow, it stays on the tax rolls as Joe Blow.
Mr. Vilarello: Right.
Chairman Teele: Then the grass grows up, the frash is dropped on there, the neighbors call; our
people go out and cite the property. This goes on for two, three and four years, but it's a
charade. It's a charade, because the property has already -- is cheated. The property owner has
no intent of ever redeeming it, so you could put liens of $10, 000, 000 on the property, because it's
just there as a sort of a dummy name on a computer, and that's what gets neighborhoods so
frustrated, and it makes it look like the NET (Neighborhood Enhancement Team) Office is not
doing a good job in some cases. It looks like the City doesn't really care, but the truth of the
matter is, the land is just cheated. The value of-- the amount of taxes and liens are so in excess
of the value of the land that the property owners walked away from it, but the name never
changes in the computer, and the name doesn't change for a reason and it's a good reason that it
doesn't change, so I also think that the CL UC-80, the County owned government properties are
really where we need to be focused, particularly because there's a lot more of that right now, and
obviously, the County has been just transferring property to their -- which means now, property
pays no taxes. We're basically maintaining the property in many cases. The property pays no
taxes. It's now tax exempt, and it's just being there blocking any future development, et cetera,
so I really think that we need to take a hard long look at this thing, so we can get a follow up
report in July?
Unidentified Speaker: Yes.
Chairman Teele: And, Frank, you'll come back in July and tell us what you're recommending
with the attorney?
Mr. Castaneda: And we'll proceed to submit a letter to Dade County, requesting the CL UC-90s
that are in excess of 4, 000 square feet. OK
Chairman Teele: Oh, it's in the computer that way?
Mr. Castaneda: Yes.
Chairman Teele: Amazing. All of this information is in the computer?
Mr. Castaneda: Yes. And we develop maps for you, and you can see them there.
Chairman Teele: I could just only say what a great resource you are, and I really appreciate
very much the effort and the time you've put into this, and you can bill about 20 hours pro rata to
the rest of us --
Mr. Castaneda: Commissioner Gonzalez will send you a bill.
Chairman Teele: OK. All right. This doesn't require any further action, then, and we'll wait on
that report on July 8th.
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PART B
Chairman Teele: Pending the fifth Commissioner, why don't we do this. Madam Clerk, why
don't you swear in the zoning -- all persons that intend to participate in the zoning agenda, and
the City is very aware of the fact that we promised to take up the item that most of you are here
on, as the first order of business coming back from lunch, and we will honor that intent. Madam
Clerk. If you intend to testify, would you please stand, raise your right hand and be sworn by the
Clerk? Madam Clerk.
The City Clerk administered required oath under City Code Section 62-1 to those persons giving
testimony on zoning issues.
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Madam Clerk, do we have the transcript from the Kubik meeting, and has it
been passed out, please?
Ms. Thompson: Sir, I e-mailed it to all the Commissioners on yesterday and I have a copy here.
Chairman Teele: You need five copies out here. E-mail is good for staff. How many copies is
this?
Ms. Thompson: How many meetings?
Chairman Teele: No. How many copies is this?
Ms. Thompson: This is one copy, two meetings.
Chairman Teele: No, of the last meeting.
Ms. Thompson: The last one is right there.
Chairman Teele: You need to make copies of the last meeting available to everyone here.
PZ.1 03-0415 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENTS, APPROVING WITH CONDITIONS, A MAJOR USE
SPECIAL PERMIT PURSUANT TO ARTICLES 5, 13, AND 17 OF ZONING
ORDINANCE NO. 11000, FOR THE KUBIK AT MORNINGSIDE PROJECT,
TO BE LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY 5600-5780 BISCAYNE
BOULEVARD, MIAMI, FLORIDA, TO BE PROPOSED AS TWO 14-STORY
BUILDINGS WITH TWO DESIGN OPTIONS WITH THE "ALTERNATIVE A"
OPTION COMPRISED OF 293 MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL UNITS, 41,
745 SQUARE FEET OF RETAIL/RESTAURANT SPACE, AND
APPROXIMATELY 422 TOTAL PARKING SPACES; OR THE "
ALTERNATIVE B" OPTION WHICH IS COMPRISED OF 293
MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL UNITS, 33,046 SQUARE FEET OF RETAIL/
RESTAURANT SPACE, AND APPROXIMATELY 362 TOTAL PARKING
SPACES.; DIRECTING TRANSMITTAL; MAKING FINDINGS OF FACT
AND STATING CONCLUSIONS OF LAW; PROVIDING FOR BINDING
EFFECT; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING
FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
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03-0415 MUSP Fact Sheet.pdf
03-0415 MUSP Analysis.PDF
03-0415 Zoning Map.pdf
03-0415 Aerial Map.pdf
03-0415 PAB Resos.PDF
03-0415 MUSP Application.PDF
03-0415 Sp Exception Fact Sheet.PDF
03-0415 Sp Exception Analysis.PDF
03-0415 ZB Reso.PDF
03-0415 Sp Exception Application & Supp Docs.PDF
03-0415 Plans.PDF
03-0415 Legislation.PDF
03-0415 Exhibit A.PDF
03-0415 Exhibit B - Alt A.PDF
03-0415 Exhibit B - Alt B.PDF
03-0415 Exhibit C - Alt A.PDF
03-0415 Exhibit C - Alt B.PDF
03-0415 - submittal.pdf
COM M-4-22-4. ppt
03-0415 - submittals.pdf
03-0415 - submittal - Women Club.pdf
03-0415 - submittal - Morningside.pdf
03-0415 - submittal - Kubik.pdf
03-0415 - submittal - U of M.pdf
03-0415 - submittal - law analysis.pdf
REQUEST: Major Use Special Permit for the Kubik at Morningside Project
LOCATION: Approximately 5600-5780 Biscayne Boulevard
APPLICANT(S): Kubik, LLC; Biscayne Premier Investments, Inc and
Mark's Classics Corp
APPLICANT(S) AGENT: Lucia A. Dougherty, Esquire
FINDINGS:
PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval with
conditions*.
PLANNING ADVISORY BOARD: Recommended denial to City Commission
on December 17, 2003 by a vote of 4-2. Recommended approval with
conditions* of the substantial modification to City Commission on April 7,
2004 by a vote of 5-4.
ZONING BOARD: Recommended approval of special exceptions to City
Commission on December 15, 2004 by a vote of 9-0.
*See supporting documentation.
PURPOSE: This will allow a mixed -use multifamily residential development.
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Motion by Commissioner Winton, seconded by Chairman Teele, that this matter be
ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
R-04-0383
Note for the Record: Commissioner Winton created a local citizens subcommittee to study the
relocation of the Women's Club building and come back with a recommendation in 30 days.
Chairman Teele instructed the City Clerk to obtain the names and contact information of
individuals interested in serving as members of said committee.
Chairman Teele: All right. Ladies and gentlemen, we are here for a very important item. Mr.
Attorney, would you review the record and tell us exactly where we are? A verbatim transcript
has -- minutes, I should say, I think have been passed out, but I don't see what I'm looking for.
Mr. Clerk -- Mr. Attorney.
Joel Maxwell (Deputy City Attorney): PZ.1 is the Kubik item. Mr. Chairman, at the last
hearing, May 6th, this item was continued with specific directions, or instructions that the public
hearing was closed, and that when it came back to this hearing, the only testimony you would
take would be that of the attorneys for both sides and staff. At that time, you all directed the
parties to see if they could reach a rational consensus recommendation for the City Commission
and come back at that time, through counsel, and make such presentation to the Commission.
Chairman Teele: Would you comment on whether or not there's going to be testimony?
Mr. Maxwell: Only testimony indicated at that time that would be allowed today would be that
of the two attorneys and staff, if necessary.
Chairman Teele: All right. Are both counsel present -- or all counsel that are here on the
matter present? Would you state your name and information on the record?
Lucia Dougherty: Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Lucia Dougherty,
with offices at 1221 Brickell Avenue, here today on behalf of the Kubik property -- or project,
and with me is Enrique Alvarada and his son, Camilo, who is also the architect, and they are the
principals of the project.
Andrew Dickman: Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Andrew Dickman, law offices at 9111 Park
Drive, representing the Morningside Civic Association. A number of those board of directors
and members of the neighborhood are here with me today.
Chairman Teele: And have we reached -- Madam Attorney, Counsel, have we reached --
Ms. Dougherty: Probably, the best thing to do is to give each of us five to ten minutes to make a
presentation, as to where we are today. I have the honor today of representing this development
group, and --
Chairman Teele: Are you going to wait for a decision, or you're going to --
Ms. Dougherty: Yeah, sure.
Chairman Teele: Counsel, do you have any objection to that?
Mr. Dickman: Could be --
Chairman Teele: To allowing each counsel ten minutes to make -- up to ten minutes to make any
statement that you'd like --
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Mr. Dickman: I'd prefer --
Chairman Teele: -- as to where you are.
Mr. Dickman: I'd prefer up to 15, ifI could.
Chairman Teele: All right. It's granted.
Mr. Dickman: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Up to 15 minutes. Now, will there be a rebuttal or -- did -- let me say it this
way. If you would like to break your time in half or separate your time, you have leave to do so,
provided you don't exceed 15 minutes and, counsel, I assume that's OK with you?
Mr. Dickman: Yes.
Chairman Teele: All right. Both sides will have 15 minutes, and Ms. Dougherty will have the
right to divide her 15 minutes any way she'd like, after you have spoken, OK?
Mr. Dickman: So I will go first?
Chairman Teele: No. You'll --
Mr. Dickman: You will go first. I'll follow her.
Chairman Teele: You know what? Why don't we do it that way? Why don't we do it that way?
Why don't you go first and, Ms. Dougherty, why don't you respond, and that way we're not
breaking time up.
Ms. Dougherty: Sure.
Mr. Dickman: That's acceptable.
Chairman Teele: Is that acceptable to you?
Mr. Dickman: Absolutely, absolutely. OK Ready to go?
Chairman Teele: Thank you for --
Mr. Dickman: OK Gentlemen, thank you for having us back here today. Recollect your
memory, we were here on May 6th. The instructions were for us to come back after meeting with
the developer --
Mr. Maxwell: I'm sorry, counsel. Name and address for the record, please.
Mr. Dickman: I thought I had already done that.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Yeah.
Mr. Dickman: Andrew Dickman, law offices at 9111 Park Drive in Miami Shores, Florida,
representingMorningside Civic Association.
Mr. Maxwell: OK. IfI have asked you to repeat, I apologize.
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Mr. Dickman: That's right. Better safe than sorry. We convened -- actually, let me back up.
This is -- let me state for the record that this is the 13th time that the neighbors have attended a
meeting such as this to deal with this particular applicant. They are here tonight, and also
joined by newly formed neighborhood coalition. I would ask those neighbors to quickly and
quietly stand up so that they can be recognized, please. Thank you very much. We did attempt,
in good faith, to find a compromised position with the applicant. We met on May 24th, and on
May 26th, at the offices of Greenberg Traurig. The meetings lasted approximately two hours
each. In attendance at those meetings were members selected by Morningside to represent those
positions that they had decided were agreeable after a long process that they had, in terms of
putting together a list of items that they felt were important to them. Also in attendance were
members of the staff -- or one member from staff to answer questions, Lourdes Slazyk, who I
want to say thank you very much for attending those meetings, and we had a very vigorous
dialogue with the applicant. We came up with a list of ten items that were important to
Morningside. These were items that were in the public interest, and we made it abundantly and
absolutely clear that our issue was the central issue that Commissioner Winton stated right
before we broke last time, which was the height, bulk and scale. That was clear to all parties
that that was our main and absolute issue that we wanted to deal with. However, we did put
together a list of other issues that we felt should have been addressed during the staff review that
we put out there. The issues that we put out on the table, number one, was the height and scale
and bulk of the building. Basically, that it's too big in relationship to the other surrounding
buildings. You'll recall that at the last meeting, two models were brought out before you. One
was ours, which you can see on the far left over there, put together by the Morningside, and the
other one was the Kubik model, which is covered up here. They had a smaller model. At that
time, it was determined that the -- that our model was eight percent bigger than what it should
have been, simply because we didn't see that height was measured below the surface, and their --
the problem with their model was that they didn't provide surrounding buildings so that you
could judge what the scale was so, again, going into these meetings, that was the main topic. We
talked about that. We talked about the need for removing the bonuses for the planned unit
development. It was our position that this is not a planned unit development because it is simply
a multi family building. It is not adding anything to the surrounding area and, therefore, should
not be able to -- the benefit of the 20 percent bonus that it was given under the PUD (planned
unit development). The amenities that they put in place are strictly for the benefit of the
residents that will be moving into this building, so we had said that we wanted the bonuses
removed. In fact, that was the position of staff, as well. We raised the issue of noise and light
pollution and, specifically, we talked about events and parties that may take place on the top of
the building, and lights that may be placed on the outside balconies and so forth that would
disperse into the community because, again, this is going to be a very tall building that will be
seen from the neighborhood. We also raised the issue, which was a high issue for us, of the
Northeast Miami Women's Club, the preservation of that building. I will also add that we have
today a letter from the grandniece, I believe it is, of the architect, Victor Nellenbogen, who we
have a letter here from her, and I would ask to quickly read a few passages of that, and I'll put it
into the record. This is from Kathleen Tyler Conklin. I urge you not to allow the destruction of
the Northeast Miami Women's Club. I am the grandniece of Victor Hugo Nellenbogen, who
designed the beautiful and architecturally significant building. It has been said that the
architecture is music set in stone. I urge you to save the Northeast Miami Women's Club." If
you could please put that into the record for me, I'd appreciate it. This was an issue that was
important to our community; was the preservation of this historic architecture. Another issue
that we brought up was the placement of the air conditioning and mechanical units that are seen
nowhere on the plans, and where would they be located in terms of noise and visual pollution.
We also brought up the issue of parking. Specifically, our concern was that -- whether they
would allow for enough parking to serve the retail and office space on their project so that there
wouldn't be spillover into the street, or into the neighborhoods. This was a very important issue,
and I think it came up in the Midtown issue about allowing for -- excuse me -- some free parking,
or at least validated parking, so the parking wouldn't end up in Morningside, or in the other
neighborhoods. We also brought up the issue of the billboard on the front end of the park --
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front end of the property, and whether or not that could be removed. We strongly discussed the
issue of scale on Biscayne and 58th Street. In fact, the design of the building, as you can see
over there, broadsides Biscayne Boulevard and 5th Avenue, and we felt that it would create a
tunnel effect and a canyon effect on the Boulevard. The last two issues had to do with pedesfrian
safety, that building something this large would obviously be an attractor for many of the
residents across the Boulevard, in Morningside and other areas. Right now, it is extremely
hazardous to cross over the boulevard at 58th Street, and also at 54th Street. Those lights
currently do not have crosswalks, and running along the east side of Biscayne Boulevard, there
isn't a viable sidewalk for pedestrians to walk to and from, so we talked about that issue of
pedesfrian safety in and around the development and, finally, the issue of the existing residents,
and also the industries there, with regard to Lou's Car Wash andAndiamo was an issue for us.
Specifically, it is our position that this is going to be the elimination of some affordable housing,
replacing it with high -end luxury housing, and how are they going to deal with the current
residents; would they deal with them fairly and help transition them into a different location?
That was important to the community, as well. I can tell you unequivocally that they were
willing to talk about eight of these issues. The issue that we made central to our position was the
height, bulk and scale. They were unwilling to compromise at all on this. We even talked about
how would this building fit under the new ordinance, and whether they can meet that. The
upshot of it was that in order to meet some of the issues that we wanted, specifically, the issue of
Biscayne Boulevard, they even went so far as to state that they wanted to increase the height, so
they went the other direction. They were not willing to come down on height, at all. Their
reasoning was that this building would be -- the project would be economically infeasible, and
that is really not an issue that we think this Commission should be considering, the economic
viability of this, but we did ask the applicant if in fact, that is an issue for you, then share with us
your financial disclosure -- financials so that we can look at it, and it won't be an issue. They --
to date, we even asked for that several times and they did not provide any of those financial
documents to us so that we can see that. It has been stated that they purchased the property
somewhere on the order of about 10, 000, 000 or $11, 000, 000. We have looked in the public
record and it shows approximately $5, 500, 000, so the issue of whether this is a viable project is
still not a strong argument for us, but what I want this Commission to understand is that we went
into these meetings with good faith. We had a lot of dialogue only on our side, before going into
those meetings. There was a heck of a lot of variability. A lot of people are very strong about
wanting to hold the line on what came out of the charette with the -- no more than three-story
buildings, but there are also some voices of reason that say we need to fry to find some common
ground, and I believe that that voice of reason and that common ground came to these meetings
twice, and we received no movement on their side to come down on the height, or the scale, or
the bulk and this, candidly, is the issue. Because of this -- not moving on this main issue -- we
actually have retained an expert, a professor from the University ofMiami School of
Architecture, a Professor (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to do two things: One, to examine our reworking
of our scale, and to validate that our scale model is, in fact, to scale, and I would put that into
the record, and the professor is here today should any of the members of the Commission wish to
hear his positions, butt would like to read this into the record, and it basically says, `I've been
asked by Elvis Cruz, ofMorningside Civic Association, to verify the dimensions of the model
constructed to portray the size of the proposed development. I have taken a City base map and
plotted the height dimension and proposed project on it in order to compare with Mr. Cruz's
model. I can safely verify its accuracy in displaying and verifying large scale relative to its
surroundings. If the project is definitely not" -- "the project is definitely not example of good
architectural scale relationships." After these negotiation meetings, our architect -- our expert,
having looked at the models and the plans, has advised us that a proper scale for this site would
be on the order of five to six stories. That's what we think needs to go on this property. We were
willing to discuss other options with the applicant. They were actually wanting to go the other
way. They wanted to go higher, in exchange for some small token -- what we think are in the
public interest -- amenities. These were not amenities that were just for Morningside. These
were amenities that needed to be done and should have been caught through the public process,
so that's where we are today. We have not reached an agreement, unfortunately. We have our
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expert here, ifyou would like to speak with him. The primary issue that want to leave you with
is to review the record. We placed in the record over and over, at the last hearing, the criteria
that this Commission needs to use when evaluating these projects. It is not how long the
applicant has been in the process getting approved. It is not how much they paid for their
property. It is not how much you like or dislike the developer and their designers, and it is not --
certainly, it is not how many numbers of meetings they can attest to having had with the
community. The fact of the matter is, Article XVII and Section 13 of your Code specifically tells
you what you need to look at with regard to the impact of this building on the surrounding
community. Chapter 17 also tells you that an analysis needs to be made of whether this is
consistent with your adopted Miami Comprehensive Neighborhood Plan, goals, objectives and
policies. This is your master plan for the City. By law, this is your master plan. Thank you. I
just want to quickly read into the record those goals, objectives and policies that we feel would
be contradicted should you approve this: Goal L U-1, Policy L U-1.13, Policy L U-1.1.10, Policy
L U-1.4.10 -- I would read these ifI had more time, but I'm just going to put them into the record
-- Policy HO-1.15, Policy HO-1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19, HO-1.27 -- these are all your goals,
objectives and polices that this project will contravene. I want to read one goal HO-2, "achieve
a livable city center with a variety of urban types for persons of all income levels."
Chairman Teele: All right. Counsel, your time's up. How much more time will you need?
Mr. Dickman: Give me two more minutes, ifyou would.
Chairman Teele: All right. Take three more minutes. Counsel, you'll be entitled to 18 minutes.
Mr. Dickman: Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. Objective HO-2.1, achieve a livable downtown
with a variety of housing types; Policy HO-211, Policy HO-214, Objective TR-14, Policy TR-1.
41, which deals with urban sfreets, andl want to read this. "The urban sfreets whose primary
function is to serve the adjoining residential neighborhoods." The first part -- the first urban
street listed is Biscayne Boulevard. Primary function is to serve the adjoining residential
neighborhoods. Policy TR-1.510, Policy CM-415, each proposed land use development
regulation change within the coastal high hazard area of the City will require an analysis of its
potential impact on the evacuation times and shelter needs in the event of a hurricane. This is
going to cause at least six or 700 more people on a boulevard within the coastal high hazard
area that no one has even at least considered the hurricane evacuation issue. Finally, Goal CM-
S, preserve and protect the heritage of the City ofMiami through the identification, evaluation,
rehabilitation and adaptive reuse ofMiami historical, architectural and archaeological
resources. Finally, objective CM-5.2. We believe that the comp. plan tells you that large
developments, multi family developments belong in and around the downtown, Brickell,
Edgewater, Omni, not in these residential areas. It also tells you to preserve your historical
resources whenever and wherever you can. It also tells you the need to not have commuter
traffic throughout the area, and everyone can acknowledge that Biscayne Boulevard is a traffic
congested boulevard, that you place large multi family buildings close to the Metrorail and other
significant employment generating places. There is no significant employment generating
industry in and around this. I urge you to support what your staff has said. Reduce the height of
the building and remove the bonuses. I ask you to uphold your Comprehensive Plan and deny
this development. Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much, counsel. You're entitled to 18 minutes.
Lucia Dougherty: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and members of the board. Again, for
the record, Lucia Dougherty, with offices at 1221 Brickell Avenue. I have the honor today of
representing this development, which began over a year ago. My partner, Gloria Velazquez,
reminded me last night that she was not pregnant at the time, and since the time that this project
has been ongoing in the City, she has had a baby and it is six months old. This project is, as of
right, there is no zoning requests, there are no variances requested, there are no special
exceptions requested. We are asking for 20 percent of the bonuses that would otherwise be
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allowable for this site. We are asking for a Major Use Special Permit that is 24 percent less
floor area ratio than is permitted by Code; it is 39 percent less than the height that would be
permitted by Code; it is a -- has a hundred parking spaces, more than are required; it has 23
percent less density than is permitted, and it has 21 percent more open space than is required.
The project has a complete liner uses, which -- why don't you uncover this while we're talking --
complete liner uses of the garage; it preserves the Andiamo Pizza; it has a huge urban plaza,
which, again, is 21 percent more open space than it is required, but before we got here today, let
me tell you what we've done. We've redesigned this project five times; we've reduced the number
offloors by two levels; we eliminated vehicular access onto 58th Street. What I want to show
you by that is on 58th Street, we now have town house units -- and if you would like, we're
offering and proffered it again -- town house units on 4th Court, as well, so the entire base of
this project is outlined or lined with town house units and, again, we had to buy another piece of
property to do this. This all happened with the input of a lot of neighbors. We've met again over
60 times with neighbors; we've had 25 meetings with staff and we're proud to have the support
of the following neighborhood associations: The Palm Grove Homeowners Association; Alex
Rodriguez is here today. The Bayside Homeowners Association; Shane Graver is supporting it,
and I know has sent letters to that effect. Leaders of the Upper Eastside Council, David Treece,
Bob Flanders, Pablo Marcus and Bill Traurig are all here today and supporting the project.
Patrick Whiteside from the Chamber of Commerce is supporting the project, and all five
neighbors on the other side of 58th Street support this project. All of the single-family homes
facing the project on 58th Street support the project. I know there was some issue about that. We
regrouped; got three more signatures of the same people again. At the last time, you asked us to
meet and you said, "Meet in good faith with these folks," and we did, and one of the suggestions
that Lourdes Slazyk made, which made a lot of sense to us and we tested it, she said, "Put the
FAR (Floor Area Ratio) here and make it come open like this, like a "U" shape, "so we tested
that. What that does is take 40 percent of the FAR away from the site. We, again, did another
project. We were willing to consider that. We thought it was actually a great idea, but again, it
doesn't work financially, but here's what we agreed to do: They said, "Would you screen your
mechanical equipment?" We agreed to screen it, and we said we'd put it on the other side of
Biscayne Boulevard. They said, what about --
Commissioner Winton: What do you mean, the other side of Biscayne Boulevard?
Ms. Dougherty: Excuse me. We put the mechanical equipment on this side of the building, not
on the Biscayne Boulevard side. They said, "What about retail parking? With the retail parking,
are you going to somehow validate or have free retail parking so the folks don't park in the
neighborhood?" We agreed to validate retail. They said, "How about the billboard? We don't
like it." Neither do we. We'd like to get rid of it as soon as possible, but we agreed that we
would not renew any leases, to the extent we had power over that. They said, pedestrian safety.
We agreed to provide crosswalks on 54th Street on Biscayne Boulevard. We agreed to have 58th
and 54th Street speed tables, kind of a raised bump, and allow for kind of an urban plaza.
Existing residences. We agreed that for three months, anybody who's living in the building
currently, we would give them notices and we would give $1, 000 to any tenants who've been
there for more than 10 years. Women's Club. We agreed to incorporate the significant
architectural features meeting the rotunda and other architectural features into our project, as
sort of like an entryway or a front door to our project. Light and noise. We've agreed to no
exterior lighting projection, except by what's required by Code, and we agreed to put in our
condo docks, there would be no noise emanating from the project after 11 o'clock. Massing,
scale and the common effect and height. Well, this is the issue: And what we believe is that this
is in scale. I would like Camilo Alvarado to come forward. He is an architect, and he has a
letter written by -- or not a letter, but the -- well, I'll let you talk.
Camilo Alvarado: For the record, Camilo Alvarado, 1625 South Miami Avenue.
Mr. Dickman: Excuse me, Mr. Chair. Are we going to allow experts to testify or --
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Hs. Dougherty: Well, you put your expert in the record; I didn't object, but more importantly,
you asked us to come with a scale model, so how can we -- we have to explain the scale model.
That's been the issue for the Commissioners. Is this in scale, and so we have to explain to you
why it is in scale.
Hr. Dickman: Well, I had to explain my scale.
Chairman Teele: Hold, counsel, counsel. On page 14 of the transcript --
Hs. Dougherty: Yes, sir.
Chairman Teele: -- the verbatim minutes --
Hs. Dougherty: I'll be happy -- you want me to testify instead?
Chairman Teele: -- the Chair ruled that, based upon a motion by Commissioner Winton, it does
not include a continuation of additional public hearing and "The lawyers and the City staff will
make the sole presentations." Commissioner Winton replies, "Yes, that's my motion."
Hs. Dougherty: All right, then I will do it, to the bestl can. This is a -- comes out of a treatise
by Elizabeth Plater Zyberk, who is the architects that you have just hired to do your master plan.
It says, what is the relationship -- the best relationship per thoroughfares, and it's (INAUDIBLE)
, and that's exactly --
Hs. Thompson: Excuse me, Lucia. Lucia, you need to hold the middle of the mike.
Hs. Dougherty: Thank you. What is the perfect spatial relationship of a sfreet to a building?
And they said, it's one to one. One -- in other words, the sfreet should not be any wider than the
height of the building. That is the case. That is actually the case in this case. If you turn this as
-- on its side, you will see that the building is no higher than the sfreet. There it is. There it is in
plan. What we've done here --
Commissioner Winton: I don't get it.
Hs. Dougherty: In other words, the street, the face-to-face of the two buildings should be
proportionately the same size of the building on each side. That's the perfect. Now, the other
ones are fine, and it's not exactly the -- OK. You've asked for scale, proportionate scale.
Commissioner Winton: No. I got -- I understood the question.
Hs. Dougherty: All right.
Commissioner Winton: But don't understand this --
Hs. Dougherty: The concept.
Commissioner Winton: What you said here. I'm a little slow.
Hs. Dougherty: Right. Here's Elizabeth Plater Zyberk's book. It says, one to one, the
relationship to the building to the street.
Commissioner Winton: Show me right there what -- how that -- the one-to-one seem simple, but
I still --
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Ms. Dougherty: This is Kubik building. Here's the town house units or the studio units. Here's
the height of the building; step back, here's the second height. If you turn this building on its
edge, it's no taller than the width of the sfreet. It's essentially the same.
Chairman Teele: In other words, if you lay the building down --
Ms. Dougherty: That's right.
Commissioner Winton: -- it should be no wider than the street that it fronts.
Ms. Dougherty: From building to building, OK. That's the relationship of buildings to streets.
That's the perfect scenario. On the other hand, there are other scenarios that are equally as
good, but that's what he would have showed you. The other thing that he would have showed
you is that what you have here is a massing scale of buildings as if under your new Code. I'm
going to take these off to show you what exists there today, but this is what you can build under
your new Code. This here. Again, this is C-1. This is R-3. This currently is office district.
These buildings that are in black is what is permitted as of today. I've also passed out a copy --
you know, a year ago, if somebody would have said to me, you're going to have trouble getting a
project approved that is architecturally significant, and its residential project starting units at
three hundred -- 200,000 above --
Commissioner Winton: Hold it in the middle.
Ms. Dougherty: OK -- in an island -- and I showed you the zoning map -- in an island, in the
middle of U.S.1, surrounded by commercial office and C-3, I would have told them they're crazy.
How could this be? A year ago, I would have really said that, but then, I realized, and so did the
clients, that we did have problems and we worked with our neighbors, and we got their support.
Some of them we couldn't get their support, but we worked really hard and we got the support of
many of the significant neighbors, including the neighborhood association in which this building
is located, but last weekend -- because we had these models out two weekends in a row -- we had
heard, no one saw it, so we made another special event where people could come to our building
at Soyka and see the model for another three hours. You know how many people showed up?
Three people, but it gave me a chance to realize what this building means, because I've been to
Soyka's 10 times. I've eaten there, I'm sure as you all have. Has anybody ever walked up and
down the street? It's a really special commercial enclave that he's created there that didn't get
before. I get it now, and what's the problem? You have shopkeepers on that island who -- on
that street who said to us and the Planning Advisory Board, we have break-ins in our cars once
a month, or the buildings once a month. Every month there's some sort of crime. What will this
building do for this neighborhood? It will make sure there's eyes on the sfreet and people in
those shops, and it won't have a detrimental affect atMorningside. It can't see it from
Morningside. You can see that. When you're driving in Morningside, you will not see this
building, particularly, if anything else -- what's this? Well, you can come and see the scale.
Kind of looks like a shot glass, you know. OK, so I can only close by quoting something from the
newspaper, which I couldn't say it better, but Bob Flanders said it, "The building could have
been 23 stories high. The developers didn't have to do 15 meetings with the residents. They
didn't have to change the project about a half a dozen times, and they didn't have to add extra
parking spaces. These people have bent over backwards to accommodate the neighborhood. If
all developers were like this, what a magical world this would be."
(APPLAUSE)
Commissioner Winton: No. Excuse me. There's no clapping, no cheering, no booing, no
nothing. Thank you.
Ms. Dougherty: Thank you. Thank you very much. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) asked me to pass
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around a picture that is taken directly in front of our sites, so you could see the urban context of
this building, and you see behind it Palm Bay and what's this building? So you can see that this
is a real urban street.
Commissioner Winton: You only have one picture?
Hs. Dougherty: That concludes my presentation.
Chairman Teele: All right. Counsel, you have about five minutes left and you're concluded, so
that always looks good. Thank you very much.
Hs. Dougherty: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Would you mind removing the -- or put it off to the side? Thank you very much
. All right. The public hearing portion or the final arguments by counsel is therefore completed,
and the public hearing again is closed. Commissioner Winton.
Commissioner Winton: I thought -- he's not going to --
Chairman Teele: No. He's finished. He went 15 minutes, and then three more.
Commissioner Winton: Oh, OK.
Chairman Teele: The public hearing is closed. It's show time at the Apollo.
Commissioner Winton: And I guess that I'm on front and center stage at the Apollo, then. I've
spent a lot of time thinking about this and was real curious to understand the presentation that
would come today, and I had -- I guess I was interviewed by NBC 6 yesterday, and they wanted
to see if they could pry out of me, which Joel would have yelled at me -- even ifI had a decision
by then, Joel would have really yelled at me ifI would have given a decision, but I didn't have a
decision because this is really -- this decision has bothered me, and it's been interesting. We've
had a lot of development issues, and this place has been flooded, you know, 20 times, 30 times in
the last three and a half years, and at every single turn, relative to development, when we sent
the neighborhoods away to meet up with the developers, every single time, bar none, except the
couple of times early on when I was elected, where I lost the 4 to 1 votes, the neighborhood and
the developers reached consensus. This is the first time that that hasn't happened, but what's
interesting is that, in this particular case, there are neighbors for and neighbors against, so as
the elected official who's supposed to represent the constituents -- and I will also tell all of you
out there that there's only been one time, since I've been elected, where I voted strictly along the
lines of what the people out there wanted, only one time, and that was a development here in
Coconut Grove --
Chairman Teele: I don't think you should identify that development, because that probably is
going to give the lawyer a heart attack.
Commissioner Winton: All right, so I won't, but it was a development in the Grove. How's that?
And the entire community coalesced in opposition to that development, even though, similar to
this, that development had all of its entitlements in place, and was asking for no variances, no
zoning, no anything, but there was some issues. We made them all go -- and so I voted -- and
worse on that particular site, the developer could do, by right, things that were much worse than
they were proposing if that came to be, if that came to pass, and I told everybody that, you know,
this is a tricky one. You all need to go figure it out. They figured it out. So, at the end of the
day, I didn't have to make some decision between half the neighbors this and half the neighbors
that, and it's a shame that this one didn't work out the same way because about half the
neighbors seem to be in favor and half of them are opposed. I still don't know exactly what I'm
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going to recommend here, so I'm going to talk for a minute. Because I've been -- over the course
of the last two weeks, I've been in -- on both sides. I've convinced myself I'm going to vote
against it. I've convinced myself I'm going to vote for it. Here's the issues in my mind: I'm
looking at the scale drawings, and I hope that everyone can see these scale drawings, and this is
now -- at least as far as I'm concerned, regardless of what Hr. Dickman says about what -- I
didn't -- you know, he read all those numbers, so I don't know what was behind all the numbers,
and I certainly don't have all those things memorized -- but subjectively, I'm looking at this
building along Biscayne Boulevard and I'll tell you, that does not look out of scale to me. That
building, with my eyes, looks pretty cool right there. That does not look bad, but here is the issue
that really bothers me, and then I haven't figured out how to make sure that that message gets
out very loudly and very clearly, and that is that -- the message that want to send to the
development community, along these development corridors, not in those zones where it's crystal
clear that you can build bigger structures, but along the corridors, Coral Way, 27th Avenue,
Biscayne Boulevard, Le Jeune, the corridors that we've all talked about that will be the focus of
phase one of our master planning process, because we recognize that that's where our problem
development areas are, that will be the first and fast track part of our citywide master plan to fix
this issue, but between now and then, we have an existing Code that's probably -- the foundation
of which is probably 50 years old, and the zoning is tied to that, something that someone created
long before anybody had any dreams of this -- of the past development wave, the wave before
that, and certainly this one, so we have some real issues that we've got to cure, and so what
don't want to have to do is every month have to sit here, where we're going through a battle with
half the neighbors in favor and half the neighbors opposed along these corridors, and one of the
things that creates this -- and here's the message that haven't figured out how I get out -- I want
to send a loud and clear message to the development community that we don't want you to do
assemblages along these corridors that allow you to build bigger buildings. I don't care if half
the neighborhood is in favor, because the other crystal clear part is that half the neighborhood is
not in favor, and I think it does, fundamentally, create some issues, butl don't know what all the
law of unintended consequences are, and that's the reason we're going to go through this process
. I don't know --I don't want to do the wrong thing either, butt know for sure that don't want
to go through this kind of situation that we're going through right here relative to this project,
and it is, in fact, assemblage which has allowed this to happen. Without the ability to assemble a
bunch of individual smaller pieces, we probably -- this battle probably would have been resolved
a long time ago in a very different way, but because the developers was able to do the
assemblage, we have something that's much bigger, requires a MUSP (Major Use Special Permit
), all kinds of other issues, and now then we're forced to make the decision, and I can tell you,
assure you, it's crystal clear -- no matter what decision we make -- we're the bad guy. If we vote
in favor of we're the awful people who are totally pro development. If we vote against, oh, we're
the awful total people who's trying to kill development in Miami across the board, and that's the
real reality, and I'll guarantee you, when we read the story lines tomorrow, that's how it will
break down. What I'm trying to get at is a decision that helps us move down the road in the right
way, and does everything -- if, by way of example, I were to move a motion to accept this project,
then it would be incumbent on us to do everything we could to address all of the issues that the
neighbors wanted to address, excepting the fact that height, bulk and scale may not fit
everybody's definition of height, bulk and scale. I'm real nervous about moving a motion to
support this project for fear that it sends the wrong motion to the development community that
we can, in fact, run into these corridors, do assemblages, and can count on the Commission to,
in fact, approve whatever we want to develop. I'm very much afraid of that. For those of you
who are opposed to this development, I will tell you, I'm looking straight at it. It is subjective.
I'm not offended by this. I'm not offended by the way it looks. I'm not offended by the way it
seems to sit on Biscayne Boulevard. I'm not offended by those things. I love the rest of the list
here, and if you remember, at the last meeting, I was concerned about scale because I couldn't
figure it out from either of the models. This is a pretty clear picture. This isn't terribly
bothersome to me, and some of these other issues -- and Andrew, you didn't -- you never said, I
think we got an answer, but the points 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, what -- you just put them on the
record, but never heard how they got resolved or whether they were resolved, but some of those
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issues are good issues. I'm sitting up here rambling, so I don't want to kill -- see, I'm practicing.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: As J.L. used to say, it's time to fish or cut bait, my man.
Commissioner Winton: Yeah, I know. I'm going to. I'm not offended by the look of this project.
I'm concerned about some of the issues that some of the neighbors -- but I have to send a crystal
clear message, and there's only one way -- I can send a crystal clear message only in two
potential ways. I don't want to deal with this again, and assemblage does it. If we reject this -- I
don't know whether I have the votes to reject it -- but ifI introduce a motion to reject it and, one,
that message is crystal clear. I don't want to get the law of unintended consequences going
either. That sends the whole development community in a tizzy because there are areas where
we have real quality development going on that we want that to absolutely continue, and we
want development on Biscayne Boulevard. That's what everybody, including the people against
this project, said from day one. I've had this conversation many times, while I was running for
office and now that I'm elected, so the other way to send the message is to say loudly and clearly
to the development community that I guess I would guarantee that if anybody else comes up --
comes to this Commission with a development plan along any of these corridors, any of our
major corridors that are backed up against residential neighborhoods and have done
assemblages, that I personally -- don't know if I'll have everybody else's vote -- will guarantee
that I will vote against it. I don't care what the rationale is, because I don't think that the
neighbors want to deal with it. I certainly don't want to deal with it. That said, I can't find the
height, scale and bulk issue -- I don't see it the same way as the neighbors who are opposed to
this project, and so I guess I'm going to move to -- and Lourdes, you're going to have to help me
here, but I would like to move in support of this project. However, the issues related to noise and
light pollution, the Women's Club, the placement of the mechanical units, the parking issue, the
billboard issue --
Lourdes Slazyk (Assistant Director, Planning & Zoning): The existing residences, they were
going to help --
Commissioner Winton: The existing residences -- I can't read my notes here. They were --
Hs. Slazyk: And the pedestrian safety.
Commissioner Winton: The pedestrian safety. That's what that says. How do we -- I would like
to incorporate all of those issues into -- if we're allowed to -- into our approval process.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: As conditions?
Hs. Slazyk: As a condition.
Commissioner Winton: As conditions.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: So, there's a motion on the floor --
Chairman Teele: Second.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- for approval, based on the conditions that have been brought forth,
and it's also been second by the Chair. It is open for discussion.
Commissioner Winton: Now --
Chairman Teele: Discussion.
Commissioner Winton: And I would like to ask another question of probably Lourdes, and that
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is about the Women's Club, and Mr. Chairman, I hope you don't mind, there may be someone
that would like to call from the audience who could help me answer this question a little better.
As I was sitting here thinking about the Women's Club, would we be better served if we could
preserve the Women's Club in its entirety and move it, as opposed to just saving the
architecturally significant features? Move the Women's Club in its entirety to a new location,
somewhere in the area and preserve the entire structure? And so, I guess the question, Mr.
Chairman, if you don't mind, if there's someone out there who can answer the question --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Commissioner Winton, you're entitled to ask questions to the expert
witness, or the attorneys, or anyone in the chamber.
Commissioner Winton: Well, I probably wouldn't mind hearing from a couple of people. Yes,
go ahead.
Mark Soyka: I'm Mark Soyka, and I'm the owner of the Women's Club. As a matter of fact, some
of the women that actually congregate in the club are sitting with us over here. I made inquiries
about moving the house. At first, it seem like it's an old trade that you couldn't find somebody to
do it, but there is a gentleman that is business, he came; he looked at the building, and providing
that there are no major cracks so the whole thing is not falling apart, which we didn't go through
that, it's possible to move it. The question is, where is it being moved to? The intentions --
because obviously, I love the building, too, and the intentions were to fry to move that building
somewhere in the neighborhood.
Commissioner Winton: OK, then, I know whatl want to do here. Thank you for that answer. I
would like to --
Joe Arriola (City Manager): Commissioner. Can I make a suggestion to you, Commissioner?
Commissioner Winton: Yes.
Mr. Arriola: You can move it to the entrance of Legion Park and make it a NET (Neighborhood
Enhancement Team) Office.
Commissioner Winton: Oh, yeah. Well, here's what was thinking. I would like to appoint a
local citizen subcommittee here that will meet and help us figure out precisely where we move
the Women's Club to, and report to us within 30 days, because I don't want to hold this whole
thing up, so if there are those of you out there who would like to volunteer to be part of an
initiative to move the Women's Club and figure out where we're going to move it to, somewhere
within the area, you know, raise your hand. And, so --
Mr. Maxwell: Mr. Chairman.
Commissioner Winton: Yes, sir.
Mr. Maxwell: Commissioner, could I suggest that that be separate and apart from this item?
Commissioner Winton: It will be -- it is going to be separate and apart. I'm not going to make -
- it will be a condition. This piece will be separate and apart. I'm going to make the condition
that the Women's Club -- and I haven't done that part, yet, but I'm dealing with something
separate now, before Igo back to the primary conditions. The separate part is, I'm frying to
figure out, one, if it could be moved? And two, where we're going to put it? So, I'm going to get
a committee put together that can determine where we can move the Women's Club to, so --
Chairman Teele: Would you yield?
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Commissioner Winton: Yes, sir.
Chairman Teele: I would recommend that you request the Clerk to just quietly make a list with
the names and addresses of those people who would like to be on that committee, and keep --
consistent with the attorney -- deal with it separately, but let's get the names of the people right
now. Thank you.
Commissioner Winton: So those of you who want to serve, would y'all mind kind of sneaking
out back here, and could somebody from the Clerk's Office meet you right here so you could give
your name, and address, and phone number on that committee? Thank you. So, now, conditions
. Condition on moving it, I want to -- and Mr. Developer, or Madam Attorney, I want y'all to be
listening to this part, because the condition is that the developer pay the cost associated with
moving the Women's Club.
Ms. Dougherty: Can we have a maximum? I believe it should cost about $30, 000, and what
propose is a maximum of thirty we would contribute.
Commissioner Winton: No.
Ms. Dougherty: No.
Commissioner Winton: No.
Ms. Dougherty: No.
Commissioner Winton: I'm going to suggest that y'all do it for the least you can, with a
maximum of seventy-five.
Chairman Teele: But they do it?
Commissioner Winton: They do it, because I don't want to be short and then, all of a sudden,
I've got another battle going on about where we're going to find the money to get it done.
Chairman Teele: (INAUDIBLE) getting it done. By the time they get a bid and argue about
environmentals --
Commissioner Winton: Andrew.
Mr. Dickman: I have one request, ifI could.
Commissioner Winton: Yes.
Mr. Dickman: That the move -- the actual lifting up and moving of this structure would not
occur until their construction loans are in place, so that in the event that --
Commissioner Winton: That's a great point. I buy that.
Mr. Dickman: It -- you know. It's an unnecessary move.
Commissioner Winton: I buy that.
Ms. Dougherty: I didn't hear you.
Commissioner Winton: His request is that the actual movement of the house not begin until you
have your commitment for financing the development. I think that's fine because his point is, if
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for --
Ms. Dougherty: I agree.
Commissioner Winton: -- Lord knows whatever reason development, no sense in moving the
house, so I would agree with that, and you -- so they accept that condition, as well.
Ms. Dougherty: There are two questions that I have.
Commissioner Winton: OK.
Ms. Dougherty: I want to make sure that you all -- we're talking about the building that was
proposed with the bonuses, and secondly, if you all want us to put the town houses on 4th Court,
you have to increase the number of square feet to by about 9,000.
Commissioner Winton: I didn't understand.
Ms. Slazyk: One of their proffers in these conditions with the neighbors was that they would line
4th Court with town houses to also just reduce the impact on that site. In order to do that, she's
saying they need more square footage, so the --
Commissioner Winton: How many more, 9,000 square feet?
Ms. Slazyk: 9,000.
Commissioner Winton: 9,000 square feet?
Ms. Dougherty: You would have to make that a condition to put the town houses with --
Commissioner Winton: If you want town houses, I mean, I don't have a problem with -- 9,000
square feet doesn't make any difference here, if you're going to get liners on there.
Ms. Slazyk: Right. If you make the condition that town houses be added there, then we review
that when we sign the building.
Commissioner Winton: OK. Andrew, shake your head yes or no. Do you want town houses? If
you're going to get town houses, it takes 9,000 more square feet, so if you want the town houses,
I'm going to allow them to have 9,000 square feet more.
Mr. Dickman: We're in disagreement with that.
Commissioner Winton: OK, so no liner town houses.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: All right.
Mr. Dickman: We're in disagreement with the whole project.
Commissioner Winton: That isn't what I asked you. Oh, OK, fine. I -- you know, if you want me
to ask you -- if you want it, then you better give me an answer. If you're going to stay focused on
the big picture, then I won't ask you the small points.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: All right.
Commissioner Winton: I'm going to give you one more shot. Your demand -- your request was
for liners on 4th Court. Do you want the liners?
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Mr. Dickman: We're opposed to this project, for the record. We opposed it. Our main issue was
scale, bulk and height. Nobody is willing to work on that issue, so for the record, we're opposing
it, and I don't want to get here and start redesigning this.
Commissioner Winton: Got it. No problem. So, I think that the -- I don't think we do the liners.
I don't think you have the 9,000 square feet or whatever that number is, so --
Ms. Dougherty: OK, but we do have the bonuses that we requested. In other words, the reason
that we -- our project -- in other words, we're asking you to approve the project as recommended
by the Planning Advisory Board, which includes 20 percent of the bonuses that we could
otherwise allow. In other words --
Commissioner Winton: Lourdes, help me here.
Ms. Dougherty: -- the project that we proposed has 30,000 square foot of retail on the outside.
That --
Commissioner Winton: On fronting on Biscayne Boulevard.
Ms. Dougherty: That's right. We can turn that inward. We don't need the bonus. Because it's
outward, we need the bonus of 20 percent.
Commissioner Winton: Explain why that is.
Ms. Dougherty: Because if it's accessory retail defined as something that you enter from the
lobby, it does not require -- it's not counted torwards FAR, but because it's not accessory retail,
meaning that you can reach -- reach it from going into the public street, then it's counted
towards FAR and we, therefore, need the bonus.
Commissioner Winton: All right. Lourdes, you have to help me here. In terms of square
footage of the project, if you took the bonus away, which meant the retail on Biscayne Boulevard
would go away.
Ms. Slazyk: Either that or they would have to remove the equivalent amount of square footage
from units in the project, which was the intent of that condition.
Chairman Teele: Are you saying units or height?
Commissioner Winton: I don't know. I'm just totally confused.
Ms. Slazyk: The project requested a Major Use Special Permit for the Planned Unit
Development, which included an FAR increase. The amount of square footage they were
requesting as FAR increase is what they put as their ground floor retail that opens out to the
public. If they eliminated that retail opening to the public and just pulled it inside for use of
their own residence, then it doesn't count as FAR on a residential project. The Planning and
Zoning Department --
Commissioner Winton: But do they end up with the same square footage of the building?
Ms. Slazyk: Same square footage, but it doesn't count if it's accessory to the residential project.
Commissioner Winton: Well, let me see ifI can do this just from a pure number standpoint.
Let's say the project is 200,000 square feet.
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Ms. Slazyk: Correct.
Commissioner Winton: That's what the project started as. Now, I'm going -- 200,000 square
feet. I don't have any retail on the outside. I've just got a 200,000 square foot building with no
exterior retail. Now, I'm going to get exterior retail, which gives me the bonus, 20 percent bonus
Ms. Slazyk: You don't need to do the retail to get the bonus. What they did was applied their
bonus to the retail.
Commissioner Winton: Oh, but the bonus could be applied to more units.
Ms. Slazyk: It could be applied to units, so if you get rid of the bonus, you could tell them to get
rid of the retail or get rid of the units, additional units, which, in this case, is about 30 units.
Ms. Dougherty: Just to make it clear, this --
Commissioner Winton: I could tell them -- wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I could tell them to get
rid of units or retail?
Ms. Slazyk: You could make a condition for either one. The recommendation from the Planning
and Zoning Department was that the bonuses not be granted. The developer was saying that if
the bonuses aren't granted, all we're going to do is keep the exact same building and turn our
retail inward, and what we're saying the intent of that --
Commissioner Winton: Which gets rid of units for them.
Chairman Teele: No.
Ms. Slazyk: No, it doesn't. For them, it wouldn't get rid of units, but the intent of that condition
was to eliminate some of the units and maybe bring the project down by an additional floor, and
that --
Chairman Teele: But hold on one minute.
Ms. Slazyk: Which went to scale. Right.
Chairman Teele: I -- hold on -- I thought the motion was to approve --
Ms. Slazyk: Correct.
Chairman Teele: -- the Director's recommendation.
Ms. Dougherty: No.
Ms. Slazyk: No. Well, it's the Planning -- well, do you want -- the Planning Advisory Board
recommended giving them the bonuses.
Chairman Teele: Excuse me. Excuse me.
Ms. Slazyk: So --
Chairman Teele: I thought I was seconding a motion to approve the Director's recommendation.
Ms. Dougherty: I thought you were approving the project as proposed.
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Commissioner Winton: When I made the motion, I wasn't focused on the -- I kind of left the --
the bonus thing kind of floated away in my mind, so, I'm -- that's why I'm brining this up.
Chairman Teele: But there's two separate recommendations.
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Yeah, but we need to clarify all those conditions that you wanted to
put on the record, that you have not completed them yet.
Commissioner Winton: Well, I'm frying to understand this bonus thing here, and then I'll know
where I'm going to want to go, butl don't get it yet.
Chairman Teele: The two recommendations -- as I understand it, one recommendation, which is
a professional staff would require them to have the resident -- the retail oriented along Biscayne
Boulevard, but would not grant them the additional units, the 30 units --
30 --
Ms. Slazyk: Right. Our recommendation -- because it wasn't specific as to what should come
out from the bonuses, the developer's saying they would just turn their retail inward and it would
be exactly the same building. What I'm saying, the intent of that recommendation was that it be
applied to reduction of units. The Planning Advisory Board actually disagreed with that and
recommended approval with the bonuses so they would keep the retail and the units.
Commissioner Winton: Well, I'm not talking to the Planning Advisory Board.
Ms. Slazyk: Right. I'm --
Commissioner Winton: I'm talking to you.
Ms. Slazyk: That's why -- no, but that's what Lucia assumed that your motion was for the
Planning Advisory Board.
Commissioner Winton: Well -- but I'm trying to understand, ifI follow your recommendation,
what is the net effect on this project? And I still don't get it.
I understand --
Commissioner Regalado: It says here, Johnny, recommended approval with conditions. That's
her --
Commissioner Winton: No, no, I know --
Ms. Slazyk: The net effect is about --
Commissioner Winton: But want to know what happens to the building. If I'm following
her --
Ms. Slazyk: About 30,000 square feet less of FAR, which could be about 30 units or elimination
of retail altogether.
Ms. Dougherty: Or turn the retail inside out. You could have exactly the same building, only
put the doors on --
Commissioner Winton: I don't get that -- I don't understand -- and I'm not talking to you. I
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don't understand how what Lucia says can be the fact.
Ms. Slazyk: OK.
Commissioner Winton: How can you eliminate 30,000 square feet and the building's still the
same; I've just turned my retail in? I don't get that.
Ms. Slazyk: In a major residential building or hotel building -- you know how in the lobby
there's a little gift shop?
Commissioner Winton: Yeah, I do, but I --
Ms. Slazyk: Those things don't count as FAR, so if they remove 30,000 square feet of FAR by
just turning all of this little retail into internal, accessory retail for the use of the residents, then
they could keep the exact same size building, and be 30,000 square feet less of FAR, and that's
what their interpretation --
Commissioner Winton: They lose FAR, but they don't lose any units?
Ms. Slazyk: They don't lose any units or any square footage.
Commissioner Winton: Oh, that's that other quirk in our current stupid Code --
Ms. Slazyk: Yes.
Commissioner Winton: -- that -- OK. The same issue we dealt with across the street.
Ms. Slazyk: That's correct. So, what I'm saying for the record, is the intention of that condition
was that units be eliminated and the retail remain the way it is.
Commissioner Winton: Now that I understand that, then my motion -- because I think it would
be awful public policy to have that long run there with no retail at the street level. I think that
would be totally ridiculous, so my recommendation is going to be with conditions, but that the
bonuses stay in place, provided that those bonuses are all directed towards the retail at street
level, particularly on Biscayne Boulevard.
Ms. Slazyk: OK.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: All right.
Ms. Slazyk: All right. So the motion would be for approval with the conditions that we read
earlier, regarding the mechanical equipment, parking validation, pedestrian safety, assistance
for the existing residents for relocation and three months' notice; the Women's Club -- to move
the Women's Club; developer to pay the cost up to a maximum $75, 000; address in the condo
docks, the light and noise issue, and not renew any billboard lease for the existing billboard on
the property, and with the condition that the bonus square footage be applied for street level on
Biscayne Boulevard, in particular, retail and pedestrian services.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Commissioner Winton, are you satisfied with those conditions?
Commissioner Winton: Yes, I am.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: OK. Commissioner Teele, you're recognized.
Chairman Teele: I have two concerns, Lucia. The first one is, there are some small businesses,
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one place that I get my car washed.
Ms. Dougherty: And I believe he's here today supporting the project.
Chairman Teele: But I'm more concerned about will the structure still have a car wash in the
area somewhere? You guys are laughing, but let me tell you, there's about 10 people working
there and feeding their families everyday --
Commissioner Winton: From your district.
Chairman Teele: -- that live in this district that I represent, and candidly, with all due respect to
Mark Soyka, who's standing here, that development, as it currently exists, is probably the best
example of what America should be in terms of a workforce in anywhere in City ofMiami,
including the beach. The workforce is totally reflective of this community, and I'm just frying to
make sure we're not going backwards from all three major groups of the community. It is a --
the entire 55th Street station is a replica -- is a vision of where America should be.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Tomas.
(APPLAUSE)
Mr. Soyka: Leo is here. Where's Leo? Leo Car Wash is staying. If there was statements that
Leo Car Wash is not staying, it's not true. I was talking to Leo the other day, and one of the
things that we are considering, considering -- because I love the car wash as much as you do,
and I like the whole move of the car wash.
Chairman Teele: But I don't have as many cars as you do, or as many nice cars.
Mr. Soyka: There was one other thought that I spoke to Leo, and we're going to try and see if it's
possible, because there's one more building that is at the end of the parking lot that we can also
keep Leo at Soyka, and possibly move Leo to the building which we call the funeral home, which
is right by the Soyka parking lot, but right now, there's no changes, and if anybody read
something like that, it was wrong, wrongly stated.
Chairman Teele: Thank you for clarifying the record. The other issue is -- you may just want to
hang around -- the billboard issue. What is going to happen and why -- I mean, if we're frying to
work citywide in this area to minimize the impact -- and I'm really surprised, because some of the
loudest critics of the billboard appear to be in the audience -- what is the -- why can't --
Mr. Soyka: The billboard --
Commissioner Winton: I don't think he's here.
Mr. Soyka: The billboard themselves are -- at least it's -- we all know is very, very large
companies that basically -- if you look at all the billboards, they're all, more or less, owned by
the same people --
Chairman Teele: Two or three companies.
Mr. Soyka: -- at least in this area, and they have a lease, and there's nothing that a landlord can
do unless --
Chairman Teele: But be very careful, Mark, because if we were to ask you to proffer a
cancellation of the lease, provided the billboard company agreed to it, would you be willing to
do that?
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Mr. Soyka: I -- for me, the problem -- if the City has a way to deal with this billboard when it
comes to --
Commissioner Winton: We have a mike.
Chairman Teele: Yes?
Mr. Dickman: We have a court reporter here who would like to change her paper, ifyou could
give me five seconds?
Chairman Teele: Please.
Mr. Dickman: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Just hold it --
Mr. Dickman: Thank you.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Are you ready?
Chairman Teele: Mark.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Court reporter ready. Mark.
Chairman Teele: Mark, the point is this, we can't require you to do anything. I'm not sure if we
can or can't, butt wouldn't want to. But if you would be willing to proffer, voluntarily, which is
one of the main things that the opponents -- one of the things that they -- six or seven issues that
they read into the record, that you all would -- the billboard -- that you all would proffer to
cancel the lease -- billboard lease --
Mr. Soyka: Not to renew, will be the word.
Chairman Teele: No, no, no, not to renew is different. Not to renew is totally different.
Ms. Dougherty: That's the only (INAUDIBLE)
Chairman Teele: That's not what asked, Lucia. You can do whatever you'd like -- if you want
to proffer that you all would offer to cancel the lease of the billboard, if the billboard company
would agree to allow it without recourse to you or indemnifying you, in any way, would you be
willing to do that?
Mr. Soyka: Yes.
Chairman Teele: Then, counsel, would you like to state on the record what the proffer would
be?
Mr. Maxwell: Mr. Chairman --
Mr. Soyka: No. I must, if-- I'm not sure, legally, how it works.
Chairman Teele: Counsel.
Ms. Dougherty: There is a lease -- as I understand it, from talking to him in the past, there -- he
has a lease with the billboard company.
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Commissioner Winton: We understand that.
Ms. Dougherty: He has agreed to -- not to --
Commissioner Regalado: Lucia, Lucia, Lucia --
Ms. Dougherty: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Regalado: As you know, the City is involved in possible --
Ms. Dougherty: Correct.
Commissioner Regalado: -- out -of -court settlement with companies. What the Chairman is
saying, that if the company would agree, if the company --
Ms. Dougherty: Absolutely.
Commissioner Regalado: -- would agree, at no harm to the company --
Ms. Dougherty: At no harm to Mr. Soyka, yes.
Commissioner Regalado: -- and he has said, yes.
Chairman Teele: No harm to him.
Commissioner Winton: No harm to him.
Commissioner Regalado: No harm to him.
Chairman Teele: Primarily.
Commissioner Regalado: And the company -- I mean, no harm -- well, I mean, to him --
Mr. Soyka: If it can be done and I don't have to suffer legal suits because of it --
Commissioner Winton: That's what we're saying.
Mr. Soyka: -- then I'm fine with it.
Commissioner Winton: OK.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: All right.
Chairman Teele: Thank you.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Anyone else?
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much.
Commissioner Winton: So are we clear that that's a part of the condition?
Ms. Slazyk: Yeah. I put in here that --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: We're clear with the motion and the condition.
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Ms. Slazyk: -- no renewal of the lease renewal of the lease. However, if the company agrees,
they would remove it sooner.
Chairman Teele: I would just like to get counsel to proffer that on the record, so that it's not
some -- Lucia, I'm trying to get counsel to proffer that on the record, so that it isn't --
Ms. Dougherty: We agree with that.
Chairman Teele: You agree with what?
Ms. Dougherty: That in the event that the company allows us to cancel the lease without any
harm to Mr. Soyka, we will do so.
Chairman Teele: Thank you.
Ms. Slazyk: And one other clarification, for the record, on the movement of the Women's Club, I
forget to put when I read it a moment ago, that there would be no movement until the
construction loans or financing is in place. Now, we're clear. That's --
Commissioner Winton: Until when?
Ms. Slazyk: The construction loans financing in place.
Commissioner Winton: Right.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: All right. Any further discussion on the item?
Commissioner Winton: Let me -- yeah, I want to ask Lucia one more -- I mean, Lucia. I want to
ask Lourdes another question. I want to come back to this because I was quick to jump there,
and I'm bothered by the public policy ramifications. If this project gets built, the 4th Court
exposure there, where somebody had asked, I guess some of the proponents have asked them that
-- to put town houses lining 4th Court there, and then they said, well, we need 7,000 square feet
more, or whatever that number was, in order to line -- do the town house liners along 4th Court.
From a -- I can't tell what's along 4th Court right now. What is there? What is that wall along 4
th Court, if you don't have liners?
Ms. Slazyk: Without the liner, I think there was some retail back there, but that's also the side
where they had curb cuts into their parking area, so what the liner does is it changes from a
commercial to a residential character, which -- you know, the homeowners didn't specifically ask
for liners on 4th Court. What they wanted was -- it came out when they were talking about the
impact, and this was something developers proffered to reduce the impact because residential
has less of an impact than the retail on more cars and people parking in the neighborhood, and
it went to that whole broader issue, so it would either be retail or residential.
Commissioner Winton: What's your recommendation? What makes the most sense along that
street or do you know?
Ms. Slazyk: That street faces more of a commercial corridor than a residential corridor because
that's what faces where Soyka is --
Commissioner Winton: Soyka is and all that is.
Ms. Slazyk: -- and the parking lot for Soyka, so I tend to think that in -- from a pedestrian
activation standpoint, with commercial on the other side, it would probably make more sense to
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be commercial.
Commissioner Winton: OK.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: All right.
Commissioner Gonzalez: All right.
Commissioner Winton: Done.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Let me just state something for the record. Commissioner Winton, I
commend you for making a very, very tough decision. First of all, this is a project that
everybody knows in this community. I mean, it's a very popular project, but let me tell you, the
decision that you made, I feel it's the right decision, because you addressed a lot of the concerns
and conditions that were really up -- back and forth, but we live, I think, in the best country
where we are able to have democracy, where we're able to come here and debate things healthily
. We're able to have healthy debate, and we're able to compromise, and this is a perfect
example of what we could accomplish here when we work with the public. Of course, the
public's not always -- you know, you're not always going to get what -- your side. There's always
going to be opposition, but let me just say thatl think that, in the future, this project will bring
great things to this -- to that community. The Upper Eastside is a very vibrant, up and coming
community. As a matter of fact, it's the fastest rate economic corridor, I think, in the City that's
growing, so this would enhance that area. The project itself I don't see it out of scope. I think
it's going to be great for that community. I think that people are going to move into the area.
It's going to provide more jobs. It's going to provide businesses. It's going to help the business
around there. It's going to provide a pedestrian connecting one point to the other, so I just
wanted to state that, you know, in the last Commission meeting that we had, you know that was
in favor of the project, with certain conditions, and basically when it comes in front of us and we
have all these recommendations that have been made, this project went through all the hoops,
and basically, it came in front of us with all the recommendations, so once again, I want to
commend the Commission, and I want to commend the public for being very involved, and at the
end, I think it's going to be something that maybe, not today, the side that ended up not winning
or getting what they wanted, but five or six years down the line, everybody's going to be very
proud of that project being located in that up and coming area, which is a great community.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
Commissioner Winton: Well --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: All right.
Commissioner Winton: I want to say one more thing. I will -- in response to what you said, I
don't feel any greatness out of this decision, I can tell you. I'm troubled by the project, and I
want everybody to be crystal clear, particularly those from the development community. I will
do -- we have a new overlay in place, butt will assure you that will do everything in my power
to people who try to do assemblages and put bigger projects on Biscayne Boulevard in those
zones where you abut single-family neighborhoods, I am not -- I will do everything in my power
to put every obstacle in place to that kind of development, if y'all in the development community
are sweeping up Biscayne Boulevard, or Coral Way, or any of these other corridors we have
single-family neighborhoods right there to do assemblages. Build on the parcels that are there.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: And, Commissioner Winton, we -- when we say "we," we say this (
UNINTELLIGIBLE) in this City. We're working on that through the Neighborhood
Comprehensive Plan and the new City Master Plan. I mean, we're addressing these issues
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because we know that the growth in the City -- I mean, we're -- every day there are new projects
coming into this City that are either in the pz (planning & zoning) process, or some of them are
already going up, and the City's growing, so we're going to have to address -- and I think with
those two mechanisms in place, we'll be able to address -- to protect some of the areas from
some of this development that's going on, so having said that, there's a motion and a second.
Commissioner Regalado: Chairman. Chairman. I think that you're right, Johnny, but it's not
your fault. It's not our fault. It's just the way the Code, and the way that laws and regulations
are written, but I tell you something. I would have voted for it, for one reason: The developers
went back, and went back, and went back to accommodate neighbors. Had not been for that, I
probably, most likely would have voted like you, no, because we're trying to do the same thing
for this part of town, this neighborhood, but it was the attitude of the developers in this area,
who refused to meet with the residents, who even didn't want to disclose who they were, that
brought into themselves this moratorium that we have, if we have a moratorium on 27th Avenue,
so I -- you know, you're right. Count me in the next one, in terms of residential, because I have
to follow a pattern. I cannot jump from one side of the other -- of the issue, and I have always
have. I think that we got to fix this. I think that we need to establish some rules and regulations,
but the message here, I think, is not "we did this for the developers." The message here, I think,
is we approved this because the developer went back, and back, and back and met with the
residents, and as a result, they got 50 percent -- I mean, Bush won, by 527 votes, the presidency,
I mean, you know, if they got 51 percent of the residents. I think that the message should be,
developers should meet with the residents. Developer should listen to the residents. This is not
happening in 27th Avenue. It did not happen in Coral Way, and that is the problem that we have
now throughout the City and, you know, today, at 5 p.m., I think, there is a group out there that
is holding a press conference. All associations of residents are uniting to fight this kind of thing,
so the next time it comes here, it's not going to be only Johnny's issue; it's going to be Joe's issue,
Angel's issue, Art's issue, and my issue because we're going to have all the neighbors association
behind -- opposition to one project, or supporting one project, so I just say that it's important
that the message here is understood, that developers should talk to the residents and, you know,
51 were convinced, well, God bless them, but that (UNINTELLIGIBLE), so don't feel bad
because you did send the right message to the developers.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: All right. There's a motion and a second, with conditions.
Mr. Maxwell: Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, just before the vote, ifI may. Just for the record,
ifI may, Commissioners. The comments that were made regarding the neighbors that were for
or against, even though that's information that you've indicated that was helpful to you in
making your decision, as I understand it, you're making your decisions based on the fact that the
evidence that's been submitted on behalf of the applicant was persuasive to you, and you do
agree that that is the decision -- basis for your decision; correct, sir?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Well stated, counsel. All right. There's a motion and a second, with
conditions. Madam Clerk, roll call.
Priscilla A. Thompson (City Clerk): Roll call.
A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above.
Ms. Thompson: You have a unanimous vote.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: All right.
(APPLAUSE)
PZ.2 04-00296b ORDINANCE
First Reading
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AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION ESTABLISHING A 120-
DAY TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF
APPLICATIONS FOR ALL DEVELOPMENT ORDERS FOR DEVELOPMENT
IN EXCESS OF 40 FEET IN HEIGHT, EXCLUDING ONLY SUCH PERMIT
APPLICATIONS THAT ARE COMPLETE AND FULLY APPROVED, SUCH
TEMPORARY MORATORIUM TO APPLY TO ALL PROPERTIES LOCATED
ON THE SOUTHWEST 27TH AVENUE CORRIDOR FROM CORAL WAY TO
US-1, EXCLUDING ONLY SUCH PROPERTIES LOCATED ON THE WEST
SIDE OF THE CORRIDOR AND LOCATED BETWEEN US-1 AND
SOUTHWEST 25TH STREET; PROVIDING FOR ADMINISTRATIVE AND
JUDICIAL REVIEW; PROVIDING FOR DISSOLUTION UPON COMPLETION
OF THE 27TH AVENUE CORRIDOR STUDY OR THE EARLIER OF 120 DAYS
OR THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE CURATIVE ORDINANCE ADDRESSING
THE REMEDIAL EFFORTS AND IMPLEMENTING STUDY RESULTS IN
WHICH CASE THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE REPEALED; PROVIDING FOR A
REPEALER PROVISION ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE REMEDIAL
ORDINANCE AND AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE.
04-00296b SR Fact Sheet.pdf
04-00296b PAB Reso.PDF
04-00296b Legislation - Modif.PDF
04-00296b Exhibit A - Aerial Map.pdf
04-00296b FR Fact Sheet.pdf
04-00296b Legislation.PDF
04-00296b - submittal.pdf
04-00296b - submittal 2.pdf
04-00296b - submittal 3.pdf
04-00296b - Catalonia memo.pdf
REQUEST: To Establish a 120-Day Temporary Moratorium
APPLICANT(S): Joe Arriola, Chief Administrator
FINDINGS:
PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval.
PLANNING ADVISORY BOARD: Recommended approval, excluding only
such applications as are complete, to City Commission on June 16, 2004 by
a vote of 5-1. This item is related to File ID 04-00296 and 04-00296a.
PURPOSE: This will establish a 120-day temporary moratorium on the
acceptance of all development orders for development in excess of 40 feet
in height for certain properties located on the SW 27th Avenue corridor from
Coral Way to US-1.
DEFERRED
A motion was made by Commissioner Regalado, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez, and was
passed unanimously, to DEFER item PZ.2 to the Commission meeting currently scheduled for
June 24, 2004, to be heard after 6: 30 p.m.
Direction to the City Manager by Commissioner Winton to coordinate a meeting with
Commissioner Regalado and all the affected staff in connection with the proposed moratorium of
development along the S. W. 27th Avenue Corridor to explain all aspects of this issue; further
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instructing the Manager to ascertain that the administration carries out all Commission
directives.
Direction to the City Attorney by Chairman Teele to review with the Manager everything about
item PZ.2 to ascertain that the matter can be taken up by the City Commission for first reading at
the June 24, 2004 Commission meeting and second reading scheduled for July 8, 2004.
Chairman Teele: PH.2. Public Hearing Item Number 2.
Commissioner Regalado: PZ.2, Mr. Chairman.
Joel Maxwell (Deputy City Attorney): For the record, Mr. Chairman --
Commissioner Regalado: Mr. Chairman, it's PZ.2.
Mr. Maxwell: Just for the record --
Commissioner Regalado: PZ.2.
Mr. Maxwell: -- PZ.2 is an item that was advertised for this hearing prior to --
Commissioner Winton: You might as well waitfor two --Arthur, you might as well waitfor two
minutes.
Mr. Maxwell: -- a decision --
Chairman Teele: Well take a 10-minute break, 10-minute break, 10-minute break.
Commissioner Regalado available? Madam Clerk.
Priscilla A. Thompson (City Clerk): Yes, sir.
Chairman Teele: We have only a few items left. Would you look through the record and make
sure that we have a list of all the items that are left?
Ms. Thompson: Sure.
Chairman Teele: What I'd like to do, until Commissioner Regalado gets here, we have a very
important discussion item relating to CL UC-90 (County Land Usage Code). Is the Community
Development Director -- is there a manager here? Is Barbara Rodriguez here? All right. We'll
take that item up right after --
Commissioner Regalado: Mr. Chairman --
Chairman Teele: We'll take that item up right after the PZ.2.
Commissioner Regalado: PZ.2 is an ordinance and it was placed on the agenda, butt was told
that we won't be able to make a decision today. This is to establish 120-day moratorium. I saw
different residents of the Silver Bluff area. I just want to understand what happened with this.
Mike.
Lourdes Slazyk (Assistant Director, Planning & Zoning): There we go. This item, PZ. 2, had
been originally scheduled for the Planning Advisory Board ofJune 2nd, but the required notice
had not been met, and we continued it to June 16th. Therefore, the City Commission -- what
we're asking today is that this be continued to June 24th so that it could properly go before the
Planning Advisory Board before it comes before the Commission. Now, there is already a
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moratorium in place. This one is a little bit more detailed moratorium, and it has already been
posted and advertised for the 16th, so next Wednesday, the PAB (Planning Advisory Board) will
act on it, and we will bring it to you on the 24th.
Commissioner Regalado: But I just want to understand: Whose fault is that we cannot hear
this?
Ms. Slazyk: I'm going to let Code Enforcement address that issue.
Joe Arriola (City Manager): I'm going to be Code Cnforcement. The truth is, the folks in Code
Enforcement made a mistake, and they didn't post it correcly.
Commissioner Regalado: Well, remember, how many times the posting has been --
Ms. Slazyk: No, this is the only -- the first time the posting --
Commissioner Regalado: No, no, no, no. No, no. Lourdes, how many times we had to defer
some of these? Think moratoriums, not this one, the other one. The first one, it wasn't noticed
properly, right?
Ms. Slazyk: The first one wasn't noticed at all because it came up at Commission without having
been noticed.
Commissioner Regalado: Right.
Ms. Slazyk: Therefore, it had to go be noticed.
Commissioner Regalado: Then the second, we forgot a word, the word "complete and approved
Ms. Slazyk: It was properly noticed for a moratorium, and it was at that time that you asked for
another moratorium in order to add the words "complete and approved."
Commissioner Regalado: No.
Ms. Slazyk: And that's the one before you now.
Commissioner Regalado: I asked the other moratorium. I'm just trying to establish a record in
front of the people here. The truth is, another mistake was made, and the word "complete and
approved," that was discussed here -- and I have the tape -- we specifically said, but it wasn't
placed in the first -- I just want to establish the record, because I think that it's a long list of
errors and, you know, the only thing that has been said is "Sorry, we made a mistake." I think
that's unfair to the residents. I think it's very unfair. I think that the City gets away with murder.
You know, if the residents make a mistake, the City goes on with their process, but if the City
makes a mistake, nobody cares. It's just we're sorry. As of now, the project that created all this
brouhaha is going forward, right, the Catalonia?
Mr. Arriola: No, a permit has not been issued yet, I don't think.
Ms. Slazyk: My understanding is the permit has not been issued yet.
Commissioner Regalado: A permit have not been issued?
Ms. Slazyk: Has not been issued.
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Commissioner Regalado: Oh, OK, and the issue of the alley, it would -- it does not have to go to
a public hearing, right?
Ms. Slazyk: Let me get someone from Public Works to answer that. I don't know. Hold on.
Stenphanie Grindell: Stephanie Grindell, Director, Public Works. To utilize the alley does not
require a permit. I mean, a public hearing. To close the alley does require a public hearing.
Commissioner Regalado: But if the residents were asking to landscape the alley, if that is the
case, could that be --
Chairman Winton: A condition?
Commissioner Regalado: No. -- could that be used -- because the only way to ingress and
egress of that building will be alley, according to the plans.
Ms. Grindell: I don't -- I have -- I believe that that's a zoning issue, though, not --
Chairman Winton: Joe --
Commissioner Regalado: I'm just trying to establish, Johnny, here that it's a lot of confusion
about this moratorium.
Ms. Grindell: No, except an alley is defined as a secondary means of access, so it cannot be
used as a primary access.
Commissioner Regalado: But the plans call for primary access.
Ms. Grindell: I haven't seen the plans.
Commissioner Regalado: Well, you know, I have -- I'm so troubled by -- because I'm fearing the
next mistake, is when -- like when you step on somebody on an elevator, you know, the only thing
you say is sorry; that's what the residents have been told, sorry and sorry and sorry, and I am
supposed to be their representative. I cannot represent them, at all, so you tell me what to do.
You tell me the options that I have. I ask the members of the Commission, you know, what
options that I have, because I don't have any options, so --
Chairman Winton: Well, I have a thought.
Commissioner Regalado: Help me out here, because --
Chairman Winton: Yeah, because it seems to be -- because -- I don't think that -- and I'm not
sure that it's anybody's fault here, but it's crystal clear you've got some questions that you don't
have answers to. I don't -- I didn't understand any of the answers, myself and I was sitting here
listening, so it seems to me that what the Manager needs to do is pull individuals from the
affected departments that have -- there's a trail that development follows once it hits the City,
and there's a number of affected departments that this -- that the plans have to go through to get
approval, and I would pull the people together that have some say in this whole thing that are
relevant to, you know, not the Fire Department, any of those kinds of people, but maybe -- and
have a meeting with Commissioner Regalado with the plans so you can walk through and
explain to him what's really -- where it is; what's going on, and what the issues are, and let him
ask whatever questions he wants to ask so that y'all can give him the appropriate answers and he
can be using his own thought process, as he's learning this thing about how he wants to
approach this very sensitive and crucial issue. That's my recommendations, Mr. Commissioner.
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Commissioner Regalado: Thank you. Thank you. I guess I'll do that, and I guess we just wait,
so --
Chairman Winton: Sometime tomorrow, because you may have some options.
Commissioner Regalado: Huh?
Chairman Winton: You may have some options. I'd do it tomorrow.
Commissioner Regalado: OK. Mr. Chair, I am --
Commissioner Sanchez: Are you done, Commissioner Regalado?
Commissioner Regalado: I guess. I was done from the beginning because we cannot do
anything about this, but I just want to say that I am really frustrated, because nothing that I have
proposed is any good, because the original intent does no exist; is that correct, Lourdes? The
original intent was to stop even the buildings in process.
Ms. Slazyk: Yeah, but the --
Commissioner Regalado: So you guys in the Planning Department can give a better --
Ms. Slazyk: Rewrite the ordinance, correct.
Commissioner Regalado: Right.
Ms. Slazyk: Yeah, the actual resolution that was passed with the direction, though, didn't say
that. That's why that wasn't done. What I would request, though, is that you take this -- the PZ.2
item and continue it to a date certain of the 24th, and if you'd like a time certain, you can do
that, as well.
Chairman Teele: Time certain, for sure.
Ms. Slazyk: I don't know what the residents --
Commissioner Regalado: Well, we need a waiver from the City Attorney on that.
Ms. Slazyk: Yes.
Commissioner Regalado: Just in case we forget.
Ms. Slazyk: A 30-day waiver.
Joel Maxwell (Deputy City Attorney): There would be no problem obtaining such a waiver, sir.
Chairman Teele: All right, frame the motion, Mr. Attorney, please.
Mr. Maxwell: This item is -- actually, this item is not properly before you, so it's not necessary
to actually continue the item, and the staff has indicated that the item will come out of the
Planning Advisory Board on the 16th and it will come back to you, properly advertised, on the
24th of June.
Chairman Winton: May I -- I'm -- Commissioner Regalado, my apologies, because I wasn't in
here when you started this PZ (Planning & Zoning) item. We can't take this item up; is that what
I'm hearing?
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Mr. Maxwell: Yes, sir, that's correct.
Commissioner Sanchez: It has not been properly advertised.
Commissioner Regalado: Because it wasn't properly --
Ms. Slazyk: Let me explain. The proper ad was not done at the Planning Advisory Board level.
This was originally anticipated for the June 2nd Planning Advisory Board. It was noticed in the
newspaper and individual mail notices were sent, but the posting was not done. Therefore, it's
not properly before you today because Planning Advisory Board has not acted. It is now on the
June 16th Planning Advisory Board agenda, and the postings have been done, so it is already
proper --
Chairman Winton: When did the Planning Advisory Board last meet?
Ms. Slazyk: June 2nd, and the 16th was the next available meeting, which is next Wednesday,
and we put it on that agenda.
Chairman Winton: June 2nd. When did we last talk about this issue? What Commission
meeting was it?
Commissioner Regalado: April/May.
Ms. Slazyk: It was in May, yeah.
Chairman Winton: It was May.
Commissioner Regalado: April/May.
Chairman Winton: So there was a Planning Advisory Board meeting subsequent to our
Commission meeting where this issue came up --
Ms. Slazyk: The --
Chairman Winton: -- the last time we talked about it?
Ms. Slazyk: Right. June 2nd was the first available one that we could meet notice for, so it was
put on June 2nd.
Chairman Winton: Mr. Manager, I have to echo something that Commissioner Regalado's
saying. We have a full staff that sits in that COW (Committee of the Whole) room back there, or
whatever that room's called now, and frankly, I find it frustrating that we have all these staff
people here. The intent -- his intent, which I sat here and helped him craft, was to have this issue
before us at this meeting. We all talked about how the City Attorney was involved. City Attorney
helped us. I mean, it was a real team effort to get this issue at this Commission meeting to act on
it, and we got all those staff people back there. There's somebody from every department, and it
isn't very satisfying that one group's not talking to the other group, not talking to the other group
that let's this kind of thing happen, when it was a crucial issue that we spent -- we spent an hour
just frying to figure out how we could do this, and then an administrative something or other
drops the ball. I mean, that's not --
Commissioner Regalado: It's not fair.
Chairman Winton: I understand why Commissioner Regalado is ticked. He should be, so I
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would hope that some way or another, in the process related to these meetings, particularly when
there's these kinds of really crucial issues that we're discussing, that somebody back there be
responsible for shaking everybody else that ought to be listening to the issue, shake them awake
and say, "Hey, we better be paying attention to this or we're going to get -- or our job might be
in jeopardy if we drop the ball on this."
Chairman Teele: All right.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: All right. Mr. Chairman, ifI may. There is an individual that needs
no introduction. She was a City employee for many years but, you know, we have with us the
honorable Ana Maria Pando, who's here with us, and like to welcome her and --
(Applause)
Chairman Teele: All right.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: She can't stay away.
Chairman Teele: Did we state on the record what office was responsible -- where is Lourdes?
Mr. Arriola: Code Enforcement was responsible for the mistake, sir.
Chairman Teele: The office of Code Enforcement.
Mr. Arriola: Yes, sir.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Look, it's a mistake.
Mr. Arriola: It's a mistake, I know that.
Chairman Teele: We have a motion to defer the item, contrary to what the City Attorney has
said, to a time certain. Mr. -- Commissioner Regalado, what time would be convenient for the
residents, and we owe the residents an apology and I think it's very clear that it's not the
Commission, but we're still responsible and we owe you, ma'am, and all of the residents an
apology for this mix up. What time would be convenient, Commissioner, to have this meeting --
this hearing on the 24th? Any time you want to have it or the residents want to have it, we'll be
more than happy to entertain it.
Commissioner Regalado: After 6, I guess. We have so full of an agenda
Chairman Teele: All right. Can we schedule this for -- if you're going to speak, you'll have to
come to the mike, ma'am. Can we tentatively schedule this for 6: 30 p.m., on the 24th, as a time
certain item?
Commissioner Winton: Is that too late for people?
Chairman Teele: No. He says after 6.
Commissioner Regalado: No, because they all work.
Chairman Teele: Good afternoon, and welcome.
Josefina Sanchez Pando: Good afternoon. Josefina Sanchez Pando, Silver Bluff Homeowners
Association, Miami Homeowners United, president. Thank you for your apology, sir, and errors
are humans, but there are certain errors that harm lots and lots and lots of people. Mr. Winton,
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don't go -- and we have lost a lot of time, time in which the developers have been hurrying in.
Remember, we owe to you and we thank you not enough, presented and completed, yet, first
human error. Completed, never got in there. What happened? We've got to go back to the first
step, which is go back to the Planning Board, get -- OK, go back to the Planning Board. Second
error. Somebody doesn't get notified, so since the three sacred poles of the tripod have -- one of
them not present for the next board meeting. Go back again. Everything that Regalado -- and
the first time we went to the Planning Board had gotten so smoothly done, and you five had
helped the homeowners association so highly, got squashed by errors. Errors are committed by
human beings. Every time I get, "it was a computer error." No, no, it wasn't a computer error.
It was the error of the finger that punched that computer. What's the name of the owner of the
finger that punched the computer? He or she made that error. It's fine, one error. Well, it's one
error. Two errors, three errors, four errors from the second ofApril. What day is today? June
the what?
Chairman Teele: June the loth.
Ms. Sanchez Pando: June the loth. It has been two months and eight days full of errors that had
been putting us back. Now, you want to make good your apology, fine. Skip all the things that
need to be there for the tripod and get everything done on the 24th. Let's see how many
buildings sneaked in, because this is a matter of -- I don't know. I don't understand, sir. You
have a law in the books, 9. -- 907.3. I memorized it. I'm bad for numbers, but I've remembered
those, which gives us -- gives the small owner the right of a defense. Those people that build
those buildings don't live here. Oh, they live in Coco Plum and they live elsewhere. Good for
them, but there are many secretaries, teachers, postmen, policemen living in our neighborhoods,
and they need protection, too, and we don't seem to get it. We need to have everybody here in
place, sir, for the next -- every paper, everything. Don't send us back because something has,
again, been forgotten, because we got a public out there -- in two weeks, we have put 18,000
citizens out there. Two weeks. I got 18 associations, with 1,000 members each and $1, 000 each.
Two weeks. We are going to be a force coming up. I want every person to be there, please. I
want to thank, once and again, Mr. Francisco Garcia, who was the person who interpreted for
the homeowners. I want him there and I want everything in place. Could we -- could you
promise me that, that on the 24th, we're going to get this off the ground? Call anybody who
needs to come here from all ofyour offices and all ofyour departments, and get things going for
us, please, sir.
Commissioner Regalado: Well, we'll try.
Chairman Teele: Well, I can tell you this --
Commissioner Regalado: Well, Francisco Garcia is no longer in the City, I was told just a few
minutes ago.
Chairman Teele: That's not true.
Ms. Sanchez Pando: What?
Commissioner Regalado: Francisco Garcia, I was told, is no longer with the City, the Director
of Zoning.
Ms. Sanchez Pando: He's the one that has to testify in front of the PBA to defend whatever
interpretation of 907.3?
Chairman Teele: Hold on, ma'am, please. Mr. Manager, is there -- are we dealing with rumors
or are we dealing with facts?
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Mr. Arriola: Mr. Francisco Garcia has resigned from his post at the City, sir.
Chairman Teele: Effective?
Mr. Arriola: Monday.
Chairman Teele: Has public notice been made?
Mr. Arriola: Monday, Tuesday. I'm not sure. I don't know, sir. I'll have to check it out.
Ms. Sanchez Pando: Comfortable.
Chairman Teele: Huh? Ma'am?
Ms. Sanchez Pando: Comfortable. That's an adjective. I'm a teacher.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: (INAUDIBLE) drink.
Ms. Sanchez Pando: Thank you, sir. I leave this in your hearts and in your values. Thank you.
Chairman Teele: Mr. Attorney, I'm asking you, sir, as the attorney of record, to take the
comments of the speaker into consideration, and would you take up a review with the
management to ensure that everything is in place for this meeting on the 24th? Now, will we be
able to take a final action on the 24th?
Joel Maxwell (Deputy City Attorney): No, sir. That will be the first --
Chairman Teele: OK, so we need to clarify --
Mr. Maxwell: -- that will be the first reading.
Chairman Teele: -- for the record -- that will be a first reading, and based upon that first
reading, when could the next second reading be scheduled?
Mr. Maxwell: At the next meeting that is, at least, 10 days away from that one, so --
Chairman Teele: So when is --
Ms. Sanchez Pando: That's how it was going to be done two months ago.
Chairman Teele: So when is the next scheduled meeting after the 24th?
Priscilla A. Thompson (City Clerk): July 8th.
Chairman Teele: All right. So, just so that the record is clear, the soonest legal action that can
be taken, with final action by the Commission, is July 8th, so we will not be able to meet the
timelines that have been requested, but if we don't act positively -- or if we don't act affirmatively
on the 24th, then that schedule will be mixed, and we want to make sure, Mr. Attorney, that your
office, with the Manager's office, undertakes a review to ensure that all the documents are fair.
Mr. Maxwell: Yes, sir, we'll do that, and it will require us to notice the meeting in July prior to
or almost concomitant with the proposed action in June, so there's always the risk, as we have
here, but we will do that, sir.
Chairman Teele: Then, would you please notice -- even though it's not normal --
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Mr. Maxwell: That's what --
Chairman Teele: -- would you please notice both actions?
Mr. Maxwell: Yes, sir.
Chairman Teele: Unless there's an objection? You don't have a problem with just going ahead
and doing that notice for the July 8th meeting.
Commissioner Regalado: Right.
Chairman Teele: Yeah. Yes, sir.
Commissioner Regalado: Mr. Chairman, this gentleman came to my office, and he said that
he's one of the developers on the 27th Avenue Corridor. I didn't know him, but I told him to be
here because I think that he wants to put on the record that he does want to meet with the
residents, and it would be nice, since we have the Kubik thing, for him to state on the record that
he wants to meet with the residents association to discuss the future development.
Ms. Sanchez Pando: He has a date for it. We're --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: She needs to be on the record.
Commissioner Regalado: You have to come to the mike, Josefina. I'm -- look, I didn't speak to
him. I just told him that he should be here, and I asked him that he should meet with the
residents. He agreed, and he's here so, you know, just if you want to put on the record the name
and the name of the project. Hopefully, it's not Catalonia.
Ms. Sanchez Pando: He already has a date, sir. We have met with him outside. We met with
him --
Commissioner Regalado: Oh, OK.
Ms. Sanchez Pando: -- the other day, and --
Commissioner Regalado: No problem.
Ms. Sanchez Pando: -- we are going to meet with him --
Commissioner Regalado: Thank you.
Ms. Sanchez Pando: -- if he wants to state his name and project.
Commissioner Regalado: Would you?
Hector Garcia: Yeah. My name is Hector Garcia. I'm the general partner for the Luser (
phonetic) Construction Group. It's located at 2301 Southwest 27th Avenue. I just want to say a
few words, ifI may. Almost four months ago, in late February, I became involved in this project.
The previous owner had already commissioned the architect to prepare the --
Chairman Teele: I think you better be very careful now. You're not here -- are you a lawyer?
Mr. Garcia: Yes, I do.
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Chairman Teele: You are a lawyer?
Mr. Garcia: Yes. I'm just going back four months ago.
Chairman Teele: Mr. Attorney.
Mr. Maxwell: No. I don't think -- I don't think that's proper for today.
Chairman Teele: Why don't you and the attorney talk sidebar, before you say something that
may -- you may or may not want to say it. After you talk to the attorney, we'll come back to you,
wherever we are in the proceedings. Just get with the attorney sidebar, but a meeting has been
scheduled. We've got your information for the record, and we would invite you to go over and
talk to the attorney before -- this item is not being agendaed now, and we don't want to get the
record on an ex parte kind of thing without, you know -- this is being noticed as a delay, so we
don't want to have somebody that would have been here to respond to something you're saying --
Mr. Garcia: Well, I am -- I'm not -- I'm not going to bring any issues. I just want to give you
facts.
Chairman Teele: Why don't you just talk to the attorney sidebar, and then you can come back, if
you feel you'd like to. We'll welcome your testimony.
Commissioner Regalado: Well, I -- I mean, Mr. Chairman, he does -- I guess he does want to
meet with the residents, so that's the whole thing.
Chairman Teele: But that's the whole point, and --
Commissioner Regalado: That's the whole point of --
Chairman Teele: -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the reason to put anything else on the record.
Commissioner Regalado: So --
Ms. Sanchez Pando: We have --
Mr. Garcia: Not only that, butt have been trying to meet with Planning, and I can't get anybody
to listen to me. I have been cancelled three times. I have a meeting tomorrow with someone else
by the name of Robert -- Roberto.
Chairman Teele: With who?
Mr. Garcia: In Planning, and I'm just as frustrated as the residents are, because I have a plan
that complies and, yet, I'm being put on an agenda to stop my project on a moratorium, when I
have complied with all zoning requirements, including 907.32.
Chairman Teele: All right, all right. Counsel, you've put it on the record now three times, that
you comply. We have no evidence of that, nor is this the hearing to do that, so I would
appreciate if you would make your comments to the attorney, and we're going to --
Commissioner Regalado: And tell the attorney about Planning missing the meetings. I mean --
Chairman Teele: Well, I don't have a problem with him coming up talking about procedure, but
to talk about his projects, I have a big problem with that at this point. All right. On the motion
to defer the item to 6: 30 p.m., on the date stated, June 24th, the motion is by Commissioner
Regalado. The motion is seconded by --
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Commissioner Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: -- Commissioner Gonzalez. Further discussion? All those in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed have the same right. All right.
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SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA
DISTRICT 4
COMMISSIONER TOMAS REGALADO
SI.1 04-00640 DISCUSSION ITEM
AN UPDATE FROM THE ADMINISTRATION REGARDING PERMITS
BEING APPROVED FOR BUILDINGS LOCATED ON THE S.W. 27TH
AVENUE CORRIDOR.
04-00640-cover memo.pdf
DEFERRED
A motion was made by Commissioner Regalado, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez, and was
passed unanimously, to DEFER item SI.1 to the Commission meeting currently scheduled for
June 24, 2004 at 6:31 p.m.
Chairman Teele: All right. At this point, we need to go right into the budget issue, and this is a
substantive issue. Commissioner Winton, just so that you know, we -- it's going to take a few
minutes, I'm sure, to explain it, but this is a substantive budget amendment that's being proposed.
Commissioner Winton: What item is this?
Chairman Teele: Who is he here with?
Commissioner Regalado: I have no idea.
Chairman Teele: Are you -- who are you here with? Huh?
Unidentified Speaker: (INAUDIBLE)
Chairman Teele: What's that (INAUDIBLE)?
Commissioner Regalado: What's that? What is that? Oh, but we did that already, within the
framework of the other --
Chairman Teele: We deferred that item.
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: No.
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah, we deferred that, because it's within the framework of the
moratorium.
Chairman Teele: We did not take it up. We did not take it up. What we need to do, as a
scrivener's error here -- why don't you get your -- we're going to take up SI. I first, which is
Supplemental Item Number 1, and I would assume, Madam Manager, that that is a companion
item to Public Hearing Item Number -- I'm sorry, to PZ (Planning & Zoning) Item Number 2.
Mr. Attorney, can you confirm that SI.1 is a companion item to PZ.2?
Alejandro Vilarello (City Attorney): That is related to the moratorium that's being deferred to
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the June 24th meeting.
Chairman Teele: So would the appropriate action be to defer that item to the same meeting?
Mr. Vilarello: Certainly, you can do that.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner --
Mr. Vilarello: This is Commissioner Regalado's supplemental item.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner, would you defer SI -- Supplemental Item 1, which is companion
to PZ.2, to the same date and time as the previous deferral, which I think was June 24th --
Commissioner Regalado: Absolutely.
Chairman Teele: -- at 6: 30 p.m?
Commissioner Regalado: June 24th and, I guess -- July, but June 24th.
Mr. Vilarello: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: At 6: 30 p.m.
Commissioner Regalado: 6: 30 p.m.
Chairman Teele: Or 6:31 p.m --
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: -- meaning it'll follow that item. We have a motion to defer to the date and
time certain --
Commissioner Winton: We're going to be here until 3 --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Second.
Commissioner Winton: -- in the morning on that date.
Chairman Teele: It's been seconded. Is there objection?
Commissioner Winton: We're going to be here until 3 in the morning.
Chairman Teele: All those in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed --
Commissioner Winton: No.
Chairman Teele: -- have the same right. You didn't want to be behind this budget item, OK?
Thank you very much.
SI.2 04-00641 DISCUSSION ITEM
DISCUSSION CONCERNING AN UPDATE FROM THE ADMINISTRATION
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REGARDING THE NUMBER OF UNCLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES WHO
HAVE BEEN CONVERTED TO CLASSIFIED POSITIONS.
DEFERRED
A motion was made by Commissioner Regalado, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez, and was
passed unanimously, with Vice Chairman Sanchez and Commissioner Winton absent, to schedule
an executive session on June 24, 2004 at 2:15 p.m. to discuss the AFSCME Local 1907/Cox vs.
City ofMiami case related to classified/unclassified positions.
Commissioner Regalado: We're done?
Chairman Teele: We're done, with the exception of the classified versus unclassified. I would
hope that we could defer that to the next meeting.
Alejandro Vilarello (City Attorney): Mr. Chairman, on that issue --
Commissioner Regalado: The City Attorney is requesting an executive session for this, andl
think -- you know, it's important that we do have that, and then we can discuss this in public
because, Mr. Chairman, I am really, really, really concerned about the human factor here.
Really concerned. This --
Chairman Teele: Motion by Commissioner Regalado to hold an executive session for the
purpose, as stated by the City Attorney --
Vilarello: For discussing the lawsuit, the pending lawsuit AFSCME (American Federal,
State, County, and Municipal Employees) Cox versus City ofMiami, which addresses the
classified and unclassified employees of the City, and I'd like to have that at the June 24th
meeting.
Chairman Teele: At 2:15 p.m.
Commissioner Regalado: OK
Chairman Teele: Is that a satisfactory time, 2:15?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: Motion by Commissioner Regalado, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez. All
those in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed? Thank you very much. The meeting stands adjourned.
Commissioner Regalado: Thank you.
DISTRICT 5
CHAIRMAN ARTHUR E. TEELE, JR.
SI.3 04-00639 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING
RESOLUTION NO. 04-0305, WHICH ESTABLISHED A SELECTION
ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO REVIEWAND RECOMMEND CANDIDATES
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FOR THE POSITION OF CITY ATTORNEY, BY CHANGING THE
REQUIRED PUBLIC ADVERTISING PERIOD FROM 45 DAYS, TO
APPROXIMATELY 30 DAYS.
Motion by Commissioner Winton, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
R-04-0385
Direction to the City Attorney by Chairman Teele to instruct Deputy Attorney Joel Maxwell to
meet with each member of the Commission in order to develop criteria to be used by the City
Attorney Selection Committee in the evaluation of applicants for the City Attorney position.
Direction to the City Attorney by Commissioner Winton to provide the Commission with job
descriptions for the position of City Attorney in other significant large municipalities in the State
of Florida, such as Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa,
Chairman Teele: Now, Supplemental Item Number 3, Mr. Attorney, would you explain to the
Commission why this item is here, and why we need to act on it? It's the notice regarding the --
Joel Maxwell (Deputy City Attorney): 30 days.
Chairman Teele: -- position of City Attorney.
Alejandro Vilarello (City Attorney): Oh. When the City Commission established the
Commission -- the committee to search for the new City Attorney, or at least to provide advice to
the City Commission on that subject, you identified a 45-day period. We found that in order to
get it together with the time that was leaving, we needed to reduce that to 30 days. We've
advertised to that effect, and we need the resolution to be amended so that it complies with the
advertisement.
Commissioner Winton: What's 30 days?
Chairman Teele: The --
Mr. Vilarello: 30 days that the ad was placed inviting people to submit resumes for the position
of City Attorney for the City ofMiami.
Chairman Teele: It's more than 45 days from the action of the Commission --
Commissioner Winton: OK.
Chairman Teele: -- which was already reported and is news -- and made, you know, a wide
circulation, but the formal notice, as approved by the Attorney and published by the Clerk --
Commissioner Winton: Was only --
Chairman Teele: -- is actually going to be about 28 days or so.
Mr. Vilarello: That's correct.
Chairman Teele: And we're just trying to bring this into conformance now --
Commissioner Winton: OK.
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Chairman Teele: -- with --
Commissioner Winton: Got it. Thank you.
Chairman Teele: So would you move --
Commissioner Winton: So move.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: Moved and second to authorize the notice to be for the time period as stated.
By way of clarification also, it means that a recommendation, or a panel of names, will be
submitted for consideration by when?
Mr. Vilarello: The committee hopes to conclude its work by the -- approximately the 20th of
July, so we'll be able to provide the City Commission with a list of names before the end of the
month.
Chairman Teele: When is the Commission meeting, Madam Director -- Manager?
Mr. Vilarello: The 22nd.
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): July 22nd.
Chairman Teele: And when will the committee be completed with its work?
Mr. Vilarello: We scheduled interviews on the 19th and the 20th.
Commissioner Winton: Well, what if you don't have anybody you want to recommend?
Chairman Teele: Well, the way it's going to be is, they're going to recommend not less than
three?
Mr. Vilarello: Not less than three, not more than five.
Commissioner Winton: What if you don't find what you really want?
Chairman Teele: Well --
Commissioner Winton: The committee.
Commissioner Regalado: They keep looking.
Chairman Teele: The committee will find what it wants, and that is three names -- at least three
names --
Commissioner Regalado: (INAUDIBLE)
Chairman Teele: Whether or not the Commission wants to direct them to go back is another
matter.
Commissioner Regalado: But the problem here is the following: If they give us the name on the
21 st, we don't have time to interview those people for the 22nd, so you have to call a special
meeting.
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Commissioner Winton: No, no.
Chairman Teele: Well, if necessary, we would certainly do that.
Commissioner Winton: I know, I know.
Chairman Teele: But I think it's important that each of the names of people that are submitted
be interviewed one on one --
Commissioner Regalado: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: -- by each --
Commissioner Winton: Agreed.
Chairman Teele: -- of the Commissioners, subject to the Commissioners' request.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: But --
Commissioner Winton: But here's my point. My point isn't about either of those things. This is
a very, very important hire, and I find no sense of extreme urgency in doing this. I would much
rather take all the time we need and get what the committee first -- presumably, there's some --
there's a job description that defines clearly what we're looking for, and I think it's the
responsibility of that committee to find that person, and if they don't like any of the candidates in
this first round, throw them all out and start over, until they find three candidates that really fit
what they think we're looking for, and then bring those forward. That's my view about all this.
Chairman Teele: And it will be done --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: But --
Chairman Teele: That will be factored in and done, if that's the sense of the committee --
Commissioner Winton: Great.
Chairman Teele: -- based upon this instruction.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Now, let me clarify the role of that committee. That committee's going
to make -- are they going to make a recommendation or -- wait, but that's -- we need to define
whether it's a recommendation --
Commissioner Winton: It is.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- or providing us a list with just three names. There's a big difference,
so we need to clarify that. Are they going --
Commissioner Winton: I don't want just a list with three names.
Chairman Teele: That's what we're -- you're going to get.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Well, that's -- Mr. Chairman, that's why it's important to clarify that.
Chairman Teele: Because that's what was instructed.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Exactly.
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Commissioner Winton: No.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: That was what we --
Commissioner Winton: What was instructed now?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: We --
Mr. Vilarello: To provide a list of not more than five --
Chairman Teele: Not less than three --
Mr. Vilarello: -- not less than three.
Chairman Teele: -- not more than five.
Commissioner Winton: Oh, but I thought that -- underline that -- and my apologies, ifI wasn't
clear the first time, and I should have been, I guess, because I -- never dawned on me, butt was
just assuming that that list would be three people that they considered eminently qualified;; that
we would be extremely happy to have --
Mr. Vilarello: Commissioner, I can only --
Commissioner Winton: -- not just a list of three.
Mr. Vilarello: I'm on the committee. I can only speak for myself. I can tell you that I will not
recommend individuals who I do not feel are qualified to do this job, and if that list ends up
being less than three, then the committee will have more work to do.
Commissioner Winton: But I'm suggesting it may be --I've been through many, many
interviewing processes, and I've been through those processes where we thought, in looking at
the resumes, we had some great candidates; we all interviewed the candidates, and at the end of
the process for that wave of people, determined that none of them fit. Threw them all out; started
over again.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: But --
Commissioner Winton: And I'm just suggesting that the same process ought to apply here.
Chairman Teele: Vice Chairman.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Commissioner Winton, if that does happen,
the Commission can decide that the three names, or the two names that are given to us, we're not
happy with the individuals -- the names. We need to clarify what -- the legislative action that we
took here, we directed the committee to come back to us, after a process, with three names,
without any recommendation. The whole process here is to leave the politics out of it;; to come
with three names, and out of those three names, this legislative body would select one individual.
Commissioner Winton: We have the right -- if they follow the process that I described, we still
have the right to throw out all three of those names --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Absolutely.
Commissioner Winton: -- or pick someone.
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Commissioner Regalado: Yeah.
Commissioner Winton: So what I'm just saying is let them do a thorough job and bring three
names that they think are outstanding candidates, and if they don't have any in that pile, don't
just give us three names.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: No --
Commissioner Winton: Throw them out.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: But did we put -- we could always extend that time frame that we allow
them to do that. I mean --
Commissioner Winton: Absolutely.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- that's the whole purpose and, look, I agree with you wholeheartedly
that we don't want to rush the process. I mean, it's a very important position. We want to hire
the best qualified individual for that position, and if it doesn't -- you know, if it gets to a point
where there's a deadline, we could always extend it for them to continue to search, but the thing
is that when it comes to us, what we directed them to do was very simple: to come back with
three names, or two names for us to select, without recommendation.
Commissioner Winton: I'm -- I don't know that we're saying anything different, but I'm a little
confused. I don't know if we are or not.
Chairman Teele: I think what --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Mr. Chairman, you need to clarify.
Chairman Teele: I think what the Vice Chairman is underscoring is that it is the duty of this
Commission to select --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Exactly.
Chairman Teele: -- the City Attorney, and not to fry to impanel a committee to recommend a
person, or for that matter, to suggest a person, but to give the Commission --
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: -- a panel of not less than three or more than five -- is that correct?
Commissioner Winton: Right.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Without --
Commissioner Winton: I'm in agreement.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- recommendation.
Commissioner Winton: Well, then we're --
Chairman Teele: Without a recommendation.
Commissioner Winton: I'm not --
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Vice Chairman Sanchez: I don't want a recommendation.
Commissioner Winton: I'm not in disagreement with that.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: I want them to bring the best three qualified individuals for us to select
Commissioner Winton: I'm not disagreeing with that.
Chairman Teele: The best -- not less than three or more than five will be the process, unless --
Commissioner Winton: We're saying the same thing.
Chairman Teele: -- a vote is changed. And just so that we're all clear, the City Attorney has
opined that based upon the Charter, the requisite qualifications are those qualifications stated in
the Charter. Now, that in no way reduces the ability of the committee or the Commission to
introduce a subjective judgment about maturity or things like that, but the qualifications that
have gone out in the notice are those qualifications stated in the Charter. In other words, there's
been no independent skewing or stating of what qualifications the Commission is looking for,
other than those stated in the Charter, OK?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Here, here.
Chairman Teele: So I just want to make sure that that's fully disclosed.
Commissioner Winton: Well, has anybody read that to make sure that -- I mean, Commissioner
Teele, as an example, have you read the Charter description of whatever's in there, and does that
really meet --
Chairman Teele: It does.
Commissioner Winton: OK.
Chairman Teele: It meets the thresh -- the bare threshold, yes. I mean, it's not --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Minimal.
Chairman Teele: It meets the minimum threshold, and we --
Commissioner Winton: Which is kind of scary.
Chairman Teele: Well, it is kind of scary -- and we can ask the Attorney's office to pass that out,
because we've got copies of that here, so that everybody can look at it but, for example, it doesn't
talk about the fact that we may be doing a lot of bond deals, and the person should have bond
experience, or real estate deals --
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: -- like the Watson Island -- I mean, you know, ideally, maybe there are things
that you would skew it to, but that's what, I think, is up to us to query the people about to
determine if we're satisfied based upon where the City is going. Six years ago, we would have
been looking for a bankruptcy or workout attorney.
Commissioner Winton: Absolutely correct.
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Chairman Teele: I mean, you know, so -- you know, and I think that's up to the individual
members of the Commission.
Commissioner Winton: Well, then, may I weigh in again, because I really do see this differently.
I think, bringing forward people that meet the minimum threshold is -- and if that's all that's
described in our Charter -- is not -- I don't want that. I don't want to interview those people that
just meet the minimum threshold. I want to meet -- and I don't know what the right job
description is. I haven't seen one; I couldn't write one. I could probably have some input. You
could probably write a much better one than I, and there's probably a group of people out there
that could create an outstanding modern for a city like ours, what's the ideal candidate going to
look like -- what's that job description look like? And in going through a search process, you
almost always have to start with that. You've got to have -- you've got to know what you're
looking for before you can find it, and it has to be in writing, and so, my view is, this process
ought -- maybe we should back up a step and we figure out a way to create the job description
that really works for our city, in this day and age, and that becomes the basis under which the
committee is interviewing the candidates and moves forward three to five people who meet that
high standard, that high threshold that we can then interview and make a final decision from.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: But I think it gets to a point where you need to be prudent on how you
do that, because then what you're doing is, you're tailoring made a job description for certain
individuals, and that could --
Commissioner Winton: No.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: -- it could be --
Commissioner Winton: We can approve the job description.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: It could be a problem because you could say, hey, the person has to
have the highest, the highest, the highest, the highest, which you're hiring the best person, but
then --
Commissioner Winton: How do you know that if you don't know what your standard is? You
don't know if you're hiring the best.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Well, the standard right now is the minimum --
Commissioner Winton: You don't even know what your standard is right now.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: The standard right now is just the minimum threshold.
Commissioner Winton: That's awful.
Chairman Teele: That's the standard to submit an application, but by no means am I implying
or suggesting that the members of the committee, all of whom are highly
qualified --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: You could probably say, well, you must be a Harvard graduate.
Chairman Teele: But --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: You know, what does that do? If you're not a Harvard graduate, you
can't qualify.
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Chairman Teele: But I don't think anyone should imply that the minimum criteria is what is
going to come forward. I think what we're trying to have is what --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: You've got to be careful.
Chairman Teele: -- the Vice Chairman is talking about is an objective level playing field. The
persons that each of you appointed are empowered to use their subjective judgment, and with all
due respect, I think each of you should go back to the persons that you have appointed and
confer with them -- and confer with them about what your standards are, so that your voice can
be very clearly heard, but we are talking about people that have a very high level of proficiency
in the Florida Bar in municipal -- in the area ofMunicipal and Governmental Law.
Commissioner Winton: Well, I'm not comfortable with this, and I'm going to vote "no" on every
candidate that's brought forward because there isn't a standard by which we're judging them. It
is all subjective. The process that we have in front of us is nothing but subjective, Joe, because
one person could say, I want a Harvard degree, and the other one says, I don't care if he goes to
-- if he graduated from Berlin --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Well, that's the problem.
Commissioner Winton: -- and that's not what we want.
Chairman Teele: Well, I --
Commissioner Winton: We want a set of standards that everybody's agreed on. Here's the job
description; the kind of qualifications we're looking for, and we all agree.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: The committee does that, right?
Chairman Teele: Then, Johnny --
Commissioner Winton: And then the committee can interview for that.
Chairman Teele: Then, Johnny, there's a compromise. There's a clear --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Johnny, the --
Chairman Teele: There --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: The committee does that. That's the role and responsibility of that
committee.
Commissioner Winton: I hope --
Chairman Teele: There's a clear compromise here. Mr. Attorney, put on the next agenda a
resolution of the Commission requesting or directing the evaluation committee to use the
following criteria in their evaluation, and then let's have that discussion, OK?
Commissioner Winton: I'm perfectly happy with that.
Chairman Teele: Because -- and that'll be even before the applications have come back.
Commissioner Winton: Great.
Chairman Teele: Because the applications will not have to come back until when, July the --
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Mr. Vilarello: June -- July 2nd.
Chairman Teele: July 2nd.
Commissioner Winton: Great, great.
Chairman Teele: So we have plenty of time --
Commissioner Winton: Great.
Chairman Teele: -- so nobody's boxed in to have to vote against it to try to get a standard --
Commissioner Winton: Great.
Chairman Teele: -- that you're comfortable with. I'm not going to have any input, butl think
that's a very good time to do that.
Commissioner Winton: Because I want your input.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: I will --
Chairman Teele: Well, I will -- I mean, I'll make -- what I'm saying is, I will make input, but
think --
Commissioner Winton: OK.
Chairman Teele: -- the way to do that is --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: I will have input.
Chairman Teele: Huh?
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: I will have a lot of input on that.
Commissioner Winton: I want you to have input.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Because I believe that it must be fair, you know. It's just like, you
know, bidding. If you design it to a point, you could exclude a company from bidding in it.
Chairman Teele: OK, and I'm going to ask Joel Maxwell, who was designated as staff of this
committee, to meet with each of the Commissioners --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: No, but it could happen.
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: -- beforehand, at least once, preferably twice, to go around and get input to
develop several draft thoughts and concepts regarding the kind of standard that they would --
that each member of the -- a majority of the Commission would like for the panel to use in
making its evaluations.
Commissioner Winton: I'd like to see a job description from somewhere like the City of Fort
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Lauderdale --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Must be in good standing with the Florida Bar.
Commissioner Winton: -- the City Attorney for Fort Lauderdale, for Orlando, for Tampa, you
know, other significant large cities in the State of Florida, and what their CityAttorney's job
description looks like, and qualifications. I'd love to see that.
Chairman Teele: So directed to the City Attorney to come up with at least three job definitions
or descriptions from other cities, and make that available to all of the members of the
Commission. On the motion that reoccurs --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: I agree.
Chairman Teele: On the motion that reoccurs, relating to the -- codifying the procedure on the
time line, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed? Innocuous item, OK.
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NA.1 04-00663
NON -AGENDA ITEMS
DISCUSSION ITEM
Commission welcomes back Commissioner Gonzalez.
DISCUSSED
Chairman Teele: I should take this moment to welcome back our worldwide traveler, who was
away for a couple of meetings, and --
Commissioner Gonzalez: No, just one meeting.
Chairman Teele: Was it just one? It seemed like two. Maybe we had a special one while you
were gone, but we certainly want to acknowledge Commissioner Gonzalez and welcome him
back. We missed you very much, sir, and we need -- we value your input, so thank you for
coming back.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be back and I feel back at home.
Chairman Teele: Good.
Commissioner Gonzalez: And lighter.
Chairman Teele: And lighter?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Lost some weight.
Chairman Teele: How do you go abroad and lose weight?
Commissioner Gonzalez: Lost 12 pounds.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: You walk a lot.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Walk a lot.
Chairman Teele: Is that it? Maybe we all should walk. All right. Great.
NA.2 04-00664 ORDINANCE In Commission
DIRECTION TO THE CITY ATTORNEY AND THE CITY CLERK BY CHAIRMAN
TEELE TO DRAFT AN ORDINANCE THAT PROVIDES SPECIFICALLY WHAT THE
FEDERALLY MANDATED PUBLIC NOTICE PROVISIONS ARE AS IT RELATES TO
ADVERTISING OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND THAT IT BE
MADE A PART OF THE RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND THAT THE PUBLIC
NOTICE BE MADE PART OF THE AGENDA PACKET.
04-00664-fol lowu p-1. htm
DISCUSSED
[Clerk requested:
1- The Director of the Department of Community Development to forward the federally
mandated provisions regarding public notice of Community Development programs to the City
Attorney;
2- The City Attorney to draft an ordinance to provide specifically what the federally mandated
public notice provisions are related to advertising Community Development programs.
3- The Agenda Coordinator to include a copy of the public notice as part of the agenda packet
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on Community Development program items.]
Chairman Teele: All right. Before we start on the next one, Mr. Attorney, Madam Clerk, you
know, we're going to continue to deal with this until we get it right. I need an ordinance
developed, Mr. Attorney, that provides specifically what we've done by resolution that requires
that the public notice provisions of each of the CD (Community Development) programs that are
federally mandated be made a part of the record of the proceedings, and that the notice itself be
made a part of the agenda packet. We continue not to be able to get this right, and let me tell
you why this becomes important. We get in these meetings and there's all kinds of reserves and
special creations, et cetera, that nobody can know goes back three years later and finds money.
I've been asking the director now for what, three weeks, to identify the money that was not used -
- that was noticed, but not used, in District 5, and nobody can seem to find it, Barbara, you know
. I'm talking now about when the previous director was here, and this is not about --
Barbara Rodriguez (Director, Community Development): It's true.
Chairman Teele: -- personalities.
Ms. Rodriguez: You are right.
Chairman Teele: This should not be about individuals. The system should be blind to who's in
the job, and we continue to have a problem with the notice. The notice that went out was wrong.
Ms. Rodriguez: With the time.
Chairman Teele: With the time.
Ms. Rodriguez: And it was corrected.
Chairman Teele: The correction still didn't correct it because it still didn't fully correct it. It
probably legally corrected it --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- but it just said the time is changed. In other words, the notice that corrected
the time should have also advertised the projects.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: And none of the Section 8 projects that we've been talking about have been
noticed, to my knowledge. I can't find it.
Ms. Rodriguez: OK
Chairman Teele: And I think the most important thing on the federal procedures that we're
dealing with is public accessibility, public notice; that's why we have a signer here. We're frying
to fully comply with the federal -- and I think we've come a hundred miles, or a hundred years
forward under your leadership, Madam Director, but we've got to get this notice thing straight --
Ms. Rodriguez: We will.
Chairman Teele: -- and we've got to let the public know exactly what we're doing, and I don't
have a problem with what we're doing, but we've got to make it very clear.
Ms. Rodriguez: Right, and we did mail a letter to all the agencies to tell them about the notice,
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so I want to make sure that --
Chairman Teele: But, see, that's the problem. The ones who are in the program get the notice,
but the problem is -- the problem is --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- those that are not being funded --
Ms. Rodriguez: You're right.
Chairman Teele: -- and that's where the objection's going to come from, is the disgruntled
people that feel --
Ms. Rodriguez: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- like we're doing something that people don't know. I went into a meeting
last night, and that was the whole charge, Mr. Manager, about the 7th Avenue Corridor studies,
as it relates to the transportation stuff and all that; everything's being done under the table, and
the City ofMiami took all sorts of body licks last night -- body blows -- because they just feel that
we're not putting the notice out there, so we need to make sure that the notice is done properly --
Ms. Rodriguez: We will.
Chairman Teele: -- and we have some concerns about that, OK?
Ms. Rodriguez: We will.
Chairman Teele: So let's go right into the public hearing.
NA.3 04-00659 RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, PROVIDING
SUPPORT, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $20,000, TO THE
AMERICAN CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION FOR PEACE INC., TO START
THE FIRST AMERICAN CHILDREN'S ORCHESTRA AT ADA MERRITT
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SUMMER PROGRAM; ALLOCATING FUNDS
FROM THE DISTRICT 3 ROLLOVER ACCOUNT NO. 001000.920918.6.930
Motion by Vice Chairman Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
Absent: 1 - Commissioner Winton
R-04-0388
Chairman Teele: (INAUDIBLE) intent of the Chair to commence the meeting regarding the
zoning issues when five Commissioners are present, seated and on the dais. In the interim,
recognizing the Vice Chair for an action or a motion.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, thank you so much. I
respectfully request you allow me to present a pocket item before we start the -- our meeting, due
to the fact that it's based on an emergency. The funds have been in place in order to start next
week at the school -- summer school program at Ada Merritt music program for the students,
and we must get it done as quickly as possible so the Mayor could sign off on it, so they could
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NA.4 04-00660
have the funding before the school starts so, at this time, I would like to present one of my pocket
items, which is a resolution of the City ofMiami Commission providing support in the amount
not to exceed $20, 000 from the District 3 rollover account number 001000.920918.6.930, to the
American Children's Foundation for Peace, Inc., located at 3210 Ponce De Leon Boulevard,
Coral Gables, Florida, to start the First American Children's Orchestra at Ada Merritt
Elementary this summer school -- this summer. It has received recognition in 60 Minutes. It is a
program throughout the United States, and it is truly a pleasure for me to provide assistance for
this year in one of my schools in my district, Ada Merritt. So move.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: It's a motion and a second. Is there discussion or objection? All those --
Commissioner, let me congratulate you because I think one of the biggest challenges we have in
this City today is there are summer activities in absence of any -- say again?
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Lack of activities.
Chairman Teele: The lack of -- you're exactly right. The lack of summer activities for our youth.
As you know, the federal government has defunded virtually all of the summer activities and
summer jobs programs that most of the people in this room grew up knowing about or
participating in. Right now, there is zero dollars for the youth in this City, in this country. That
money, I assume, is in Iraq, but that's another story, and we've got to be very creative, and I
commend you for your efforts in your district. Without objection or discussion, all in favor, say
"aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed?
DISCUSSION ITEM
Introduction of new Parks Director, Ernest Burkeen.
DISCUSSED
Chairman Teele: Noting the presence of a full majority of the Commission, five unanimous
consent of the Commission. Let's take up a very, very important item. Mr. Manager, you're
recognized to introduce to the public --
Joe Arriola (City Manager): Well, as you all know, a couple of months ago, we lost a very
valuable employee, Santiago Corrada, and we're all very concerned who we're going to replace
him. We are really very fortunate that we were able to find an outstanding young -- and I'm
saying young because he's a year younger than I am -- man, Ernest Bergman, who was on his
way to Houston when I kind of kidnapped him, got him off the plane and brought him here;
offered him a job and twisted his arm to accept this job. Ifyou look at his long resume, we have
a real professional; a man that has dedicated his life to the parks, and I think it's a real, real
asset for the City ofMiami that we were able to get Ernest to join our team, and I wanted to
introduce him to the full Commission.
Chairman Teele: Welcome, and looking forward to you moving your residence down to Dade --
Miami -- City ofMiami.
Ernest Burkeen: Mr. Chair, Commissioners, thank you for the welcome. My name is Ernest
Burkeen. I think the Manager mispronounces my name to make sure that I know he's in charge.
Commissioner Regalado: Did he offer you a house not to go to Houston, huh?
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Mr. Burkeen: No, but he has a lot of power --
Commissioner Regalado: And non -repayable loan? Nothing or -- OK.
Mr. Burkeen: None of that. Thank you very much for having me.
(APPLAUSE)
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Congratulations.
Chairman Teele: Ernest, please don't leave. You don't get off just that quick. I think it's
important that the public know that while I've not had the opportunity to meet you personally,
I've certainly inquired about your previous service in Broward County and Fort Lauderdale, and
everyone has said wonderful things about you. I'm sure somebody will come out with a different
perspective soon, butl think it's very important for the public to note that you've had extensive
experience in the State ofMichigan; that you've served as the -- with a Masters of Recreation
and Administration from Michigan State University, as well as the Director of Parks in the City
of Detroit, where you administered a $55, 000, 000 budget, with some 1,300 employees and 400
parks. Most recently, it's my understanding that you are coming here from the City of Fort
Lauderdale, as the Director of Parks, and I think what's really exciting is the world-wide
experience that you've had, such as doing exotic things, such as being the head basketball coach
for the American high school in Morocco, and served in the United States Navy, and we're very
honored that you've come -- taken the opportunity to come and help us with our Parks
Department. We're excited about you being here, and we're looking forward to a close and
warm working relationship for you and your family. Thank you very much.
Mr. Burkeen: Thank you.
Commissioner Winton: Mr. Chairman.
(APPLAUSE)
Commissioner Gonzalez: Don't go away yet.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner -- and ifI could, Commissioner Winton, before we do, I should
ask the head of the Parks Advisory Committee to come to the mike, since we're here, just so that
we -- and the Bond Committee, while we're here so that at least you can get a formal
presentation, or recognition, of the chairman of our Oversight Board of our bond, and if you
would just introduce yourself for the record in this capacity, not in any other capacity.
Robert Flanders: My name is Robert Flanders. I reside at 720 Palm Bay Lane, City ofMiami,
and on behalf of the Bond Oversight Board, and the Parks Advisory Board -- I serve on both --
we welcome you. Actually, I did an extensive investigation into this gentleman's background,
and I'm going to tell you, I think he's the right man for the job. I also was in the Navy. I know
you're on the Saratoga. I spent a month on it, and welcome --
Burkeen: I spent a couple years on that.
Mr. Flanders: Yes, it has, for both of us, but what you did in Detroit in revitalization, and also
in Fort Lauderdale, particularly, bringing the parks back alive with people, kid program,
everything, this gentleman, I believe, is a wonderful choice. Welcome.
Chairman Teele: Thank you. Bob, hold on. Commissioner Winton, who appointed you, is about
to say something, and I just want you to be available.
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Commissioner Winton: Well, I -- actually, I was going to speak to the point thatHr. Flanders
just made, except maybe in a little different way because Mr. Flanders was giving him credit for
the great job he did in bringing back parks in Detroit and Fort Lauderdale. I'm not familiar with
Detroit,• never been to Defroit, but my sense is that Detroit's smaller than Miami -- I know Fort
Lauderdale is -- and the Detroit's Park budget was 55, 000, 000. The Fort Lauderdale Parks
budget was 29, 000, 000, both smaller cities than Miami, and he's coming to Miami with this big
promotion, administering the Parks Department in a much larger city, whose budget is a
whopping grand total of 11, 000, 000, so I hope that we can properly take advantage of the talents
you bring, and not tie both your hands behind your back and cover up at least one eye, maybe
two eyes, and provide you with a little better funding to take care of this job here than the
wonderful $11, 000, 000 that we have for our fabulous park system.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Well, I'm certain --
Commissioner Winton: But that's up to us, I guess.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: I'm certainly not going to touch on that issue, butt will touch on a
couple of issues. I'm glad to see that, on the education aspect of it, we continue the tradition of
bringing in Parks directors that have a knowledge of education, which is a very important factor
when you're dealing with children. Also, I'm glad to see that you're very involved in coaching
which, in that aspect, maybe you could find a way to work with the private sectors to create more
sporting events, such as teams, whether it be basketball, football, swimming, soccer, et cetera, et
cetera, in our parks, compared to -- you know, our budget isn't that big for parks, and I'm -- all
the Commissioners up here are champions, trying to provide more money to the Parks
Department to do more, but there are times that we'll have to do more with less, but I'm very
impressed with your resume, and welcome you to the City ofMiami. I wish you the best.
Mr. Burkeen: Thank you. Can Igo now?
(APPLAUSE)
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Get to work.
Chairman Teele: That's as good as it gets, Ernest.
Mr. Arriola: Yeah. I was going to say --
Commissioner Winton: Yeah. You can tell he's --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Hey --
Commissioner Winton: -- you can tell he's working --
Chairman Teele: Record the applause. That's the last one you'll hear.
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Yeah. Hey, Ernie, next time it won't be so nice, OK?
Commissioner Winton: You can tell he's worked in government. He knew --
Vice Chairman Sanchez: Next meeting won't be so nice.
Commissioner Winton: -- when to get away from the podium.
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NA.5 04-00656b ORDINANCE Non -Agenda
AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION,
RELATING TO DEVELOPMENT FEES; AMENDING CHAPTER 13,
SECTIONS 13-2 (b)(4) AND 13-6(4) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, BY CHANGING THE ELIGIBLE
IMPACT FEE EXEMPTION DESIGNATION FOR ALL DUPLEX AND
RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT LOCATED OUTSIDE
REVITALIZATION DISTRICTS, FROM "LOW AND/OR MODERATE
INCOME HOUSING " TO "AFFORDABLE HOUSING" AND
CLARIFYING QUALIFICATIONS FOR SUCH WAIVERS; CONTAINING
A REPEALER PROVISION, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND
PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE.
Motion by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner Gonzalez, Winton, Sanchez, Regalado and Teele
12542
Commissioner Gonzalez: Now, that we are on housing, Mr. Chairman, if you allow me and the
rest of my colleagues, I have an ordinance here, which I would like to be considered as an
emergency ordinance, that has to do with affordable housing, as a matter of fact, and it's an
emergency ordinance of the Miami City Commission relating to development fees, amending
Chapter 13-2(b) (4), and 13-64 of the Code of the City ofMiami, Florida, as amended, by
changing the eligibility impact fee exemption designation for all duplexes and residential
development located outside revitalization districts for low and moderate income housing to
affordable housing, and qualifying -- qualifications for such waivers; containing a repealer
provision and a severability clause, and providing for an effective date.
Chairman Teele: Motion. Is there a second?
Commissioner Regalado: Second.
Chairman Teele: Discussion.
Alejandro Vilarello (City Attorney): That's for an immediate effective date.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Discussion.
Chairman Teele: For immediate -- Mr. Attorney, staff what does this do? What are the --
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: -- consequences, and what are the potential unintended consequences?
Joel Maxwell (Deputy City Attorney): It's been my understanding, Mr. Chairman, that there's
been some problem over the last few years of determining what type properties are eligible for
the impact fee waivers outside of the -- they were called community target areas -- in this case,
revitalization districts -- when using the low income criteria, because there were three separate
criteria there, and there was a problem with that. Now, using -- changing it over to affordable
housing solidifies that into one easily manageable definition.
Chairman Teele: One easily manageable definition, the operative word. Madam Clerk, call the
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roll.
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): Roll call.
(COMMENTS MADE DURING ROLL CALL)
Commissioner Winton: I wasn't listening.
Chairman Teele: One easily --
Commissioner Winton: Yeah.
Chairman Teele: -- identifiable definition --
Commissioner Winton: Yes, thank you.
Chairman Teele: -- was the operative -- is what the --
Commissioner Winton: Manny Prieguez -- Representative Manny Prieguez and I were
chitchatting, and so I had to talk to my buddy.
Chairman Teele: Great Manny Prieguez.
Commissioner Winton: Yes, so would you repeat that again, please, sir? What -- just one quick
paragraph. What's the --
Mr. Maxwell: Yes, sir. There was a problem before in trying to determine what the waivers
would be, using the low income -- low and moderate income definition, because under
community development banner, there were three different areas, or agencies, that could apply
that definition, so they had trouble doing that, so by changing it to affordable housing, there is a
definition that makes the whole process much more easily managed.
(COMMENTS MADE AFTER ROLL CALL)
Roll calls were taken, the results of which are stated above.
Ms. Thompson: The ordinance has been passed on emergency basis, 5/0.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
NA.6 04-00665 DISCUSSION ITEM
A motion was made by Commmissioner Regalado, seconded by
Commissioner Winton, and was passed unanimously, to appoint Maria J.
Chiaro as Interim City Attorney effective June 25, 2004.
MOTION
Chairman Teele: All right. Mr. Attorney -- Mr. Attorney, while you're there, Commissioner
Regalado, you have a supplemental item on the agenda relating to attorneys.
Commissioner Regalado: Yes, sir, I do. They -- he's not here -- anyway, as you know, the City
Attorney is leaving.
Chairman Teele: The late City Attorney?
Commissioner Regalado: Yes. He's leaving --
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Alejandro Vilarello (City Attorney): Please don't say that.
Commissioner Regalado: -- the City on the 24th. Alex sort of starts a vacation, so he has asked
members of the Commission to appoint an interim City Attorney so he can still start the process
and keep looking for a new City Attorney, the candidates that were presented to the members of
the Commission for interview and vote, so my motion would be to appoint interim City Attorney
Maria Chiaro, if that is OK with the members of the Commission.
Commissioner Winton: Second.
Commissioner Gonzalez: Second the motion.
Chairman Teele: Who?
Commissioner Regalado: Maria Chiaro.
Commissioner Winton: The little --
Commissioner Gonzalez: Who's that?
Chairman Teele: Is she here?
Commissioner Winton: She's here all the time.
Mr. Vilarello: No, Maria's not here today. She's -- her father is ill and --
Chairman Teele: Well, she doesn't even want to be -- huh?
Mr. Vilarello: Her father is ill, and she's --
Chairman Teele: Oh, OK. I won't be lighthearted. OK. We have a motion. We have a second.
Is there any violent unreadiness? This is the kind of thing that ought to be unanimous consent,
wherever possible. Is there anyone here -- All right. Madam Clerk, call the roll.
Priscilla Thompson (City Clerk): Roll call.
A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above.
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