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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard Report 3JOE ARRIOLA City Manager BRENDA SHAPiRO Chairperson JACK BLUMENFELD Vice -Chairperson cciig Df 4liami December 30, 2005 Mr. Joe Arriola: Office of the City Manager City of Miami 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, Florida 33133 JENNIFER LAURA GERZ-ESLIrK MM''r. Arriola: Secretary./ Parliamentarian REV. RICHARD BENNETT BARBARA K. BISNO WILLY CALV{NO NATALIE FRENCH HELENA DEL MONTE BESS L. McELROY CHANTAL C. MEO ANDRE PIEERE HAYDEE REGUEYRA TERESA ZORRILLA-CLARK Pursuant to the City Code Sec.2-890, I am happy to submit the Community Relations Board Annual Report for your Review . We have addressed the required questions to be raised in the report and welcome your comments. This is the third and final report that I will submit as my two plus years as Chair of this board ends in January of 2006. Please know that I share the pride of my twelve colleagues in the CRB's accomplishments and growth during these years of service to the City. We are all aware that the consistent support of your office and the City Commission has made that growth possible. Each of us is grateful for that support. Respectfully, Brenda B. ihapiro4hairperson J c/ Blumenfeld, Vice -Chairperson. cc: Manny Diaz, Mayor City Commissioners Priscilla Thompson, City Clerk CRB Board Members ADA ROJAS Coordinator COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD 444 S.W. 2nd Ave, 10th Floor/ Miami, Florida 33130/ (305) 416-135t Fax: (30S) 416-1019 CITOF MIAMI COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2005 Pursuant to City Code Sec.2-890 this report is being submitted to the City Manager. The City of Miami Community Relations Board (CRB) was created to encourage mutual understanding and respect among the diverse economic, ethnic, racial, and religious groups who live and work in the City of Miami. Since its inception in March 1999, the CRB continues to earn the respect of the city commission, the administration department heads and most important, residents. The CRB meets on a monthly basis, and conducts its business through the work of standing sub -committees which also meet monthly, requiring significant participation by its members. During 2005 the CRB has been actively engaged to help maintain harmony in the community during times of stress. We offer the following information as required by the ordinance. 1. Whether the board is serving the purpose for which it was created. The CRB has established itself as a significant city board. During the year, the Administration, the Commission and the Police Department each requested CRB assistance using the Board's special training in mediation and advocacy of dialogue and peaceful protest. Due to its diverse makeup, Board members are able to help improve community police relations, act as buffers between the police and the community during protests, and help plan for major events taking place in the city. 2. The Board serves current community needs. The Board is the catalyst for citizens and government officials to be made. aware of a variety of issues considered important to both. The Board meets with residents and NET administrators gathering information in order to make informed recommendations to elected officials, administration, police personnel and others. Through the active involvement of the board, community needs are directly addressed. 3. The Board's major accomplishments during the year include: in 2005 the Goodwill Ambassadors, a program created by the Board, were activated for special and major city events. The ambassadors can be activated at the request of the Police Department, the Mayor, commissioners and or the City Manager. This program is very effective in assuring that protests are conducted in a respectful manner and makes it possible to do so with less police presence than was once deemed necessary. This year ambassadors were activated at the request of the Miami Police Department to monitor an important Homeland Security Exercise. The CRB was able to observe all components of this exercise and provide feedback used to assist in the development of the city's readiness plan. The CRB and ambassadors monitored various anti -war protests, more this year because of the changing attitudes towards the war in Iraq. Other demonstrations were held in front of the Venezuelan Consulate, by community groups that were there to protest that country's present regime. The torch of Friendship was increasingly used by various organizations as a symbolic site for peaceful demonstrations, the most notable of which was attended by nearly 1500 people protesting the imprisonment of Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste, a well known Haitian priest who once served the Haitian community in Miami. In addition to the ambassador program, the board has also created the First Response Team, comprised of board members who have received training in mediation and resolution skills for high conflict community disputes. This particular team can be called upon in situations that require either mediation or crowd monitoring of unanticipated events. In February 2005 the Miami Herald reported that detainees from the Marie] Boatlift were freed by a Supreme Court ruling and that more than 750 were expected to make their way to Miami. The City Manager asked the CRB board to create a Task Force to deal with any adverse reaction from the community. The CRB collaborated and met with local and . federal law enforcement agencies, the South Florida Workforce, Florida Immigrant Advocacy Program and other agencies in an effort to provide those detainees with referrals for assistance in housing, employment and other needed services. The Community Relations Board in cooperation with the Miami Dade Public Schools enlisted two juniors from local high schools to serve as Student Members of the board. These students brought their experiences and recommendations to the board, offering added insight to our community. This year the board began its partnership with the Net Department responding to a request by the Overtown Net administrator. The board helped the Administrator dispel complaints among residents who feared they were being unequally treated when it came to qualifying for Habitat for Humanity housing. The success of this venture was in educating the residents and Habitat. The Special Events Committee of the Board involved several community organizations including, Consumer Credit Counseling to provide on -site assistance to Overtown residents. As a result of the Board's involvement, tensions between residents and Habitat were significantly reduced and most important, for the first time, six Overtown families were qualified for Habitat housing. The CRB through its newly organized Net Liaison sub -committee, has committed to work with other Net offices in order to identify community concerns and help resolve them just as was achieved in Overtown. The CRB agreed to co-sponsor programs with the Miami Dade County Community Relations Board. Two such programs were hearings with the Miami Dade Equal Opportunity Board which gave residents an opportunity to voice concerns and or to file complaints of discrimination in respect to housing, education and or the work place. These sessions were transcribed and disseminated to county and city officials. The other significant event that the CRB co -sponsored was the 11th Annual Conference of NACOLE the National Association of Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement at which Board members were both participants and moderators on several panels. The CRB served as the Steering 'Committee for Operation Difference. Operation Difference is a Miami Police Department initiative designed to significantly reduce drug related crimes in Miami and to address quality of life issues throughout city neighborhoods. The Board's role is to help determine how Operation Difference is perceived among residents most directly affected by the initiative. 4. Whether there is any other board, either public or private, which would better serve the function of the board. The board is comprised of thirteen members who reflect Miami's diversity and population and who serve the unique function of working to create understanding and better communication among community groups and individuals. No other board fulfills the role of the CRB Board, members have demonstrated their willingness to bring their unique experiences in their diverse communities to help resolve inter -group tensions as they arise in the city. 5. Whether the ordinance creating the board should be amended to better enable the board to serve the purpose for which it was created. The ordinance states in Article 3 number 13 that the board is: At all times the Board and its committees shall operate with the Government in the Sunshine Act. The Board is at times limited by its obligation to operate under the guidelines of the Government in the Sunshine Act when called upon in time of crisis. It is not always feasible to communicate through the board's liaison during an urgency in the community. The Board is an advisory board and has no authority in decision making in regards to public expenditures and public policy. Therefore, the restrictive limitations imposed by the governing Sunshine Act should not apply to this advisory board. 6. Whether the board's membership requirements should be modified. No further amendments are needed at this time. 7. The cost, both direct and indirect, of maintaining the board. The Community Relations Board is staffed by three professionals who are well versed in the field of community relations. The current budget for the 2005-06 year is sufficient to meet the Board's needs, to carry out the mandate of the ordinance which created the Board.