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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 2022-02-07 MinutesCity of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com �YOp r 1 ' 'Parr +� v * INCORP ORATEO * 1896 Meeting Minutes Monday, February 07, 2022 11:00 AM Special Meeting City Hall City Commission Francis X. Suarez, Mayor Christine King, Chair, District Five Joe Carollo, Vice Chair, District Three Alex Diaz de la Portilla, Commissioner, District One Ken Russell, Commissioner, District Two Manolo Reyes, Commissioner, District Four Arthur Noriega, V, City Manager Victoria Mendez, City Attorney Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 11:00 AM INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Present: Chairwoman King, Vice Chair Carollo, Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla, Commissioner Russell and Commissioner Reyes On the 7th day of February, 2022, the City Commission of the City of Miami, Florida, met at its regular meeting place in City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida, in special session. The Commission Meeting was called to order by Chairwoman King at 11:56 a.m., and adjourned at 3:37p.m. ALSO PRESENT: Arthur Noriega, V, City Manager Victoria Mendez, City Attorney Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk Chair King: Good morning, everyone again. Apologies again for the delay. We will by not to let that happen moving forward. Today's special meeting has been called for the purpose of considering and taking any and all actions related to the redistricting of the City of Miami Commission districts, including but not limited to the drafting of any related maps and boundaries. The members of this Commission appearing for this special meeting are Vice Chair Joe Carollo,, Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, Commissioner Ken Russell, Commissioner Manolo Reyes, and myself, Christine King, Chair. Also appearing today are the City Manager, Art Noriega,, City Attorney, who's with us today? George Wysong (Assistant City Attorney): George Wysong. Chair King: George Weissman [sic], and City Clerk, Todd Hannon. The special meeting will be opened with a prayer by Commissioner Manolo Reyes. Invocation delivered. Chair King: The Pledge of Allegiance will be led today by Commissioner Russell. Pledge of Allegiance delivered. City of Miami Page 1 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 ORDER OF THE DAY Chair King: The order of the day will be we will first have the presentation by Attorney Miguel DeGrandy and then following his presentation we will take public comments. Thank you. Oh, wait a minute, sorry. City Attorney please. George Wysong (Assistant City Attorney): Yes, Madam Chair, thank you. Any person who is a lobbyist pursuant to Chapter 2 Article 7 of the -- 6 of the City Code must register with the City Clerk and comply with related City requirements for lobbyists before appearing before the City Commission. A person may not lobby a City official, board member, or staff member until registering. A copy of the code section about lobbyists is available in the City Clerk's office or online at www.municode.com. Any person making a presentation, formal request, or petition to the City Commission concerning real property must make the disclosures required by the City Code in writing. A copy of this City Cade section is available at the office of the City Clerk or online at www.municode.com. The City of Miami requires that anyone requesting action by the City Commission must disclose before the hearing any consideration provided or committed to anyone for agreement to support or withhold objection to the requested action pursuant to City Code Section 2-8. Any documents offered to the City Commissioners that have not been provided seven days before the meeting as part of the agenda materials will be entered into the record at the City Commission's discretion. In accordance with Section 2-33(f) and (g) of the City Code, the agenda and the material for each item on the agenda is available during business hours at the City Clerk's Office and online 24 hours a day at www.miamigov.com. Any person may be heard by the City Commission through the Chair for not more than two minutes on any proposition before the City Commission, unless modified by the Chair. Public comment will begin and remain open until public comment is closed by the Chairperson. Members of the public wishing to address the body may do so by submitting written comments via the online comment form. Please visit www.miamigov.com/meetinginstructions for detailed instructions on how to provide public comments using the online public comment form. The comments submitted through the comment form have been and will be distributed to the elected officials and City Administration throughout the day so that elected officials can consider the comments prior to taking any action. Additionally, the online comment form will remain open during the meeting to accept comments and distribute to the elected officials up until the chairperson closes public comment. Public comment may also be provided live at City Hall located here, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida, subject to any and all City rules as they may be amended. Speakers and attendees who appear in person will be subject to screening for symptoms of COVID-19. Any person exhibiting any symptoms will not be permitted to enter City Hall. Members of the public shall observe social distancing requirements to the extent possible. To ensure social distancing during this meeting, there will be a limited seating inside the Commission Chambers and reduced occupancy limit. In addition, members of the public are reminded to stay at least six feet away from individuals who do not live in the same household. The City has set up facilities for those who are unable to enter City Hall once the reduced occupancy limits have been reached to be able to attend the meeting and provide public comment. If the proposition is being continued or rescheduled, the opportunity to be heard may be at such a later date before the City Commission takes action on such a proposition. When addressing the City Commission, the member of the public must first state his or her name, his or her address, and what item will be spoken about. Any person with a disability requiring assistance, auxiliary aids, and services for this meeting may notib, the City Clerk. The City has provided different public comment methods to indicate among other things, the public support, opposition, or neutrality on the items and topics to be discussed at this City Commission meeting in compliance with section 286.0114 (4)(c) Florida Statutes. The public has been given the opportunity to provide public comment during the meeting and within reasonable proximity and time before the meeting. Please note, Commissioners have generally been briefed by staff and City Attorney on items on this agenda today. Anyone wishing to appeal any decision made by the City Commission for any matter considered at this meeting may need a verbatim record of the item of video of this meeting may be requested at the office of communications or viewed online at www.miamigov.com. This meeting can be viewed live on Miami TV, miamigov.com/TV, the City's Facebookpage, the City of Miami Page 2 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 City's Twitter page, the City's YouTube channel, and Comcast, Channel 77. The broadcast will also have closed captioning. Thank you. City of Miami Page 3 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 PUBLIC COMMENTS FOR "SP" ITEM(S) 11467 DISCUSSION ITEM Office of the City Clerk PUBLIC COMMENTS SUBMITTED ONLINE BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC FOR THE FEBRUARY 7, 2022 SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING. RESULT: PRESENTED Chair King: Is anyone here that would like to make a public comment? Please line up at the podiums. Go right ahead, sir. Charles Walter: Thank you, Madam Chair. My name is Chuck Walter. I live at 1901 Brickell Avenue. You know, I think we're at a historic time for Miami. We've seen unprecedented economic development, and thanks to the great leadership of Miami and the ability to promote Miami as a world -class city. So, thank you to you all. I live in an area in District 2, and this notion of a coastal district seems very strange to me. The idea that people from down south as Coconut Grove to my area in Brickell, going up to Midtown and beyond, does not feel like a community. And my girls go to public school at Coral Way Elementary. I would love to see an opportunity where other districts are able to -- to take on some of that economic opportunity that we're seeing to the East and -- and look at an opportunity to create a district map that prepares us for the future,, where more of our districts have that inclusion of economic opportunity. So, I think that you know as -- as the other districts continue to encroach on District 2, we are seeing a way of destroying community in a sense. And maybe this is an opportunity to actually take a look at it from fresh eyes and potentially consider a district with Coconut Grove to the north, and a district that has downtown and Brickell and areas surrounding, and an area from Wynwood to the north. So, I just think, you know, I understand a lot of the reasons why the map has been presented the way it has been, but maybe there's a chance for fresh eyes. Chair King: Thank you. Tony Scornavacca: Good morning, my name is Tony Scornavacca. Commissioner Reyes, Commissioner Carollo, Commissioner King, Commissioner de la Portilla (sic), and Commissioner Russell. I am opposed to this redistricting plan. It breaks up Coconut Grove. There's a lot of folks here from Coconut Grove and from all the other districts, but Coconut Grove is one community right now. It has been for -- Applause. Chair King: Please hold your comments. Thank you. Please hold your comments. Mr. Scornavacca: Coconut Grove has been this way for probably older than any other neighborhood in the city of Miami. We love it the way it is, and I noticed this redistricting map would have a person, for instance, who lives on Day Avenue, which is a quiet residential street, their neighbor across the street would be in a different district, which to me makes no sense. And I think to anybody, it makes no sense. And another part of this plan, which I think is improper, especially in today's climate, it removes a portion of our Black community, which appears -- appears -- and I'm not saying that this is -- and I'm sure this is not the intent, to make Coconut Grove more White. We don't want that. We like Coconut Grove the way it is. We like all of our neighbors the way they are. And the redistricting, yes, I heard the part about every community needs the opportunity to elect the commissioner of their choice. And I don't see how changing the boundaries in this proposal would affect that result in City of Miami Page 4 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Coconut Grove. In my opinion and many of our neighbors' opinions, since we've had five commissioners here, since the City of Miami had probably 70,000 residents, we feel that it's time to have -- Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Scornavacca: -- seven commissioners with seven districts. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Applause. Chair King: Please hold your applause. Please hold your applause. Sir. Andres Althabe: Hi. Andres Althabe, 1900 North Bayshore. Commissioners, the redistricting is your decision and it's going to be your decision, but it's going to be your decision for the next 10 years. And we -- everybody I talk to, they think that they absolutely, didn't have enough information. Well, definitely we didn't have any information. We're totally confused, and I don't want to pass judgment on if this is good or bad because we haven't had any time to analyze and even to discuss. The State did the same. Ten years ago, the redistricting committee traveled to different cities, and receiving input from the communities. And even then, they couldn't avoid lawsuits. This time, the State is doing the same as the City. Commission, kind of not receiving input from the communities that they are affecting. The input from the community means also that probably there are some good ideas out there, and they have to have the opportunity to express those ideas. 1 don't know if it is in the plans to have town halls or any form of allowing community input, but we believe that you should, before you make your final decision. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. And let me clear up for everyone that has his same impression. This is a draft that is being presented to the Commission, and after we discuss and give Attorney DeGrandy some more direction, we will all take this plan to our communities for input. Everyone will have an opportunity to have input on what is going on with the redistricting in the city of Miami. Right now, this is a preliminary plan that we wanted to include the community in, but by all means, all of us will be taking this plan to our district so that we can have input from our communities. So, rest assured that will happen. Sir. Albert Gomez: Thank you very much. Albert Gomez, 3566 Vista Court, District 2. I'm a 20-year Grove resident. I think the Grove, in its north, south, east, west difference makes it one. It unifies the Grove. We have a little bit of everything here. One thing I don't see is that, and I see it from the county, and before I say that, I would have to say that -- I would have to parrot, our friend from Brickell's voice. Regardless of the future plans to make a plan to do outreach, you lead with that. Put your schedules in place. Everyone knows what's happening, that we're going to have seven town halls, that we're going to have one in each district. All that comes out in a master plan of this redistricting, not necessarily on the fly or after the fact. And I would appreciate it if maybe we do that, we concoct and bake the full plan before we go ahead and start doing these carve -outs. More specifically also when we use large thoroughfares as breaks, if that's going to be the premise of breaking, then let's use that across the board. Let's not split communities in some areas and then use large highways in other areas. And then finally, the county itself is moving to more of a watershed governance model. They hired one water person. They're looking at Federal, State, and regional, and local money on how it's going to go through the watershed. I don't see any of those threats and vulnerabilities addressed here. We're just trying to mix and match. Whereas, some people are going to get strapped more than others, based on the impending threats and vulnerabilities of hurricanes and. floods and things that are City of Miami Page 5 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 coming. We should look at that as well because we have general obligation bond money that is going to be put forth in a time frame where some of you might be actually be representing people that do not actually -- did not actually vote for you. So that is something that needs to be addressed and I think that we don't want taxation -- Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Gomez: without representation here. Chair King: Thank you. Katrina Morris: Hi, I'm Katrina Morris, 4130 Libera Avenue. 1 do appreciate you letting us know that there will be public comment or public discourse would be really nice. You know, questions, answers, back and forth with the public, who you guys represent. So, I don't know where we're getting, you know, I hate to say, I hate to have to say, aren't we a government of the people, by the people, for the people? So, it would be really nice if -- I mean, I understand that this -- this map was drawn up, that we had it, and it was a choice that this body made, or the attorney that this body hired to represent them, not to release it to the public before this meeting. And then to put up these maps in a five-minute presentation and go, we're taking this from here and putting this from here and then this over here and then this over here and this over here, with -- with statistics and deviations. Pm sorry, we are the public, we are not the experts, but we do know where our neighborhoods lie. And our neighborhoods in District 2, it looks huge because in the map, the peach part encompasses a whole bunch of water. So, it's really just this little sliver, okay, but it is three distinct neighborhoods. There's Edgewater and Little River, down to 395, then there's 395 down to Rickenbacker, and then Rickenbacker South. Those are three distinct neighborhoods with cohesive concerns. And so, if we can add two commissioners, if we want to break it up at all, I recognize it's a very large swath, we're going to do that. Let's break it up by neighborhood. Chair King: Thank you. Ms. Morris: Thank you. Maria Freed: Hi, Maria Freed, 3055 Washington Street. I just wanted the commissioners to know that I don't want Coconut Grove separated, and that includes Bay Heights, West Grove. We are one. We are one Grove. We're very comfortable with whatever cultural or demographic differences we may have. So, I urge you to please think of us as a whole. Traditionally, culturally, we belong together. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Applause. Chair King: Please, I've asked you like three times not to clap. The next time someone claps, you're gonna be removed from the commission chambers. Thank you. Ma'am. Willie Allen-Faiella: Good afternoon. Pastor Willie Allen-Faiella, Rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 2750 McFarland Road, and I'm here to speak on behalf of -- I'm also on the Pastors Board of the Coconut Grove Ministerial Alliance, and I am here to speak against jettisoning the West Grove into what would be a predominantly Hispanic district. In your -- in your opening prayer, Commissioner Reyes, you prayed for God's guidance that equal representation rule your decision - making. Effectively, jettisoning the West Grove, the historic Grove, the oldest part of City of Miami Page 6 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Miami into a predominantly Latin Hispanic neighborhood would disenfranchise the Bahamian -American community that helped build -- helped build Miami. The Grove is one, as you've been hearing from all of us, and 1 speak in favor of keeping the Coconut Grove area intact. The growth has taken place in parts of -- other parts of District 2, not in Coconut Grove, and I suggest that when you sharpen your pencils, you take a look at moving parts where -- moving where the population growth has occurred rather than the stable and unified community of Coconut Grove. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Vice Chair Carollo: Excuse me, Chair. Chair King: Commissioner Carollo, let's just let them -- Vice Chair Carollo: I -- Chair King: Let's just let them -- Vice Chair Carollo: I just heard something here that, you know. Chair King: We're going to hear a lot of that. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, but I'm amazed that it's coming from someone from the cloth. So, if you're sending what they're claiming is a sliver, and I don't know if it's true or not, of the Black part of Coconut Grove to a district, this Hispanic, this -- this disfranchises them. Chair King: I understand. Vice Chair Carollo: But then -- Chair King: I understand. Vice Chair Carollo: -- my -- if you leave it in an Angular area, that's not. But I have to ask a question. How many -- how many African Americans have ever been elected in the district, in the district, of D2? Chair King: Okay, wait. I don't want to have a back and forth. Ms. Allen-Faiella: Zero. Vice Chair Carollo: Zero. The only time there was an African American that represented -- Ms. Allen-Faiella: Thelma Gibson (UNINTELLIGIBLE) wife. Vice Chair Carollo: -- the district was when I appointed Thelma Gibson. When I appointed, with the Commission, I went, brought her by the hand as she said herself here, and I asked my colleagues to name her. Ms. Allen-Faiella: After her husband's death, he was an elected -- Chair King: Commissioner -- excuse me. Vice Chair Carollo: I -- Chair King: Commissioner. City of Miami Page 7 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Vice Chair Carollo: She was never elected. Chair King: Commissioner, we are going to allow the public comments to go without us opining on what is being said, and we'll have our comments afterward because not everyone is going to say whatever we think or whatever we agree, but I just want the public to get their comments out. Vice Chair Carollo: And you're right, but I'm sorry, 1 just had to put that into the record. Chair King: Thank you. Vice Chair Carollo: Because we're a city of over 450,000 people, and we have less than 50 people here to talk. Less than 50. Ms. Allen-Faiella: You don't have anything further for me? Chair King: No, I don't have anything further. Ms. Allen-Faiella: Thankyou so much. Chair King: Please, go ahead. Lisa Remeny: Good afternoon, Commission, and ladies and gentlemen of the audience. I am Lisa Remeny. I'm a native Miamian. I am a 30-plus year resident of Coconut Grove, almost 40 years, back and forth. I strongly oppose this proposition to redistrict Coconut Grove and other sections of Miami. This is a community. It does not need to be divided. We need unification, not division. And I echo the words of Pastor Willie, Mr. Scornavacca, and everyone who's preceded me. This is preposterous, really. Thank you. Chair King: Thankyou. Sir. Bernard Fanord: Good morning, Commission. Minister Bernard Fanord, Believers of Authority Ministries, 3655 Grand Avenue. I'm here on behalf of Apostle Dr. Chambers, senior pastor of Believers of Authority and president of the Ministerial Alliance. We are here to express any opposition to a plan that would separate Coconut Grove into individual parts or any segmented parts. Coconut Grove, as it has been stated, has been a pillar of the city of Miami for a long period of time. And any plan that would cause a separation of this community, warts and all, is an indictment to this Commission and would be really a controversy and a travesty to the work that has been done and especially the work that has been done by Commissioner Russell. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Ma'am. Dolores Gutierrez: Good morning, Commissioners, and everyone. Can you hear me? My name is Dolores Gutierrez. I'm here on behalf of the Brickell Homeowners Association to read the Director Abby Ape's statement. Here it goes. My name is Abby, obviously it's Dolores, the Director of Brickell Homeowners. I'm unable to attend physically, but I'm tuning in online and eager to hear what you are proposing in today's meeting. Commissioner Russell, as you know, we're constantly working with your office, and we have a long list of issues in our community. Given the issues that we are. facing, it would benefit us to have our own commissioner. Brickell is a vertical city, which brings great benefit to the city of'Miami, but we often feel that the issues City of Miami Page 8 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 that come with living in a vertical city are left to the building and its management. For example, the streets by the access, 11 th and 1st, have a lot of potholes due to construction. We need more crosswalks, police enforcement, and pedestrian safety. We need more trash cans, enjbrcements of dog poop, traffic lights with pedestrian signs, and a better management of traffic lights synchronized with the Brickell Bridge. Better care of the streets when a building is being built, such as Una Construction on Southeast 25th and so on. This is not to say the City isn't of help. This is to point out that the issues are numerous, and we need additional resources into a high -density and populated area. Again, please consider giving Brickell its own commissioner. Thank you all for your service. Chair King: Thank you. Sir. William Ford Jr.: Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name is the Reverend William Ford Jr. of St. Matthew Community Missionary Baptist Church, 3616 Day Avenue, in the wonderful Coconut Grove Village West community. I stand with, behind, and I hold up my sister of the cloth, Willie Faiella, for the comments that she made. The Coconut Grove community has been diminishing physically for years. Now it's about to be diminished in this voting power, and I stand with her to oppose any and all plans or just the thought of a plan that would take the African -American community away from a community that was always intended, from day one, to be one whole community. We've already separated from Coconut Grove to Village West, which is a separation. We have our community residents have been displaced and have not come back. There's vacant land. We've always been treated badly and now we want to oppose anything that would take away our voting rights and power to do so. And that was my comments. I oppose it in Jesus name. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Marcelo Fernandez: Good morning, Commissioners. Marcelo Fernandez, a lifer in the Grove, raised here, went to school here, have business here. Also, I'm the acting chair of the Coconut Grove Village Council for the last four years and just re-elected again this past November for another term. And redistricting is very important. I think it's something that has to be done to keep check and balances in the city growing. So, I get it and it's needed. And thanks for hiring an attorney firm to bring the facts because without this very important decision, without the facts, it's a very difficult to make a proper one. One thing I would like to add is I didn't see anything in the current proposal about existing conditions. It'd be great to see what the existing conditions are and how they come to proposal. So, I'd like to see that could be shown to the people. Also, it needs to mention that the proposed -- that they can be a variation of up to 10 percent per district with reason, D2 right now is less than 1 percent. So, I think there's lots of room to adjust that, based on our communities we have here. Also, I think we should look at school board, County, and State boundaries to kind of match those and see if that makes sense to keep things community. About the Grove, all the people have spoken eloquently about not splitting it up, and I agree with them. The City of Miami has three neighborhood conservation districts. Two are in the Grove. In that proposed plan, both are being split up. That's not part of a neighborhood conservation district. They need to be kept together. Just in the last few days, we received 300 letters opposing the splitting of the Grove, and that count is growing. So, we are a unified source. Also, Village Council is the only place in the city that has an elected board by the people for keeping the neighborhood preserved. You will be submitting to Village Council also. And by the way, the Village Council has been around for over 20 years and there have been many council members voted that were black residents and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) currently we (UNINTELLIGIBLE) at least 30 percent if not more every single year. Thank you very much. Chair King: Thank you. City of Miami Page 9 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Marisol Zenteno: Good afternoon, Madam Chairwoman King. 1 appreciate your leadership in controlling your -- your City Hall and for giving us a chance to express ourselves before you all get a chance to speak. My name is Marisol Zenteno. I am here with the League of Women Voters ofMiami-Dade. I am also a member and partner with the Coconut Grove Ministerial Alliance, of which you've seen such a great presence over here. And we want to echo the same thing. The transparency in this process, I am so glad that you made us -- made us aware that this is just a preliminary map and that more things will be coming out. It would be great to see maybe a portal on your website where people can go and look at the maps. Right now, people have to get up in order to see where the areas would be affected, and it wasn't really enough time to see what's happening. So ahead of time -- and that you go out into the communities the way it was suggested. In addition, I would like to say that to see the report, how the units -- the areas will be affected. And 1 am here also because of the West Grove area, the largely African -American area in District 2, by moving it up or switching it to Commissioner Reyes' area, no problem there. But the problem is that it's a part of the Voting Rights Act and for it to maintain the correct within Tiers 1 and Tiers 2, that community needs to be well representing it. By shifting it at 86 percent, according to what Mr. DeGrandy said, to 80 percent voting age population in District 4, the African -American vote of District 2 and the West Grove area is going to dilute. Right now, where they are at, they're able to pick and be part. Any Commissioner that is looking forward to being elected and commissioned to would have to go and has to go to the Coconut Grove and West Grove area. Chair King: Thank you. Ms. Zenteno: Thank you. Thank you for your time. Chair King: Thank you. Good afternoon. Rose Fountain: Hi, my name is Rose Fountain and I'm from Coconut Grove -- Coconut Grove Village West. Coconut Grove is a unique community and what we must not lose sight of and when we voice ourselves it's to know that it is Miami's history. It is part of the Bahamians, the settlement, the southern blacks. And to say that redistricting would better this for us, we have rezoning. And to me, rezoning is the redistricting of Coconut Grove. If you look at the Bird Road corridor, you will realize what actually took place in the community, and why we chose, as a community, to update and upgrade ourselves. I believe in what they are doing, the transitioning, but you have to realize too that this transition has already happened. I looked at the mapping and what the plans are and it's not about the economic disparities, it's about human beings. The right to vote, the economical values, the social values of the people that are progressing in our community. So having said that, we have already been redistricted. We rezoned. And we are still incomplete. We have preservation on our agenda, and we haven't completed Grand Avenue, and I know it takes time. It's not an oversight and it won't be overnight. I understand. Chair King: Thank you. Linda Williams: Good afternoon, Commissioners, Madam King. I'm Linda Williams, temporarily at 3517 Hibiscus Street, here in Coconut Grove. I come before you as a resident, born and reared 68 years, proudly. I'm also a community activist, and I listen. Redistricting, any part thereof especially Village West, is not in favor. Our community has concerns as it relates to voting. Where do we go? Taxation, schools, boundaries? Does the NCD-2 (Neighborhood Conservation District) remain effective? Does the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) become effective? Questions that have been asked of me, what are the benefits to the people that are impacted by this divide? Is it political? We'd all like to know. Lack of information City of Miami Page 10 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 spurs distrust. Are you for the people? The voices are being heard. Lastly, 1 request that this thought be deferred until additional information and a seat at the table to discuss this matter more clearly. Thank you for your time and your invite today. Chair King: Thank you. Sir. Reynold Martin: Good morning, Commissioners. I'm Reynold Martin from the Coconut Grove area, representing several organizations, including the one that Ms. Williams spoke about. I'm sorry. I'rn from the Coconut Grove area, a Bahamian family that's been here since the early 2000s, late 2000s, 1800s, excuse me. And I'd like to read to you a letter from the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), who represents the Coconut Grove area, South Dade branch of the NAACP. It states that the NAACP holds the rights of the Black communities to vote in conditions that result in its voice being heard as the greatest right this democracy offers. Therefore, the South Dade branch of the NAACP is concerned about redistricting of the West Grove, which has been part of Coconut Grove since before there was a City of Miami. We will be closely following the redistricting of the City of Miami Commission activities. And signed by president -- Senator Dwight Bullard, Secretary Dr. Brad Brown, David Honig, General Counsel, and Tony Alfieri from the University of Miami Law School. We oppose anything that removes areas of the Grove as a unit. We work together as a family, and we'd like to stay that way. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Ma'am. Clarice Cooper: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Clarice Cooper. I live at 3 735 Oak Avenue in beautiful Coconut Grove, and I would like to read parts of a letter that you should all have copies of from our organization. The executive board of the Coconut Grove Village West Homeowners and Tenants Association, also known as HOTA, hereby declares its disapproval of the truncation of Coconut Grove to satisfy the district boundary adjustments that the Miami City Commission is charged to resolve regarding District 2 and all of your districts. HOTA was established in 1954 to serve and protect the concerns and interests of the overwhelmingly African - American residents who descended from the original Bahamian settlers, which -- one of which I am, and migrants from North and Central Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina. These hard-working, law-abiding people did continue to thrive and make a life for their families in the Grove, and some of those qualities were passed down to people who still live in the Grove, like myself, and several others who are present today. Removal of any part of the Coconut Grove Village West from District 2 to be annexed to an adjoining district would place in jeopardy the painstaking strides for improvements and revitalization that has been made towards -- regarding the West Grove Community Redevelopment Agency, also known as the CRA, and also for the NCD-2, which was put in place to protect and preserve our architectural integrity. An agenda item such as this should be given more of -- importance, considering that Coconut Grove is the city's oldest neighborhood. This shouldn't be treated the way it's been presented here today, but we didn't really have an opportunity to first hear what was going to happen, and you should have more meetings that we could enlighten other members of the community. Finally, we are requesting that the Commission withhold any deliberations on this topic until Coconut Grove residents have been fully apprised of the details and how the income will affect us. Chair King: Thank you. Ms. Cooper: Thank you. Renee Schafer: Hello, Renee Schafer, 2571 Lincoln, Coconut Grove. I've been a resident, for 50 years, and the word community is what I think Coconut Grove is all City of Miami Page 11 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 about. It is a common unity, and we wish to keep it that way. It's important to us as you have large families with aunts, uncles, and cousins, that's how we view each other. We do not wish any of our area to be taken away. We are opposed to the current possibility of redistricting. We look forward to seeing the maps as they exist at this time and to being involved in further conversation on this. And we would like any voting on this to be postponed to a future time. Chair King: Thank you. Marci Weber: Hello, my name is Marci Weber, 2525 Swanson Avenue, North Grove. I only just heard about this, and I appreciate having the opportunity to speak. I love the Grove. I'm from New York. 1 moved here almost 20 years ago, and one of the beautiful things about this place is it's very much like New York. It's got everything. It's got everything. It's got Cubans, it's got people of Columbia, it's got people from New York, it's got Black people, it's got White people, it's got everything. And it's got -- and the restaurants too. But most importantly, it has a sense of incredible community and love. And I know that might sound silly in these days of division, butt love this place. I never want to go back to New York. And I am a New Yorker, born and bred. And this place has so much possibility. And as we grow, let's grow with unity. Let's not look to divide. Let's find out what the problems are for redistricting. I don't understand, and I'd love to know more. I want to know what is the need for redistricting, because we need another commissioner, or it's too big. New York City's gigantic, but still, it finds a way. Brooklyn finds a way. Everybody -- and this is a neighborhood. Coconut Grove's like Bensonhurst, or like Bed-Stuy. It doesn't matter, it's -- or Park Slope. This is a unified community that has such beautiful history and amazing people, artists, and it's such an incredible place. It's a diamond. Why look to break it up? The people make it. And I'm against it, but I'm looking forward to work groups because I don't understand a damn thing those maps said. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Leroy Jones: Good afternoon, Madam Chair, Commission. I thank you for this opportunity. We have single -member districts because at one time we wasn't going to have a person of color that served for the City of Miami, right? About 15 years ago, give or take a year or two, we didn't have representation sitting there for District 5. If you go back, you'll check, at a short period of time, we didn't have representation. I'm afraid when I listen to him say the African -American community only have 51 percent in the Black community in District 5, that means if you go east or west, our 51 percent is going to be threatened. Think about it. We only make up 51 percent in our own community. So, if you go east or west in District 5, where that going to leave us? Probably with no representation. I would think that we look at going north in the Liberty City area of District 5, which will probably save the representation. So, I know for some people they don't care, but I care that we have -- that we have someone that look like me representing us in District 5. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Mickey Mursell: Hi, good afternoon. My name is Mickey Mursell and I live at 2542 Swanson, and I like to say Ion originally from Miami Beach. I lived there all my life except for the last four years. I've lived in Coconut Grove, and I got to tell you I never thought 1 would leave Miami Beach, but Coconut Grove is outstanding and it's just such a diverse community and we go out and we go to all sections of the Grove and we just love it and really don't want to change it. And on another note, I think the residents of Coconut Grove in this room and at home watching on television would appreciate in the future, and I don't know what's happened in past meetings, that we start the meetings on time. Some people have left work to be here, an hour late, so I just want to go on record to say that. Thank you very much. City of Miami Page 12 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Chair King: Thank you. Joshua Abril: Hi all. Joshua Abril. I live here in the Grove, and I'm learning about everything for the first time. I'm kind of learning as I watch. But three things I wanted to mention, per what I saw from the map. One concerns North and Center Grove, where if the line's drawn at Day, if the 836 is a significant boundary, which I agree with, US-1 seems, to me, more significant because to break it up at Day is almost like breaking up districts at 8th Street. We're talking about things that, from one side to the other, these are matters that will concern the neighbors immediately across the street. You know, there's a much bigger divide by US-1 concerning interests of the neighbors and the architecture within the community. The second one is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) so I mean like for example, my dad's Cuban, my mom's American, I'm born in Miami, obviously I'm American, but ethnically I'm not really sure where I fall. When it comes to neighborhoods like West Grove, it's -- we all feel very much community. And it's, I don't know how appropriate to say this, but it a -- you know, we're talking about a neighborhood that has the demographic that it has because it was mandated at one time. So, there's a certain sensitivity I feel that should be taken into account there. But -- there's that but aside -- but even aside from that breaking up the neighborhood of Coconut Grove, growing up in Miami you know we've always had a lack of history because the city gets rebuilt every 10 years, and Coconut Grove has being the most historic neighborhood. You know it's -- it holds the keeping together of the neighborhood in a certain -- a certain zone for a lot of people, I would say. But yeah, you know, it just those three things. I just wanted to bring it up just because I saw it, like, this is my first time seeing the map. Cheers. Chair King: Thank you. Cornelius Shiver: Good morning. It's still morning, right? Neil Shiver, 3095 Plaza Street, lifetime resident of Coconut Grove. Clearly, when it comes to the Black community of Coconut Grove, clearly, Commissioner Reyes -- or Commissioner Reyes, Commissioner Russell, you've got your work cut out for you on this matter. I would support whatever the district commissioners support. I would support whatever the Ministerial Alliance supports. I would support whatever the Homeowners and Tenants Association supports. But we have to be real about and deal with facts. And I'll just end on a little simple story, because I don't have some of the same fears they have, but I have to support them because we are one community. When I graduated from Coral Gables Senior High, they told me I was from Coconut Grove. When I graduated from Florida State, they told me I was from the South Grove. When I graduated from the University of Miami, they told me I lived in a village. Now they're telling me I live in the West Grove. My address never changed. So, this One Grove, while laudable and aspirational, has never really been the true intent and has harmed this community. Prior to your arrival, Commissioner Russell, we were in trouble. You have done more than any, once we started doing district elections, to eradicate some of these barriers. So, wherever you guys end up with, I don't have fears of the Hispanic community. I don't have to, because I have been dealing with my White residents for years. And while we are socially kind to each other, my community is still dying. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Nathaniel Robinson, III: Good morning, my name is Reverend Nathaniel Robinson M. I'm the senior pastor of Greater St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in Coconut Grove. I'm also the chair of World Rights and Community Equity, and a member -- and a board member of the Ministerial Alliance. I too stand in agreement with -- with Pastor Willie and her comments. We are facing nationwide voter suppression and delusion -- well, suppression and the diluting of the African - City of Miami Page 13 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 American vote all throughout this country, in different states. And it appears that in the plan that was presented, we would experience something similar. 1 do want to thank you, Chairwoman, for the assurance that this draft will be discussed in the community and that there won't be action taken on it today. We do appreciate that. But as it relates to substance, it appears that what was presented today intentionally discriminates against and desperately impacts the voting rights of Village West Black residents by diluting their political impact. Although it might be small, it is a political -- we do have a political impact. It also seems to sever the cultural, social, and historic ties to Coconut Grove and District 2 governance. I will say that at the beginning of the presentation, as you go back and our consultants rework the draft, you did say that one of your objectives was to maintain communities of interest and neighborhoods were feasible. It doesn't appear that this draft does that for Coconut Grove. You did consider natural -- naturally occurring boundaries for other districts. Day Avenue is not necessarily a naturally occurring boundary in West Grove, so please consider US-1 as one of those naturally occurring boundaries as you rework the plan. Also, your plan does -- it takes into consideration a number of things, but does not take into consideration the Village Council, which is an elected body from the West Grove, nor does it take into consideration the NCD-2, which is a part of Miami 21, which I think needs to remain intact. The CRA has been newly formed and if you split the Grove in Day Avenue, you would have two different Commission districts that will have some type of jurisdiction over the CRA. So, I ask that you would carefully reconsider. Chair King: Thank you. Cynthia Shelley: Hi everyone. My name is Cynthia Shelley. I've lived in Coconut Grove since 1980 and I wish this thing were taller. Okay. I came here from Winter Park, Florida, and made this my home. The Grove. Made the Grove my home. I founded the Coconut Grove Park Homeowners Association. I'm here representing the Coconut Grove Park Homeowners Association. I am a former vice president of the Civic Club. I'm a former vice president of Coconut Grove Park Elementary. I'm one of the founders of the Village Council. I'm here to represent the people who care about continuing to keep the Grove. We have the North Grove, we have Center Grove, we have South Grove, we have West Grove. Each of those communities are one. They each have the word Grove in it. I believe in representing what the people want. I know you do also, that you care. Ken, I know you care what the people want and need for their area, for their people. I am the child, not a child anymore, but born the daughter of a colonel of the United States Air Force, and I have learned to look at those who live around me, and with me, and represent them for what their needs are. Please keep the Grove as the Grove, and please continue to represent the needs of each of those people who live in the Grove and need to be represented. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Nancy Tedford: Hello, my name is Nancy Tedford and I've already been displaced from Coconut Grove due to development and yet I still stand with the residents of Coconut Grove, and keeping the Grove unified and not parceling it off. Thank you. James Torres: Good afternoon, James Torres, president of the DNA (Downtown Neighbors Alliance). I don't live in the Grove, but we experienced the growth in District 2. We're fully aware of what's happening. One of the things that the attorney made reference to a few months ago that I kind of want to bring up that everyone is fully on board with this is he made a comment, something has to happen before March, if I'm not mistaken. So, it's now February 7th, and if we're going to put this out in town hall meetings, we may be a little bit underneath the gun. So, with that being said, I hope that the Commission looks at that the way it needs to be done. The other caveat to this is that the core of Downtown, Brickell, Omni, Edgewater, City of Miami Page 14 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Wynwood, and Midtown, east of 1-95 within District 2, should be kept at its integrity. Because if we start shifting away, as we all know, downtown is what's driving these changes. And we're going to be having that sane conversation l0 years down the line. So, we kindly ask, whatever plan is selected, that we have several options for the community of the Grove and everyone else that's affected by it because it's important to build a community the way it should. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Mel Meinhardt: Madam Chairman, Commissioners, my name is Mel Meinhardt, 3075 Virginia Street. I represent the Village of Center Grove. The Village of Center Grove is the community organization that runs right through the middle of your districting plan and includes the changes that are made here. 1 also have the privilege of being probably the first Anglo to live in the West Grove many years ago, in the last millennia. I'm here to say that we think of the Coconut Grove as an artsy kind of community, but that is true, but it's a very independent and fiercely loyal place. It demands the highest levels of public service out of its representatives. I would point out that two of the last city commissioners have been pushed out of office or helped out of office by coordinated efforts of the village -- by Village of Center Grove and by the Grove itself I also point out that that creates a tremendous power to protect each other and look after each other's interests. As the Village of Center Grove looks out for the West Grove, for the South Grove, and the actions here in the North Grove as well. We have many examples of coordinated efforts where we've worked together to help each other there. We hope that you can continue to have that kind of cohesion so that we can see communities working together here in the North, South, and Center and West Groves. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Vice Chair Carollo: Chair, can I ask him a question for a point of information for all of us, since he says he represents the Center Grove? Sir, where do you consider that the boundaries of the Center Grove are? Mr. Meinhardt: I'm sorry, I can't hear the Commissioner. Chair King: Where do you consider the boundaries for the Center Grove? Mr. Meinhardt: The Center Grove, in our definition, is between 27th Avenue on the east and 32nd Avenue on the west. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay, so you don't consider from 27th to 22nd Center Grove? Mr. Meinhardt: By the definition of our organization, that's where we're talking about, 27th to 32nd from US-1 to the water. Chair King: Okay. Vice Chair Carollo: I've heard different, you know, means. Mr. Meinhardt: No ambiguity, just trying to clear it up. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, that's why I was asking. Mr. Meinhardt: Okay, thank you. Chair King: Sir, please. City of Miami Page 15 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Lucian Ferster: Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name is Lucian Ferster. 1 live on Crawford Avenue in the South Grove. I've lived there since 1983. First of all, 1 don't want to be redundant. I clearly support a unitary Coconut Grove in one district. It's been well said by others. I can't repeat that. I do want to say that Coconut Grove is a community. It was a settlement, the first one, other than Native Americans, in this area. It was a village, it was almost a city, it is a community. We have our needs, we have our problems, but it is a unitary community, and it should stay that way. I'd also like to talk about process, and then I'm done. This redistricting is needed, it's important, it's difficult, and it can be misunderstood by the public. And I call upon the City of Miami, its commissioners, and all those who work with you, to make this clear, fair, and open. I would imagine that the majority of us that came here today thought that the decision would be presented by Mr. DeGrandy and voted on today. That was the information that seemed to be out there. It was wrong. We need correct information immediately shared to make good decisions. But most of all, we need a fair and friendly, non -combative council that will listen to us and work with us. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Anthony Parrish: Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name is Andy Parrish, offices at 3678 Grand Avenue. Some of you, including Commissioner Carollo, who used to be my neighbor in the North Grove a long time ago. I've been building affordable homes in the West Grove for -- 1994 with my partners. We've developed the Grand Island building and several where the Arts for Learning School is, where the Royal Poinciana is. So, I've been in the West Grove a long time, but that's not what I want to talk about. Actually, Mr. Ferster, good friend also, just stole a lot of what 1 was going to say, which is the process. I am concerned about the process, Chairwoman King, in that, and I have sympathy for Mr. DeGrandy, you have to have a starting point somewhere. But starting points matter. So, when you have the town hall meetings after this meeting, the starting point will be what Mr. DeGrandv presented. And that builds a momentum that think, I hope you all will be skeptical of because there's lots of different alternatives that you could all consider. But I don't want the momentum to be started from the starting point that Mr. DeGrandy has pointed out, and then everything else is tweaked on top of that, because some of that, you as our commissioners, they want to rethink entirely. Maybe the number of districts that we have, maybe -- but certainly you've heard today that neighborhoods are important, and Commissioner Reyes has always been a champion of neighborhoods. I would like to see much more emphasis put on the existing neighborhoods as you do this redistricting. And whether it means more commissioners, I don't know. That's for you to decide. But don't let the momentum take away the voice of the people. Thank you very much. Chair King: Thank you. David Winker: Hello, David Winker, 2222 Southwest 17th Street. Coconut Grove is one of the oldest settlements in Miami -Dade County. It was incorporated as a city in 1919. It was incorporated into the City of Miami in 1925. I think it's important, I often say democracy is a verb and here we're seeing democracy, and I would point out that you know we're not hearing residents clamoring to be removed from District 2. Everyone here is in support of staying. I think that says something. You guys have a hard decision to make. I wish the map had come out earlier. You know, I really appreciate Chairman King saying we're going to have meetings, we're going to have outreach. I think it's really important to talk with the communities and make sure that the communities of interest -- I think Commissioner Carollo made a very good point, right? He asked a question, has there ever been a Black African -American elected in District 2? And of course, the answer is there has not. And I would say that there is an affinity, I'm just taking a rough count, it's 50-50 here. There is an affinity. This is a City of Miami Page 16 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 community, and so 1 think the partial answer to Mr. Carollo -- to Commissioner Carollo's very fair question is this is one community, a community of interest and it should be preserved. Thank you so much. Chair King: Thank you. Robert Deresz: Good afternoon, my name is Bob Deresz. I moved here to Coconut Grove in 1970. That's from Ann Arbor, Detroit. That just shows you how smart 1 am, back in 1970. And I owned a home in the Grove for about 10 years. I now reside at 200 Southeast 15th Road, on District 10, right on the water there. I've just been offered a huge amount of money for my condo. They want to tear it down, build something taller. Anyways, they say start with a joke, you know, when you talk. So, this is all going to be mute in about 40 years. 1 mean, District 10's going to be covered in water. So why are we even talking about this? Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Mr. Deresz: That's my joke. Nobody's laughing. I think it's -- I think it's also a joke that when we saw the map and it was colored map as to the size of the districts, they had District 10, District 2 represented to be almost eight times as large the area than it actually is by bringing the line all the way out into the water. And that just shows you how honest 1 think the people that are running this are. I mean, what a facade that is. 1 mean how stupid do they think 1 am? I know they think some people out there don't have the intelligence to understand that or be able to read a map. Most people can't read a map, but 1 can. I hope you can too. 1'd like to also see how many letters, entails, that you've all received from residents. Residents of District 10, any complaints about what's going on? Have you gotten a complaint from District 4, from any of the residents? District 5? District 7? Has anybody complained? 171 (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a laNyer from Harlem Night. He never mentioned who's paying him. Did I miss something? Did we miss who's paying him? Who's spending the millions of-- millions of -- Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Deresz: -- millions of dollars to do this? (INAUDIBLE). Chair King: Thank you. Is there anyone else -- Mr. Deresz: (INAUDIBLE). Chair King: Sir, your time is up. Thank you. Alejandra Rondon: Hi, hello, good afternoon. My name is Alejandra Rondon. I'm a council member on the Coconut Grove Village Council. I'd like to start by thanking Madam Chair and the Commissioners for holding public comments today. It's really appreciated. I think as you can see a lot of my Coconut Grove neighbors are eager to share their views, in particular around keeping a neighborhood together. I also want to thank Mr. DeGrandy for his presentation. I personally appreciate, I think, the trust given to the Commissioners and the latitude that you all will have around this map. So, I think there was a lot of fear that today was -- was it. So, thank you all for creating a public process and for trusting the process by which you all can make decisions to keep all of our neighborhoods together. So, thank you. And lastly, I look forward to whatever the public -- looking forward, hopefully very soon, to your discussion and knowing a bit more about what the public process will be like, and in particular I think letting that be an opportunity to hear input such as why couldn't US- 1 be, you know, just looking forward to that process, so thank you very much. City of Miami Page 17 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Chair King: Thank you. Brian Gibson: Hi, my name is Brian Gibson. I live at 4145 El Prado Boulevard in Coconut Grove. And I was not a native, but I've been there since I was six months old. I just learned about this last night at 10 o'clock so I'm not super prepared but what I did was look online and find the report that may, be the (INAUDIBLE). It was a Miguel -- Miguel DeGrandy's report that you commissioned to advise on best practices, as well what might be considered unlawful when redistricting. So, in 2000, you identified the following criteria for redistricting to quote "That the draft plan whenever possible, preserve the integrity of historical and traditional neighborhoods. "And then in 2010, the last time there was redistricting, your own report said, "The traditional redistricting criteria considered by a body as it reapportions itself includes maintaining communities of interest together, such as traditional neighborhoods. "It also went on to say that the City shall not engage in racial gerrymandering. Coconut Grove as a historic neighborhood. It's probably the oldest neighborhood in Miami, and the Black community that built Coconut Grove doesn't deserve to be removed from the neighborhood that they built. And so, I just think that when your own past practices in the last two redistricting recognize that you don't want to divide up neighborhoods, this would not be the right thing to do. Chair King: Thank you. Chris Baraloto: Good afternoon, Chris Baraloto, 3752 Kumquat Avenue. 1 also serve on the Coconut Grove Village Council, and I don't want to reiterate much of what's already been said. I would like to call for, in your process, to share with us more information than has been shared to date. I want to call attention. This was a discussion item last week, then this special meeting was held. None of this information was shared with our constituents. We have several hundred people, some of whom are represented here, who want to have their voices heard and want to understand this process. I would call for you, if you could, please share with us a schedule. If there is a March deadline, share this with us. If you're going to have meetings, share these with us. You obviously have data, share this with us. Allow us to come up with alternative scenarios for you to review. Trust us as we trust you. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. This concludes the public comment portion of our meeting. And again, let me state that Mr. DeGrandy's plan is just a draft. This is an opportunity for all of the commissioners to see his draft and beat him up a bit. There's not one commissioner here that I think is in agreement with his plan, but this is the only opportunity for us to speak collectively, and then we will take -- he will take our recommendations that we feel is appropriate for our district, and then we may take it to the community for further input. So that is what we're doing here. There is not one person on this commission that wants to circumvent the public's interest and input in this process. City of Miami Page 18 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 SP - SPECIAL MEETING SP.1 DISCUSSION ITEM 11436 Commissioners and Mayor A DISCUSSION ITEM TO CONSIDER AND TAKE ANY AND ALL ACTIONS RELATED TO THE REDISTRICTING OF CITY COMMISSION DISTRICTS INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE DRAFTING OF ANY RELATED MAPS AND BOUNDARIES. RESULT: DISCUSSED Chair King: That was certainly a mouthfid. Mr. DeGrandy, are you ready to present? Miguel DeGrandy: Yes, ma'am. Chair King: Please go ahead. Mr. DeGrandy: Thank you. Good morning, Madam Chair and Commissioners. The purpose of today's meeting is to present a preliminary plan, and 1 emphasize preliminary, for your consideration. Mr. Cody and I will be making a brief approximately 15-minute PowerPoint presentation to present the preliminary plan and the rationale behind the movements we made. During the presentation, we will display both data and maps on screen. Now it may move a little fast, but after we conclude, we can take as much time as you like to go back to the different slides. Now, certainly, this is your Commission. You can proceed as you see fit, butt would respectfully suggest that you allow me to go through the entire presentation first in order to provide an overall explanation of the plan, and after my presentation, we can take as much time as you want for questions or to review slides. Now, ultimately, this Commission will discuss the plan and provide us with additional direction as to what additional changes, if any, you would like to see, and that will be brought to the Commission at a subsequent date, as a final plan. Now as I said in our previous discussions, there are literally thousands of ways to craft a constitutionally compliant plan, and that's why we ask for your guidance as to the traditional redistricting principles you wanted us to utilize and their order of importance so that this Commission's directives could guide how we approach the project. So, let's go over those traditional redistricting principles again. Next slide. The prime directive will always be compliance with the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act, but additionally, this Commission, by consensus, directed that the following principles be employed in the following order of importance. First, maintain the core of existing districts to avoid voter confusion. Second, factor in voter cohesion. Next, achieve substantial equality ofpopulation as opposed to mathematical equality. And finally, maintain traditional neighborhoods and communities of interest when feasible. So, let's talk first about population numbers and compliance with legal principles. Your current plan has an over 42 percent overall deviation, which means that it is malapportioned and could not be used in future elections. The preliminary plan we will present today has an overall deviation of 3.8 and meets all Constitutional and Voting Rights Act parameters. As we discussed previously, the courts do allow for up to a 10 percent overall deviation, but the case law informs that such deviations must have a rational basis. Now the deviations we did can easily be explained from a legal perspective, but there are also political and other considerations that could provide a rational basis for larger deviations. And those decisions are the providence of you, as elected officials, to make. So, one of the reasons our preliminary plan has a small deviation is to provide sufficient latitude for you as the City's elected officials to make any additional changes based on the knowledge that you have as a result oldie City of Miami Page 19 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 communities you represent. My role in that regard will be to let you know whether any additional changes you want to make comply with the law. So now let's look at some numbers so I can better explain how we arrived at our deviations and then we can look at the plans. District 1 is at a 0.35 percent deviation, which is 311 residents above the ideal. It has an 87.38 percent Hispanic population with 88.7 Hispanic voting age population. It clearly complies with the Voting Rights Act. District 2 has a negative 0.02 deviation, which is just 21 people short of the ideal population. As you know, we had to remove roughly 28,000 people from the district to comply with legal and constitutional requirements. District 2 remains a swing district with 37.2 percent White non -Hispanic population, 8 percent Black population, and roughly 48 percent Hispanic population. The voting age percentages are almost the same as the total population percentages. Commissioner Russell: Madam Chairwoman? Mr. DeGrandy: Now we've -- Commissioner Russell: I have a question, I'm just unclear. Is this the draft or is this the current? Mr. DeGrandy: This is the draft plan. Commissioner Russell: Okay, so we're not going through what the current statistics are, this is what you're presenting as the draft. Mr. DeGrandy: Right. Commissioner Russell: Thank you. I just wanted clarification. Chair King: Yes, and if we could hold all of our questions until after his presentation, just jot them down so he can f nish the presentation and then we'll get through with our questions. I'm going to allow the public to speak after his presentation and then well be able to discuss. Commissioner Russell: Thank you, Chairwoman. Chair King: Okay. Mr. DeGrandy: So, as I was saying, we purposely tried to get the population ofD2 (District 2) at near Fero deviation because this is where much of the new development activity is occurring, and as in the last decade, it will probably grow faster than any other districts. District 3 is slightly under populated at 0.98 percent or 864 people under the ideal population. District 3 has an 87.4 Hispanic population and 88.4 percent Hispanic voting age population. Consistent with the Voting Rights Act, the Hispanic community has an equal opportunity in this district also to elect a candidate of its choice. District 4 has the highest deviation at 2.23 percent for 1,973 residents above the ideal. 86.7 percent of the population is Hispanic, with 88 percent Hispanic voting age population. This district also clearly complies with the requirements of the Voting Rights Act. Now, finally, we underpopulated District 5 by roughly 1.6 percent under the ideal, basically because bringing in additional population from most any side of the district might reduce the African -American population percentage. Additionally, we also felt it was appropriate to under populate the district because it may experience significant development activity and growth in the next decade. The proposed D5 (District 5) is 51.7 percent African -American with 49.8 percent Black voting age population. Our analysis of voting patterns indicates the African -American community does have an equal opportunity to elect a candidate of its choice. So now let me show you the maps to fiurther illustrate what we discussed. The first slide shows City of Miami Page 20 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 the entire configuration of proposed District 1. As you can see, it maintains the vast majority of the core of the existing district. The next slide shows the area we move from DI (District 1) to D3 (District 3). With this change, we move the area west of Northwest 22nd Avenue and north of Northwest 7th Street. We felt this was a logical move where we could utilize major man-made boundaries, such as the Dolphin Expressway to the north, and 27th Avenue to the west in order to bring up D3's population. The next slide shows the area we moved from D4 (District 4) into D1, and it spans from 27th to 37th Avenue, and south from Northwest 7th Street to Northwest 4th Street. And we did this again to now rebalance the population ofD1. Finally, the last slide shows the area we moved from D5 into DI. And the next slide, which is a little bigger, shows the entire area and a better view of that change. We felt that this movement was needed because this area has a high percentage of Hispanics and greater voter cohesion with DI residents. Also important is the fact that existing DI already has the most area of the Miami River abutting or within it than any other district and thus it was logical to extend DI further down the river as many business constituents in this area are a community of interest with like concerns and issues as other business upriver. The next slide shows the proposed District 2. As you can see, it remains a coastal district spanning almost the entire north -south corridor of the city along the bay. The next slide shows part of the area we moved from D2 to D5 at the northern end. We moved that boundary east from North Miami Avenue to Northeast 2nd Avenue, and from the I-9.5 expressway down to 22nd Street. The next slide continues that eastward movement to Northeast 2nd Avenue and south from 22nd Street, ending at the 395 Expressway. The next slide shows the movement from D2 to D5 at the southern end moving slightly east to North Miami Avenue from the 1-95 South to Southeast 2nd Street. And as we said before, we could not move further east without affecting the African -American population's ability to elect a candidate of his choice in D5, so we had to look south to further depopulate D2. The next slide shows the movements from D2 to D3. This moved the boundary over from US-1 to South Miami Avenue and from Simpson Park on the north to 17th Avenue to the south. Finally, the next slide shows the movement from D2 to D4. It takes into D4 all the area from Southwest 25th Street on the north to Day Avenue on the south, spanning from 27th Avenue from the east to 37th Avenue and the city limits to the west. The next slide shows the proposed District 3. It also maintains the core of the existing district. The next slide shows the area we moved from DI to D3, which we already discussed, and the next slide shows the area we moved from D4 to D3. It spans from south -- from 17th Avenue going west to 27th Avenue, and from Southwest 9th to Southwest 12th Street. And again, this was done to rebalance population. In that regard, we tried to find adjacent areas with similar demographics in order to maintain voter cohesion while rebalancing population. Now finally, the next slide shows a closer look at the area we brought into D3 from D2, which is south of US -I. And again, it goes from 17th Avenue north to the end of Simpson Park, moving the boundary down slightly, from US -I to South Miami Avenue. And again, we needed to balance population. Now, we knew we had to take population from D2 to equalize it, but we took as little as was needed on the other side of US-1 to reach a low deviation. Now certainly, whether we cross US-1 into D2 and how much of the growth, if any, should go into other districts is a policy decision for you all to make. Nevertheless, D3 is still 1 percent underpopulated, so it can expand to gain more population. The next slide is of the proposed District 4. It remains a highly Hispanic area. The next slide, which we've already seen, shows what we added to the bottom end of the district. Now we overpopulated this district at 2.23 over the ideal because its likely to have the least growth over the next decade. In the event you want to decrease the deviation, you could choose to move some of the excess population into D3 or back into D2. The next slide shows the movement we previously discussed from D4 to DI, and the next slide shows the area we previously addressed from D4 to D3. Now finally, the next slide shows the proposed District 5. The proposed District 5 also maintains the vast majority of the core of the existing district, and it was the most challenging district to develop. Now as you can see, there's no way to move north or to most of the northwest City of Miami Page 21 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 because the city boundaries end with D5. Our only options were move south and across the river into D3, west into DI, or east into D2. Now because of the need to depopulate D2, the eastern movement was the most feasible option. In this slide, you get an overall picture of the slide shift to the east we take from D2, but the next slides, which we previously showed you in the context of D2, provide a more close-up look at the slight movements east that we were able to make. It shifts the boundary again east from North Miami Avenue to Northeast 2nd and from the 1-95 to the 395 Expressway. The next slide shows the bottom part of that eastward movement I just explained, beginning on Northwest 22nd Street to the north, and down to the 395 Expressway. And this slide shows the eastern movement south -- this next slide shows the eastward movement south of the 395 Expressway, moving slightly east from Northwest 1st Avenue to North Miami Avenue, and southeast to 2nd Street. Now, simply stated, we could not move further east without diminishing the African -American community's opportunity to elect a candidate of its choice. So, we could not take any more population of D2 into D5. And finally, the next slide shows the population we moved from D5 to DI along the river. Now that was essential because as you moved east into D2, there was less and less African -American population. Likewise, in that area, which is existing D2, most of it, it was highly Hispanic, so it was more or less a trade- off. Also moving this area into DI was consistent with the Voting Rights Act in that it moved this Hispanic community into a district where they could also participate in electing a candidate of their choice. And finally, this last slide gives you an overview of the entire plan. And so, in sunmiary, we're confident that our preliminary plan complies with Constitutional and Voting Rights Act criteria. We were also cognizant of the additional directives you gave us. As you've seen, every district maintains its core configuration and the vast majority of its existing population. We tried as much as possible to move areas into districts with similar voting patterns and voter cohesion. We presented a preliminary plan with a low overall deviation in order to give you, as policy makers, the flexibility to make additional changes. And we tried wherever possible to maintain communities of interest and traditional neighborhoods, although quite frankly, that was not completely possible due to the overriding need of balancing population. It is, however, a work in progress that provides flexibility to make additional changes so long as those changes have a rational basis and comply with the law. And with that, Madam Chair, I'm happy to address any questions you may have, either before or after public comment. Chair King: I'd like to take public comments now if there are any. Mr. DeGrandv: Yes ma'am. [Later...} Chair King: And for the record, Mr. City Attorney, can you advise, for the record, why we are faced with redistricting? George Wysong (Deputy City Attorney): So, redistricting traditionally occurs when the census conies out, the decennial census. The census came out, and one of the reasons why, to a certain degree, we're behind the eight ball on this is that the census took a lot longer to come out. It was supposed to come out in March, then the federal government indicated that they won't have the numbers out till September, and that took six months of this process away, and now we're sort of catching up to that. But traditionally, throughout the country, you look at redistricting or analyzing your districts to make sure that you meet the 10 percent threshold every 10 years, and that's how we got here. Chair King: So, we are legally obligated to redistrict the City of Miami. Do we have an option not to do it? City of Miami Page 22 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Mr. Wysong: We have an option not to do it, and as your expert counsel will say that you -- the peril of not doing it is that somebody can make you do it. They can file a lawsuit saying that the numbers aren't appropriate. We are proactively doing this to ensure that we comply with the Voting Acts Right. Chair King: Okay and I'd also like to address the deadline issue. While there is a deadline for elections, we -- it is not a hard and fast deadline. It's a deadline that we would try to meet to prevent having a financial ramification for not getting it done within a certain time. Again, no one here, none of my colleagues will be held to that deadline to save two dollars. Everyone in our communities will have an opportunity to have input in what is going to happen in our communities. And having said that, I'm going to allow Mr. DeGrandy two minutes. Miguel DeGrandy: Two minutes, ma'am, to clarify some things, if I may. First of all, I've had a couple members from the public ask me for the existing plan, the current districts. They are on the website of the City of Miami. You can look at those there. And I want to also clarify the issue of lack of information. This is actually the third public hearing we've had on redistricting, as you know. The first public hearing, I went through an entire dissertation of all the legal issues. The reason why redistricting is mandatory, you're at 42 point something percent overall deviation. If you do not redistrict, you will be sued, and the plaintiffs will prevail. That's just basic law. And so, this -- the first hearing we had was to discuss all the legal issues. The second public hearing we had was to obtain input from you as to what criteria you wanted to use. This is the third public hearing on that matter. I cannot speak to -- I assume that the City publicly noticed every one of those meetings, so I cannot speak to why these folks were not notified, but there were publicly noticed meetings. Now, a couple of things. There was a concern about the coastal district and why is it a coastal district. That coastal district has existed now for two redistricting cycles. There was a direction by you in the second public hearing to maintain the core and configuration of the existing districts, and that's why that district still looks like a coastal district. There was talk about, particularly in the triangle that goes into District 4, south of US-1, that you shouldn't give the West Grove to a Hispanic district. Well, two things that you should know. Prior to my doing the adjustments that I did in redistricting, District 2 was a majority, Hispanic district. It's now barely not, okay? And the other thing that you should know is that triangle has 5,071 people. 2,460 are Hispanic. 497 are African American, 1,900 -- Vice Chair Carollo: Can you go over that again slowly? Mr. DeGrandy: That area has 5,071 residents, 2,460 are Hispanic -- Vice Chair Carollo: 2,000? Mr. DeGrandy: 460, 497 are African -American, and 1,915 consider themselves, or identify themselves in the census as single race White. So, I wanted to put into context what we're moving into a majority Hispanic district. Let me go through a couple of other things. (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Mr. DeGrandy: All this data will be available to the public after this hearing. We will provide a USB of that entire presentation to your clerk and anyone can make a public records request. (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) City of Miami Page 23 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, we really need to get these comments on the record. Chair King: Go ahead, Mr. -- I think you've exceeded your two minutes -- Mr. DeGrandy: Yes. Chair King: -- and I believe my colleagues are anxious to get going on the discussion. Mr. DeGrandy: Yes, let me just finish clarifying some issues. The other issue was US- 1 being a hard boundary. Well, we, Mr. Cody and 1, drew that plan 10 years ago. And it was a hard boundary. And it was a hard boundary because we didn't need to rebalance population in the way we did. I want to bring one last point, Madam Chair, which is what we did in the boundary between 2 and 5, we moved approximately 9,500 individuals from District 2 into District 5. Of the 28,000 that we had to move to balance the district, there were only roughly 1,000 African Americans. The only reason we were able to rebalance the ethnic and racial population is by taking out that southern part of District 5 and moving it into District 1, which was overwhelmingly Hispanic and had roughly the same African -American population. I say this to tell you, I cannot take any more population out of D2 (District 2) into D5 (District 5). So the only choices that are left is either taking downtown into District 3 or breaking south of US-1 to take parts of the Grove. Those are your policy choices. I am agnostic as to whatever you want to do. Those are your policy choices, but those are the facts and those are the figures. Chair King: Thank you. So -- Commissioner Russell: Madam Chair? Chair King: Yes? Unidentified Speaker: Commissioner Russell. Chair King: Hold on one second. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Madam Chair? Chair King: Hold on one second. Hold on one second. There is going to be a -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Order. Chair King: -- order. So, my order, and I think I'm going to keep this order moving forward, for my commission meetings, I am going to look to my Vice Chair first, and then I will go in order of districts. Vice Chair Carollo: Thank you. Chair King: So -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I agree, but Madam Chair, can I -- question of you. Chair King: Question. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I only have two questions today. One of Mr. DeGrandy, literally two. One of Mr. DeGrandy and one of you. And I'm done. City of Miami Page 24 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Chair King: Okay. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: For today. Chair King: Okay, so we're going to take your questions. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: It'll be very quick. Chair King: In order. We're going to go to the Vice Chair. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Unless the Vice Chair defers to me for two -- Vice Chair Carollo: Well, ifl have one of him with a statement to make, and then before 1 proceed, I will gladly give the floor to you for those questions. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thank you, sir. Vice Chair Carollo: Mine I think will be quick. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thank you. Vice Chair Carollo: Mr. DeGrandy, when you were before this body the last time, and we went over with you the process we were going to follow, because while by law we're not bound to go along with the timing, as the Chair said, of the County, it is going to cost us a pretty penny if we don't. So, what 1 remember at that last meeting was that this body had agreed that you would come before us. The last meeting was canceled, so it was placed for this one. And then we will give you final instructions. If we decided that we were not going to vote for this exactly the way you had it, if we did, well,, that was fine, but if we didn't, we gave you some final instructions on how we wanted to end up with the districts, that you would then do that, you would come to us and we would have that final hearing, on that time, so that we could meet the requirement of the County and save a bunch of dollars. Am I correct in that or did I forget something? Mr. DeGrandy: That is my understanding of the direction that you gave us, Commissioner. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. I'll cede the floor to you then for your questions and then I'll take it back. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thank you, Commissioner Carollo. Chair King: Go ahead. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. DeGrandy, is there any legal requirement or legal principle that we have a coastal district? Mr. DeGrandy: No, there is no requirement, but once you told me to maintain the core and configuration of the existing districts, I kept that coastal district as a coastal district. But there is no legal requirement. I mean, I could start from scratch and create a new plan if you want, which is what we discussed, and this Commission said no, maintain the core of existing districts to minimize voter confusion and disruption. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But this Commission could change that vote, right, and reverse that and say we don't need a coastal district. There's no legal protection to having a White, for lack ofa better term, district, correct? City of Miami Page 25 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Mr. DeGrandy: No, there is no legal protection to having a coastal district. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: For you, Madam Chair, what is your thinking in terms of how you want to undergo this process? Commissioner Carollo brought up a very good point. He sort of asked a question I was going to ask, but I missed a couple of things that want to know. There's a deadline. What's that exact deadline? Chair King: The deadline is February -- Mr. DeGrandy: What we have been told by the Supervisor of Elections is to have the plan by the end of February. And if not, again, the consequence, as she explained to nae, it's approximately $115,000 in cost of production of new voter cards and mailing cards if you don't do it at the same time that the county is doing, and anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000 in staffs time. So, it could be $135,000 to $150,000. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Outside that artificially imposed deadline by the Elections Department, what is the real deadline in terms of let's say we want to pay -- let's say, hypothetically, we want to pay the $135k. What would be the real deadline? Mr. DeGrandy: You don't have to redistrict until sometime before qualifying. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Which would be? In September? Mr. DeGrandy: You could leave a reasonable time before qualifying, but you're talking about your next elections are 2023. So, short of that, you have until some reasonable period prior to qualfing. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Madam Chair. Mr. DeGrandy: From a legal perspective. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thank you. What's your thinking in terms of the process and public hearings? Chair King: My thinking is, and I thought we discussed that in our Commission meeting, that we would take this plan to our communities. I want to ensure that democracy prevails, that we give our communities an opportunity to weigh in, to give us input on how we would like our maps to be redrawn. So, for me, I am not held steadfast to -- I don't want to rush this process. You know, I understand that because of the pandemic and the census being late, we are here. And if we could make that deadline, great. But I don't want to disenfranchise anyone and not be able to hear from our communities appropriately, give them enough time to say what they believe, because that's why we're here, to listen to what our communities have to say, get their input. I would like to be fiscally sound, if at all possible, but today is February 7th and the deadline is the end of February. We have to create our timetables, our schedules, and frankly, we all have to get this information out to our communities. So, for me, I will not object if we do not meet the Miami -Dade County deadline. It will not be an objection of mine. That's not going to drive my decision. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay, but -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thank you, Madam Chair. Vice Chair Carollo: -- we should, I guess I need to hear from the Chair on this, if we do that, we need to establish at least our own deadline so that this doesn't go on forever and ever. City of Miami Page 26 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Chair King: Absolutely. Vice Chair Carollo: And anytime a small group of people want to stop something in the city of Miami, they'll study it to death. They'll have community meetings to death, and this is what happens. So, I would go along with that, even though I think that we could accomplish this, maybe have gotten a little extension from the County in the way that we have stated at the last meeting that we discussed this, but we certainly have to give a time date by when we'll finish this. Is it the end of March? I mean, that gives us another month where we could have, in all our communities, town hall meetings. In fact, today I've counted, there's 43 people that I counted here that came. I don't know how many of those spoke. Out of the 43, there was 1 from District 4, there was 1 from Downtown Miami, District 2, and there was 1 from Brickell, District 2. The rest were mainly from the same area of Coconut Grove. I didn't see any -- Chair King: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Vice Chair Carollo: -- of my old neighbors from North Grove here today. So, I didn't see any one from your district. Chair King: One. Vice Chair Carollo: I didn't -- well, okay, one. Chair King: One. Vice Chair Carollo: Commissioner (UNINTELLIGIBLE) there was zero from mine, and there was one lobbyist from yours. And Mr. Winker has had people in different cases he represented. I wish at some time we could revisit those two duplexes, because I still think that we should look at that further, Mr. Winker. That left a bad, bad taste in my stomach, and it's part of what's been going on in many parts of our city and our districts. But the bulk of our districts haven't had the beef, so -- Chair King: I agree. I agree that we should set a deadline. I don't anticipate this going on and on and on. We do need to address it. We need to resolve this as quickly as we can -- Vice Chair Carollo: Yes. Chair King: -- but again, with input. I am not -- I am not purporting that -- proposing that we take this up to our qualifying deadline. No, I would like to resolve this as quickly as we can, but I do want to be able to -- for the community to say we had adequate input. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. Chair King: Is what I'm saying. Vice Chair Carollo: No more than 45, 60 days. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Do you want to set a deadline today? Vice Chair Carollo: I think we should. Chair King: We could. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. City of Miami Page 27 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Chair King: We could set a deadline today. We could set a deadline today. I'm not opposed to that. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, I think we should Chair King: I'm not opposed to that. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. All right. Now, if I could go to some of my statements and some of the questions that I want to make. Chair King: So, this is, again -- Commissioner Reyes: Before you go there. Vice Chair Carollo: Yes. Chair King: Hold on, Commissioner. Again, for my process, so that its fair for everyone, I will go to my Vice Chair, and then I will go in order of the districts. Commissioner Reyes: But didn't you do that before? You started with your Vice Chair. Chair King: I started -- Commissioner Reyes: And then you started all the way, you're going repeat it. Chair King: Right, no -- (MULTIPLE PARTIES SPEAKING IN UNISON) Commissioner Reyes: I just want to be consistent. Chair King: Yes, we're going to be consistent. Vice Chair Carollo: No but he -- he had two brief questions, and they were brief. Commissioner Reyes: You're talking about you? Vice Chair Carollo: No, no, no. I'm saying Commissioner Dial de la Portilla. They were brief, but I let him come in. Chair King: Right. So, let's start -- let's start with Commissioner Carollo. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Chair King: Let's start with you. Vice Chair Carollo: Alright yeah so thank you. Chair King: And we give him -- Vice Chair Carollo: Thank you chair. Chair King: -- and we'll all go in order of what I said. Vice Chair Carollo: I'm taking this off so I can be heard better, but, you know, I'm one of those old guys and I do believe in wearing the mask. I think besides myself the City of Miami Page 28 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Chair, the last two, the last of the Mohicans, that from the elected officials, including the Mayor, have not gotten COVID. So, knock on wood that we stay that way. I think it's important that we go into -- into history so that we can understand how this whole process came about in districts and so on. I heard from some people here that legitimately they knew they were asking questions and while to some they might have seemed ignorant questions, I didn't take it that way. I thought they were -- they were good questions because they don't know. You know, for instance why do we have a coastal district? It's a good question, and I'm going to answer that today. But before I proceed, since, you know, some of the people that spoke here, I think one said they were from New York, another from Michigan, or up north somewhere, and then different people from other areas that have moved here in the years before we made districts. Do -- does anybody here know how districts came about? From the public? Anybody? You mentioned the public. Well, I don't even see one hand. So let me explain to you how districts came about. We had an election in the city of Miami. At that time, the mayor was part of the commission. The mayor was selected citywide, and he was one out offve. He had a vote, unlike now, in the commission. And all of the commissioners ran citywide. So, what happened was we had an election and the sole African -American Commissioner lost. And there was no African -American representation in the Commission. Now there were some that wanted to challenge it, but at that stage, it was going to be years before they would have succeeded in court, and I will tell you why. Because they could not prove that it was because of discrimination, the demographics, other than maybe it was a bad candidate, someone that people didn't like. So, it would have taken more elections to have been able prove otherwise. At the same time, I was seeing the trend with the sole, for lack of a better word, Anglo commissioner that we had left, that in the next election, or when he decided to retire or die, he might have been the last of the Mohicans. So, as mayor at that time, and I was the mayor, I put my neck in the line, I put all my political capital to immediately have a referendum to approve district elections and to have an executive mayor, like at the time, the County had, that was not part of the commission. And while districts have good, but they also have a lot of bad that come along with them, there's a lot of baggage to districts also. I thought that it far outweighed it, having districts, but having equal representation within the commission and to assure that we would always have a balance of what our population was in the districts and that there would always be an African -American commissioner and an Anglo commissioner because if we would have had citywide elections, the trend was very different. And I believe that trend will show even today if we have citywide elections. And the way that the original districts were made, this is why you had the whole coastal one, it was made that way. It was gerrymandered, but it was a legal gerrymander so that you would have an Anglo elected commissioner. And even today, the only way that that could happen is if you have that whole coastal area. There's no way that you could separate the Grove or that you could separate Downtown and the upper -- what's left of the upper east side and create just a district for -- a District 2 so that so someone Anglo could be elected. The numbers aren't there. Now, this is how it was done in 2000. 2010 obviously, the maps change because of the population shift. So, there was a big chunk in the upper northeast all the way to -- by the coastal part, all the way to the boundaries of the city of Miami that were put into District 5. There were other changes that were made in the different districts, so you could have that balance. And now we come to today. Now I'm going to tell you some of the changes that have happened. Silver Bluff That's the distinct community, if you want to call it, as Coconut Grove was. Silver Bluff was divided. Two-thirds of it is in District 4. One-third approximately, is in District 3. Shenandoah, another historical community in the city of Miami, was divided. Two-thirds is in District 4. Approximately one-third is in District 3. Little Havana. Little Havana was divided. You have people now trying to tell you that Little Havana begins at 27th Avenue by 8th Street to Northwest 7th. No. Little Havana begins at 37th Avenue all the wav down. This is why you have Versailles at 8th Street and 35th Avenue, La Carreta at 8th Street and 36th Avenue because that's how far Little Havana went. And Little City of Miami Page 29 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Havana was divided from 27th Avenue to the river, to the 8th Street area all the way to 37th. It went into District 4. The rest stayed in District 3. Flagami originally was one area back in 2000, for the District 1, if remember. Well, Flagami has been divided also. That's one community. Part in District 1, part in District 4. There are more communities like that within District 4. I'm sure that in District 1 you'll find some others. So, I'm bringing this so you can have a historical impact, that this body is just not trying to cut up communities for the heck of it. We've had to do this in the past so that we could meet, first of all, the types of people that this is intended to elect. We needed to make sure, and we need to make sure that there's going to be an African -American elected and up in this Commission. We need to make sure there's an Anglo-American elected and up in this Commission that in the rest of the districts that are the majority Hispanic that they stay that way so that the 67 percent of the population, 68, of the city ofMiami that is Hispanic will have three representatives in the Commission. So, 1 wanted to go over that so you could understand historically why we have done things and why we have to now make additional changes. District 2 has been the district that has grown by leaps and bounds. And the reason is because that's where the developers make all their money, by the water, and that's where the over built has come, and that's why District 2 has grown so much more in population than the other districts. You cannot go into Downtown Miami, or any higher than that, and start trying to cut up and balance the populations without affecting District 5 and some of the other districts in the way that I described of why we went into districts. So, it doesn't leave you much room to do it in. It doesn't have to be exactly as Mr. DeGrandy described it, but there are going to have to be some changes. I think this is going to be one of the first votes that this Commission needs to take today. The area of Coconut Grove. I've lived in Coconut Grove, I still own property in Coconut Grove, I know Coconut Grove, and 1 wish that the peacocks would be left alone. But having said that, Coconut Grove is really four communities in one. And that's what you usually find when you have communities that have a wide range of land and have waterfront, have areas with high incomes, areas that don't have as high income. You have North Coconut Grove. That could go from 27th Avenue up to the Rickenbacker, or some might say from 22nd up to the Rickenbacker. That's why I asked a gentleman from the homeowners group where he considered it. He said 27th Avenue. You have the Center Grove, which he gave a description what he felt it was. You have the South Grove which are your big, big lots, where you have your huge waterfront mansion that don't have as much in common with the Center Grove, with the North Grove, and you have what is now called the West Grove, the traditional African -American community, the Bahamian community, that has been shrinking more and more throughout the years. And you might even want to look at the coastal Coconut Grove that is basically in the north of Coconut Grove, that are all the high rises that are either in South Bayshore Drive or by the water, that are even more different of the people that have moved there than the other four areas that mentioned. As I see it, in order to get balance, first of all, protect the integrity of what was done in 2000, in making sure that we keep an African -American district. that we keep an Anglo- American district, but that we also keep that same balance, and having a balance in the Hispanic districts. I don't see any other way that we're going to have to come in, at least a small portion, into Coconut Grove. Now, where do we come in? I think that's probably the areas that, you know, could be up for discussion. But the -- I don't necessarily think that where the line has to be drawn is in Day Avenue, but that's as we move along into this discussion, that we could get into that. But one of the decisions that we have to make here today is precisely that. Is Coconut Grove going to be open so that we can bring the balance that we need into all the districts? Or are we going to say no, it's going to be the only neighborhood in the city that would not have different parts of it, as I described many of the main others in other districts. And then the outcome of that would be that guys that look like us, with last names like us, in the near future might not be elected necessarily front the districts that we represent. And what I tried to stand up for back in 2000 to make sure that we had a balance of our population is going to go the opposite way by those decisions. So, for City of Miami Page 30 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 now that's you know what -- what 1 have to say but Mr. DeGrandy if I could get you hack here for a minute. Mr. DeGrandy: Yes, sir. Vice Chair Carollo: Look, this does not require any major further analysis outside of what this Commission would like to see. The only analysis that it would require from that, if we give you -- or at least the majority of us in the vote, give you marching orders, is then for you to break down the numbers that would make sense and see how deep you have to go into an area or not and work out those numbers. Outside of that, that might take you a couple of weeks or so to do, is coming back to us with your final proposal for us to accept it, or not. If we accept it, then we could go and bring it to the community. We could have a town hall meeting in each one of our districts, and then bring it to a final vote. So, I don't see this having to need months and months and months, because precisely this is the feeling that I'm getting. That some that want to see something different figure the only way to achieve their goal is to keep this going and going and going and going. So, if you have marching orders from this Commission today, how long will it take you to come back and then give us the final numbers based upon what we've asked you to do. And I think we're going to need to be very specific in areas, and I certainly will be. Mr. DeGrandy: Okay. Commissioner, if -- it depends on the number of changes -- Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. Mr. DeGrandy: -- but reasonably, if you give me specific direction and say, generally, this area do this, generally, this area do that, we can bring something back to you in two weeks. It will not be the final plan, because again, the reason that 1 had needed more time for a final plan is because we also provide a report on the final plan that explains the rational basis for each of the changes. But your -- to answer your question is, depending on the number of changes, yes, I could come back in a couple of weeks with our revised plan. Vice Chair Carollo: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) okay. Chair King: So, -- Vice Chair Carollo: Chairman, if we could get there, to where we have a consensus among us today and we tell Mr. DeGrandy these areas, and we specify clear areas, it's what we want, and we vote on it so that a majority of us are instructing him. He comes back in approximately two weeks or so. We have to make sure that we have a date set, and I would recommend that we do these meetings stand-alone. I see you can see why. How many more weeks do you think we need for each of us, and we could do it in the same week each of us because they're different districts, to have the community meetings in each of our districts and then be able to come back to vote upon it? Chair King: That would be the will of the body. I think once we know what the two week deadline is, that would give us nearly a month because we can ask jbr two weeks to take it to our districts, but we would have a month lead time to advise the districts and schedule it. So, I don't think that we need more than two weeks subsequent to receiving the plan to take it to our districts. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay, so -- and I agree with you, so I think that if we vote upon that we will bring this to a final vote on or before the end of March, then we're in a good position. City of Miami Page 31 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Chair King: Yes, 1 agree. Vice Chair Carollo: Alright. Chair King: So now, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. Vice Chair Carollo: No, no, no I'm -- Chair King: Okay. So, what 1 did, which none of rnv colleagues knew I was doing, I set my timer for 15 minutes and you closed almost at 15 minutes. And 1'd like to give my colleagues 15 minutes to bring your concerns or your questions, your comments. Vice Chair Carollo: That's fair. Very fair. Chair King: So that -- and we do have another meeting subsequent to this, but it will be short. Vice Chair Carollo: What meeting is that? Chair King: The Overtown CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) meeting. I had to cancel it at the last Commission meeting, and I'd like to take that up. Chair King: Yes, yes, yes, 1 will be there for that. Absolutely. Chair King: So, going along with my order, Commissioner. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I like your discipline. I like that. But I'm going to do a little favor today for you. I've asked my question. I said I had two questions. I had some follow-ups to those, so I'm done for today. Chair King: Okay. Vice Chair Carollo: So, you're going to give me your 14 minutes? Commissioner Russell: No, that's corning this way. I get 30 minutes. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But, but -- Commissioner Reyes: If somebody's going to be given time, it's me. I've been left out. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But I would like -- but I would like though to say a few things quickly. Are we going to take a vote today on a deadline? Chair King: Yes, we are. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: For the final plan? Chair King: Yes, we are. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: That's your intention? Chair King: Yes, it is. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, they're, I think -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, two different dates, I know. City of Miami Page 32 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, there are going to have to be, I think, three votes taken. One, which is the key vote, is do we keep Coconuts Grove intact or is it open to try to balance districts? That should be one. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I agree. Vice Chair Carollo: The second vote should be on the timing. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: The special Commission meeting. Vice Chair Carollo: The special Commission meeting, that this will end by the -- no later than the end of March. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: March 30th. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. And the other one would be we have to agree on the final marching orders that we will give Mr. DeGrandy, unless we're in full agreement with his plan. Chair King: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So, Madam Chair, this is going to -- now 1 need to follow up on that. There's going to be a commission meeting probably in two weeks where Mr. DeGrandy conies back to us with a somewhat revised plan after we take our votes today, right? There will be meetings Mr. DeGrandy will have with each one of us individually in that two week period, correct? So, we can kind of express our concerns again to you -- Mr. DeGrandy: Sure. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- so you take all that into account as we move forward. I will request that at least with me. Vice Chair Carollo: I would, if I may, suggest that Mr. DeGrandy is going to give us a date that's acceptable to all of us, that he's coming back, and he'll give us that date today. And then beginning today, tomorrow, we let our district, each district know -- Chair King: Yes. Vice Chair Carollo: -- when we're going to have that meeting to present his plan. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Correct. Vice Chair Carollo: This way they have all this time -- Chair King: To prepare. Vice Chair Carollo: -- to prepare. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: After that meeting, we will then have public hearings in each one of our districts. Chair King: Yes. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. City of Miami Page 33 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And then we'll set a deadline for March 30th, to say hypothetically, where we will vote the plan out. And we're done. Vice Chair Carollo: Exactly, exactly. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And people that testify today have an opportunity obviously to testify in the next commission meeting -- Vice Chair Carollo: Sure. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- when they see the final plan. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, absolutely. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay, that's fair. That's it. I'm done. Mr. DeGrandy: Madam Chair; ifI may, the only thing that I would say is if you want a pretty much finalized product in two weeks, please give me as succinct direction as you can today of what additional movements you want so that 1 can, you know, do what you're asking me to do. (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, what I want to try to avoid, and 1 don't know how my colleagues feel, but what I want to try to avoid is to draw a map from the dais. We've had that problem in Tallahassee. Often you remember you were there, before I got there, and then I had to do the same thing in committee meetings, people, because everybody has their own, you know, ideas of how a district should look like, because they know their districts, or how the city map should look like, or in that case it was a state map. And then everybody starts saying, well, how about if we move this street from here to here and that avenue, that's going to be something that's going to drag on all day. Mr. DeGrandy: I'm looking at areas. If you give me concepts and say -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, I think -- Mr. DeGrandy: -- like for example, the Grove, do I cross, do I not? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: We're going to take a vote on that. One more thing, Madam Chair. I think Commissioner Carollo was very eloquent in highlighting that there are neighborhoods in Miami, Flagami, Shenandoah, Silver Bluff Allapattah, Little Havana, that are probably more cohesive than Coconut Grove. We did define how Coconut Grove had four different parts. I think it's five, but let's say it's four. Very distinct, very different parts. I was born and raised in Miami. I spent a lot of time in Coconut Grove. I know Coconut Grove very well. Commissioner Carollo has lived in Coconut Grove, so we understand Coconut Grove. You don't have to be -- you can be Hispanic and still get a sense of what Coconut Grove looks like, right? But there are communities that are really, really cohesive communities in our city that have been divided for decades by redistricting. I mentioned, he mentioned some, there's a lot more. Even Allapattah has been divided. Wynwood is divided in the current map. It goes on and on and on. Coconut Grove doesn't have a monopoly on being a community. There are other communities that have been divided. And just the way it is. So that's my only thought for today. Chair King: Okay, thank you. Commissioner Russell. City of Miami Page 34 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Commissioner Russell: Thank you, Chairwoman. I have three questions for Mr. DeGrandy, please. The first one has to do with the deadline. Could you explain to the public, please, f we do not have an election this year in the City of Miami, and the main purpose of our redistricting is for our fifture elections and representation, what is the purpose, or what is the reason for the financial penalty for not getting our ducks in a row for this upcoming cycle that the County is experiencing? Why are we penalized for that? Mr. DeGrandy: What the supervisor has explained to me is that once they finish their redistricting process, they have an election in 2022. Your election is not until 2023. So, they are going to redo all the precincts to now kind of configure into the new districts and they're going to reissue all new voter cards to all voters in the entire county. And so what she's saying is she has to commence doing that by March. If we extend past March, there certainly isn't a legal impediment. There's a financial impediment, where the supervisor has informed me that if they then have to come back and redo -- Commissioner Russell: Precincts. Mr. DeGrandy: -- all the precincts in the city of Miami and reissue all the voter cards, that's where the expense comes from. But there is no legal impediment to your exceeding the February deadline. Commissioner Russell: Thank you. Mr. DeGrandy, the second question I have is, could you tell us the -- in the current form of where the district lines are drawn, what is the demographic breakup in District 2 by race? Mr. DeGrandy: Demographic breakup of the proposed District 2? Commissioner Russell: No. The current District 2. You gave us the proposed District 2 and I have it here, 37 percent white, 8 percent black, 48 percent Hispanic. Do you know what we are currently, where the lines are now? Mr. DeGrandy: Currently, it is District 2, 52 percent Hispanic population, 8 percent non -Hispanic Black, and 30 percent non -Hispanic White -- 34 percent non -Hispanic White. Commissioner Russell: Got it. So, the black population stays pretty close to the same in your draft versus -- Mr. DeGrandy• What goes down actually is the Hispanic population. Commissioner Russell: I see that. And my final question, for you is where do you see the population growth having happened most? Is there a population growth in the Grove that needs to be shed. I know we look at it as a district as a whole, but if the population growth is happening in Downtown, happening in Brickell, happening in Edgewater, have we seen growth in the Grove? Mr. DeGrandy: How are we seeing growth? Commissioner Russell: In the population, the census from 10 years ago to what we're looking at now. We haven't changed the density of the Grove. There's been a couple new towers on Bayshore, butt would venture a guess that we have not seen a population increase in the Grove, as there hasn't been a change in the number of homes and units for the most part. Is that a fair assessment? City of Miami Page 35 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Mr. DeGrandy: 1 would have to look at the data, but I would rely -- you would probably know better than 1 do without looking at the data. Commissioner Russell: It seems that way to me and so my hope is that we can look at shedding the population from the district where we've seen the most growth to create that equilibrium. I do believe that our goal here today is, number one, to find equilibrium within the city, jbr fairness. Number two, to protect District 5, which is a majority -minority district, but only just. What I'm going to ask my fellow commissioners is to look a little deeper into my Grove into some of these finer lines, the crosstabs, to see populations of need that may not have the same legal protections as a All minority -majority district, but 1'd like to make the case for why they're seeking unity. Coconut Grove has a couple of very unique, no 15n sorry, District 2 has a couple of very unique characteristics when compared to the other districts. One is there's a lot going on here. This is the financial generator of the City. I don't know if I'm using the phrase correctly, Commissioner Reyes, but it's the (FOREIGN LANGUAGE) of the City. And that means all commissioners, in some sense, have involvement in the interests of what happens in District 2, because negative repercussions in District 2 could affect the finances of the entire city. And it's well known, as a donor district, that as District 2's growth adds to our real estate values, it helps the whole city. It helps our parks; it helps our services. And so, everyone has an interest and you see that reflected in board chairmanships and you don't see this in other districts as much where all of us get involved in District 2. And 1 welcome that because my hope is that it brings allies on this Commission that we are working together. And I certainly want to thank my residents for coining out today and, you know, not just with emotion and passion for what they care about, but with statistics and process and really seeking a good effort moving forward. And I'm hearing that from my commissioners, and I thank them. But as I've gotten to know my commissioners, fellow commissioners over the last few years, I know that there is not an intention to break up the Grove. In fact, I would say that they've seen the advocacy and the activism of Grove 2 [sic] -- District 2, Coconut Grove residents, and they're not consciously inviting that into their districts or their offices or their email inbox. I have a person who is solely dedicated to the constituent services of Coconut Grove because the activism, advocacy, and involvement is so high. We have a lot of issues and obviously there's a monolithic like-minded interest in terms of tree preservation and historic preservation and not only conservation but climate change issues and storm surge and sea level rise. We have the two neighborhood conservation districts, which is something that was brought up by a few residents, which is very key. So, what I'm going to ask is for my fellow commissioners to work with me on charging Mr. DeGrandy with some creativity here, that we stay within the letter of the law for the equilibriums that we need to meet, but that we do by to keep the unity of neighborhoods together. I don't consider myself the White commissioner. My mother came from Japan in the 1960s. And if the -- if there's one thing that is the other unique factor of my district, it's not that the common denominator is race. The common denominator of District 2 is diversity. And I love being a representative of that. The folks here did not come saying, keep the White Grove White and keep the Black Grove Black. They said, keep the Grove the Grove. And I thought that was beautiful. When, long before politics, most of you know the core of my origin story, having fought a contaminated park in front of my house. What some might not know is once I learned that that contamination came from the incinerators, like the one in the West Grove, Old Smoky, I actually went and joined the Old Smoky Steering Committee, a group of activists that were seeking a cancer cluster within the West Grove. And I helped knock door to door with my fellow neighbors. And there was no white, there was no black. This is really about advocating for a community. And when I ran for office, I learned the issues of the neighborhood. And in my first election, the precincts of the West Grove outnumbered the precincts in the rest of my district. They turned out greater than they had ever in the past and greater than they had -- greater than the other precincts in my district. And they voted. for me. It wasn't to seek a commissioner of City of Miami Page 36 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 color. It was to seek a commissioner of advocacy. And so, I have returned that responsibility with the last six years of trying to hold that community together. Now while District 5 is a protected district because it has such issues that affect it from race and poverty and so many things, I've constantly made the case that perhaps West Grove in District 2 could even have greater pressures of gentrification and displacement because it is so surrounded by the market rate wealth. And that has led me to use the strength of my position as a District 2 Commissioner to advocate for a community within my district very specifically. And I couldn't have done it without all of you. You all have stood with me from the creation of the West Grove CRA, to zoning issues, to enforcement issues with Code, and I really appreciate that. So, my ask of you is going to be similar to that here today. The section of the West Grove, the triangle at Bird Road and North, even though it is a majority Hispanic and so absorbing into a Hispanic district would not be a violation of their rights for sure, if it truly does have 497 African -American residents there, that is a significant portion of those who are currently in the West Grove. I'd venture almost 20 percent of the African -American population of the West Grove. And I know that they would be equally cared for by any commissioner on this district and represented well. I would like to try to maintain cohesiveness. And so, my ask of my fellow commissioners today is to maintain US-1 as that boundary within the Grove. The NCD also -- the second NCD also incorporates bringing together Bay Heights with the North Grove and the Center Grove and the South Grove as well. My goal, if we can reach the equilibrium within the legal limits of that disparity, 1 would like to see US-1 be the barrier up to Simpson Park. And so, Simpson Park, which is at 15th, then would cut into Miami Avenue and head north from there as a draft. The concern that has limited, and I heard Mr. DeGrandy say that I have no options because of the limitations on District 5. Anything north of there I could not absorb in District 5 for diluting the African American population of District 5. He's actually done something that's already potentially, going to solve that problem. District 1 now has a dog leg going down the Miami River and touching downtown, which it did not have before. And you could continue that dog leg up so that any residents that needed to be shed from District 2 that are the west side of downtown could be absorbed into District 1. The west side of Brickell from Miami Avenue could be absorbed into District 3. And whatever you can do heading north from there, is -- it looks like you've already done. But it seems to me that Miami Avenue could be that natural boundary going not only through Brickell, but all the way up until it naturally already doglegs at, I believe, Northwest 22nd Street, where it turns into Miami Avenue. You could just simply continue Miami Avenue down south, or even further if appropriate. But my goal is if that can be -- if that can be done and equilibrium can eome as close as possible, and even if there's slight disparity in District 2, my request would be that we try to maintain the Grove, which has its elected body of the Village Council, which has its two neighborhood conservation districts, which now has a West Grove CRA, that it does remain intact. And so that is my ask of my fellow commissioners to give Mr. DeGrandy that charge today. Thank you. Commissioner Reyes: You finished? Chair King: Thank you. Commissioner Russell: Yes, sir. Chair King: And he was 3 minutes shy of 15 minutes. Commissioner Russell: I've got three more minutes. Hold on, Commissioner. Commissioner Reyes: No, no, I mean, you haven't reached Washington yet. I mean, you're going to be the king of filibuster in Washington. City of Miami Page 37 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Commissioner Russell: We're going to break that filibuster. No, my. goal --1'm not gone yet, and I'm in my last full year, but my, goal is to leave my district and my city better than I found it in a way that holds legacy for the future. Commissioner Reyes: It is our, that's the goal. Vice Chair Carollo: Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. Commissioner Reyes: Hold on a second. That's the goal of everybody that is sitting here. Commissioner Russell: 1 agree. Commissioner Reyes: That's the goal of everybody that is sitting there. Vice Chair Carollo: He just confirmed he will be running in the primary; you said this last year. Commissioner Russell: I did not say, I said I am serving in my last fitll year of my district. And that is the case no matter what happens from here forward. Commissioner Reyes: Okay, thank you. Vice Chair Carollo: So that means you will be running in the primary. Commissioner Russell: Of my term. Commissioner Reyes: Okay. Chair King: Commissioner Reyes. Commissioner Reyes: Thank you. Chair King: You're welcome. Commissioner Reyes: Thank you. First of all, first of all, I do understand that every single neighborhood within the City of Miami considers itself special and unique, and we are all unique and special. I am -- I think that the only one that remembers what Commissioner Carollo was relating to all of you, the reason that we have, and it was his initiative, I remember that, that we have districts now, it was because Reverend Dunn, who was the commissioner at the time, lost the election. And then there were -- everybody was going to be according to the trend, the ethnic trend of the city of Miami, unless districts were formed, everybody sitting here would have been Hispanic, okay? Everybody sitting here. That's why they were formed. That's the shape that they have now. It was to make sure, and let's call spade a spade, to make sure that an Afro-American was going to be elected, and that an Anglo, as it was called before, was going to be elected. And that was brought to the people, and the people voted. But every year, I mean every ten years, every ten years, in order to protect, in order to protect those two seats, which I think that it is just that everybody has representation, there have to be changes. You see, I don't see this like I am going to take over Coconut Grove. I don't want it, you see. I don't want to take over any area. As a matter of fact, I feel rejected by Coconut Grovers that they don't want me to be the commissioner. You see, I'm hurt, but I could assure you ifI were to be your commissioner-, I would represent that area with as much integrity, as much love and dedication as I am representing my district. And you can ask my residents, okay. But I want to ask Commissioner (sic) DeGrandy, and Iwant you to be very honest because we gave you your marching orders. And the most important question -- the most City of Miami Page 38 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 important question that we have, is this the best you can do to protect the Afro- American seat? And I'm going to he blunt, and the Anglo seat, but more important, the Afro-American seat. Mr. DeGrandy: Commissioner, if, as I said before, if I go any further east, I'm going to dilute the African -American percentage. Commissioner Reyes: Okay. Mr. DeGrandy: 1 can play around and trade back and forth between District 1 and District 5, and maybe able to get a little more African -American population. But again, that starts clisbalancing District I. Commissioner Reyes: But that is my main concern. Another question. When you were informing us of the number of voters, of residents, not voters, residents, correct me if I'm wrong. You stated that District 4 had a surplus. It has more residents. Mr. DeGrandy: You have 2.23 over the ideal population. Commissioner Reyes: 2.3 over the ideal population. Now, my question is this, would it be possible, and let me tell you this, it is not that I, I mean, I'm doing this because I want everybody to feel that represented. And this is not I'm going to take over any neighborhood, because all my neighborhoods have been split. You forgot to -- you forgot to name Golden Pine. Half of Golden Pine is mine. Half of Golden Pine is his. But they are always represented. It doesn't mean because they changed commissioners that they're going to lose the right to vote, or they're going to lose their right as citizens or residents. They're going to be represented by a City of Miami Commission. But just let me tell you this. Let me ask you this. If we -- the overpopulation that have, okay, if we take from that overpopulation and we, as you have stated, District 4 will go until -- I mean, up to Day Street, right? Mr. DeGrandy: District 4 to Day Street. Commissioner Reyes: Will go down to Day Street. Mr. DeGrandy: That's correct, yeah. Day Avenue. Commissioner Reyes: If we bring District 4 up to US-1 and overpopulate District 2 in that area and see how can we come if we can keep US-1 and see how can we come, if we can keep US-1 as, in that area, Pm not talking about past 27th Avenue, okay? I am talking about that area, which is my -- which is my district. Okay. You see? Could you look into it and see, because -- Mr. DeGrandy: If vou're looking, Commissioner, that area, 5,071 people is roughly 5 to 6 percent deviation. So, if I were to take -- Commissioner Reyes: I'm not talking about Golden Pine. Bring it down to Golden Pine, you see. Mr. DeGrandy: In other words, take part. Commissioner Reyes: Take Golden Pine all the way to US-1. You know what mean? Mr. DeGrandy: Stop at US-1. Commissioner Reyes: Yes. City of Miami Page 39 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Mr. DeGrandy: If stop at US-1, that triangle that has the north as US-1 and the south as Day Avenue, that triangle is 5,071 folks. That's about five point something, six percent deviation. Commissioner Reyes: No, but I'm not talking about from 25th, wait a minute. I'm not talking from 25th up -- down to US-1. I mean, you can add that to District 4. What I'm talking about is from US-1 to Day Street. Mr. DeGrandy: From US-1 to Day, in other words, this triangle. Commissioner Reyes: From US-1 to Day. Okay. See how can you work -- can work that out and see how we can do that, okay? Mr. DeGrandy: That triangle, just to give you rough numbers, is what, five something, almost six percent. Okay. Deviation. What that would do -- you're now at 2.23, so, ifI take out 6, you're now under by 4. Commissioner Reyes: I don't (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- Mr. DeGrandy: Okay. But now District 2 is over by 6. That's your 10 percent. No more (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Commissioner Reyes: Well, that's the only -- the -- what 1 was going to suggest. And it is what it is. And we should do what we have to do. Mr. DeGrandy: And that's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- Commissioner Reyes: I personally think that have -- I have a commitment that it was made because I was an advocate for districts at the time, you see, and I was not an elected official, but Commissioner Joe Carollo can vouch that I always had my nose in the city of Miami, okay? And was an advocate for districts so everybody should be represented. And I just want to -- if we can try to minimize as much as we can, I would really appreciate it. Mr. DeGrandy: I hear you, Commissioner but again, ifI may, for the entire Commission, if you know the concept of the Butterfly Effect? Commissioner Reyes: That's right. Mr. DeGrandy: Every change is affecting another change. So, the example that l just gave you is, ifI did that change alone, I couldn't do any other change that would exceed overall deviation because I'm right at the -- Commissioner Reyes: What I'm saying -- and it is, you see, I am 2 percent, 6 percent? Mr. DeGrandy: 2.2 -- 2.23 percent over. Commissioner Reyes: Over, okay. Mr. DeGrandy: So, ifI take 5,000 from you, that leaves you at 4 under. Commissioner Reyes: Four under. Mr. DeGrandy: Okay? But that now brings that 6 percent back into D2 that had 0 deviation. So now you have 6 and 4. That's your overall deviation is 10. That means I can't make any other changes to the plan. So, I can do that. My answer to all of you is, if you give me an example, I could tell you, yeah, it could be done and not be done. City of Miami Page 40 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 But again, why I'm asking for as much specific direction as possible is because if the Chair has a change and Commissioner Carollo has a change, 1 need to understand all those in context. Commissioner Reyes: What I want you to do -- what I want you to do is just analyze. Mr. DeGrandy: Yes, sir. Commissioner Reyes: As much as you can. How can you play with the numbers and try to keep as much of the Coconut Grove as integrated as possible. And, but always keeping in mind that we have a goal here. It is to assure the residents of the city of Miami that they are going to have representation in all of them. Yeah. Mr. DeGrandy: Understood. Commissioner Reyes: The Anglos and the Afro-Americans, they're going to have somebody sitting here that's going to look like them. Mr. DeGrandy: Understood. Commissioner Reyes: And on that I'm committed. And I think that that's it. I am going to propose that if we're going to vote on something, let's start making the motions. Chair King: Actuallv, 1 haven't had an opportunity to speak. Commissioner Russell: District 5 gets to talk. Chair King: Igo last. Commissioner Reyes: Oh, you're last. But you know, that is a trick, because you talk whenever you want. Chair King: But I try not to do that. Vice Chair Carollo: That's true. Chair King: So, for me, Mr. DeGrandy, I am concerned, as you said, that District 5 is 51 percent African American and that could shift so quickly within the next two years with all of the development that is proposed for District 5. You have shortened a portion of my district in the downtown area and I would like that to remain. Mr. DeGrandy: Okay. Chair King: And I would like you to look at other opportunities to make sure that my community stays intact. So, I think now would be appropriate to start looking at the schedules. We can start with the schedules. You said you need approximately two weeks to put together -- Mr. DeGrandy: Two weeks, depending on the number of changes to reconfigure. Chair King: -- to put together. So, you're clear about my changes, correct? Mr. DeGrandy: Yes. And let me comment on that, though, if I may, Madam Chair, because again, as I said, the Butterfly Effect, I can certainly bring you back down to your original configuration, down to the river. If I do that, however, a portion that I had connected to give Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla at 2,514 folks in that last City of Miami Page 41 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 part, which has three buildings, and it is overwhelmingly Hispanic, that will have to put back into District 2. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Madam Chair, I'm thinking, the area he's talking about is not the area you're concerned about. I was reading your mind here. You're concerned about the southern part, the part that goes into Downtown Miami. Mr. DeGrandy: Down to the MRC (Miami Riverside Center). Chair King: Yes. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right, to the MRC building, that area. I'm really -- Chair King: Yes. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- what he's doing -- is doing -- the part thatl really care about is north of that, where you have four, I think it's four buildings that are 85 at least percent Hispanic. Mr. DeGrandy • Yes. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So that won't dilute any of your -- Chair King: Right. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- any of your representation there. So, I think there's a balance here that we could be finding. I'll be amenable to finding that balance. I don't have a problem with that because it's not, you know, it's proper categorical representation that you'll have in your -- in your district. Chair King: That will maintain -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yeah, maintain the -- Chair King: -- maintain the core of my district that it has been. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I have no quarrel with that. I'm okay with that. Mr. DeGrandy: Okay. Vice Chair Carollo: Can I make one statement as a point of information? What Mr. DeGrandy refers to, and he has to because by law. federal law, this is the only way that you can break up districts at the local level, at the State House level, the Congressional level, by population. The reason that your district is still very safe, Black, just like District 2 is very safe, Anglo, with a Japanese flavor now, is that that is the overall population, but that is not the voting population. And whatever other voters are in those districts, a lot of them, as we know, we know whom a lot of the new buyers are and condominiums, you know, the people that have last moved here, they're not U.S. citizens yet. They haven't become U.S. citizens yet. This is why District 3, my district, even though it's got a certain population, the voter countdown is much lower than some of the other districts because it's got a lot of that population that are residents but non -voters because they're not U.S. citizens to vote. And this is what we also need to keep in mind, the realities of it. Chair King: Absolutely. Commissioner Russell: Madam Chair? City of Miami Page 42 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Chair King: So -- Commissioner Russell: I just have a question to clarify what you had requested of Mr. DeGrandy. If what you have asked him to do retains the southern part ofyour district, would that keep District I from touching District 2 anymore? Would that eliminate that connection? Mr. DeGrandy: Yes. That would. Commissioner Russell: My ask of creativity was to take District 1 and allow it to wrap around a little bit. And if that's not possible, I would recommend District 3 go further north along the border of District 5, since you've already got that touching. So just whatever honors the Chairwoman's request, but still allows us to find more population for the north of my district versus the south. Chair King: So, let's -- let's start. You said you needed two weeks, and I'm looking at the Commission Meetings calendar. Today is the 7th. Given the remainder of this week and all of next week, could you have the map to us by the 21st. Mr. DeGrandy: By the 24th? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Madam Chair, I'm out of town on the 21st. Chair King: No that's just when he delivers the map. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay. Okay. Chair King: It's just when he delivers the map. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay. (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: 21. Chair King: 21. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: To Monday. (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Chair King: Pardon? (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Chair King: I know. I mean, if you're going to deliver it on Monday, it won't be ready on Monday. So, I'm just -- (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Chair King: Yes, yes by the 21st. Okay. So, if we can have the map by the 21st I'm thinking -- Vice Chair Carollo: Well, could you -- yeah, 22nd, so he's got a full two weeks. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So, are you ready for a marathon week? City of Miami Page 43 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Chair King: Well, we -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: 23rd, 24th, and 25th. Commissioner Reyes: Well, I have -- I have to to -- I want to bring up that on the 23rd, I won't be able to be here. Because I have -- I have -- well, I have to be with my grandson, he's going to go under a knife, little kids. Chair King: That is important. Commissioner Reyes: And -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: 24th, 25th, and the 1st. Commissioner Reyes: That's right, 24th, 25th, and the 23rd -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Commissioner Reyes: -- the 23rd, I called the Mayor and I said at that special meeting that please change it, I don't know if they have changed it, because it's a personal matter and 1 will -- Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Can you be here on the 23rd? Commissioner Reyes: The 23rd, no. Vice Chair Carollo: What day can you be here? Commissioner Reyes: After the 23rd, whenever you want me to. Vice Chair Carollo: After which one? Chair King: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 25th. Vice Chair Carollo: After the 23rd? Commissioner Reyes: Yes, after the -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: The 1st. Chair King: How about the 25th. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: The lst. Vice Chair Carollo: The 25th? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Commission meeting 24th, special meeting on MFP (Miami Freedom Park) -- Vice Chair Carollo: 25th? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- the 25th, and then March 1st is Monday. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, but what I'm saying is, what special meeting we have on the 25th? City of Miami Page 44 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: We have a Miami Freedom Park Special meeting on the 23rd. Chair King: On the 23rd. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. That was changed -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Chair King: No, that's the -- Commissioner Reyes: No that's the one that l -- Chair King: It's been changed, cause that's not on my calendar. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yeah, they changed it. Chair King: It's the 25th. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Cause he couldn't be here, so he wants to move it - Vice Chair Carollo: You know what -- Commissioner Reyes: 1 did ask. Vice Chair Carollo: I would put this meeting on the 25th, this is more important right now. Commissioner Reyes: Hell yes. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: We can do both. Vice Chair Carollo: Well -- Commissioner Reyes: No, it's going to take too long. Vice Chair Carollo: No, you don 't want to mix it. Commissioner Reyes: You don't want to mix. Vice Chair Carollo: I think we should do the Freedom Park thing the following week sometime. Commissioner Reyes: Yes. I agree with you. Vice Chair Carollo: And do this one the 25th. Commissioner Reyes: This is more important than the -- Chair King: The will of the body. Commissioner Russell: Question? Vice Chair Carollo: The -- Chair King: Commissioner? City of Miami Page 45 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Vice Chair Carollo: The one thing though that I'd like though for information for all of us is the Clerk, I had asked him while we were speaking, if he could call the County and tell them pretty please if they could give us an extension. And he's got some information for us that I think is good because he's buying us more time so hopefully, we could end up saving the money after all. Mr. Clerk, can you explain what you were told? Mr. Hannon: Yes sir. Commissioners, we could receive an extension to March loth -- to March 10th. Now the State Legislature, they will be wrapping up their maps, they will be completing their maps once the session ends on March 11 th. Yes, sir. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: The State Legislature will not have their map ready until March 11 th at the end of the session. Mr. Hannon: Correct. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So, by the time they process that, you're easily talking about the following week, probably the end of the following week, which is March I8th. So why would they need it on March loth? If I may, Commissioner Carollo, can you push a little bit harder? I mean, the deadline. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mr. Hannon: They just -- you cannot guarantee a deadline after the legislative session ends. So, you know by -- we have a commission meeting on March IOth, the legislative session ends on March 11 th. It could wrap up at any point in time after that. And so, the County can't deal with just hypotheticals. We know there is an end date, at least for the legislative session. We have a Commission meeting on March 10th. So, we just run the risk after March 10th of potentially incurring those costs. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But the odds are that there'll probably be a lawsuit on that particular redistricting plan, too. And they have elections this year. This is the absurdity of the Miami -Dade County Election Department. Their elections are in August of this year. And they're saying, we wait for the legislature, and there's probably going to be a lawsuit, there always is, on what happens up there, so there will be a delay in that too. They're probably going to get the final maps from Tallahassee probably in -- some point in June. Okay, so, this artificial -- I'm confident that whatever you want to impose with the will of the body, I'm confident that that March loth deadline can be easily extended as we move forward. But for now, we'll deal -- I'm pretty confident with that. Chair King: Okay, so let's -- let's see. The first deadline we have is the February 22nd delivery of the map. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes. Chair King: Do we agree on that? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes. Chair King: Okay, that's the first one. Delivery, of the nap. Mr. DeGrandy: And by delivery, you mean get it to you. Chair King: To us. To us. City of Miami Page 46 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Mr. DeGrandy: Sure. Chair King: So, then we need to set another special meeting. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: February 25th. Commissioner Reyes: February 25th. Chair King: Is that the will of the body? Vice Chair Carollo: Yes. Commissioner Russell: This was my question. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: We'll do a motion. Right. Chair King: Right. Commissioner Russell: This was my question -- Chair King: Just getting an idea. Commissioner Russell: Since we had such an in-depth look at the process, the reasoning, and everything in this meeting, do we believe that we must have a special meeting to get the second round or can we incorporate it into our commission meeting as a -- Chair King: I think we should have a special meeting because this -- this -- we've been at this for several hours and I wouldn't want to drag our -- it's more specialized, it's a direct subject, and I wouldn't want to rush it because our Commission meeting is dragging. So, I'm in agreement with a special meeting if that is the will of the body. Commissioner Russell: Sure. Vice Chair Carollo: Yes. Absolutely. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I'll make that motion. Chair King: Okay, wait a minute, don't make a motion yet. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay. Chair King: So, February 25th, special meeting. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes ma'am. Chair King: Okay, and then two weeks after our special meeting, we have to take it to our communities. Correct? Commissioner Reyes: Correct. Chair King: So, two weeks after the 25th of February would be? Vice Chair Carollo: Actually, we could take it before that. Commissioner Reyes: If we schedule that. City of Miami Page 47 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Vice Chair Carollo: If we know now that on the 25th we're going to give a final look at this. Chair King: But that only gives us three days from the time that -- Vice Chair Carollo: No, we can start advertising it now is what I'm saying. Chair King: No, we can start advertising -- right, we can start advertising it. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I can do my community meeting on February 23rd if we have the maps by the 22nd, right? The next day 1 can have my community meeting. 1 can advertise it now. Do we have -- Chair King: No and that's the point, so that we have time to advertise it between now and receipt of the map. If its the will of the body, that's fine with me. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well I -- well, we may not be able to because we have to have the actual map and advertise that actual map. Chair King: Right, exactly. Commissioner Reyes: That's right. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So everyone can see the actual map. Chair King: That's why I'm saying two weeks after the delivery of the map. Commissioner Reyes: Madam Chair, a question. It's the -- we -- it is -- I mean, every commission, or every commissioner is going to present it at a given date or there's going to be a date that everybody is presented. Chair King: Well., for me -- Commissioner Reyes: I think that -- I think that has to be -- Chair King: I'm thinking that each of you decide how you want to present it to your community. Each of you decide when and how. Commissioner Reyes: Individually. Chair King: Yes, individually. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: We have a two -week window to do our community meeting. Chair King: Right, you're going to have a two -week window. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: We pick the date. Commissioner Reyes: So, the advertising, the meeting advertising should come out the Commissioner's Office. Chair King: Right, correct. Each of our -- each of our offices will advertise our community meetings. And you can start advertising the community meetings from today because we're setting the deadlines for today. So, we have delivery of the map on the 22nd. We're going to have a special meeting on the 25th. City of Miami Page 48 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Mr. DeGrandy: Time, Commissioner? Time? Chair King: I'll get to the time in a minute. Alright. So, then we're going to have the time. Do we need the special meeting before we take the maps to our communities or after? I think it would be prudent to have this special meeting after we go to the community. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, yes, but we -- I think we need one to be fully satisfied with what we have. Chair King: Okay. Agreed, everyone? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes. Chair King: All right, so special meeting on the 25th. Vice Chair Carollo: Cause that will be then -- Chair King: Okay. Vice Chair Carollo: -- but we'll finally go before the community. Chair King: Okay. So, two weeks after the 25th takes us into one week, two weeks. So, let's say March 15th? It's either March 13th or March 15th. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: What day is March 15th? Chair King: March 15th is a Wednesday. And it's a non -Commission meeting. Mr. DeGrandy: No, it's Tuesday. Chair King: It's a Tuesday, I'm sorry. And it's a non -Commission meeting week. Vice Chair Carollo: That's for us to meet in the final? What are we doing on Monday the 14th? Chair King: Monday the 14th? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Why don't we do it the same week we have the Commission meeting the following week. We have time. Vice Chair Carollo: When do we have the Commission meeting then? Chair King: On the 24th. Vice Chair Carollo: We can do it on the 14th or if not -- Chair King: I think we should do it the week of the 13th. Any day that week, the week of the 13th. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay, so that Monday. Vice Chair Carollo: Monday the morning of the 14th. Chair King: Monday the 14th. City of Miami Page 49 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: l4th, yeah. Okay, March. Do we want to do it all in one motion? Chair King: Yes. So, we have to decide on the time of the special -- Vice Chair Carollo: And then between the 26th to the -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: The 14th. Vice Chair Carollo: -- 11 th or the 10th, we go to our individual communities. Chair King: Yes. Yes. Yes. Vice Chair Carollo: You want to cut it up from the 10th, Thursday, or you want to go until 11 th Friday? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: 11, Friday in this case. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Same thing because I think no one's going to have it on Friday anyway. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. City of Miami Page 50 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 NA.1 11469 City Commission NA - NON -AGENDA ITEM(S) RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DIRECTING THE CITY OF MIAMI'S EXPERT CONSULTANT FOR REDISTRICTING, MR. MIGUEL DE GRANDY, ESQ., TO, ON OR BEFORE FEBRUARY 22, 2022, PROVIDE EACH OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSIONERS WITH A PROPOSED REDISTRICTING MAP REFLECTING THE DIRECTION PROVIDED BY THE CITY COMMISSION DURING THE FEBRUARY 7, 2022 SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-22-0030 MOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: ADOPTED MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Reyes Chair King: Okay. City Clerk has given me some direction, so we'll do three resolutions so we can speck what each special meeting is, for. So, may I have a motion? Commissioner Russell: Just a moment. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: For the special February 25th Commission meeting. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, no, it's the delivery of the map. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: A motion to deliver the maps at February 22nd to this Commission by 5: 00 p.m., close of business. Chair King: Do I have a second? Vice Chair Carollo: Second. Chair King: Is there any further discussion? All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. City of Miami Page 51 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 NA.2 11470 City Commission RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION SCHEDULING A SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2022, AT 10:00 A.M. FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSIDERING AND TAKING ANY AND ALL ACTIONS RELATED TO THE REDISTRICTING OF CITY COMMISSION DISTRICTS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE DRAFTING OF ANY RELATED MAPS AND BOUNDARIES. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-22-0031 MOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: ADOPTED MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Russell, Diaz de la Portilla, Reyes Vice Chair Carollo: The motion for a February 25th special Commission meeting. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: At 10:00 a.m.? Vice Chair Carollo: At 10:00 a.m. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I'll second that. Chair King: Any discussion? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): And Chair, the specific purpose for that special meeting? What's going to occur. Chair King: The purpose of that special meeting is to accept the redistricting map as provided from Miguel DeGrandy. Vice Chair Carollo: Yes. George Wysong (Assistant City Attorney): Madam Chair -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Now, we can't -- Mr. Wysong: -- we may have similar -- I'm sorry, I apologize. I was just going to say, how about if we say, for the purpose of considering and taking any and all actions related to the redistricting of City Commission districts, including but not limited to the drafting glom, related maps and boundaries? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes, because we can't change our minds. Chair King: Right. Well, we should have gone to you in the first place to give us the title. Todd, what he said. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yeah. Chair King: And for the special meeting on -- Mr. Hannon: I'm sorry, you had a motion and a second. If we could just take a vote on that motion. City of Miami Page 52 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 NA.3 11471 City Commission Vice Chair Carollo: Yes. Motion and a second. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes. Chair King: All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Motion passes unanimously. RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION SCHEDULING A SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING ON FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2022, AT 10:00 A.M. FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSIDERING AND TAKING ANY AND ALL ACTIONS RELATED TO THE REDISTRICTING OF CITY COMMISSION DISTRICTS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE DRAFTING OF ANY RELATED MAPS AND BOUNDARIES. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-22-0032 MOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: ADOPTED MOVER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner SECONDER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Reyes Commissioner Russell: Madam Chair, for the 14th, I'm currently scheduled to be out of town. Chair King: Okay. When will you return? Commissioner Russell: That's a family trip. Let me see if I can switch over. Looks like I would be back that weekend, so I'm available all the following week, from the 21st 077. Vice Chair Carollo: Will you be here on the 11 th? Commissioner Russell: That's -- looks like that's when I may be. Vice Chair Carollo: Huh? Commissioner Russell: Yes, I will be here on the 11 th. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, why don't we then cut off until the 9th of March for the community meetings and then hold the meeting on the l l th. Commissioner Russell: I'm available then. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay, so we have to resent the motion that we would have -- Chair King: Well, we didn't make a motion for that. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No, no, no, we never passed it. City of Miami Page 53 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Vice Chair Carollo: No, you're right. Chair King: You can do that whenever you want. You can meet with the communities, your communities whenever you want. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So, we want to have the meeting then March 11 th. Chair King: Yes. Vice Chair Carollo: Because the meeting will be, yeah, for March 11 th. Chair King: Mr. Attorney, could you give us the language for the special meeting to take place on March ll th? George Wysong (Assistant City Attorney): The special meeting would also be for the purpose of considering and taking any and all actions related to the redistricting of City Commission districts, including but not limited to the drafting of any related maps and boundaries. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Same, same. Same -- Chair King: May 1 have a motion? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So moved. Chair King: Second. At 10:00 a.m.? Vice Chair Carollo: 10:00 a.m. Chair King: 10:00 a.m. All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Motion passes unanimously. Miguel DeGrandy: If I may, Madam Chair, so I could be clear on the 25th, are we also at 10:00 a.m.? Chair King: Yes. Mr. DeGrandy: Okay, 10:00 a.m. the 25th and 10:00 a.m. on March l l th. Now, Madam Chair, if I understand correctly, on the 25th I will simply present to you the revised plan. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: On the 22nd. Mr. DeGrandy: No, on the 22nd I will deliver it. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay. Mr. DeGrandy: On the 25th I will present it. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay. Okay. City of Miami Page 54 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Mr. DeGrandy: Okay, and then from there you all go to your districts and on March 11 th we come hack for final passage. Chair King: Yes. Correct. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No, for consideration as he titled it. Mr. DeGrandy: Right. Any and all actions which includes final passage. Chair King: Correct. Vice Chair Carollo: Since we're in this, if we could be guided by the City Attorney and the City Clerk the best way so that we can start now in advertising that we're going to have a community meeting within our districts, if they could give us some guidance on that. Mr. Wysong: And typically, the main consideration is adequate notice. So, I believe all you have to do is let -- coordinate with the City Clerk and the City Clerk will publish the notice for it. We try to do seven days in advance. We'll schedule it as a Sunshine meeting and that's all we'll have to do. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, we're going to do it I think separately in our districts. Mr. Wysong: Right. Right so each meeting would be noticed that District 3 meeting to discuss the redistricting plan and we'll publish that on the internet as well as post it. Vice Chair Carollo: Mr. Clerk, can we begin working that with you so that all of us, by this week, will have you the information and you could go at the latest Friday or Monday and start advertising them after we decide the time, the location, the date? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Yes, sir. Vice Chair Carollo: Is that okay? Chair King: That's perfect. Vice Chair Carollo: We don't need a vote on that. I think you're -- City of Miami Page 55 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 NA.4 11472 City Commission RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DIRECTING THE CITY OF MIAMI'S EXPERT CONSULTANT FOR REDISTRICTING, MR. MIGUEL DE GRANDY, ESQ., TO CONSIDER MOVING SOUTH BEYOND UNITED STATES HIGHWAY 1 (US-1) WHEN DRAFTING THE 2022 CITY COMMISSION REDISTRICTING PLAN IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN BALANCE OF POPULATION IN THE COMMISSION DISTRICTS. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-22-0033 MOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: ADOPTED MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Reyes NAYS: Russell Chair King: Okay. So, I believe this will conclude our -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No, I believe we have -- I believe we have a motion on the Coconut Grove question that we discussed earlier. Chair King: Okay. Commissioner Russell: I'd like to make the motion. Chair King: Please, Commissioner Russell. Commissioner Russell: My motion would be to direct Mr. DeGrandy to make absolute best efforts to utilize US-1 as the boundary in Coconut Grove and Miami Avenue, the boundary further north of 15th where possible. If absolutely necessary, Miami Avenue can come further south as you need to grab folks into -- out of District 2, but that we make all efforts to maintain the integrity of Coconut Grove as part of District 2. Miguel DeGrandy: Okay. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay, well. Chair King: Do I have a motion for that? Commissioner Russell: That's my motion. Chair King: Do I have -- do I have a second? Commissioner Russell: I'd like to hear a discussion then for what the potential pushback is, because it's -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, there's no second. The motion dies for lack of a second. Commissioner Russell: Right, right. I'd just like to discuss. Chair King: Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Todd, if there's no second, do we have a discussion? City of Miami Page 56 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): It's the will of the body. The motion fails for a lack of a second. It's the will of the body to decide what direction they want to go next. Commissioner Russell: I'm just seeking guidance, Chairwoman, on ifI have worded it in a way, there's a part of my motion that is causing discomfort, that we can address that, and then I can adjust the motion. Chair King: I don't think your colleagues are, I think I gave Mr. DeGrandy some direction as well. I think he can take your direction and try to, as best he can, incorporate it into drawing the map. l don't think we need to do a motion on it. Mr. DeGrandy? Mr. DeGrandy: I, you know, I would like to have direction because, quite frankly, if am to take out all the things that 1 crossed over US-1 on, I do have to make some significant changes in other districts. I need some clear direction. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: There's a reality here. You can't -- you can't go north because we have a protected district, which is District 5. I-95 is a clear boundary, so we have a district that includes District 5 and District 2, east ofI-95. The only place we can go, and we can't go west because the city ends, so we have to go south. There's no other place to go. The growth is south. Chair King: Let me -- okay, Commissioner -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So, my motion -- my motion is -- my motion, if you'll allow me, my motion would be to do whatever he's proposing, including splitting Coconut Grove, to make sure that we have proportional representation, one man, one vote in the City of Miami. Chair King: Hold on. Wait, wait, hold on, hold on, hold on. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, I know he knows that, but he wants direction. Chair King: Hold on. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I think this is a confusion. If I may. Let me just give you my thoughts on that. Chair King: Wait, wait, let me check with Todd. Todd, are we still on the previous motion from Commissioner Russell? Mr. Hannon: That motion died for lack of a second. Chair King: That motion died. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right. Chair King: Okay, so now we have Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla's motion, which is? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, the reason, let me just say the reason first. The reason is that he already has a map. He made it very clear that he wants direction from this Commission. If all of a sudden, he goes away today and he has direction or an opinion from one commissioner and not the will of the body, then it creates all kinds of problems moving. forward. So, to make it clear what the will of the Commission, that's why there needs to be a motion, you're requesting a motion and City of Miami Page 57 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 approval of that motion, so that we are in essence endorsing your -- parts of your initial map to be able to go south because it's the only place -- the only reason you want south, my understanding is because that's the only place you can go, right? Mr. DeGrandy: Well, Commissioner Russell is right, but it's a policy decision. I can go -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: East. Mr. DeGrandy: -- east on District 3 into downtown. It's a policy decision whether you want that movement. I didn't do it because the demographics were dissimilar, but that's all policy decisions for you all to make. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But you went east in District 5 -- Mr. DeGrandy: As far as I could go. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- to add population as far as you can go without diluting minority voting power in that particular District 5? Mr. DeGrandy: I couldn't go further. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So, what my motion, and how we want to phrase it, maybe you can help me, Mr. Wysong, or is to -- in essence, allow you to move forward with your initial -- this initial concept of moving south, including dividing Coconut Grove along natural boundaries if you want. It could be all over the South Bayshore Drive. Everyone's so concerned about natural boundaries or artificial boundaries as US -I, well, South Bayshore Drive is also an artificial boundary, right? So, you go as further south as the balance of populations to be able to get adequate representation for every particular district. The reality is that we have a district that has 27,000 plus more people in it, and that's where it has to come from. And there are other, as Commissioner Carollo expressed and Commissioner Reyes followed up, and I did too, there are many communities in the city of Miami that are split. Many. There's probably, probably -- I went back to my office, I left out about 3 or 4, so there's probably about 12 cohesive communities in the city of Miami that have been split, including parts of Liberty City, parts of Wynwood, parts of Allapattah, Silver Bluff you mentioned Golden Pines, it goes on, and Allapattah goes on and on and on. So, this is not a unique affront to Coconut Grove or anything like that. It's happened before for decades here. So, you know, the reality is that you want to consider yourself a particular community, you're really four communities in one, there is more cohesion in Flagami and Little Havana in terms of demographics, in terms of income, in terms of communities of interest than there is in Coconut Grove. The other fact of the matter is that in Coconut Grove, I forget the exact numbers, but it's 493 African Americans, that triangle you talked about, almost 2,500 Hispanics and 1,900 whites. So, you know, those are the numbers. And what Mr. DeGrandy is working on is one thing only, not politics. He's working on numbers. He's got to find representation for 8,000, in one, 7,000, in another, and you're 27,000 overpopulated. Not you, District 2, it's not about you. It's about District 2. And we shouldn't refer to it as my district or, you know, I did it a couple of times so I'm at fault too. It's about representation of whoever's here that reflect the population of the city of Miami. The fact of the matter is that we have to go south. So, I want to make it clear, however you phrase that motion, that this Commission has no objection to going south and to your initial plan in concept, maybe not in detail, but in concept, of moving south. That will be the motion. Chair King: So, Mr. Attorney, can you phrase that motion for us. City of Miami Page 58 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 George Wysong (Assistant City Attorney): 1 would also double check with Mr. DeGrandy because it seems to me like the direction he's getting is that he went in the correct direction and to keep proceeding in that direction with the plan that he has already submitted, save for the tweak for District 5 in the downtown area, but essentially to keep the plan consistent with how it was drafted. Mr. DeGrandy: Yes. Mr. Wysong: Is that enough direction? Mr. DeGrandy: As I understood your motion. It is to not hold the US -I line to the extent that I need to take population to equalize. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Move south, young man. Mr. DeGrandy: To the extent that I need to make the population. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes, sir. To balance it out. That's my motion. Commissioner Reyes: Madam Chair. Chair King: Wait, hold on a second. There's a motion on the floor. Do 1 have a second? Commissioner Reyes: I'm going to add something to it and see if 1 can second it. What I'm going to add, instead of explicitly saying or naming any neighborhood, to do as necessary, to go as far as necessary, as required, in order to, I mean, to maintain integrity of the -- of the districts and making sure that everybody is represented. All the districts are going to be able to elect representatives that are from the districts, be it Anglo and African. Okay, that's -- Chair King: Having said that, I don't believe we need a motion because that is what your charge is already. Is that not correct? Mr. DeGrandy: That is, but -- but whether to cross US-1 as a policy decision, as Commissioner Russell rightly stated, I could go into downtown, into District 3. The question is from a policy perspective, do you want that, or do you want me to go south on US -I? Chair King: Let me, hold on. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: My -- for motion -- my motion to be clear, the core of my motion is to go south. Chair King: Okay, hold on. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: That's the core of my motion. Chair King: Okay. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Everything else, you know, he'll come up with a map and we'll debate it. Chair King: Commissioner Russell. Commissioner Russell: Thank you, because I may stand corrected. City of Miami Page 59 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Do we have a second? Do we have a second though? Commissioner Russell: You do. Manolo. Chair King: We have Manolo second. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, I have a second. Commissioner Russell: 1 may stand corrected then because what 1 earlier stated was that I don't believe there is an intention from this Commission to break up the Grove. That it's only if absolutely necessary. And I think there is a -- I hope that there is an effort to keep neighborhoods together where possible. And that would be my friendly amendment. Because if absolutely necessary, we have to do what we have to do. But 1 do believe Mr. DeGrandy can equalize and meet the legal standards and still keep the Grove together. There's another factor I'd like to mention because I can tell that you are also drawing these lines based on future assumptions of growth. The RTZ (Rapid Transit Zone) in both Douglas Station and Grove Station is going to add tremendous population to District 4, and possibly District 3, depending on where the lines are, but most likely District 4. And those have not come online yet. They haven't hit that TCOs (Temporary Certificate of Use) yet, but the Grove Link, I think it's called, in Douglas Station, and then the Terra Project in Grove Station. This is going to add tremendous growth to District 4. So, 1 would like to see that, if possible, we do give direction to hold the community together. If not possible, then we can talk. But if there is an intention to break up the Grove, that feels like the message we're giving him, we're sending him south to break up the Grove, where there are options that I'm very comfortable with in the West Brickell and West Downtown areas that does not disturb District 5, where they could be absorbed into 3 or 1. Chair King: Okay, hold on one second. I do not believe that there is any intention to break up any community. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Absolutely not. Correct. Chair King: There's no intention to break up any community. So, the direction is, can you read the -- Mr. City Attorney, can you read into the -- read us the resolution title again? Mr. Wysong: Yeah, as I got it, it's the consultant will consider moving south into District 2 while -- will consider moving south into District 2. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: That's correct. Commissioner Russell: That's an intention. Chair King: That's consider. And can we -- can you add Commissioner Russell's friendly amendment? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, it's not friendly. No, no, hold on. Chair King: Okay, can you just read it? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, it's not friendly because it muddies the water. Chair King: Hold on. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I think we need to be clear. City of Miami Page 60 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Chair King: Okay, but hold on. Let him just read it so I can hear it. What was his amendment? Mr. Wysong: I think it was similar to D4's (District 4), which is while attempting to maintain the integrity of the district. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: While attempting to maintain the integrity of the district. Vice Chair Carollo: 1 don't accept that amendment because by including that amendment, it's going to bring us to another round of discussions -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Correct. Vice Chair Carollo: -- and possible challenges based on that amendment. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes. Vice Chair Carollo: So, from the legal perspective and point of view, I think that amendment would be harmful to this process and to the city. So, I don't accept it. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And I -- yeah, it's not a friendly amendment. I think that we were very clear in what we want to do. And I think Mr. DeGrandy needs direction in what we want to do. And I think that's why we need a motion. Chair King: Okay, so again. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And a vote. Chair King: I have a motion and I have a second. Can you read me the motion again so we're all clear? Mr. Wysong: Right, it's directing the consultant to, as I said, consider going south into District 2 to attain voter consistency. Mr. DeGrandy: And balance of population. Mr. Wysong: To attain, yeah, and to balance. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And balance of population. Mr. DeGrandy: Because again, I want to be clear so that there -- so that I understand, you understand there's' no surprises. If I make some of the changes that you all are talking about, for example, in that part of the river, I've got to give 2,500 folks back to District 2. I got to take them out of somewhere. So, there is a possibility I might actually, you know, narrow what I5n going to take -- Commissioner Russell: Sorry, District 5, you give the rivet -Mks back to District -- Mr. DeGrandy: Excuse me? Commissioner Russell: You give the river folks back to District 5, correct? You said 2. Mr. DeGrandy: Yes, no, because the District 5 ended at Northwest -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: 11 th. City of Miami Page 61 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Mr. DeGrandy: -- 1st Street in that area. Commissioner Reyes: Yes. Mr. DeGrandy: I brought it down to North Miami. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: 1st Avenue, 1st Avenue. Mr. DeGrandy: Yeah so, 1 moved it one -- yeah I moved it one avenue. The block immediately touching the river on that section that 1 brought down has 2,500 people. So, if I'm going to keep the MRC (Miami Riverside Center) in District 2,1 could keep the MRC,1 could keep the FPL (Florida Power & Light) site across from it, it has no population, doesn't have an impact on my plan, but the effect is to now disconnect those 2,500 people that I was going to give to DI (District 1). So, I've got to give them back to D2 (District 2), or I've got to give them -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: To District 5. Chair King: District 5. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: To District 5 is who you're going to give it to. Chair King: No, you're going to just leave it. Mr. DeGrandy: 1 was going to give it to District -- it was never District 5. Chair King: Here -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But it is now. But it is now because -- Mr. DeGrandy: It was District 2's, in my proposed plan it went to District 1. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And now we're giving it to District 5. Mr. DeGrandy: No, District 5 wants to come down to get the MRC. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right. Mr. DeGrandy: I could do that without those 2,500 people. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Correct. Mr. DeGrandy: But then I need to move those 2,500 people into D2 -- Commissioner Reyes: Question. Mr. DeGrandy: -- or cross the river down into D3 (District 3). Those are my two choices. Commissioner Reyes: I have a question. If you go down -- you go down and you give those additional voters to District 5, how is that going to affect the composition -- the race composition of the district? And that is what 1 am concerned about. Mr. DeGrandy: What that will do is, right now, District 1 is a .35 percent deviation, less than 1 percent. So, if I take out those 2,500 people, that's about 3 percent, 2.8 percent. City of Miami Page 62 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Stephen Cody: Excuse me, Miguel. Can the IT (Innovation and Technology) department take the feed off of my computer and put it on -- Chair King: We're going too far into the weeds. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes. Chair King: The motion, as I understand it, is to not tie your hands. Mr. DeGrandy: Right. But -- Chair King: Okay, so -- Mr. DeGrandy: -- Commissioner Reyes -- Chair King: Okay. Mr. DeGrandy: -- wanted an explanation. Chair King: Right. So, you're going a little -- Commissioner Reyes: Will you go any place? Mr. DeGrandy: If -- Chair King: Right. So -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, But 1 think -- Mr. DeGrandy: Do I finish the explanation? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Madam Chair I think on that point it's clear. That little triangle, it takes it down to Miami -- to the Miami River, that, those 2,900 people go to District 1. The other side of North Miami goes to District 5, right, where the MRC is and all that, right? Mr. DeGrandy: Right, the MRC -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: In your map, yes. Mr. DeGrandy: Goes into 5 -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: That's exactly what he drew. Mr. DeGrandy: -- those 2,500 can either go into District 2 -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right. Mr. DeGrandy: -- back to District 2, or across the river to District 3. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right. Mr. DeGrandy: Now, just if I may just finish this one thought, Madam Chair, because I think it's important for then everybody to understand how one thing -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Impacts the other. City of Miami Page 63 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Mr. DeGrandy: -- you know, affects another. If 1 take those 2,514 people and put them into District 2, that ups its deviation from 0 to close to 3 percent. He's at 3.5, so taking it out from his will put him at 2.5. So now my deviation is no longer -- because I have different highs and lows, no longer 3.8, my deviation now is 5 and change. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right. Can we call the question, Madam Chair? Chair King: Right, let's call -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Please. Chair King: -- the question. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): And Chair, just again for clarification, the motion is directing the consultant to consider moving south beyond US -I to maintain balance of population. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes. Mr. Hannon: Is there any else? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: That's the motion. Mr. Hannon: Anything else? Chair King: There was a motion and a second. Vice Chair Carollo: Second. Mr. Hannon: Yes, it was moved. Chair King: All in favor? Commissioner Reyes: Aye. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Aye. Vice Chair Carollo: Ave. Commissioner Russell: I'm a no. Chair King: Hold on. Let me do by person. Commissioner Russell: Roll call vote. Chair King: Roll call. All in favor? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Aye. Vice Chair Carollo: Aye. Commissioner Reyes: Aye. Mr. Hannon: Give me one second. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: They're blocking you. City of Miami Page 64 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Mr. Hannon: Roll call on the motion directing the consultant to consider moving south beyond US-1 to maintain balance of population. Commissioner Russell? Commissioner Russell: No. Mr. Hannon: Commissioner Carollo? Vice Chair Carollo: Yes. Mr. Hannon: Commissioner Reyes? Commissioner Reyes: Yes. Mr. Hannon: Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes. Mr. Hannon: Commissioner Chair King? Chair King:: Yes. Mr. Hannon: The motion passes 4-1. Chair King: And this will conclude -- Vice Chair Carollo: No, no. Chair King: We have more? Vice Chair Carollo: No, I think we need to give Mr. DeGrandy a few more areas of clear directions. And let me go into them. Mr. DeGrandy I wanted to leave here today where you have a pretty clear sense of where you're heading. Mr. DeGrandy: I appreciate that. Vice Chair Carollo: So, you don't have any doubts. At the same time, Mr. Clerk, when are the elections again for District 3? Mr. Hannon: For District 3? Vice Chair Carollo: Yes, my district. Mr. Hannon: It would be 2025. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. And can I run again? Mr. Hannon: No, sir. You would be termed out. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. I'm term limit. So, I'm not trying to cut districts in any way to benefit me or anything like that. What I am trying to do is, number one, as I stated were my goals from day one in the year 2000, when I put all my, political whereabouts to get a referendum passed for districts so that we could have African -American representation first and foremost, and then into the future, be able to have guaranteed Anglo representation, and to have three districts that were Hispanic. These are my intentions here today. I have no doubt that the way that we're breaking District 5 is going to be an African -American representation. Any way we cut District 2, the same City of Miami Page 65 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 would happen, because when you look at the voting population, they'll be very high to he able to accomplish that. My concern now is just the opposite of back in 2000. My concern is that if we dilute some of these districts or one district or another, in particular District 3 and possibly District 1, because District 4 is the most Hispanic, by far, of any of these three districts, that we're risking into the future ending up with two districts of Hispanics. So, you might have a population that is very plus majority Hispanic, but because the voting power is not there, you end up differently. And this is why I'm going this way. And let's begin in the Grove so we can finish that and then 171 jump into the rest of the districts. The North Grove, as the gentleman explained to me, in his mind, is from 27th Avenue to just past -- the North Grove is from 27th Avenue to just past -- (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, okay, yeah, okay, thank you. Just past -- beginning at 27th Avenue is the North Grove all the way to where the road that divides, past 17th Avenue, the enclave that we have here next to the museums. These areas are the North Grove. You had suggested that you would come from US -I all the way from Day Avenue, across to 27th Avenue and go up to US-1, where you have pretty close to a triangle to go to District 4. That would take, out of the 5,071 residents, that would take 497 Black residents out of the traditional West Grove area. I guess you've got a couple of streets and they're slivered. I would suggest that by -- to try to keep Grove neighborhoods that are more cohesive together, is instead of giving that to District 4, you go down 27th, South Bayshore Drive, 22nd Avenue, US-1, and you take that area of the North Grove. This way, you're dealing with only the North Grove, instead of that other triangle. Iffor any reason, I don't know what the numbers are. You still need a little bit more population than what you have there, then use Bird Road as your boundary line. Bird from 27th to US-1 to I guess it goes to 32nd more or less, or 30, yeah, and you like Home Depot's, right? You got another one. So, I would suggest that you try that. And this way, there's no question whatsoever that the West Grove, the Black Grove, would not be affected in any way in any of the changes, and — Commissioner Reyes: (INAUDIBLE). Vice Chair Carollo: Well, what I'm saying, Commissioner, is that we begin with 27' Avenue to 22"d Avenue, US-1 to South Bayshore Drive, so you can bring in the North Grove. Commissioner Reyes: (INAUDIBLE). Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. And if you need any additional numbers, which I don 't know what they'll be, because the triangle that he's pointed out now seems to be bigger, then you go down across, but Bird Avenue should be the dividing line from 27' to US-1. Commissioner Reyes: (INAUDIBLE). Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. Commissioner Reyes: (INAUDIBLE). Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Well, I'm glad you're happy with that because I'm not so sure you might be as happy with the next one. But remember my words. You have the most Hispanic, and I'll even go and use the word that's a no -no, besides the most Hispanic, you have the most Cuban district — Commissioner Reyes: It is. It is. It is. City of Miami Page 66 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Vice Chair Carollo: -- out of the three. Because you have a lot of people with roots. Your district is, for the most part, single family homes, people that have bought their homes, that have lived there. Commissioner Reyes: Been settled. Vice Chair Carollo: For years and years. Commissioner Reyes: For many years. Vice Chair Carollo: Whereas in Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla's District, in my district, we have a lot of old units that you have people that move out, 1 wonder sometimes if it's every month, you know, by the sofas that I see out in the streets. Commissioner Reyes: And also, I want to add that in my district we have a lot of people that are boarders, that have been boarders for many, many, many years. Vice Chair Carollo: That's correct. Commissioner Reyes: And you don 't have that. Vice Chair Carollo: What 1 was saying before. Commissioner Reyes: You see, and also Mr. Diaz de la Portilla, one thing that DeGrandy has to take into consideration is the number of voters. What 's the percentage ofpeople that vote there, you see? Chair King: So, gentlemen, gentlemen, if may. Commissioner Reyes: Oh, I'm sorry, I'm part of the public now. Chair King: Yes. That's right. Vice Chair Carollo: In the changes that Mr. DeGrandv made, you've gotten a huge Hispanic area on the other side of US-1. Mr. DeGrandv: Correct. Vice Chair Carollo: With a 10-acre park, Douglas Road Park. Mr. DeGrandy: Correct. Vice Chair Carollo: It's a 10-acre park, a very nice park. Commissioner Reyes: (INAUDIBLE). Vice Chair Carollo: Well, he's put that already, but see, where I'm going at is that you're getting all the sirloin but none of the bone. And there has to be a balance into the future so that District 3, which I can't run again, so it's not me, and District 1 can keep the same type of last names, faces that they have. And that we don 't end up with diluting, artificially, Hispanic population in the city of Miami. So, what I'm proposing, Mr. DeGrandy, is I think we're okay and the Commission is blessed. What I mentioned in the Grove part, and I think most people would be happy on that change, if we had to go into the Grove. This area here is a natural for the Commissioner, and by the way I never heard from 2000 until today, anybody from. the Grove objecting that this area is being taken away from a natural area next door, and City of Miami Page 67 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 the District 2 wanting to, across US -I, to balance it. But that's besides the point now. This ivhole area here, which is a very rich area of voters that own their own homes, like the rest of Commissioner Reyes's District, Hispanic 10-acre park, a lot of movies you're going to have to do, but he's only going to get a slight sliver here in this part of the Grove of areas that are not Hispanic like the rest of his district. Now going up this way, I believe you had given me to square off on 27' Avenue, this piece here from Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla's — Commissioner Reyes: It is right here. (INAUDIBLE). Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, but — Commissioner Reyes: It's a sliver. Vice Chair Carollo: Right, but no, no, but on top here. The sliver that you gave me from Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla's District is from 27th Avenue to 22', the Miami River, to Northwest 7`h Street. Mr. DeGrandv: That's correct. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. You should leave that in Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla's District, I think you gave him these two slivers to go in a straight line. Commissioner Reyes: From 3' ' to 7rh. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. Unidentified Speaker: Why can 't we stay on the north of the US -I, I don't understand, that's a huge chunk. Vice Chair Carollo: I would, you know, where it would make sense, bring it straight to this other one here. And then the bottom part of this, or the top part, both, depending on how it pans out, together with this piece, you give to District 3 — Commissioner Reyes: No, no, no, no — Vice Chair Carollo: -- and, and, well, yeah, but see, that's the whole thing. You're getting more than two squares here in the prime Hispanic area, and you 're diluting — Commissioner Reyes: Now you're getting into my district. I knew it. I knew it that sooner or later you were going to jump in. I knew it. I knew it. Vice Chair Carollo: But Commissioner, I'm looking into the future. Commissioner Reyes: And I'm looking into the future. Chair King: Gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, you're looking at your election. Chair King: Hello. Vice Chair Carollo: Not the future of the others. I'm term limited. I don't run again. Commissioner Reyes: Well — Chair King: Wait, if I may, City of Miami Page 68 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Commissioner Reyes: Let's wait — Chair King: Wait, gentlemen, if I may, if may — Commissioner Reyes: I know that you have a scalpel and you're trying to cut away — Chair King: Okay, listen, listen, ifI may. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, that's exactly what you're doing. Chair King: Commissioner — Commissioner Reyes: No, that's not what I've done. Chair King: We have addressed this. We have addressed this, and Mr. DeGrandy has his clear instructions, and he will be coming back to us individually so — Vice Chair Carollo: Now Mr. DeGrandy, but I want to be clear in instructions, Commissioner, and we have to be clear, because look, I don't care on what District 3 could have, what District 1, what District 4, what I care is that in the future, there are sufficient Hispanic votes there to elect a Hispanic. And a Hispanic is not going to be a lapdog for anybody from those districts. And the only way that you could find that balance is within these three districts. Now, District 4 got a huge chunk of rich Hispanic voters, not just in population, but voters, because these are people that own homes. To balance for the future of these other two districts, there has to be a balance. What I saw that Mr. DeGrandy did, he went into Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla's District and he got this small chunk here from District 3, and then only went a couple of blocks from 9`h Street and purposely it was cut off even before you get to this park so that this park could stay still in District 4. Now, I would have understood it more if you would have gone deeper, but then deeper you 're getting into more into the Shenandoah area that I know that Commissioner Reyes has worked, he prefers it for the park. This is why I'm talking about going here. There are no parks to be messed with, even though they're small here, so that this district, whoever the commissioner is four years from now, and into the future in D1, you have sufficient Hispanic voters in that district. Because the one district that is in most danger into the future of losing a Hispanic representative is District 3, because while the numbers and population are extremely high in Hispanic, the number of voters are not that high, because you have a lot of illegal immigrants, you have a lot of new residents that live there and don't vote. So, all that I'm trying to do is balance this out for the future. I'm not running again. So, you know, it doesn't matter to me. And the only way that it could be done is within this district. Commissioner Reyes's district is still going to be highly, highly Hispanic, that there's not going to be any problem for him or any other Hispanic after him to get elected there, even with those cuts. Right now, the performance for Hispanic votes is way above what District 3 is or what District 1 is. And this is why I'm making these observations. Mr. DeGrandy: May I make a suggestion? Commissioner Reyes: Well, observation well taken — Chair King: Who said that? Commissioner Reyes: Observations well taken. Mr. Wysong: We have him on the record. City of Miami Page 69 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Mr. DeGrandy: May I make a suggestion before — Commissioner Reyes: The observations were well taken. I was suspected and 1 knew it. But I think that we have to wait until the experts come in and, I mean, I can give you another part of my district, you see, I can give you — Chair King: I agree with Commissioner Reyes that — Commissioner Reyes: You see, what I think is — what 1 think is that we are just turning everything around, are going against what he has proposed, and 1 don't mind —1 don't mind working out in a — in a way that we can make it as Hispanic as you can, because it is Hispanic right now. It is quite Hispanic. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Madam Chair. Chair King: Commissioner. Commissioner Reyes: Your part on that area, it is quite Hispanic. Chair King: Commissioner, Mr. DeGrandy wants to — Mr. DeGrandy.: May I make a suggestion? Because as 1 understood what you were discussing, ifl were to give Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla back his portion, give the portion that 1 gave to Diaz de la Portilla from 4 into Carollo, we're talking now about another 7 or 8 blocks difference from what Commissioner Carollo is saying, because I'm already going to give him what gave Diaz de la Portilla. So, we're talking about — Commissioner Reyes: Well, let's do one thing. Mr. DeGrandy: Sure. Commissioner Reyes: Let's do one thing, one thing that I hate. It is — and it is, that always, you see, he comes around and he wants to cut it his way. You see, that is not the way it works. Vice Chair Carollo: What do you mean my way? Chair King: Okay. Vice Chair Carollo: I was — Commissioner Reyes: No, no, no, no, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Vice Chair Carollo: You have taken — (MULTIPLE PARTIES SPEAKING IN UNISON) Chair King: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. We're not going to — we're not going to get into that. You have clear instructions on what needs to be done. I think Commissioner Russell would like to say something, then I will recognize — Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: What happened to your order? Chair King: Well, he's had his hand up a while and this started with going across US- 1. So, let's have Commissioner Russell, then Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla, and City of Miami Page 70 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 then we have to come to a consensus and end this meeting because we could be here until tomorrow on this. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But if you let me, I think we're done. Chair King: Okay, but let's — Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yeah. Chair King: Let me let Commissioner Russell be heard. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay. Chair King: Commissioner Russell. Commissioner Russell: Thank you. I just have a final question for Mr. DeGrandy that can give my residents some potential preview of what we're looking at. The motion that passed was to consider moving south. Do you believe that you could equalize the districts within the legal amount of deviation without disturbing the boundaries of Coconut Grove? Mr. DeGrandy: Yes. Commissioner Russell: Thank you. Mr. DeGrandy: Only if1 go into —from Mr. Carollo's District into downtown. That's the only way I can do it. Commissioner Reyes: It's possible, thank you. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Madam Chair. Mr. DeGrandy: That's a policy issue for you all to make. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But it's already, Mr. DeGrandy, that policy decision has already been made by this Commission. Mr. DeGrandy: Okay. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So, you understand what the policy decision that this Commission made. Commissioner Russell: It has not. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: It has been made on a motion, absolutely. It's been made already, it passed 4-1. So, its already been made. It's already passed. I think the best thing to do to avoid any further debate is that we end the meeting and he already knows what he needs to do. He knows, he has the date. Vice Chair Carollo: Alright. I do need one question from him. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And — yes. Vice Chair Carollo: IfI could, through the Chair. Chair King: Go ahead. City of Miami Page 71 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Vice Chair Carollo: Thank you. Mr. DeGrandy, in the small area from 9th Street down — in the small area from 9th Street down, that you brought me down, 1 think it was to 11 th Street, just below this park, so that it would not fall into District 3. How many — what is the population of this small area here? What was the population of Diaz de la Portilla's area on top that you gave to me? Mr. Hannon: Chair? Chair? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Microphone. Microphone. Mr. DeGrandy: The movement that we made from District 4 to District 1 had 2,500 — Vice Chair Carollo: No, no, hold on. From District 4 to District 3. Mr. DeGrandy: Right. I'm just telling you since you also asked fog• that one. That 's from 4, and then from 1 to 3, is that what you 're saying? Vice Chair Carollo: No, no. Yeah, and the 1 from 3, those two. Mr. DeGrandy: The 1 to 3 was 2,897. Vice Chair Carollo: The 1 to 3 was what? Mr. DeGrandy: 2,897. Vice Chair Carollo: 2,897. Mr. DeGrandy: Right. Vice Chair Carollo: Which voters? Mr. DeGrandy: Okay, so the one from 4 to 1, and that 's why I was saying — Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: He wants 4 to 3. He wants 4 to 3. Mr. DeGrandy: Yeah, but that's — if I could take a second, that's why I'm saying that Commissioner Reyes, Commissioner Carollo, you're really off by about seven or eight streets. Once I give Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla back his area and give the area I gave to Diaz del Portilla into Carollo, you're almost there. Let me now answer your question. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Mr. DeGrandy. I'm sorry Madam Chair, that's not what Commissioner Carollo is asking. He wants to see if the number comes close to 2, 897 from 4 to 3. Right, Commissioner Carollo? Vice Chair Carollo: Yes. Mr. DeGrandy: From 4 to 3, that is 4,232. Vice Chair Carollo: How much? Mr. DeGrandy: 4,232. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And how about, if may, as a follow up to that same question. What happens in the area you give between 32nd and 37th going to US-1 to Commissioner Reyes, that now belongs to Commissioner 2 [sic] the City of Miami Page 72 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Commissioner from the 2nd? The Douglas Park area that you give to District 4, that you take away from District 2. Mr. DeGrandy: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Vice Chair Carollo: That whole area that he got from the Grove, over. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: That whole area. That Douglas Park -- Mr. DeGrandy: That whole area without crossing US-1 is 10,496. Vice Chair Carollo: 10,496. Okay. Now, the two slivers that you gave District 1 from District 4, if you could address each of the slivers. The one that you want to give me back now? How many people did it have? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Four blocks. Mr. DeGrandy: Commissioner, the one that gave from D4 to D3. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: To DI. Vice Chair Carollo: No, D1 now. You gave me the D3. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Northwest 3rd Street, north. Mr. DeGrandy: So, then the one from D4 to D1 is what you want? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. There's two. Break them down into the two parts. Mr. DeGrandy: D4 to DI is 2,510 people. Vice Chair Carollo: 2,510, and then the other piece, that there were two pieces, two small pieces that I remember seeing. Mr. DeGrandy: D4 to 1 there was only one piece. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: One census tract but two precincts is what he's talking about. Mr. DeGrandy: Excuse me? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I think it's one census tract, right? Mr. DeGrandy: Yeah. It's basically one movement went from 4 to 1. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, you had two pieces. You had from here to here to here. Mr. DeGrandy: Right. I consider that one -- one movement. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Mr. DeGrandy: One movement. City of Miami Page 73 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: That that total is 2,510. Correct. Mr. DeGrandy? That total is -- that whole sliver from 3rd Street to 7th Street, yeah that part is 2,410 -- 2,510. Mr. DeGrandy: 2,510. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay. Chair King: Okay, can we -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: This is the danger of doing a map on the dais. Chair King: Right, because we're doing it from here, so can we wrap this -- you will meet with each individual commissioner and answer all questions that they have remaining so we can -- Vice Chair Carollo: The -- my question is, the 4, what 4 gave to 1, you've got those two slivers into one, so it's 2,510, correct? Mr. DeGrandy: That's correct. I don't have it divided in two, I have it as one. And it's 2,510. Vice Chair Carollo: Alright. The other sliver that's next to it, the one that you left out, and it's going to make it kind of odd to begin with, which is the last piece here that would be, l guess, from 37th Avenue. Mr. DeGrandy: (INAUDIBLE). Vice Chair Carollo: No, no, no. Mine is here. This is 27th, 32nd, 32nd, right? So, it would be from 37th to going back, you know, this piece here and the white 37, actually would be the one on top, this piece here, how many people does it have? Those seem to have too many. Mr. DeGrandy: That I would have to get you data, I don't have the data for that. But what I can tell you is I went down when I gave the -- Commissioner Reyes: (INAUDIBLE). Vice Chair Carollo: Well, I'm just asking in this here. Commissioner Reyes: (INAUDIBLE). Mr. Wysong: We need to hear you on the microphone sir. Commissioner Reyes: How much is -- are you giving to 3 from 2? Chair King: Gentlemen, can these questions be answered -- Commissioner Reyes: Absolutely, that's what I want to do. Let's wait, let's wait, because if you are adding on -- Chair King: Because you're -- Commissioner Reyes: -- what I'm getting from everybody else -- Chair King: Right -- City of Miami Page 74 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 Commissioner Reyes: -- well, what are you getting from 2? Chair King: Right. Because the questions will continue. Commissioner Reyes: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Chair King: The questions will just continue. As he answers, you'll have more questions. Commissioner Reyes: Okay. So that's it. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, but we haven't then checked out what you're getting in the Coconut Grove section, too. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Madam Chair -- Vice Chair Carollo: That's the problem. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I want to have lunch. Chair King: Yes, yes, me too. Or dinner. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Or dinner. Chair King: So, if I may, can we adjourn this meeting? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes, ma'am. Commissioner Reyes: Yes. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Move to adjourn. Vice Chair Carollo: Mr. DeGrandy, you understand the concerns? Mr. DeGrandy: I think you're very close up there, and if I'm correct, once I move Chair King: Yes or no. Yes or no. Mr. DeGrandy: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Vice Chair Carollo: And from what I saw the numbers you gave me, correct me if I'm wrong. District 4 has 2, 000 plus more voters, or people. Mr. DeGrandy: 1,973. 2.23. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, 2,000 plus more. So, you could work that down if need be. Mr. DeGrandy: I can. Vice Chair Carollo: And adjust it. Mr. DeGrandy: Sure. Vice Chair Carollo: I'm down in population. While he's up. Okay. Mr. DeGrandy: I think I can work that out. City of Miami Page 75 Printed on 04/12/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes February 7, 2022 ADJOURNMENT Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Mr. DeGrandy: For both of your satisfaction. Vice Chair Carollo: Alright. There's a motion and a second. Chair King: All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Meeting adjourned. We're going to go straight into the Overtown -- Commissioner Reyes, don't go anywhere. We're going to go straight into the Overtown meeting. We're going to go straight into the Overtown meeting. END OF SPECIAL MEETING The meeting adjourned at 3:37 p.m. City of Miami Page 76 Printed on 04/12/2024