HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Office of the City AttorneyCITY OF MIAMI
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY
MEMORANDUM
TO: The Honorable Mayor and Members of the C'ty Commission
FROM: Julie O. Bra, C ttomey / '
DATE: May 1, 2012
RE: Proposed Ordinance for C'ty Commission Meeting — May 24, 2012
Amending Chapter 2/Article X of the Code of the City of Miami, Florida, as
amended, deleting the provision under Section 2-845 which requires a court
reporter to be present at a hearing.
File No. 12-00523
The attached proposed Ordinance is being presented by the Office of the City Attorney
for consideration at the May 24, 2012, City Commission meeting.
The City of Miami ("City") records all code enforcement hearings for the benefit of the
public and a copy of such recording is available upon request. In addition to recording, the City
currently retains court reporting services to transcribe every code enforcement hearing. The costs
of providing court reporting services far outweigh the benefits to the City and its citizens in
providing a court reporter at every hearing and incurring costs upwards of $50,000.00 per year.
Moreover, a small fraction of appeals are taken from cases before the Code Enforcement Board,
thus requiring the use of a transcript. Based on said reasons, the City would greatly benefit from
the savings during these fiscally challenging times by not obligating itself to provide court
reporting services at every code enforcement hearing. Also, the Florida Statutes do not require
the City to furnish such services.
c: Johnny Martinez, P.E., City Manager
Elvi Gallastegui, Agenda Coordinator
Attachment(s)