HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 2018-09-13 MinutesCity of Miami
City Hall
3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, FL 33133
www.miamigov.com
Meeting Minutes
Thursday, September 13, 2018
5:05 PM
First Budget Hearing
City Hall
City Commission
Francis Suarez, Mayor
Keon Hardemon, Chair
Ken Russell, Vice Chair
Wifredo (Willy) Gort, Commissioner, District One
Joe Carollo, Commissioner, District Three
Manolo Reyes, Commissioner, District Four
Emilio T. Gonzalez, City Manager
Victoria Mendez, City Attorney
Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk
City Commission
Meeting Minutes September 13, 2018
FIRST BUDGET HEARING
NOTE: FIRST BUDGET HEARING TO DISCUSS FISCAL YEAR 2017-2018 PROPOSED MILLAGE
RATE AND TENTATIVE BUDGET.
5:05 PM CALL TO ORDER
Present: Chair Hardemon, Vice Chair Russell, Commissioner Gort, Commissioner Carollo
and Commissioner Reyes.
On the 13th day of September 2018, the City Commission of the City of Miami, Florida, met
at its regular meeting place in City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida, for
its first budget hearing session. The meeting was called to order by Chair Hardemon at
7:13 p.m., and adjourned at 9:38 p.m.
ALSO PRESENT:
Emilio T. Gonzalez, Ph.D., City Manager
Victoria Mendez, City Attorney
Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk
Chair Hardemon: Welcome to the first budget hearing of the City of Miami City Commission
for fiscal year 2018/2019 in these historic chambers. The members of the City Commission are
Wedo Gort, Joe Carollo, Manolo Reyes, Vice Chairman Ken Russell; and myself, Keon
Hardemon, the Chair. Also on the dais are Emilio Gonzalez, the City Manager; Victoria
Mendez, our City Attorney; and Todd Hannon, our City Clerk.
ORDER OF THE DAY
Chair Hardemon: The City Attorney will state the procedures to be followed during
this meeting.
Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This evening the
City is holding its first budget meeting and related hearings for the purposes of
fixing the proposed millage rate, adopting a tentative budget, and approving various
agency budgets. There will be a final public hearing on Thursday, September 27,
2018, at 5:05 p.m. Any person who is a lobbyist, including all paid persons or firms
retained by a principal to advocate for a particular decision by the City Commission
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 City
Code section about lobbyists is available at the City Clerk's Office or online at
municode. com [sic]. Any person making a presentation, formal request or petition
to the City Commission concerning real property must make the disclosure required
by the City Code in writing. A copy of this Code section is available in the City
Clerk's Office or online at municode. com [sic]. 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 miamigov. com [sic]. 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 such time is modified by the Chair. If the
proposition is being continued or rescheduled, the opportunity to be heard may be at
such later date before the City Commission takes such action on such proposition.
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The Chairman will advise the public when the public may have the opportunity to
address the City Commission during the public comment period. When addressing
the City Commission, the member of the public must first state his or her name, his
or had address, and what agenda item he or she wishes to speak about. A copy of
the agenda item titles is available at the City Clerk's Office and at the podium for the
public's reference. Pursuant to Florida Administrative Code Rule 12(D)-17.005,
anyone wishing to appeal any decision made by the City Commission for any matter
considered at the first budget meeting does not need a verbatim record of the item. A
video of this meeting may be requested at the Office of Communications or viewed
online at miamigov. com [sic]. No cell phones or other noise -making devices are
permitted in the City Commission chambers; please silence those devices now. No
clapping, applauding, heckling, or verbal outbursts in support or opposition to a
speaker or his or her remarks shall be permitted. Any person making offensive
remarks or who becomes unruly in the City Commission chambers will be barred
from further attending Commission meetings and may be subject to arrest. No signs,
banners, or placards shall be allowed in the City Commission chambers. Any person
with a disability requiring assistance, auxiliary aids and services for this meeting
may notes the City Clerk. The meeting will either end at the conclusion of the first
budget -- I'm sorry. The meeting will end at the conclusion of the first budget
meeting agenda. Please note that Commissioners have generally been briefed by
City staff and the City Attorney on the items on the agenda today. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Chair Hardemon: You're very welcome. I believe the Mayor has a few words he'd
like to say to us.
Mayor Francis Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to take a moment to thank
you, thank Vice Chairman Russell, and all the members of the City Commission.
Before we begin, I'd like to take a moment to thank each and every employee of the
City of Miami for the great work that they have done throughout this last year. That
hard work and dedication is one of the reasons why I ensured that when we released
the budget in early July, we included funding to complete negotiations with our three
labor unions. It's time to end the years of discord between our employees and the
Administration. It is time to move on from lawsuits associated with the past, while
leaving the City with a strong financial future. I am proud to announce that we have
tentatively agreed on all articles of the City's three open contracts with our Fire
Rescue union, our general employees' union, and our Police union, and tentatively
settled the 2009 lawsuit against the City of Miami, which would have cost us
hundreds of millions of dollars, and bankrupt the City. I hope to bring these
contracts to the City Commission for your approval very soon. Any increased cost
resulting from these new contracts must not come at the expense of the shared
priorities of our residents; that is why, even in a difficult budget year, I am
proposing not to increase the City's millage rate. We will also continue to find and
leverage non -general fund dollars in every way possible. We are also committed to
creating a leaner and more efficient City of Miami government. Our Administration
has done an outstanding job of creating efficiencies by freezing or eliminating
longstanding vacant positions; thus, avoiding any impact to City services. In
addition, we have consolidated departments and aligned other similar functions in
order to provide greater coordination and wraparound human services for those
residents who need it most. Lastly, as a service city, we will continue to invest in our
employees and encourage a culture of innovation. This will further promote process
improvements, such as the electronic plans review system, which will go live by the
end of the year. This budget also proposes an additional $5 million to be allocated
towards citywide beautification projects. Let me be very clear. This money does not
come from the City's general fund. All great cities are defined by their public
spaces. These are the spaces we share as residents regardless of our station in life.
Making sure that our public spaces are a source of pride is a key part of creating a
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city that we are all proud to call home. This has been one of my top priorities as
Mayor, and I know that it is a top priority for all of you. With these funds, we are
proposing to install holiday lighting on our major roadways, replace thousands of
damaged or lost trees from Hurricane Irma; and most importantly, develop a
citywide beautification master plan. Projects like these create and enhance public
spaces that we all share and help us build an even stronger sense of community.
This budget also recognizes the needs of all our communities. I often refer to Miami
as being a tale of two cities. In order to bridge that divide, we must engage our
disenfranchised youth; this is why I'm proposing a $1 million contribution toward
the Overtown Youth Center Building Campaign. This is a promise made and a
promise kept for this great institution. Alonzo and Tina are playing a vital role in
shaping young lives in our community, and with our help, we can continue to work
together to empower, inspire, and enrich our youth for years to come. We must
continue to create a strong tech ecosystem so that these children have the tools to
compete in the knowledge -based economy of tomorrow. If we want our economy to
thrive, we must nurture our residents' ability to innovate from childhood. This tech
ecosystem requires nurturing through local organizations and events like the
eMERGE Technology Conference, which, as a city, we must continue to support. We
have also injected life into our newly -named Innovation and Technology
Department. They are doing things that wouldn't have been imagined just a few
years ago, placing Miami as a leader in innovation and technology. We did have the
foresight, however, to anticipate the need for more localized transportation and
other mobility options to help our residents move around our city. All with an eye to
the future, I proposed and the City Commission adopted, when I was Commissioner,
a Transportation Trust Fund. We knew that we would max out the County's funding
for our growing trolley system. This year the Transportation Trust Fund will fund
the gap that would have -- that we -- that would have otherwise required the City to
eliminate trolley routes, cut back services, or charge a fee. Instead, I am proud to
say that our trolley system is the largest municipal trolley system regionally, and
growing. That being said, a key to be -- maintaining ridership is to ensure that our
trolley system is accessible to residents of all ages and demographics; especially our
seniors, who oftentimes are left to stand exposed to the sun and rain while waiting
for a trolley to arrive; that is why I am proposing that we build trolley shelters at or
near senior centers. We have already identified 17 possible locations, and are
working to build them at no cost to the City. Finally, as the impending landfall of
Hurricane Florence reminds us all, it is important that this is a resilient budget for a
resilient city; that is why the proposed budget has invested in building a more robust
capital plan, strategically prioritizing and allocating resources to projects that
address mobility, affordable housing, safety, and economic opportunity. Miamians
have also invested in their city's future through the Miami Forever Bond. We will
soon be announcing a plan for developing and prioritizing projects that will
maximize resilience benefits and address sea level rise in our aging infrastructure.
Together, we will identify immediate term projects to address our most pressing
needs relating to flood risk, roads, bikeways and sidewalks, and outdate facilities in
our parks. The expanded role and new leadership in the Department of Resilience
and Public Works has helped us take proactive measures during the September king
tides, which thus far have prevented our residents from being adversely affected.
Our budget is principled and funds our priorities as a city. Let's move into the new
fiscal year by prioritizing our employees and residents, prioritizing efficiency of our
government and process, prioritizing beautification of our public spaces, prioritizing
our growing transportation and tech ecosystem, and by prioritizing making Miami
the most resilient city in the world. Thank you for your time, Commissioners. I
encourage you to pass the budget as proposed, as amended by the City Manager;
and, of course, subject to your input and changes. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
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PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD FOR BUDGET ITEM(S)
Chair Hardemon: At this time, I'll open the floor for public comment regarding our
budget hearing items, including items BH 20 and BH 21. If you are a member of the
public and you want to speak on any item that's on the agenda today, now is your
opportunity to do so. Approach one of the two lecterns; state your first name, your
last name; you may state your address; and which item it is that you're here to speak
about. Once again, this is the opportunity for public comment regarding the budget.
If you'd like to speak on any of the items, you approach any of the two lecterns; state
your first name, your last name; you may state your address; and which item it is
that you're here to speak about.
Dawn Shirreffs: Thank you. Don Shirreffs, the Director of Public Affairs for the
Miami Foundation, 40 Northwest 3rd Street, Miami 33128; here to speak on the
budget general. I'd like to thank the Commission for the opportunity to touch base
with you tonight, and I'm certainly impressed with the quality of the budget as it was
presented. It was really, really incredible to read. I think you guys set a really gold
standard in terms of the transparency in your budget. I'm here tonight to talk to you
a little bit, because I share the Mayor's hope that -- and Miami Foundation shares
the Mayor's hope that Miami will be the most resilient city in the world. We think we
really are -- we have an opportunity ahead of us to make some substantial changes
that the world is watching, and we know that we can set the new bar. It is for that
reason that the Miami Foundation has been closely partnering with the City of
Miami on A Hundred Resilient Cities' work, as well as their broader resilience
efforts. I'm proud to share if you don't already know that this past July, the Funders
Network for Smart Growth and the Miami Foundation jointly funded a position in
the Office of Resilience at the City of Miami for $50, 000, to increase the capacity the
Office of Resilience would have, because of the great work that's being done. We
were then, of course, very disappointed to see the elimination of a position from that
office, and a reduction of $62,000 to that office. It is our hope to continue to partner
with you to strengthen the Office of Resilience and to strengthen the City of Miami
together, and we hope that you will restore that position in the budget this evening.
Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you. Sir, you're recognized.
Ed Haynes: Good afternoon. Ed Haynes, 5120 Northwest 24th Avenue,
representing the Circle of Brotherhood. Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, Vice Chair,
I came today to speak on behalf of the Circle of Brotherhood and the work that's
being done in the community. I want to basically offer some information. It's once
been said that if a tree falls in the woods and nobody knows, did it fall? Well, there's
a lot of work that's going on in the community on behalf of the Circle of
Brotherhood, and we want to make you aware of it so that you can consider from a
budgetary point of view how you may be able to support our efforts. One of the main
things -- myself, as a former law enforcement officer, instead of complaining about
the issues of violence that are happening in the City of Miami, we wanted to do
something about it. And what we have done is we've gotten with the Circle of
Brotherhood, a bunch of men -- black men -- that are taking responsibility for their
own community. When you look at the crime rates and when you look at the cost of
police officers, it is much cheaper to support an organized group that has a
501(c)(3) that is actually doing the work, has been audited, and is properly doing the
work in the community. One of the ways that we are trying to create a bridge
between the community and law enforcement is just recently, for example, we
actually took a group of men, many of which that have been to prison, we formed a
partnership with Miami -Dade Police Department, and because of my background in
law enforcement, one of the things that I realized is that a lot of these men commit
crimes because they don't know the rules and they don't know the viewpoint of the
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police officer. So what we did was we went out to Metro -Dade Police Department
and took them through a simulated police academy where they actually had to go
through simulations that police officers actually go through. Once they went
through those particular simulations, the conversation leading -- going onto that
particular field trip was much different than going back, because they got a chance
to see the reality of what a police officer goes through; the stresses, and all of the
other circumstances that are involved when they are dealing with policing the
community. But we didn't stop there. We went one step further, because we have a
school located in the City of Miami, which is the old Floral Heights Elementary
School. And basically, that school is our headquarters. Well, what we did then was
we invited the police department to send police cadets that are graduating from the
academy to come to our school, and we created simulations for them so that those
police officers could get the reality of the community that they serve. And we gave
them scenarios such as individuals that had no idea of what law enforcement meant;
young ladies who may have been left at home because their mother may have been
on drugs, and they were left with an uncle who was molesting them; all kind of
scenarios that police officers may never have come into contact with. And those
police cadets, after corning to the school, initially thinking that it was a waste of
time, at the end of that day, both groups formed a strong partnership, and they
begged us to come to their graduation, which the group did go to. And now, you
have a partnership between the County and the Circle of Brotherhood We want that
same relationship with the City of Miami, and we're hoping that you guys will look at
how, within the next budget cycle, that you can include us in the budget. Thank you
very much.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you, sir. You're recognized, sir.
Justin Trieger: My name is Justin Trieger; address is 1926 Northwest 17th Street.
Most of my comments pertain to the capital budget, BH 19. Thank you for the
opportunity to speak to you tonight. Hopefully, this won't be as contentious as the
last session, but as a member of the Allapattah Neighborhood Association, as a
private citizen, one of the things that occurred to me in reviewing the capital budget
was the density and complexity of that document, even as transparent and well
prepared as it is. One way of looking at the data that to me might help illustrate for
citizens in a real way where the money is going is if the appropriations in a multi-
year sense can be broken down by district so we can have a real sense of for each
district, how much money is being expended year to year in the capital budget.
Similarly, if we can track tax revenue in the same way; not that equitable spending of
money means everyone gets the same piece, but if there is a trend or some kind of
situation where for many years, one district is receiving an outsized proportion of
the appropriations, it would be good for us to know that's happening and then be
able to ask the question, "Why?" So if that kind of data exists so we can already see
that, or if that might be included in another edition of the budget, that would be
much appreciated. As far as Allapattah and District 1, for us, the priority is
definitely mobility and street resurfacing, and pedestrian safety. There are many
items in the capital budget which pertain to these issues, but are unfunded or
partially funded as of yet, so anything we can do to push funding in that direction,
increasing the trolley, et cetera, will be very helpful; similarly, being in close
proximity to the Miami River, anything we can do to prioritize the resiliency the
Mayor was speaking about, and those programs is super important. And now that
the Miami Forever Citizens Oversight Board has full appointeeship [sic], as a
member, I'm happy to get started working on -- focusing on those issues with the
other citizen members. So thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you.
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Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, ma'am.
Emily Gorman: Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Emily Gorman. I am
the chair of the Steering Committee for the Miami Climate Alliance. I am also one of
3,000 Sierra Club members in your area. Thank you for the opportunity to speak
tonight. Thank you for your leadership thus far in resilience. We have been really
delighted by the Resilient 305 Program. We've also been really excited to hear the
rhetoric from the Mayor's office that Miami is interested in being the most resilient
city in the world; that is thrilling to us. So we are here tonight to ask you to make
the budget a reflection of those priorities, to place those leadership measures in
stone, and to take the next step and expand the Office of Resilience. Please reinstate
the $62, 000 loss by the Office of Resilience. Please also add an additional
$500, 000, at least, to the Office of Resilience. We think that this is a really
important measure for establishing the City of Miami a leader, not just in the State,
but in the country. And we're excited to continue celebrating your leadership, and
we hope that you give us the opportunity to do so tonight. Also, please fund the
Biscayne Bay Marine Health Summit at the level that has been requested. We've
heard a lot of excitement from the community. I know that's a little outside of your
normal budget, general budget hearing, but we've heard a lot of excitement from the
community on this. We haven't seen the concrete move forward in the City of Miami.
We're expecting that, but just a reminder to please think of -- put that in your
thoughts, also. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized.
Zelalem Adefris: Hi. I'm Zelalem Adefris. I work at Catalyst Miami. We're a social
services nonprofit that's been working in Miami for the past 22 years. So after 20 or
so years of doing direct human services -- and we continue to do that, but we've
added on resilience as a lens of the work that we do, because we realize it's critical
to address these issues as -- if we're going to exist as a nonprofit in the City of Miami
and serve community members here, so it's really exciting to hear the Mayor's
comments about the value of resilience. I'm also here to speak on reinstating the
$62, 000 in the budget for the Office of Resilience and Sustainability. We know as a
nonprofit that our resilience issues are not only flooding, but also hurricanes, public
health issues, extreme heat, tree cover, transportation, and we've also learned that
we need to empower residents to take care of each other and protect their financial
assets, and to be able to grow and thrive. We know that we can't invest in
infrastructure alone, although it is a very important piece of the puzzle. So please
support your departments that are working across all of these sectors that are
working to involve emergency management and resilience, and tie this very
complicated issue together. So we hope you'll reinstate that funding, as well as
continue to see this office grow rather than shrink in the coming years, as this is the
biggest issue I think City of Miami will face. Also, I want to shout out to Circle of
Brotherhood. They do great work, and they're a wonderful partner to us, as well as
the Biscayne Bay Summit. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you. Sir, you're recognized.
Al Crespo: Good afternoon. Al Crespo. So I've come here because I need you guys
to help me out. You know, everybody loves me until I write a story about them. And
when I write a story about them, then I get accused of being on somebody's payroll.
In the last couple of weeks, I've been accused of being on Commissioner Russell's
payroll, on Commissioner Carollo's payroll, on the Mayor's payroll. The only
problem is I never get a check. Nobody pay -- nobody comes through with a
payment. So seeing as you all have money in the bank now, you know, especially you
got another $3 million from the Bayfi^ont Park Trust, so I'm kind of wondering,
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maybe you might add a little line item in the budget saying, "Payoffs for Crespo" --
right? -- so I could at least get a check once in a while, because, truly, I mean, I --
you know, all these people -- I mean, like Grant Stearn accused me of being on
Commissioner's payroll for a long -- Commissioner Carollo's payroll for a long time,
and I had to chastise Grant about that, right? So I'm just kind of hoping you all will
help an old man out. Have a good night.
Vice Chair Russell: He drove all the way down for that.
Chair Hardemon: He left time on the record.
Pat Gajardo: My name is --
Vice Chair Russell: Slow clap.
Mr. Gajardo: Pat Gajardo, resident of Allapattah.
Commissioner Carollo: Charlie Crespo, glad you heard.
Mr. Gajardo: I'm on no one's payroll. 1432 Northwest 28th Street. I'm here today
to --
Commissioner Gort: Why don't you start from the beginning again.
Mr. Gajardo: All right. My name is Pat Gajardo, a 40-year resident of Allapattah.
I live at 1432 Northwest 28th Street. I'm here today because, for whatever reason,
the people of my community, it seems, feels marginalized and disenfranchised. Part
of that stems from the past. I know in working with our Commissioner over the past
couple of years, he's done a tremendous job in supporting us. I'm basically here to
let you guys know we need funds allocated for our parks, our kids, our future, and
Allapattah doesn't have the resources or facilities that some of the areas -- other
areas of the City have, and it would be nice if you guys find it where you can allocate
funds to build maybe a rec (recreation) center or something of that sort.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you.
Mr. Gajardo: Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: Can I ask Commissioner Gort a quick question, based on
what he asked? Commissioner, how many rec centers do you have in your district?
Commissioner Gort: Pardon?
Commissioner Carollo: How many recreation centers do you have
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) ?
Commissioner Gort: We have one for each (UNINTELLIGIBLE). There's a plan to
build a bigger one there.
Commissioner Carollo: Good.
Commissioner Gort: Yeah.
Commissioner Carollo: That's good.
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Commissioner Gort: We already had the funds allocated. I been talking to the
Parks Department to have one.
Commissioner Carollo: Great. That's an area that's needed in. Good to hear that.
Mr. Gajardo: If I may, I'd like to add one more thing. We have a community of over
-- probably close to 60,000 residents. Many are from the Caribbean, Latin America.
We don't have one designated soccer field.
Commissioner Carollo: In particular, Dominican Republic. You got a lot.
Mr. Gajardo: I'm sorry?
Commissioner Carollo: You got a lot from the Dominican Republic there.
Mr. Gajardo: We do, we do. We have plenty of baseball and softball fields, but no
soccer fields. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you, sir. You're recognized, sir.
David McDougal: Yeah. Thank you. Hey. My name is David McDougal. I live at
4231 Northwest 11 th Place, Miami 33127, and I'm a founding member of the Miami
Climate Alliance. I work closely with the many organizations that comprise the
Miami Climate Alliance, and also work very closely with the Office of Resilience
staff, and have really valued their showing up to all of our meetings, including our
disaster resilience serious game simulation, and all the things that we do that we are
trying very hard to build our own community and economic resilience. And it's so
important that we keep that office fully staffed. We really appreciate the lengths that
the Miami Foundation and others have gone to funding additional staffing, and for a
city that wants to call itself the most resilient city in the world, why is it that we are
cutting 62K from the Office of Resilience? Is the position not needed? Is it not part
of the vision for the most resilient city in the world? We ask not only a reinstatement
of the 62K position, but also adding 500K, finding some money to fully accomplish
the mission of building community resilience and economic resilience, beyond just
buildings and infrastructure. That said, there is extreme heat issues, hurricane
preparedness issues, all kinds of other issues that are well beyond buildings and
infrastructure, and it's so important that we can take care of all of our communities
and protect our communities in the -- in terms of climate and extreme weather. I'd
also like to ask that for this budget that we do something like the County budget,
where they've taken the time to put a green leaf emoji next to everything that is
focused on resilience. It does help us to identify the costs. The costs are growing,
they're significant, and it's important that we can track our costs, we can follow our
costs, we know what they are, so that it's not taxpayers alone that are shouldering
those costs, but we can start looking for other revenue streams, including State and
Federal money for the growing costs of resilience. Thank you so much.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you. Sir, you're recognized.
Albert Gomez: Good evening. Albert Gomez. I'm a local business owner down
here. I'm also one of the founding members of the Miami Climate Alliance. I
coordinate the South Florida Resilience System; been trained on resilience for the
last 12 years of my life. One of the components that I want to address upfront is
thank you, Emily, for bringing up the Biscayne Bay Marine Health Summit. We did
pass it on the Sea Level Rise Committee. I am a City member. It was brought to
you. It was approved by you. The City Manager asked for the budget information
on it; still looking for some feedback on that, really looking forward to it. Jane
followed up with me just a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully, we're going to push this
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through. We have -- cities from all over the country are willing to come in and give
us guidance, including Chesapeake Bay, which just passed some amazing ordinances
and plans. We have access to advancing our resiliency in action with all academic
institutions locally and throughout the United States also attending. I would
appreciate it if you back it. Secondarily, I'd -- you know, Ajani's departure and 50-
some-odd thousand dollars leaving the Office of Resilience should be taken into
account. Now the Office of Resilience doesn't have sustainability. He was the lead
on the sustainable initiatives. We need to honor sustainability. And as a function of
that, I would point to the fact that I came to this Commission and I spoke to all of
you, and we actually -- the Commission voted, and they voted against merging the
Office of Resilience with Public Works. And now, I understand that's going forward,
anyway, so it's kind of a rebuttal. So -- and if that's not the case, I'd like some clarity
on that, because on the budget summary document, it does reference $723, 000 on
resilience and sustainability. When you go to the summary of departments, they're
actually not even there; they're not listed. So the -- I don't know if it's writing on the
wall or what have you, but -- or just slight oversight -- but I'd like to maybe reconcile
that issue, because if they are going to retain the office separate, as we asked and I
thought the Commission voted on, to honor the Commission's vote, I thought we'd
keep that going; just a point.
Jeanette Ruiz: Hello. My name is Jeanette Ruiz, and I am here with the Miami
Climate Alliance, as well as just a concerned citizen. I -- this is my first budget
hearing, so I don't know the particulars of what is going on, but do know that am
concerned for the future of Miami, and I am in support of the resilience efforts from
the Mayor. So I think we need to be strategic and forward thinking in approach
regarding sea level rise and other results of climate change, and I thank you for your
dedication and commitment to these efforts. I also want to give a shout out to the
Circle of Brotherhood, because I had no idea of all the amazing work that they were
doing here, and I hope that you consider including them, as well, and also the
Biscayne Bay Marine Health Summit, as well. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Ma'am, you're recognized.
Kelly Cox: Thank you. Good evening, Commissioners. Thank you so much for the
opportunity to comment today. My name is Kelly Cox. I'm the staff attorney and
Program Director at Miami Water Keeper. We're a local nonprofit based here in
Miami that's dedicated to protecting and preserving South Florida's watershed. I
just want to draw on the fact that Mayor Suarez did the introduction to tonight's
budget hearing and really highlighted the fact that we voted as a community in favor
of -- and on this Commission in favor of a bond proposal last year that would
support the much needed infrastructure developments in this city to advance our
resiliency, and that's because South Florida has more resources at risk than any
other city worldwide from sea level rise and climate change. And, of course, you've
taken these initial steps to make sure that our community is ready for rising tides, but
I ask the question, then why are we cutting one of the most central pieces of this
resiliency puzzle, the human resources? We need leadership from this board. We
need investment in human resources, providing strategy and creativity to help us
solve this very complex, legal and scientific puzzle. Miami Water Keeper is
dedicated to helping create a resilient and sea level rise -ready South Florida, but we
sincerely believe that any cuts to the Office of Resilience would be a blow to what
progress we are already making. The County next week will hear a budget proposal
to actually increase the resiliency capacity, and I strongly feel, and on behalf of
Miami Water Keeper and our thousands of members across South Florida, I urge
you to contemplate that same effort; invest more. Don't take away from this already
important initiative. Thank you so much for your time.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
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William Quinlan: Hi. My name is William Quinlan. I live at 7223 Northeast 4th
Court, in Commissioner Hardemon's district. So I'm a student at the University of
Miami, and I wanted to come out to my first budget hearing to see all the fun, and in
the time I was waiting, I was flipping through the document here. It was really
interesting, because I just wanted to think about sustainability and how that's funded
and operated, but it's very complicated, so I wanted to look at specifically the
question of tree funding. I was really happy to see that the Miami Forever Bond
Program was approved, and that there is some money in here in capital expenditures
for street beautification and tree planting. I wanted to see how that gets
operationalized through the departments. And so, the new Resilience and Public
Works Department listed as their accomplishments that they trimmed and
maintained thousands of trees, and they planted 800; seems a bit weird, especially
given all the hurricanes that wiped out many of our trees, and we night need more
trees in the future. So I wanted to think about the other Office of Sustainability and
Resilience, and how they get involved in that, and I -- echoing the comments
previously made about how that office is being cut back on -- that they did lots of
important work in corning up with the bigger plans and longer term directional
guidance about sustainability in our city, and that they also were important in
seeking outside grants to help make sure that more trees got planted, right? So just
looking at -- like as one example of how that office's work is important, it seems
strange to me that then its staff is being cut, its budget's being cut, like sustainability
and resilience are getting less important, like we don't have less of a need for water
or storm preparations or natural spaces, or other remedies to affect street level heat.
Like, you know, I'm only -- I'm still in college. I'm still like trying to figure out where
I'm going to be in the future; I hope that the City is, as well. I hope that this office is
staffed and prepared for those conversations that come. Thank you so much.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you, sir.
Michael Clarkson: Good evening, brother Chairman.
Chair Hardemon: Hello.
Mr. Clarkson: How are you doing? Vice Chair, the rest of the Commissioners, my
name is Michael Clarkson. I live at 60 -- 22 Northeast 60th Street. That's in Little
Haiti. And I'm here as a representative from different aspects, but particularly for
myself, because I'm real disappointed in what's happening with the Office of
Resilience. I thought that we understood how important it was and that we need to
have many, many more of those in the community. I mean, this year, we initiated in
Little Haiti Topica (phonetic), which is a hurricane preparedness initiative. That
came about because of -- we went, we got certified, we stayed on that office, told
them we needed more training in our communities. Our people need more education
about climate change, global warming, and what is actually getting ready to happen,
and what is already happening; how is it affecting mental health, how it's affecting
our healthcare, how it's affecting -- you just name it. Climate change is real. It is
our generation's responsibility. My forefathers, they went to Germany and fought.
They were -- fought a real enemy. But do you realize that more people died last year
in Hurricane Irma than died in 9-1-1 ? Check it out, look it up, and I'm not making
these figures up. This is some real stuff that's corning at us. So not only do we need
the $62, 000 back into that office, but we need those hubs in every one of the
neighborhoods throughout our city. Thank you for your time.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you, sir. Seeing no other persons that are here for public
comment, I'm going to close the public comment section at this time.
Emilio T. Gonzalez (City Manager): Mr. Chairman?
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Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir.
Mr. Gonzalez: Sir, would you indulge me for a moment? I think we need to correct
the record on some misinformation and misconception with regards to our
commitment to resiliency, the Office of Resilience, and what we plan for our city.
And if you would allow me, Deputy City Manager Joe Napoli will take just one
minute of your time to kind of set the record straight. Thank you, sir.
Joe Napoli: Sir, Joe Napoli, Deputy City Manager. I do want to just kind of allay
people's concerns about the Office of Resilience. I would say that, in fact, we've
empowered the Office of Resilience. They are now focused on what they should be
doing, and that's developing strategy and policy, and coordinating our overall
resiliency and sustainability efforts. And what we've done with the rest of our staff
being led by the Department now of Resilience and Public Works is we are now
operationalizing and we were executing. We -- it's time for us to start taking
ownership as a city of resiliency and not have everybody else tell us what to do and
wait for everybody to tell us what to do, and then start executing. So our depart --
our Office of Resilience and Sustainability, led by our CRO (Chief Resilience
Officer), is responsible for policy, strategy, and coordination. And the rest of our
staff which is a very -- is a large staff particularly our Resilience and Public Works
Department are executing. So we have engineers, we have technical people. We
have more expertise in our staff, and by working together, we're doing much more
than has ever been done. So I don't think we are doing less by cutting one position
or not filling one position in the Office of Resilience and Sustainability. We're
actually doing much more. We're coordinating. We've put together a resiliency
action group led by myself and the CRO where we're bringing together all of our
directors and people responsible who have anything to do with resiliency and
sustainability. We're meeting, we're coordinating our efforts, and we're doing
things; we're executing. So I don't think that it's correct to say that we are reducing
our commitment; we're actually increasing it. We have a much more coordinated
effort and we're doing much more, and we're going to continue to do more as we
move to the future.
Commissioner Reyes: Could you please give us an example of any initiative that was
started from the Office of Resilience, and then it was the -- I mean, it was -- the
action was taken by the --?
Mr. Napoli: Well, I think this year, Commissioner, the King Tide Action Plan.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay, yes.
Mr. Napoli: So -- which occurred last week.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Mr. Noriega: The Office of Resilience and Sustainability developed an overall
concept, and we actually put together a tremendous plan this year with our entire
staff working on it. We were out days before. We developed a plan to not only take
action, but to monitor before -- to get information out beforehand, to monitor during
the event, to include using drones to map, and creating an after -action report that we
can use for the future, particularly in the major king tide, which will be in October,
so I think that's one good example.
Commissioner Reyes: That's a good example. And what you're doing is you're
coordinating between Resilience and -- Public Works and the Office of Resilience.
What are --?
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Mr. Napoli: Yes. And not only Resilience and Public Works, but our other
departments; Capital Improvements, our Housing and Economic Development, and
other -- any other department that has anything to do with resiliency and
sustainability.
Commissioner Reyes: Could you keep the board abreast of everything that you're
doing and --? I mean, just keep what -- informed, you know --
Mr. Napoli: Absolutely.
Commissioner Reyes: -- send out --
Mr. Napoli: Absolutely, Commissioner, we will.
Commissioner Reyes: -- some sort of -- I would say a report -- once in a while.
Mr. Napoli: No, it's a priority. It's our -- it's one of our top priorities.
Commissioner Reyes: Every three months, at least.
Mr. Napoli: Absolutely.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Commissioner Gort: I think it's important to keep giving out that information so
people are aware of what --
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Gort: -- we are doing.
Mr. Napoli: Yes, Commissioner.
Commissioner Gort: Yeah.
Mr. Gonzalez: Thank you, gentlemen.
Chair Hardemon: All right.
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BH - BUDGET HEARING
BH.1 DISCUSSION ITEM
4734
Office of
Management and
Budget
DISCUSSION TO ALLOW PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE PROPOSED FY
2018-19 MILLAGE RATE, TENTATIVE BUDGET AND ALL OTHER BUDGET
ITEMS ON THE AGENDA.
RESULT: DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: I think our Budget Director has a few words he'd like to read into
the record, as required by the State of Florida.
Christopher Rose (Director): Good evening, Commissioners. Chris Rose, Office of
Management and Budget. As the Chair said, I've got some words that are required
by the State; and then I've got a couple of other comments, very briefly. The
proposed general operating millage rate is 7.5865 mills for the City of Miami for the
fiscal year beginning October 1, 2018 and ending September 30, 2019. That
operating millage rate is 9.47 percent higher than the State -defined rolled back rate
of 6.9301 mills. In addition, I've got two items that I'd like to hand to the Clerk. The
first one is an amended exhibit, which is the change memo that you all have in the
package. We in Budget had inadvertently left off the attachment at the back, so I'm
going to give -- nothing else has changed; just the amend -- the attachment, and we'll
give that to the Clerk momentarily. And I also have the proof of advertising for this
meeting in the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald that will hand to the Clerk, with
your permission, Mr. Chair. Thank you. That's everything.
Later...
Chair Hardemon: So let's call our attention to BH.1. This is a discussion of pub --
well, this is interesting, right? So -- the way that we're doing this. BH.1 is a
discussion on the proposed budget and tentative millage. BH2 is a discussion,
proposed millage and tentative budget. But BH 3 is the proposed additional millage
for 2019. So BH 3 is the one that's actionable; is that correct?
Vice Chair Russell: BH3 is DDA (Downtown Development Authority).
Chair Hardemon: Oh, that's DDA? That is DDA. I'm sorry. So we have two
discussion items. Anyone -- do you want to just give us the information on the
discussion items for BH.1 and BH 2?
Commissioner Reyes: You are talking about this?
Chair Hardemon: I'm about to just fly through it. Is there anyone? Anyone
listening?
Commissioner Reyes: I have a question on BH.1. I have a question on it. Is Chris
around? Mr. Budget Director --
Mr. Rose: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Reyes: -- you know where I'm coming from.
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Mr. Rose: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Reyes: And it's an -- on the operation and millage rate.
Mr. Rose: BH2 is the DDA nzillage.
Commissioner Reyes: Oh, okay. BH2 is -- okay.
Mr. Rose: BH3 actually is the DDA budget.
Commissioner Reyes: Proposed nzillage and tentative budget. Okay. It's on BH2
that my question is going to be. When I get there, I want to talk to you about it.
Mr. Rose: BH 2 is the DDA discussion and BH 3 is the DDA nzillage.
Chair Hardemon: But you've already put --
Mr. Rose: Yeah.
Chair Hardemon: You stated on the record the proposed budget and nzillage for
BH 1; that's correct?
Mr. Rose: I have stated on the record what the City's nzillage is. The DDA director
needs to say similar language for the DDA on their nzillage.
Chair Hardemon: Right.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Chair Hardemon: So, but -- so we -- I just want to make sure that we've satisfied
BH.1.
Vice Chair Russell: I would like to open a discussion on BH 1 for -- it is a -- it's a
discussion item for us to talk about.
Chair Hardemon: We choose to talk about it, right?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes. And while those who have spoken at public comment have
brought up many good points, I do have to commend the Administration on how they
are tackling resilience at this point. Director Dodd, in addition to CRO Gilbert,
have created sort of a bifurcated look at resilience, and I want to see that more
clearly defined, so folks understand what the role of each part of that department is.
And the colonel's side has more to do with the nuts and bolts of the water that is
physically rising. But keeping Jane's position and her office strong will make sure
that all the other elements of resilience that touch all the other departments of the
City, and most importantly, the human element of resilience, is still prioritized. I'm
not going to make any amendments. I really want to just talk sort offrom the heart
about looking at our budget and seeing where we might shuffle some things, and how
we could prioritize that. There's potentially an F1 event that was coming this year
that was going to cost the City $100, 000. I don't believe we should be funding that.
I believe that is money right there that could go back in toward resilience. And I'd
like to leave it up to the discretion of the department on how they fund that, but ideas
such as reducing our rating score at the National Flood Insurance Program, so we
can move the line and so that we can really affect people's personal insurance and
insurability, and finding policies to do that; developing operational efficiencies to
reduce the City's climate change footprint; assisting Planning & Zoning on
developing adaptive land use regulations and new waterfront design standards;
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additional CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training, which has
shown to be an incredible way and efficient use of our money to empower our
residents to fill in the gaps where the government isn't there during a storm;
bringing in more Federal, State, and foundation funding for sea level rise; studying
the water quality of our bay. Even though that's not necessarily a department within
our City, it affects us in every way, and groups like Water Keeper, they're at the
frontline of that. And the testing that -- the minimal testing that's being done right
now is showing us that there is a major problem, but we're not doing enough testing
to find the source. I'd like to see them help find a way to empower the City to be in
that conversation. And as we do additional plantings -- I know we've been in
recovery mode since Hurricane Irma, but as we do additional plantings of trees, our
swales, our medians, I'd like to see us develop a scoring system; a scoring system
that allows us to measure quantifiably how much more resilience is being brought by
the physical actions we're taking; how much more shade, how much more
temperature, how much more oxygen production and -- temperature reduction -- I'm
sorry. And I would even propose calling that the Bob Brennan Scale, after our
famous arborist that passed last year, because he and I talked about that for a
couple years, and I'd like to ask the City and perhaps the Resilience Department with
corning up with that scoring system. They're going to need some funding. I'd like to
see a million dollars of the Tree Trust Fund spent within this next year, throughout
the City of Miami. I know there are already plans within the Beautification
Committee and within the Parks Department that can fold in, but I would like to see
that million -dollar commitment from the City, 80 to 90 percent of which would be on
major tree plantings in medians, swales, and parks, and 10 to 20 percent for tree -
specific Code Enforcement training and consultants for the Environmental
Department to help them manage the -- development in the City. The new Office of
Human Services has a lot of potential to be great for the City. I would like us to see
the City take on a new program in this department, in this new department of
homelessness employment where we build on the program that the Downtown
Development Authority and the CRAs (Community Redevelopment Agencies) have
already been perfecting where we work with shelters, and have a job training
program that can help with beautification in the City. This can really help create a
workforce and alleviate a homelessness situation. The DDA is ready to step up with
budget to help with that, the CRA will be ready to step up with budget to help with
that, but the City needs to be there, as well. The NET (Neighborhood Enhancement
Team) offices -- we have been waiting on functional NET offices for the Grove and
downtown for the last two years that I've been here. The money is said to be set
aside, but it hasn't been spent, and the spots haven't been found or built out. I'd like
to see that prioritized. Just a couple more things, if you'll indulge me. As we
contemplate the abolishment of MSEA (Miami Sports & Exhibition Authority), we
have the budget that's potentially left there to be dealt with. We cannot allocate it
until that is spoken for, but one of the big things that MSEA is meant for is citywide
events, and I'd like to see some of the citywide events benefit from that; the City's
Veteran's Day Parade. The City had its first Fourth of July celebration at City Hall,
which was funded by the Coconut Grove BID (Business Improvement District). That
can continue, but I'd love to see that grow. And the Black Top Basketball Program
could grow citywide in a greater way. I think that's something that MSEA funds,
once they're absorbed, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you know, the City could look toward.
And finally, the last thing. Transportation in our trolley system has been growing
incredibly, and I'm really proud of our City for stepping up and doing that. The
Administration has done a great job of analyzing the routes. I'd like to consider a
route that touches three of our districts from a north/south perspective. We have a
lot of east/west lines from Coconut Grove, Coral Way, and Allapattah, but I think
there potentially could be a line that touches all three and brings them together;
perhaps from the Douglas Road Station all the way up to Miami Dade College, up by
Calle Ocho or one of those north/south lanes; obviously, for the department to
analyze, but I've heard a lot of calls for that from the residents. Those are just some
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of the things I'd like the Management and the Office of Budget to consider between
first and second reading to see if there's ways we can bring some of those changes
about. But thank you very much for a well -crafted budget.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you. I'd like to bring our attention to BH 2.
Commissioner Reyes: But before we go to BH.2, I think BH 1 is discussion to allow
public comment on proposed millage, right? The 2018 --
Vice Chair Russell: And budget; budget and millage.
Commissioner Reyes: -- 2019 millage. And I want to make sure that there is not a
misunderstanding, you see. The millage rate increased, you see. Operational rate --
millage rate increased. It went from a 7.436 to 7.5865. And now, the total of debt
service and the millage rate stayed the same. That is because the debt service was
reduced, right?
Mr. Rose: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay. For all practical purposes, there's an increase in
millage --
Mr. Rose: No, sir.
Commissioner Reyes: -- by the State, by State. Yes, sir.
Mr. Rose: IfI may, sir.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, sir.
Mr. Rose: The total millage rate is staying the same. You are correct.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I do agree. I do agree. But my concern is
the following, you see, and I want to make sure, and I ask you this, and I want to
place it on the record: We are going to be issuing some of the bonds, that $400
million bonds. I want to make sure that we have -- if we issue those bonds, the debt
service requirement is going to be -- is going to increase. I know that we can offset
that probably by the increase in property value; that is the additional revenues that
we are going to get, but I want to make sure that we will cover any type of debt
service increase, and we don't have to increase our total millage. You understand
where I'm going, what I'm driving at?
Mr. Rose: Yes, sir, I do.
Commissioner Reyes: That next year -- I know that we have -- going to have a lean
year next year, and to that effect -- and to that effect, I strongly recommend that you
start looking at department by department and start making cuts. And I'm going to
give you one -- and I think all of us, every one of us and every single department,
they should expect some cuts. I will -- I told you this afternoon, take $100, 000 from
our department. You can take it tomorrow, okay? And I will tell you from where you
can take it. Take $100, 000 from our department, see. Also, there are questions that
I want to ask about personal -- personnel. You see, in here, it says that we
eliminated 59 vacant non -sworn positions, right?
Mr. Rose: Yes, sir.
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Commissioner Reyes: And in back of the page, it said, "Summary net gain of 19
positions." That mean that we eliminated 54 -- 59, but then we hired a bunch. We
hired some people during the midyear; that's right?
Mr. Rose: Yes.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay. Now, I want to know this, okay? I want to know this.
It says that it'll be eliminating Fire and Police and going -- it's going to eliminate
how many positions? How many police officers' positions are going to be
eliminated?
Mr. Rose: We are not eliminating any sworn positions. We are freezing --
Commissioner Reyes: You are freezing those positions?
Mr. Rose: -- nine sworn --
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Mr. Rose: -- positions in Police and 15 sworn positions in the Fire Department.
Commissioner Reyes: What effect will that have on our grant that we were obtaining
- - we obtained this year in hiring new police officers?
Mr. Rose: We have more police officers than we've ever had in the past, sir.
Commissioner Reyes: Sir, we never had enough police officers. I mean, we have
never had enough. We need now -- and particularly now that we're using some of
our officers in schools. I know for a fact that they are sometimes in my district that -
- well, the commanders, they are short one or two officers, you see. We need more
patrol and -- because I think it's -- the most important service that we can have is
public security, you see. People have to feel safe. Even the businessman --
everybody have to feel safe in order -- if we want businesses to come and stay with us
and we want people to live in peace, see, or people to move to the City of Miami. So
I strongly request -- I'm requesting from you guys that we should cut from whatever
we have to cut, but don't freeze those positions. And I have a suggestion that has
been made, and it was made since I was here, you see. There is no need to have
sworn police officers doing clerical jobs, see, any position that could be replaced by
- - I mean, not a sworn police officer, and it could be used by any other employee -- I
mean any other person -- that will free more patrols, you see. I would love to see
that. And I have a couple of questions, you see. I don't want to -- because I have a
litany of things, but we going to talk later on. But I have a question, see. We have
$5 million for beautification, right?
Mr. Rose: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Reyes: Let me ask you something. In that item, you have one point --
I think seven million dollars for trees, right?
Mr. Rose: I don't recall the exact number.
Commissioner Reyes: Well, I -- that's what I heard of trees, okay? And those funds
come from where for beautification? They come from streets closure, right?
Mr. Rose: The $5 million of new funding for beautification, five -- that 5 million is
coming from lane closure.
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Commissioner Reyes: Lane closure?
Mr. Rose: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Reyes: Question: Can those lane closure funds could be directed
toward general fund?
Mr. Rose: No, they cannot.
Commissioner Reyes: They cannot?
Mr. Rose: Correct; they cannot.
Commissioner Reyes: Can they be used in any other --?
Mr. Rose: They can be used to enhance the right-of-way, inside the right-of-way, so
Commissioner Reyes: But that's the only -- it's the only thing that they can be used?
Mr. Rose: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Reyes: They cannot be used by --?
Mr. Rose: They can only be used inside the right-of-way, so from sidewalk to
sidewalk --
Commissioner Reyes: Okay. Then --
Mr. Rose: -- repair and enhancement.
Commissioner Reyes: -- they could be used for streets improvement.
Mr. Rose: Yes.
Commissioner Reyes: It could be used for streets improvement. But if you have $1.7
million for tree planting, why don't we take that money from the Tree Trust -- from
the Tree Fund -- and free those funds, you see. You free those funds that go for
street improvement that you have taken from general fund, and then you replenish
the general fund.
Mr. Rose: Some of it is coming from the Tree Trust Fund. The original --
Commissioner Reyes: Well, I think that we have about two -- some million dollars
there. Let's take $1.7 million, use it on the free part of the beautification. Take that
money and then place it on the program for -- I mean the street improvement. And
then using those funds from the tree improvements, send it back to general fund and
we can use it for police officers or somebody else (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Mayor Francis Suarez: Commissioner, we'll work with you between first and second
reading.
Commissioner Reyes: I will -- definitely will like for you to work with that. And
another thing that -- now that I have you there -- Mayor, don't leave.
Mayor Suarez: I wasn't sure if you were talking to me or him.
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Commissioner Reyes: No, this we -- we're going to need your help in this.
Mayor Suarez: Sure.
Commissioner Reyes: I been asking since day one, and I been telling -- asking them
that we should go department by department --
Mayor Suarez: Sure.
Commissioner Reyes: -- and Chris knows what I want. I want to use either Six
Sigma or any other type of efficiency methodology that we will plan -- I mean, we
will map the process for each department.
Mayor Suarez: Sure.
Commissioner Reyes: I mean, every function that everybody is doing, if it is
necessary or if it is a duplicity offunction --
Mayor Suarez: Of course.
Commissioner Reyes: -- or if there is some steps that could be --
Mayor Suarez: Reduced.
Commissioner Reyes: -- do away or reduce and --
Mayor Suarez: Fine.
Commissioner Reyes: -- that way, we make our departments more efficient --
Mayor Suarez: Sure.
Commissioner Reyes: -- less expensive, and we will be saving a lot of money.
Mayor Suarez: Be happy to do it with you.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay. And that is something that I'm going to be requesting
from you guys, and I'm going to be after you all the time.
Mayor Suarez: Okay.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay?
Mayor Suarez: Fair.
Commissioner Reyes: All right. And I have a bunch of things there, but if I keep on
going, we'll be here until tomorrow morning, okay? But between now and the
second reading, I'll be talking to you, Mr. City Manager, and to Chris, and try to
bring some sort of -- I mean, I want you to go with a scalpel into every department,
start cutting, and that's it. I'm volunteering my department -- I mean my office -- just
$100, 000, just give it away.
Emilio T. Gonzalez (City Manager): Sir, I look forward to meeting with you and the
other Commissioners. We are planning, just so you know, a manpower study across
the board, but between now and the second reading, I'll be happy to sit with you and
we'll go over your concerns --
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Commissioner Reyes: Please do.
Mr. Gonzalez: -- and see what we -- yes, sir.
Commissioner Reyes: Please do --
Mr. Gonzalez: Count on it.
Commissioner Reyes: -- please do, because -- okay, thank you, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Manager, if I could, through you, get the Police Chief
up there, ask him a couple of questions? Chief I -- how are you? I apologize. We
met the other day. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions that I forgot. How
many mounted patrol units do we have now presently?
Jorge Colina (Chief of Police) : How many mounted patrol?
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah.
Chief Colina: I believe we have eight.
Commissioner Carollo: Eight? Okay.
Chief Colina: I'll get the exact number for you though, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: We're down tremendously from years past. A department
our size shouldn't have anything less than 15, and probably closer to 20, but I'll take
15. The officers cost the same as any other officer. It would just be the additional
cost of horses. Do we have more than eight horses, or is that what we have right
now?
Chief Colina: I believe we do have more; more horses.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay. Do you have any idea how many more we have or --
?
Chief Colina: I do not, but I can get the exact number for you.
Commissioner Carollo: Because I really would like to get the -- that number of
mounted patrol higher. We're too low for a city this size in having just eight
mounted patrol units. And frankly, we got areas that are very tourist -oriented that
they're needed in. Last but not least, how many officers do you have that are sworn
officers with a gun and a badge that are doing civilian work in wherever?
Chief Colina: It's tough to give you an exact number, because it depends on what
you consider civilian or --
Commissioner Carollo: Let's say civilian, non -police -type work; not law
enforcement work.
Chief Colina: We're currently going through that process of ident fying every
position that we are comfortable in transitioning to a civilian position. So I think it
was last week or the week before where we met with the Budget Director, and we
made a request to be able to hire civilian positions. So, for example, in our staffing
unit, we feel that that is certainly a place where we can have a civilian that's
probably going to be even more efficient and proficient in doing that job. That's a
police officer that we can put in the field. We can come up with an exact number of
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2018
what we would feel comfortable with. It's something that I'm completely open to, by
the way. I know that in the past, there's been resistance. I don't feel that way. I
think that the more officers that we can put in the field, that we can take out of the
office, that we have a civilian doing that job, the better for us, because a lot of those
jobs, quite frankly, the officers -- that's not what they trained for. We put them there
because someone has to do the job, and we don't have that someone.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. And what is happening is that we're putting trained
law enforcement officers away from their number -one priority that they were trained
for, and it's ending up costing us more money than if we would have a civilian, so we
lose in both ways. We don't have a trained officer out in the streets, and we're
paying more than if we would have a civilian in some of those jobs. But if you could
look and see, Chief --
Chief Colina: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: -- before we come back in second reading what we could do
to get additional mounted patrols out there.
Chief Colina: I'll get you the exact number of the mounted officers that we have,
with the horses that we have, and I'll get you close to an exact number on the
positions internally that we can civilianize. But you're not going to get an argument
from me on efficiency.
Commissioner Carollo: And I would hope that at least by the end of this new fiscal
year's budget, by the time we get to the next one, we'll be up to at least no less than
15. Anyway, thank you.
Commissioner Reyes: And now that I have you there -- through the Chair. Let me
ask a question, Chief. How much did the helicopter cost finally? Do we need it?
Chair Hardemon: We just bought it.
Commissioner Reyes: That's right. No, no, because most of the times, you know, we
have County helicopter on the department -- on the air, you know. And I don't know
if that is illegal to use drones, but I mean, we have to try to cut cost. I don't know if
it is of the utmost importance that we have a Miami Police helicopter, or we can use
the County. And now that Commissioner Carollo, he's asking about mounted police,
I'm very concerned about traffic. And you and I, we have talked about motorcycle
cops, and I know that instead of increasing the force of you know who, we are
freezing positions, but I'm totally opposed to that, and I will try to find as much
money as I can to keep more police officers on street and patrol. And I would like to
increase also the motorcycle police officers; that they are fantastic for traffic detail.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, how many motorcycle officers do we presently have?
Chief Colina: We graduated a class recently, so we expanded the unit; I believe it's
to 16 motormen.
Unidentified Speaker: That's right.
Chief Colina: We now have six -day -a -week coverage, which we didn't have before.
The plan is to --
Commissioner Carollo: All we have are 16 motormen?
Commissioner Reyes: 16 motor, that's all.
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BH.2
4583
Downtown
Development
Authority
Commissioner Carollo: 16?
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, sir.
Chief Colina: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: Chief you know, I had more than half of that in Doral, and
that department didn't even have 150 police officers.
Commissioner Reyes: Yeah.
Commissioner Carollo: Nor was anywhere near the city with the size -- nowhere
near the size of Miami.
Chief Colina: Commissioner, it's 19 total when you count the lieutenant, the
sergeants.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, I'm going to tell you now that for a city the size of
Miami, we should have no less than three times that, Chief. I understand that when
it rains, you can't use them; that's why they need to have patrol cars so that if it
rains, you put them in patrol cars.
Commissioner Reyes: That's right.
Commissioner Carollo: It's too dangerous. But especially with the traffic we have
in this city, you know, it might be the only way we could really get around quickly,
unless we use a helicopter, of course, and you don't have a back in the helicopter,
right?
Unidentified Speaker: No.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Chair Hardemon: All right. Thank you, Chief.
Commissioner Reyes: Thank you, Chief.
DISCUSSION ITEM
DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED MILLAGE RATE AND TENTATIVE BUDGET
FOR THE MIAMI DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY.
RESULT: DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: I'm going to move forward with BH2, the discussion item
referring to the DDA (Downtown Development Authority), and I'll allow you to state
what you have to state on the record, and then we're going to quickly move to BH3,
okay?
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BH.3
4584
Downtown
Development
Authority
Alyce Robertson: Alyce Robertson, Executive Director of the Miami Downtown
Development Authority. This is a discussion of the millage. We're allowed under the
Code to raise up to .475 mills on each dollar. We're -- the board of the DDA has
voted to recommend to the City Commission .4681, which is the same millage that
we have levied for the last three years.
Chair Hardemon: Is that your magic language that you have to read into the
record?
Ms. Robertson: I'm not -- it's not the magic --
Chair Hardemon: You just have to put it on the record, the numbers?
Ms. Robertson: Yeah. I think that note -- have to put it on the record -- right? --
which is point -- oh, I forgot one part of it -- .3 -- it's 3.17 percent over the increase
over the rollback rate; sorry, I left that out.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), PROPOSING AN ADDITIONAL TENTATIVE MILLAGE
RATE FOR AD VALOREM TAXATION PURSUANT TO SECTION 200.065,
FLORIDA STATUTES; DEFINING AND DESIGNATING THE TERRITORIAL
LIMITS OF THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT ("DISTRICT") OF
THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA ("CITY"); LEVYING AN ADDITIONAL AD
VALOREM TAX ON ALL REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY IN THE
DISTRICT AT THE RATE OF 0.4681 MILLS ON THE DOLLAR OF TAXABLE
VALUE OF SUCH PROPERTY IN SAID DISTRICT FOR THE PURPOSE OF
FINANCING THE OPERATION OF THE MIAMI DOWNTOWN
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA FOR THE
FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2018 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER
30, 2019; PROVIDING THAT SAID MILLAGE SHALL BE IN ADDITION TO
THE MILLAGE ADOPTED BY THE CITY COMMISSION PURSUANT TO
ARTICLE VII, SECTION 9 OF THE FLORIDA CONSTITUTION AND SECTION
166.211, FLORIDA STATUTES, AS WELL AS ANY SPECIAL
ASSESSMENTS IMPOSED BY THE SAME; PROVIDING THAT THIS
RESOLUTION SHALL NOT BE DEEMED AS REPEALING OR AMENDING
ANY OTHER RESOLUTION OR ANY ORDINANCE FIXING MILLAGE OR
LEVYING TAXES, BUT SHALL BE DEEMED SUPPLEMENTAL AND IN
ADDITION THERETO; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND
PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-18-0384
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Ken Russell, Vice Chair
SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Carollo, Reyes
ABSENT: Gort
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Chair Hardemon: Is there a motion to approve the additional -- I mean the DDA
(Downtown Development Authority) --
Vice Chair Russell: So moved.
Chair Hardemon: -- additional millage? It's been properly moved.
Ms. Robertson: So that's -- BH3 is the actual millage --
Chair Hardemon: That's correct.
Ms. Robertson: -- and -- so.
Chair Hardemon: Okay.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Chair Hardemon: Second?
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Second by -- second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor,
say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion passes.
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BH.4
4585
Downtown
Development
Authority
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE TENTATIVE ANNUAL
BUDGET OF THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF THE CITY
OF MIAMI, FLORIDA ("DDA"), ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, IN THE
TOTAL AMOUNT OF $12,436,000.00, AND MAKING APPROPRIATIONS
FROM THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT AD VALOREM TAX
LEVY AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS INCOME FOR THE DDA FOR THE
FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2018, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER
30, 2019; AUTHORIZING THE DDA TO MAKE TRANSFERS BETWEEN
ACCOUNTS FOR NECESSARY AND PROPER PURPOSES; AUTHORIZING
THE DDA TO INVITE AND ADVERTISE REQUIRED BIDS; PROVIDING
THAT THIS RESOLUTION BE DEEMED SUPPLEMENTAL AND IN
ADDITION TO THE RESOLUTION MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE
FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2018 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER
30, 2019, FOR THE OPERATIONS OF THE CITY OF MIAMI.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-18-0385
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Ken Russell, Vice Chair
SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Reyes
Chair Hardemon: BH 3.
Alyce Robertson: BH (budget hearing) --
Chair Hardemon: BH.4.
Ms. Robertson: BH.4 is the actual budget that has -- was passed in July by the DDA
(Downtown Development Authority) Board. It's re -- the actual budget is for $10
million. We have -- $100, 000 of that is corning from the CRA (Community
Redevelopment Agency) to run the program that the Commissioner -- the Vice
Chairman mentioned earlier, which is the Downtown Enhancement Program, with
the CRAs.
Vice Chair Russell: I'll move it.
Ms. Robertson: So -- and the rest is the nnillage.
Commissioner Reyes: May I ask a question? The other day I was -- I went to
downtown -- and this goes for you, too, Mr. Noriega. I went to downtown Miami,
and it was almost impossible to find a parking space for one. Most of the parking
space, now they have been taken away, and they are managed by valet; by valet, you
see. You have about four, five, six spaces that you cannot park. You only place your
car there, valet. And those valet parkers -- I mean, it is $10 the first 15 minutes.
And as I drove around trying to find -- because I didn't want to pay $15, I mean,
because then you start 15 and 15 more; well, up to $25. As I drove around
downtown Miami, I started -- you see, I started looking at stores, I mean, that they
were closing -- I mean, they were all closed, you see. Half of the stores, they are
empty, see. And it occurs to me that it is so difficult to go and park in downtown
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2018
Miami. People don't go there anymore. If it weren't because my -- the person that
fixed my watch, he is still in downtown Miami, I wouldn't go there, you see. Are you
planning on doing something about that?
Ms. Robertson: Sure. Well, retail in general has had an issue, because of Internet
purchases; you know, Amazon and --
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, I know.
Ms. Robertson: -- so -- and we also in downtown have had the opening of Brickell
City Centre that, you know, that has also taken some of the retail that might have
gone into a downtown urban core. So one of the things that -- the projects that we're
working on is the redo of Flagler Street, where it'll probably become like a Lincoln
Road type of a place where there are more restaurants and bars and everything.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, that's what the --
Ms. Robertson: And that's probably the future of a Flagler Street.
Commissioner Reyes: That -- but not only Flagler.
Ms. Robertson: But no, it's --
Commissioner Reyes: I mean, and 1st Street, both 1st Street, you see, and 2nd
Street, they used to be vibrant streets, with a lot of businesses. But what I wanted to
know, if you had some plans on -- I mean, converting those retail stores into -- you
know -- something else. That's it.
Ms. Robertson: So one of the things that we're looking at -- and, you know,
especially with the tech sector outreach and other kinds of things -- is there's a lot of
those older buildings that are in the urban core that can be used that -- they're kind
of really interesting spaces. In fact, the 500 Startups that just came to downtown, it's
an accelerator that's out of -- this is their first place out of the Silicon Valley, and
they opened here in Miami, mostly because of our diversity of our population and
how, you know, we have other languages, you know, other countries that are corning
here. And they're picking up on some of these older spaces.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Ms. Robertson: And so, you know, the first floor is best for restaurants and bars and
other kind of things like that.
Commissioner Reyes: Mm-hmm, yes.
Ms. Robertson: So the policy is -- it's not only on Flagler; but the surrounding area -
- is get some of those upper floors rented to some of these new tech companies and
other things.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes. That'd be great.
Ms. Robertson: And then it'll fill in with, you know, some of those cute little bars
and restaurants, so.
Commissioner Reyes: That's right. And now, Mr. Noriega, are you planning on
building any more parking in downtown Miami so they can -- those people that she
plans to rent to and they are going to -- or the patrons of those places, they would
have a place to park?
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Art Noriega: So --
Commissioner Reyes: They don't have to Uber.
Mr. Noriega: -- the one area that she references is -- it's sort of central to this is
Flagler Street.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes.
Mr. Noriega: Right; which the conversion to sort of a -- more of a promenade, you
know, more of a walkable street. We're -- it's pretty much eliminating all the parking
along Flagler. The one issue we're always dealing with relative to Flagler, there is
no natural parking inventory adjacent to it.
Commissioner Reyes: It is that.
Mr. Noriega: There's never been.
Commissioner Reyes: Yeah.
Mr. Noriega: It's just a lot of older buildings that were built when there wasn't
really any parking requirement. So what we're working on is a way to connect the
garages we have. We have four -- we literally have four garages in the four corners
of downtown; not really --
Commissioner Reyes: But they're small ones.
Mr. Noriega: No, they're big. No, they're big. They're big. We have --
Commissioner Reyes: They are?
Mr. Noriega: -- about 5,000 spaces.
Commissioner Reyes: You're talking about the one that it is across
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) Lindo? That's yours?
Mr. Noriega: No. One across the --
Commissioner Reyes: Do you have one on 1st Street and 3rd?
Mr. Noriega: -- one across from the college, one into the Knight Center --
Commissioner Reyes: That's right.
Mr. Noriega: -- the one next to the courthouse --
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, sir.
Mr. Noriega: -- and then the one we have next to what we call the Cultural Arts
Garage, which is really off of 1st --
Commissioner Reyes: That's right.
Mr. Noriega: -- but closer to the museum.
Commissioner Reyes: Yeah.
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Mr. Noriega: So we have a lot of space. And there's a lot of inventory in downtown.
There actually is a lot of private inventory, as well. What we don't have is a way to
connect them. So one of the things we're working on is a circulator for downtown --
Commissioner Reyes: That's what I was going to ask you.
Mr. Noriega: -- to connect that last bit. You know, one of the great things about the
Brightline and the main rail station is that we're going to have the ability to get
people into the core, even if they don't want to park, and then move them once they
get there through either a freebie -- you know -- concept, some smaller little sort of
circulator that can work around downtown, and we're working on that, too. We've
actually -- we've been pricing it for the last --
Commissioner Reyes: You see, and I think that --
Mr. Noriega: -- couple months.
Commissioner Reyes: -- something else should be done, and not only in downtown
Miami; I think, also, in Calle Ocho. And because given that climate, that the sun is
too hot and it rains a lot, we should have some sort of -- I would say, like promenade
or a --
Mr. Noriega: Well, we could certainly talk to Planning & Zoning, because --
Commissioner Reyes: That's right, Planning & Zoning. We -- I've been talking --
Mr. Noriega: -- one of the ideas we lost in downtown --
Commissioner Reyes: That's right.
Mr. Noriega: -- was those old arcade buildings.
Commissioner Reyes: The arcade buildings that you see --
Commissioner Carollo: Well --
Mr. Noriega: -- which used to cover over the sidewalk and the building sort of --
Commissioner Reyes: -- over the sidewalks, and people would walk more.
Mr. Noriega: -- walk and have color -- cover.
Commissioner Reyes: If we want people to walk --
Commissioner Carollo: You all --
Commissioner Reyes: -- we have to protect them.
Commissioner Carollo: -- I think you all are going to be very happy, what's corning,
but I'll leave it at that, because this is budget today.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Chair Hardemon: So is there a motion --
Commissioner Reyes: Okay, thank you very much.
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2018
Chair Hardemon: -- to approve BH 4?
Vice Chair Russell: I'll move BH 4.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved, seconded. All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion carries.
Ms. Robertson: Thank you so much.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
BH.5 RESOLUTION
4574
Off -Street Parking
Board/Miami
Parking Authority
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE ANNUAL BUDGET,
ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, OF THE DEPARTMENT OF OFF
STREET PARKING FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1,
2018, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2019, IN THE OPERATING AMOUNT
OF $19,180,276.00, EXCLUDING DEPRECIATION AND OTHER NON -
OPERATING EXPENSES OF $22,492,904.00.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-18-0386
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Vice Chair
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Reyes
Chair Hardemon: BH.5, the Miami Parking Authority.
Commissioner Reyes: Denied.
Art Noriega: That was a good segue. The budget, obviously before you, also
contemplates the companion item, which was the rate modification earlier. In the
time that we've had since we had that discussion till now, we're already working on
trying to process numbers and crunch numbers. My hope is that we won't have
much, if any, of a drop-off in terms of the commitment financially. We're going to
nzodf the rates in a way that, obviously, will protect the residents, but still generate
enough income that, hopefully, it'll be a wash. That's what we're working on now,
and we'll have that --
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Mr. Noriega: -- answer, like I referenced, in the next couple of days.
Commissioner Reyes: The protection is -- it is absolute?
Mr. Noriega: Absolute.
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2018
Commissioner Reyes: Absolute protection.
Mr. Noriega: No, no, no. Like he said, not a penny. I heard you.
Commissioner Carollo: How much is anticipated that the City would be able to get
from this budget?
Mr. Noriega: This budget is an additional $7.3 million, which takes the total to 14
and a half --
Commissioner Carollo: 14 and a half.
Mr. Noriega: -- net.
Commissioner Carollo: Very good.
Mr. Noriega: The significant increases in this budget, obviously, are the additional
enforcement officers, which, obviously, paid for themselves on the City side, because
it's an expense to us, but the City gets the benefit of the citation fee revenue; and
then, additional debt service, which we programmed in for -- specifically to fill --
finish some projects we have now, and then to work on some seed capital for some
new projects that we're contemplating in a couple of your various districts, so.
Commissioner Carollo: Doesn't all this money that you've been able to give to the
City through all these years, since I originally enticed you to be so gracious and give
all your surplus money to the City that never has gotten before?
Mr. Noriega: All the credit that Commissioner Gort and Commissioner Reyes gave
you for giving them their first appointments to the City, I'll give you -- absolutely
give you the credit for shaking the tree a little bit and unlocking what is now a
substantial financial return to the City. You spearheaded that.
Commissioner Carollo: So everything you said about me back then is forgotten,
right?
Mr. Noriega: No, no, no. No. By the way, you and I have a --
Commissioner Carollo: That's a private joke.
Mr. Noriega: -- really good history.
Commissioner Reyes: Let bygones be bygones.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. They weren't used to that back then. He got used to
it throughout the years, so. But we thank you, because frankly, if it hadn't been for
the Off -Street Parking and the surplus money that we've been getting, it'd be tough to
fill a lot of holes. I mean, when you're talking close to $15 million they're going to
give us for this coming fiscal year's budget, that's serious money that you just can't
pick up anywhere. Thank you, Art.
Chair Hardemon: Mr. Noriega?
Mr. Noriega: Yes.
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Chair Hardemon: Does this budget take into consideration the increase in parking
that we're trying to implement in the Overtown community, where -- what's titled
"Range Park" --
Mr. Noriega: Yeah.
Chair Hardemon: -- underneath the expressway? (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Mr. Noriega: No. That's -- I'm counting that as a buffer.
Chair Hardemon: You're counting that as a buffer?
Mr. Noriega: A buffer, yes. I didn't program it into the revenue. That'll be when --
because the timing of it, but once that comes online, that'll be an additional revenue
to this budget. I didn't want to factor it in.
Chair Hardemon: I didn't mean in the revenue. So what I'm talking about, the cost
of actual --
Mr. Noriega: Yes. Yeah. Oh, absolute. We already have the money earmarked for
that.
Chair Hardemon: Okay.
Mr. Noriega: Yes, it does.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you. Is there a motion to approve BH 5?
Commissioner Carollo: Motion to approve.
Vice Chair Russell: Second.
Commissioner Gort: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Properly moved and seconded. All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion carries.
Mr. Noriega: Thank you.
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BH.6
4614
Bayfront Park
Management
Trust
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE ANNUAL BUDGET
OF THE BAYFRONT PARK MANAGEMENT TRUST, IN THE AMOUNT OF
$11,117,728.00, ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, TO PROVIDE FOR THE
MANAGEMENT, OPERATIONS, MAINTENANCE AND CAPITAL
IMPROVEMENTS OF THE MILDRED AND CLAUDE PEPPER BAYFRONT
PARK AND MUSEUM PARK, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING
OCTOBER 1, 2018 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2019.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-18-0387
MOTION TO: Adopt with Modification(s)
RESULT: ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATION(S)
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Reyes
Chair Hardemon: BH.6.
Jose Gell: Good evening. Jose Gell, Bayfront Park Management Trust, interim
Executive Director. Commissioners, Madam City Attorney, Mr. Manager, City
Clerks, thanks for the opportunity to present the '18/19 budget to you. I just want to
bring up a scrivener's error in the resolution. The amount presented of 11,117, 728 is
incorrect. The correct amount is reflected in the agenda item, summary form, of
11, 712, 728. It's a million -- 11, 712, 728, and that's for the operating and capital
expense budget for '18/19. And thank you for this opportunity.
Chair Hardemon: Is there a motion or any discussion?
Commissioner Carollo: There's a motion.
Chair Hardemon: Been properly moved.
Commissioner Carollo: Second by Commissioner Reyes.
Chair Hardemon: All in favor of the motion, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion passes.
Mr. Gell: Thank you very much.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): As amended.
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2018
BH.7 RESOLUTION
4619
Virginia Key
Beach Park Trust
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE ANNUAL BUDGET
OF THE VIRGINIA KEY BEACH PARK TRUST ("TRUST"), ATTACHED AND
INCORPORATED, IN THE AMOUNT OF $300,000.00 FROM CITY OF MIAMI
OPERATING FUNDS, $50,000.00 FROM TRUST CARRYOVER FUNDS,
$28,000.00 FROM TRUST CASH WITH THE FISCAL AGENT, $65,000.00 IN
GRANTS, AND $700,000.00 IN ANTICIPATED REVENUE, FOR A TOTAL
AMOUNT OF $1,143,000.00, TO PROVIDE FOR THE MANAGEMENT,
OPERATION, MAINTENANCE, AND CAPITAL EXPENDITURES OF
HISTORIC VIRGINIA KEY BEACH PARK FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2018 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2019.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-18-0388
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Ken Russell, Vice Chair
SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Reyes
Chair Hardemon: BH.7.
Guy Forchion: Good evening, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners. My name is Guy
Forchion, Executive Director of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust, 4020 Virginia
Beach Drive, Miami, Florida 33149. Thank you for the opportunity to present our
budget. It is $1,143, 000; comprised of a $300, 000 City contribution, $50, 000 in
trust carryover funds; $28, 000 in outside agency, the Miami Foundation Funds;
$65, 000 in grant funding, and $700, 000 that the Trust generates from the park. If
you have any questions regarding this budget, please --
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chairman?
Mr. Forchion: -- answer all that I can.
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized.
Vice Chair Russell: I'd like to know when you're going to build your cultural history
museum that bond monies from the County have been allocated for years.
Mr. Forchion: Delighted to answer that. We have been speaking with you,
Commissioner, and others, in our discussions. What the County is requesting from
us is a resolution from this body. The bond funds for the Virginia Key Beach Park
Trust go from the County to the City for the museum project. In the County bond
regulations, a piece of legislation must come from municipalities that are receiving
bond dollars. In that, it is requesting that the City also give assurances of how
operations will be handled. We've presented our budget analysis that we've had
lowered cultural resources create just over a year ago, and it projects a shortfall in
the dollars that the Trust generates and what is projected, what the museum will
generate and what's projected. There is roughly 300 to $500, 000 in shortfall in that
budget analysis.
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Chair Hardemon: And the County doesn't want to provide any dollars towards that
operating, is what I'm assuming?
Mr. Forchion: The County has given no --
Chair Hardemon: County said, "We'll build it" --
Mr. Forchion: -- evidence ofproviding dollars.
Chair Hardemon: -- but they will rot and decay.
Commissioner Carollo: What is the shortfall that you're anticipating then?
Vice Chair Russell: 3 to 500.
Mr. Forchion: We are anticipating 300 to $500, 000 in shortfall the first year.
Commissioner Carollo: Additionally?
Mr. Forchion: Yeah, exactly, additional.
Commissioner Carollo: Well --
Mr. Forchion: We're also looking at projections of our revenue generation and
fundraising activities that would ultimately in our design, in five to seven years,
would close that gap.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chairman?
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized.
Vice Chair Russell: I'd like to propose something, and it may not be possible for us
to pass a resolution here, but at least to direct the Management to bring back a
resolution to this Commission that would help with that, but I'd like to challenge the
County a little bit, because we don't have a cultural department such as they do. We
don't have a budget specifically for the operation of museums, but this museum is
incredibly important to the history of South Florida, and Miami in particular, and
most particularly, this beach, and the experience that could be had there. And if we
could tie that museum to the entire City through our transit system and a trolley that
could be shared with Key Biscayne, for example, it could really be something that
becomes a draw, because what you have there is the only blue water beach in all of
the City of Miami, and its history is very rich and should be celebrated. If that
nearly $20 million is tied up at the County for lack of us finding something, I think
we can do it by creating some sort of revenue source from all the revenue that's
generated on Virginia Key from here forward; any new RFPs (Request for
Proposals) that come, any additional rents we're able to grab, any funding that we
can receive from the Marine Stadium when it's built, from the -- when it's restored
from the flex park; maybe a piece of that, and they could -- the City Administration
could come up with a formula to help us at least meet half of that budget shortfall.
And I've spoken with our County Commissioner, Xavier Suarez. He is open to trying
to find the other half, to see if there's the will of his Commissioners as well, because
this is a big thing.
Commissioner Carollo: Then that's all I needed to hear, you know. We're in great
shape then. Nothing more to say. I was going to --
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Chair Hardemon: Is there a motion to approve?
Commissioner Carollo: -- offer to help, but (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I heard that. The
only thing that I will say is don't count on any monies from the stadium, because
that's going to be another white elephant that we're just going to have to put money
into that. We're better off not building that; using that money for other things, and
we can use some of it to help you, but -- If you ever have the time in, you know, the
next month or so, I'd be happy to get together with you. And I think, if you give me a
tour of what I remember seeing there last year, I might be able to give you some
ideas and connect you with some people that you could make more than you need for
your shortfall now and the additional dollars that you're going to need for that
museum, which, by the way -- I know you weren't around then -- but this all begun
when I was Mayor. We brought up this whole plan for the Trust in Virginia Beach. I
still remember going out on the beach there with Athalie Range --
Mr. Forchion: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: -- Barbara Carey, and many others. So it's a great location.
And you don't have to worry about getting monies from the City. If you do certain
things, you could generate enough dollars there so that you could pay it for yourself.
Chair Hardemon: But I think the first responsibility we have is to get this building
built. And, you know, I've always heard -- there's a statement: "First you got to get
the money, then you got to get the money." And it's a shame that the County's been
holding on to something that the public wants to see happen, but for $300, 000 or so.
So I think that with all of our heads put together, the first thing we need to get is a
shovel in the ground, and I think that's the most important thing. But until then, I
need a motion to approve BH 7.
Vice Chair Russell: I move it.
Commissioner Carollo: Motion to approve --
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly --
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: -- moved and seconded. You got a response you wanted to give
me just now, or would you keep it to yourself?
Mr. Forchion: I just want to thank you all as a body for your general overall
support of the project. It is something that -- it is a shame that for a small gap, there
has been a period of time that has really been waiting. I know there were some
serious shortfalls across the board in 2009, 2010, 2011; County, City, and even the
Trust really working very hard to survive. But at this point, I really do believe it's
something that needs to come for all cities.
Commissioner Carollo: What is the amount that the County is holding on to?
Mr. Forchion: There's $15.5 million in general obligation bond funds and $5
million in convention development tax. You know, we've been working diligently --
Commissioner Carollo: That was all assigned there?
Mr. Forchion: -- but it's still there.
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Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. That was all assigned to do that museum there?
Mr. Forchion: Yes, and park improvements, general park improvements.
Commissioner Carollo: Some serious money; you could do quite a bit there.
Mr. Forchion: Agreed.
Chair Hardemon: All in favor of the motion, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion carries.
Mr. Forchion: Thank you. Goodnight.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you, sir.
BH.8 RESOLUTION
4754
OMNI Community
Redevelopment
Agency
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), ACCEPTING AND APPROVING THE ANNUAL GENERAL
OPERATING AND TAX INCREMENT FUND BUDGET OF THE OMNI
REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
("OMNI CRA"), ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED AS EXHIBIT "A," IN THE
TOTAL AMOUNT OF $43,907,989.00 FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2018 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2019, AS
APPROVED BY THE OMNI CRA'S BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-18-0389
MOTION TO: Adopt with Modification(s)
RESULT: ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATION(S)
MOVER: Ken Russell, Vice Chair
SECONDER: Wifredo (Willy) Gort, Commissioner
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Reyes
NAYS: Carollo
Chair Hardemon: BH.8.
Isiaa Jones (Chief Legal Officer): Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Isiaa
Jones. I'm here on behalf of the Omni CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency).
Chair Hardemon: You might want to present the budget.
Ms. Jones: So our budget is presented. It's a resolution of the City of Miami. Our
budget is in the amount of 43,907,989.
Commissioner Carollo: My question was the same one that I had mid-term: The 2
million in arrears for quite a few years that has not been paid to the Bayfront Park
Trust or Museum Park, and the 2 million for this coming fiscal year, where is it at in
the budget?
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Ms. Jones: Commissioner, we've also added a backup item that was passed by the
Omni CRA Board in January, where the CRA Board had voted to de -obligate those
funds -- or CRA has recently hired outside counsel. I believe the City has also hired
outside counsel on this matter, so that should be resolved in the near future.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, it's not a matter of it should be resolved; it's a matter
that you could hire all the out counsel you want, but if you still have an obligation on
the books, you can't balance your books on a legal obligation without it. Has the
County given you anything in writing that they're going to be in agreement that all
the parties that were signature to this agreement versus the binding contract are
going to be in agreement to undo it and open it up?
Ms. Jones: Commissioner, at this time, we are just entering into all of those
negotiations. I believe the first step we have -- we will be taking is that with the City.
Yesterday, our outside counsel reached out to the City's outside counsel. I'm not
sure if we 're -- I'm at liberty to discuss all of that negotiation right now, but --
Commissioner Carollo: With all due respect, this just didn't happen; this has been
going on for some time. And I'm not voting for something that -- because you all
decided there to redo the budget and take 2 million that you have a binding
obligation to Museum Park; that you could just do it like that, and certainly not put it
anywhere near where it will be reflected in this budget that will be in violation of
State law in presenting a balanced budget.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chairman?
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Gentlemen, we did this exact exercise at the last
budget amendment, and we came to the steps that would satisfy this board and the
City's Financial Department, as well, and we've annotated it in the exact same way
as we did in the last amendment; that the amount is recognized, that we are
disclosing it in any loans we go out for as a CRA, and that we are in discussions with
the City on it. Our outside counsel at the Omni CRA side has been working with the
City's outside counsel, and it seems to be that the consensus is this is not as much a
legal problem as a political problem. There's potential arguments on both sides that
make it vague enough that we could argue till the cows come home, but at the end of
the day, we, from a policy perspective, need to decide how we want to spend that
money; and at the CRA Board, we have decided is on affordable housing, and that
commitment was made. So I voted "yes" on the Bayfront Park Trust budget,
understanding that $3 million is coming out of the reserves there. And so, I'm
trusting that the Baykont Park Trust budget is whole and sound to do the capital
improvements that it wants to do. And I hope that you will allow us, as an Omni
CRA, to go forward and do the good things that we're trying to do for that part of the
City, as well.
Commissioner Carollo: That's all fine, but when you became Chairman of your
third committee, you knew that there were commitments. And the board could try to
do anything any way it wants to; which, by the way, she didn't explain it the way that
you did, but you had to show that to balance your books. We could be in agreement;
we could be in disagreement how it's done, but to meet the State requirements, you
have to have it here somewhere. How can you balance the books without showing
where you're going to have monies that you legally have to pay? And you're just
going to put a note, because you decided that you want to use it for something else;
not for what legally is bound to go, and then the other parties have not agreed that
that could be done.
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Vice Chair Russell: I believe we meet the State -- we're sufficient with the State
requirements.
Ms. Jones: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: We went through this in the last budget, and we did get a
majority approval of this board. Nothing has change. We're doing it exactly the
same as what was satisfactory to this board --
Commissioner Carollo: I --
Vice Chair Russell: -- the last time we met, so I would like to move the item, if we
can, unless there's other parts of the budget to discuss.
Commissioner Carollo: The fact that I've taken a responsible position in any
surplus monies -- beyond a small amount that we need to operate -- have brought it
into the City's general fund doesn't mean that you're off the hook on it. We've been
putting minimum amounts in Museum Park. There's a lot more things that we need
there that I can show you. You talk about the residents in Biscayne Boulevard. Well,
this is the kind of projects that are going to benefit a lot of the residents across the
street and all through Biscayne Boulevard and beyond, in that area, that we're not
planning on doing that with the budget at Bayfront Park. And frankly, the additional
funds that we're hoping that we're going to be bringing in should go into the general
fund in the City. Then, if you want to take funds from the general City [sic] to fund
additional projects at the Omni CRA, that -- you know, that would make sense, if it's
done. But the way that this is being done, it's, in my opinion, not being done the
right way, and we're not meeting the intent of the State law, so.
Commissioner Reyes: I have a question. This is a liability, right? Supposedly, it's a
liability. I mean, it's money that you owe, that you should pay, and because of
whatever reason, you are not paying, but it's money that was supposed to be paid.
Ms. Jones: Actually, Commissioner --
Commissioner Reyes: It's owed.
Ms. Jones: -- if it was expended by the City, then we would have to pay it. However,
that money has not been expended --
Commissioner Reyes: But as I understood, it was an agreement that it was not full --
on the part of the City, it was not fulfilled, for whatever.
Vice Chair Russell: Julie Bru said we don't owe it.
Commissioner Reyes: Huh?
Vice Chair Russell: Julie Bru said we don't owe it.
Commissioner Reyes: Julie Bru said what? No. She's my cousin; maybe she was
right; maybe she was wrong. I mean, she was my -- she was married to my cousin.
But let -- what I'm driving at is, if it is a debt that the Omni CRA -- or whoever --
whenever you have a debt, you see, in your balance sheet -- and correct me if I'm
wrong, Mr. Budget Director -- in your balance sheet, you must count that as a
liability, you see. It will be counted as a liability. And that's -- The only question is,
are you counting it as a liability? Because now you are in some sort of legal, I
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mean, discussion. But what I want to know is if it is a debt that it has to be -- is it a
debtor isn't it a debt?
Christopher Rose (Director, Office of Management & Budget): We still have the
legal discussion to be had. There are three years where the payment has not been
made. We have not put it in the City's budget as either a revenue or an expense;
therefore, it is --
Commissioner Reyes: But that doesn't matter. It --
Vice Chair Russell: It is what?
Commissioner Reyes: If the Omni CRA -- whoever it is -- it could be the Omni CRA.
It could be whoever. If you have a potential debt that you have and you know that
you have to pay that, but for whatever reason, you don't pay it, it is a liability.
Ms. Jones: So actually --
Commissioner Reyes: It have to be shown as a liability when you are balancing your
budget; am I right --
Ms. Jones: So Commissioner --
Commissioner Reyes: -- or am I wrong?
Ms. Jones: -- ifI may? It has not been realized by the City as yet --
Commissioner Reyes: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Ms. Jones: -- as the project has not happened. It has not been -- it's not on your
book as either a revenue or expenditures. So because of that fact --
Commissioner Carollo: What are you talking about? What are you talking about,
that it's not been realized? We got stuff there that we've done. And the only reason
we haven't done more, because these funds have not been allocated to us; otherwise,
we would have done, easily, $20 million of work on that park.
Chair Hardemon: Is Jason Walker sick?
Ms. Jones: He's out; family emergency.
Commissioner Carollo: And -- you know, furthermore, it's got nothing to do with the
City; it's got to do with a trust that's responsible for that. Now, what Commissioner
Reyes stated is exactly what I'm saying: You have to account for that to have a
balanced budget. You just can't have legal liability and just put it under a rug and
hide it.
Ms. Jones: So in -- based on the CRA's perspective, Commissioner, there is no legal
liability as the project, as anticipated, was never completed. The City has not
completed that particular project; and as a result, it is the City Commissioner's
perspective right now to arrive at a settlement on that issue.
Commissioner Carollo: Well you told me three times on that already, and I'm sorry,
but, first of all, it's got nothing to do with the City. There are $2 million that are
sitting in the City's coffers that came from a deal that was done last fiscal year, and
it's still is not released. Now, you know, if you guys want to do this, you're going to
force my hand. I'm telling you now, I'll do whatever, within the law, has to be done,
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and I'll go up all the way to the State and file whatever I have to file to show that this
is not a balanced budget, and this is not a balanced budget within the law. And what
I'm asking is the littlest thing that you could do -- to show the liabilities that you have
-- and not even that is being answered to us.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chairman?
Commissioner Carollo: You all decided that you don't have a liability, because you
want to spend the money on something else that was not how this money was agreed
to be spent, and now you're moving forward, like what was signed before wasn't real.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chairman?
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized.
Vice Chair Russell: I feel like we're having a Ground Hog Day/deja vu all wrapped
into one from the last time. We went exactly through this. We came back after lunch
and voted "yes." There was a majority of this Commission that agreed on the way
the budget was structured to recognize this potential liability based on our future
legal discussions; nothing has changed from that format. So anyone who voted
"yes" that day should feel comfortable voting "yes" today. But the money that was
meant for originally included a $15 million underground garage in Museum Park.
We have no intention of building that. The City never built that by the deadline it
was supposed to. At the CRA, we don't believe that pipe dream is ever happening.
We have plans for that money; affordable housing. $100 million over the next years
has been committed by the Omni CRA. We need these funds to do that. It is not
owed to the City, I believe, and we'll be bringing a resolution to de -obligate that
fund from our side as the CRAs attempt to expand -- I mean, extend. Both CRAs will
be going to the County and the City for these issues, and at that point, I believe it'll
be appropriate for this Commission to take a position on that debt when the global
agreement is opened. But for now, I would like to move that we pass this budget as
is, with the annotations about the potential liability, which are there, which were
satisfactory to our City and this Commission in the last budget. So I make the
motion. If the Chairman is here -- Chairman still has the gavel; I'll make the motion,
if there's a second.
Commissioner Gort: Second.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, my apologies. I need to make a quick
amendment to the third "whereas" clause to include the following resolution number:
CRA-R- 1 8-003 4 .
Commissioner Reyes: And I'm --
Vice Chair Russell: You need an amendment?
Commissioner Reyes: -- I --
Mr. Hannon: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Reyes: -- was talking to Chris --
Vice Chair Russell: Mover approves.
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Commissioner Reyes: -- on the legality, and he says, since it is now in dispute, the
City does not recog -- it's in dispute; that you don't recognize it; that you don't have
to place it on your budget. But I have my doubts about it, and I think that it should
be recognized, but since it is in dispute -- is that right, Chris? You see.
Commissioner Carollo: Absolutely.
Commissioner Reyes: And if you all tell me that it's legal --
Commissioner Carollo: This is the equivalent of the City of Miami deciding that it's
going to withdraw from the State of Florida, because we felt like it, we wanted to do
it, and there's no legal basis to do it. Now, if you would tell me that before all this
was done, you had the parties that were -- the individuals that signed onto this
account, and everybody was in agreement to open it up again so it could be undone -
Commissioner Reyes: Yeah.
Commissioner Carollo: -- that's a different story. I would then agree that you have
no legal basis. But right now, under the law, you have the legal basis, no matter how
much you want to sugarcoat it for me, no matter what stories, no matter how much
you want to tell me, "We made commitments." Well, you made commitments you had
no right to make --
Commissioner Reyes: That's it.
Commissioner Carollo: -- and that's the problem.
Vice Chair Russell: Both sides in agreement have to fulfill their obligations. It's the
opinion of the CRA that the City did not fulfill the requirement that would require the
CRA to pay this, and that was years ago, and the debt was never collected and
nobody ever came after it. Clearly, the project was not going to be done; the money
was not asked for.
Commissioner Carollo: Well --
Vice Chair Russell: So it's time to move on and work with the crises of the City and
what this CRA was meant to do, and it's not about fluffing up that park beyond where
it is right now. That park needs a lot of work, but the entity that takes care of that
park just gave away $3 million, so clearly, there's not -- that's not the crisis.
Commissioner Carollo: We gave to the City general fund $3 million, and I hope we
could give more, but that's coming from the Bayfront Park side, Commissioner.
From the museum side, is the problem. That's the money that CRA owes to the
museum side; not the Bayfront Park side. And those $3 million were generated on
the other side, but I've made my point. You know, we could put our thumbs up and
cover the sun and not see it, or we could say, "It's the moon, not the sun "; that's fine.
Time will tell how right I am.
Chair Hardemon: I hope that you're right. I'll tell you, the last time we discussed
this issue, Jason Walker wasn't here. This time we're discussing this issue, Jason
Walker isn't here. And, you know, to me, this is the sort of thing that I would have
loved to see the Executive Director be here to answer some of these questions. I
understand your role. We value your place here. But after this being about the --
probably the third discussion about this, this kitchen's a lot hotter, and there's some
people that I think have taken on a role for that CRA that should be answering some
of these questions. But I'll tell you, look, this is bigger than just between the City of
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Miami and that CRA, which we support that CRA, which is part of the reason why
the City of Miami hasn't called for those dollars, but this is about the State and about
the budget requirements that the State has, and I just hope that everything works the
way that it should.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. And it's not only for the CRAs; it's for every agency
in the State of Florida. I mean, I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. All that I'm
trying to do is for -- you know, you'll make whatever decisions you want that a
majority makes, but do your budget the right way. Put whatever liabilities you really
have in the budget the way the State requires for you to do it so you could have a
balanced budget and report everything the way you have it.
Chair Hardemon: Seeing no further discussion, all in favor of the motion, say
"aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Aye.
Commissioner Carollo: No.
Chair Hardemon: All against?
Commissioner Carollo: No.
Chair Hardemon: Motion carries.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): 4-1, as amended.
BH.9 RESOLUTION
4617
Southeast
Overtown/Park
West CRA
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), ACCEPTING AND APPROVING THE ANNUAL GENERAL
OPERATING AND TAX INCREMENT BUDGET OF THE SOUTHEAST
OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
("SEOPW CRA"), ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED AS EXHIBIT "A", IN
THE AMOUNT OF $55,797,553.00, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING
OCTOBER 1, 2018, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2019.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-18-0390
MOTION TO: Adopt with Modification(s)
RESULT: ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATION(S)
MOVER: Ken Russell, Vice Chair
SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Reyes
Chair Hardemon: BH.9.
Neil Shiver: Good evening, Commissioners. Neil Shiver on behalf of the Southeast
Overtown/Park West CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency). I'm here with my
Chief Executive Officer, and we seek the acceptance and your approval of the Fiscal
Year '18/19 annual general operating budget, in the amount of $55, 779, 553.
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BH.10
4595
Wynwood
Business
Improvement
District Board
Chair Hardemon: Chair would like to entertain a motion to approve.
Vice Chair Russell: So moved
Commissioner Carollo: Move.
Chair Hardemon: Moved and seconded.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, just for the record, I need to amend the third
"whereas" clause to include the following resolution number: Resolution Number
CRA-R-18-0039.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. All in favor of the motion, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion carries.
Mr. Shiver: Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you for your time, sir.
Mr. Hannon: As amended.
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE ANNUAL BUDGET
OF THE WYNWOOD BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT ('BID"),
ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF
$1,430,160.00 TO PROVIDE FOR THE MANAGEMENT, OPERATION, AND
MAINTENANCE OF THE BID FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING
OCTOBER 1, 2018 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2019.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-18-0391
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Vice Chair
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo
ABSENT: Reyes
Chair Hardemon: BH 10, Wynwood BID (Business Improvement District).
Commissioner Carollo: So moved.
Manny Gonzalez: Manny Gonzalez, Wynwood BID, 2751 North Miami Avenue;
Executive Director. Good evening, Commissioners. The Wynwood Business
Improvement District respectfully requests the adoption of the proposed 2018/2019
budget, totaling $1,430,160. Some of the highlights include an increase in funding
for our Clean Team, which it consists of seven members. They are the ones that are
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2018
responsible for cleaning 50 blocks of our district; that totals about 178, 000. We've
agreed to contribute 50,000 to the City of Miami Master Planning Initiative that's
occurring within Wynwood. We just had a community meeting this past Tuesday.
We've also entered into a partnership with the City of Miami Police Department and
their -- the Security camera provider, Cintel. We are going to install up to 60
cameras in the public right-of-ways [sic] within the district for the safety of the
community. We're also approving installing rubber mulching. This we did last year
along Northwest 2nd Avenue, because there are so many people on the sidewalks
that with the rubber mulching, it actually made about five extra feet, so we're going
to do the same on North Miami Avenue this year, totaling about 15,000. And we're
going to continue our Zika Preventive Maintenance Program, which calls for us
monitoring the mosquito populations without -- within the area, using our Clean
Team members, and equipment that we had purchased last year. Other than that,
that's everything.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved --
Commissioner Carollo: Moved.
Chair Hardemon: -- by Commissioner Carollo.
Vice Chair Russell: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Seconded by the Vice Chairman. Any further discussion? Seeing
none, all in favor of the motion, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion carries.
Mr. Gonzalez: Thank you. Have a good night.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you.
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BH.11 RESOLUTION
4582
Coconut Grove
Business
Improvement
District Board
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE ANNUAL BUDGET
OF THE COCONUT GROVE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT ("BID"),
ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, IN THE AMOUNT OF $5,270,633.00 TO
PROVIDE FOR THE MANAGEMENT, OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE OF
THE BID FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2018, AND
ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2019, SUBJECT TO RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF
THE BID BY THE APPROVAL OF A MAJORITY OF THE AFFECTED
PROPERTY OWNERS FOR THE CONTINUED EXISTENCE OF THE BID.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-18-0392
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Vice Chair
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo
ABSENT: Reyes
Chair Hardemon: BH.11.
Nicole Singletary: Commissioners, Nicole Singletary, Executive Director for the
Coconut Grove Business Improvement District. We are very excited to presume a lot
of our capital projects for next fiscal year, including the Main Highway Sidewalk
Restoration Project, the burial of FPL (Florida Power & Light) utility lines, and
several beautification projects throughout the area. Happy to answer any questions
you may have.
Commissioner Carollo: Move.
Vice Chair Russell: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Properly moved and seconded. Any further discussion? Seeing
none, all in favor of the motion, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion carries.
Ms. Singletary: Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you.
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BH.12
4581
Liberty City
Community
Revitalization
Trust
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE ANNUAL BUDGET
OF THE LIBERTY CITY COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION TRUST,
ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, IN THE AMOUNT OF $432,121.00 FOR
THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2018, AND ENDING
SEPTEMBER 30, 2019.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-18-0393
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Keon Hardemon, Chair
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo
ABSENT: Reyes
Chair Hardemon: BH.12.
Elaine Black: Good evening. My name is Elaine Black. I'm the President of the
Liberty City Trust, and we're here to approve our budget of $432,121.
Commissioner Carollo: Move.
Chair Hardemon: Seconded by the Chair. When does Coley's open?
Ms. Black: I'm sorry; what did you say?
Chair Hardemon: When does Coley's open?
Ms. Black: This month.
Chair Hardemon: All in favor of the motion, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion passes. Thank you.
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BH.13
4612
Civilian
Investigative
Panel
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE ANNUAL BUDGET
OF THE CIVILIAN INVESTIGATIVE PANEL, ATTACHED AND
INCORPORATED, IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $1,174,000.00 FOR THE
FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2018, AND ENDING
SEPTEMBER 30, 2019.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-18-0405
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Vice Chair
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Reyes
Chair Hardemon: BH 13.
Cristina Beamud: Good evening. I'm Cristina Beamud. I'm the Executive Director
of the Civilian Investigative Panel. Accompanying me is Ms. Eileen Damaso; she is
our Chair. We're requesting -- at the request of the CIP (Civilian Investigative
Panel), we're requesting approval of a budget of $1,174, 000.
Commissioner Carollo: Moved.
Vice Chair Russell: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Seeing no other discussion, all in favor of the motion, say "aye. "
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion carries.
Ms. Beamud: Thank you.
Eileen Damaso: Thank you very much.
Chair Hardemon: Eileen, you make yourself useful everywhere, don't you?
Ms. Beamud: I make -- I try my best.
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BH.14 RESOLUTION
4594
Firefighters' and
Police Officers'
Retirement Trust
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE ANNUAL BUDGET
OF THE CITY OF MIAMI FIRE FIGHTERS' AND POLICE OFFICERS'
RETIREMENT TRUST FUND ("FIPO RETIREMENT TRUST FUND"),
ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,128,469.00 TO
PROVIDE FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE FIPO RETIREMENT TRUST
FUND FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2018, AND
ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2019.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-18-0394
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Ken Russell, Vice Chair
SECONDER: Keon Hardemon, Chair
AYES: Russell, Gort, Carollo, Reyes
ABSENT: Hardemon
Chair Hardemon: BH.14.
Monica Fernandez: Good evening, Commissioners. My name's Monica Fernandez.
I'm the Vice Chairman [sic] of the Firefighters and Police Retirement Trust, and I'm
here with Robert Suarez, a trustee also with the Trust. And we're here to ask you for
-- to adopt and approve the annual budget -- the administrative budget for the FIPO
(Firefighters and Police Officers) Retirement Trust Fund, in the amount of
$2,128, 469.
Vice Chair Russell: So moved.
Chair Hardemon: Seconded by the Chair. All is in order?
Commissioner Carollo: Move.
Commissioner Reyes: Second.
Chair Hardemon: All is in order? Yeah? Been properly moved and seconded.
Seeing no further discussion, all in favor, say "aye."
Commissioner Carollo: I do have one question. I'm sorry. The amount that you're
paying and that we're giving you money for to pay off the annual mortgage and debt
on your building, when does that expire, that finishes?
Ms. Fernandez: There is no debt on the --
Commissioner Carollo: Well, there's an amount we're giving you --
Ms. Fernandez: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: -- in the budget that, as I understood it, has to do with the
building that you had bought before.
Ms. Fernandez: Yes.
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Commissioner Carollo: What is that money for, then, if it's not --?
Ms. Fernandez: It's for rent -- it's for rental of the building.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay. So it's different than what I thought and might have
been told that it was for. You all don't own that building?
Robert Suarez: Commissioner, I'll explain to you how it works. As you're familiar,
our fund has real estate investments.
Commissioner Carollo: Right.
Mr. Suarez: Our building was purchased by the fund, using fund assets, the
property, and the building was built.
Commissioner Carollo: Right.
Mr. Suarez: We treat it like our other real estate investments. It is an asset. It is
literally an asset that we post, we value each year, and it is posted as an asset with
the other $1.6 billion in assets. The rent that we collect from the City, through this
budget, literally get deposited into the fund; that the City then gets credit as assets in
the fund, but we manage it much like we do all of our other real estate investment
that the fund has as an asset. So it's an asset, a real estate asset of the fund.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay. What percent of the building do you occupy?
Mr. Suarez: No. The only function of that building is as the office floor.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay. So it's just for you.
Mr. Suarez: It's about 6,000 square feet.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Mr. Suarez: Yeah.
Commissioner Carollo: All right. Thank you.
Mr. Suarez: Okay.
Commissioner Gort: Move it.
Commissioner Carollo: Second. Well, there was a motion already, I think.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
Commissioner Gort: There's a motion?
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): There is a motion on the floor.
Commissioner Carollo: There was a motion, yeah.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Vice Chair.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. I was the mover, so I need to pass the gavel this
way.
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Commissioner Gort: There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Being
none, all in favor, state it by saying "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Commissioner Gort: Nays? No nays.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
BH.15 RESOLUTION
4593
General
Employees' and
Sanitation
Employees'
Retirement Trust
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE ANNUAL BUDGET
OF THE CITY OF MIAMI GENERAL EMPLOYEES' & SANITATION
EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT TRUST ("GESE RETIREMENT TRUST FUND"),
ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, IN THE AMOUNT OF $3,274,449.00,
EXCLUDING NORMAL COSTS OF $43,526,929.00 AS ACTUARIALLY
DETERMINED FOR THE PENSION FUNDING REQUIREMENT, TO
PROVIDE FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE GESE RETIREMENT
TRUST FUND FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2018,
AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2019.
MOTION TO: Defer
RESULT: DEFERRED
MOVER: Wifredo (Willy) Gort, Commissioner
SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Reyes
Note for the Record: Item BH.15 was deferred to the September 27, 2018, Second
Budget Hearing.
Vice Chair Russell: Next item, BH.15.
Ron Silver: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ron Silver, attorney for the City of Miami
General Employees' and Sanitation Employees' Retirement Trust, and we have our
Pension Administrator here, Mr. Hernandez, Edgard Hernandez.
Edgard Hernandez: Good evening.
Mr. Silver: I -- we're asking you approve our budget, in the amount of $3, 274, 449.
Vice Chair Russell: Is there a motion or any questions?
Commissioner Carollo: There are questions.
Commissioner Reyes: Questions.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Carollo.
Commissioner Carollo: You have basically the same amount of retirees as the FIPO
(Firefighters and Police Officers) Plan that we just heard, but you have over twice
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the employees that they have, and you're costing us approximately a million plus
more than FIPO. Why is that?
Edgard Hernandez: Good evening, Commissioner. Thank you for letting us present
the budget. As you can see on the personnel services, we have 10 staff members.
Out of the 10 staff we have five who are currently in retirement and contractually
agree to stay with us for another year and a half. So we started to do some
transitioning that will help us hopefully meet some of your concerns, where we can
reduce some of the number. But the main reason as to why this -- I don't really know
how many staff they have -- is because we serve, across the City, 33 departments,
and every department has its unique membership, and every member is different.
And as we go from Public Works to Solid Waste to all the other departments, we
have to meet their concerns, and that's the reason why we're, perhaps, a little bit
more hands on when it comes to having more staff on board.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, I -- it's a good story, but I don't buy it. You're at
around 150 million more dollars, approximately; 1,150, 000 more, approximately,
than FIPO, and to me, it's unacceptable. That's the residents' money. Gates gave us
certain conditions, but Gates didn't say that we had to provide a Rolls Royce for you.
The cops and firefighters, they're driving a nice Cadillac --
Commissioner Gort: And Mercedes.
Commissioner Carollo: -- maybe even going into BMW (Bavarian Motor Works) or
Mercedes, but they're not driving a Rolls Royce; you guys are. I will not vote for this
amount. If you think that Gates gave you the leeway to spend whatever you please,
then I guess we'll see each other in court, but I'm not voting for this whole amount.
All these additional contracts that you're giving to people that are very nice and
cushy after they work with you, so they could be there as advisors, you guys could
decide how to cut them, including the 11 th position that you forgot to mention. What
does he do?
Mr. Hernandez: Well, we have one Treasurer, one Chief Accountant.
Commissioner Carollo: You have 10 or you have 11 positions?
Mr. Hernandez: We have 10.
Commissioner Carollo: I thought you had 11.
Mr. Hernandez: No, we have 10. We have 10, and we're proposing to hire one as a
cessation planning, because the Chief Accountant and the Treasurer are going to
leave at the same time, and that's over 20 years of institutional knowledge, and we
basically can't wait until the last year until -- to do the hiring.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay. Well, I don't know what this body wants to do, but
I'm ready to make a motion to approve a reduced budget that's closer to the budget
that FIPO has.
Commissioner Reyes: May I --? I did a comparison. There's a comparison here,
and it sounds -- I mean, it is -- I don't know why there is a discrepancies and a
difference. Salaries, for example: FIPO has 452,000; you have 756, 000. You see?
Mr. Hernandez: Okay.
Commissioner Reyes: And we have here, okay, special pay, 18 and 30, and you keep
on going: Taxes, 73,000; retirement contribution, 275,000 versus 58 for FIPO;
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insurance, 274,000 versus 56,000 for FIPO. And you keep on going down the list,
and there's one that really, I mean, amazes me, because it -- you have one -- an item
here that is repair maintenance and cleaning services. FIPO has 156,000; you have
273, 000. I mean, it is serious difference and serious money. It is serious money.
Equipment program new, FIPO has 50,000; you have 332, 000.
Mr. Hernandez: Just to clarify, the repair maintenance, the repair maintenance is
broken down into two categories, but what you're looking at is a summary combined.
So we have for the IT (Information Technology), which will appease, hopefully, some
of the concerns, is if we start investing towards innovation, we can probably
automate some of the processes and reduce the personnel costs. So that's 300, 000,
and we have the building, which is 187, 000, and that is, combined, 500, 000.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, but you have also things that doesn't make sense.
Communication, you have 32,000 versus 8,000. I mean, it is -- it doesn't make sense.
You see? Utility services, 30,000 versus 18,000. I mean, you have more lights?
Mr. Hernandez: Our buildings -- if I heard correctly, their building is 6,000 square
feet; our building is about 9,000.
Commissioner Reyes: The cleaning service is almost $100, 000 more.
Mr. Hernandez: Cleaning services.
Commissioner Reyes: That's right, repair and maintenance and cleaning services;
both is 100, 000. You see, let me tell you, it's nothing that -- I mean, I don't want to
sound like I have anything against you guys, but it's -- the discrepancy is so large
that you have to start cutting cost, man.
Mr. Hernandez: In this budget, we did cost -- we did cut a hundred --
Commissioner Reyes: Well, if this is a trimmed budget, I don't want to see the other
one, and the difference would have been significantly larger.
Mr. Hernandez: So this being -- sorry -- but this being a budget, we -- our focus
wasn't reducing cost, but try to also invest in innovation so we can start reducing
some of our cost in the future.
Commissioner Reyes: Future.
Mr. Hernandez: Now -- but it's been, historically, at the 3.3 --
Commissioner Reyes: You see?
Mr. Hernandez: -- and we're trying to bring it back to, hopefully, a 3.2.
Commissioner Reyes: Now, how do you explain that FIPO pays $56, 000 for life and
health insurance, and you pay 274,000?
Mr. Hernandez: For what? I'm sorry.
Commissioner Reyes: Life and health insurance; it's 56,000 versus 274. I mean
listen, I mean, it is a substantial difference, my friend. I mean, I want to be fair.
Mr. Hernandez: Okay.
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Commissioner Reyes: But there is a substantial difference. You have to start cutting
cost.
Commissioner Carollo: I will --
Chair Hardemon: Is there a reason that you pay such a larger amount for life and
health insurance versus FIPO?
Mr. Hernandez: Especially for health insurance, yes. The cost of health insurance
has gone up for us, all the 10 employees, or 11, that were at one point --
Chair Hardemon: So --
Commissioner Reyes: How many does FIPO have?
Chair Hardemon: FIPO has -- it doesn't list the exact number in there. No. It says,
five.
Commissioner Carollo: Yep.
Chair Hardemon: So you -- so, essentially, you have double.
Mr. Hernandez: 10.
Chair Hardemon: Right?
Commissioner Reyes: But it's more than double, sir.
Chair Hardemon: But it's more than double.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, I will make a motion that we provide them $145,980
more than FIPO and reduce their budget by a million dollars. How they want to
reduce it, I don't care. So the motion will be for $2, 274, 449 budget approval, and
they could decide how they want to break it down.
Commissioner Reyes: Break it down. And if you have substantial proof that you
need more money, because -- but you have to have a very substantial proof that you
need more money -- you can come back to us and explain why.
Mr. Hernandez: Okay.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay? But I, in a clear conscience, I cannot go with this --
Mr. Hernandez: Okay.
Commissioner Reyes: -- you see, on a clear conscience, because based on all these
differences that there are.
Mr. Hernandez: And I understand the differences, but again --
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Mr. Hernandez: -- we're not similar to FIPO. We don't serve two departments; we
serve 33 departments. And no other budget --
Commissioner Reyes: But you only have five more people. You have five more
people only.
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Mr. Hernandez: Right. Five more people.
Commissioner Reyes: I mean, if you would have said okay --
Mr. Hernandez: The building is 3,000 square feet more. We own the building the
same way they do, so --
Commissioner Carollo: If --
Vice Chair Russell: Second.
Commissioner Carollo: -- we want to play that game of breaking it up into
departments like that --
Commissioner Reyes: Bring it.
Commissioner Carollo: -- by the time we're done, the Police and Fire are going to
have more departments than you, because we could break them down into all the
different units that are like different departments.
Mr. Hernandez: No. What I meant is we serve across the board different
departments, different --
Commissioner Carollo: Well, they serve across the board.
Mr. Hernandez: Right, so -- but that was just (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Carollo: But, for instance, which hotel are you guys going for the
retreats in Brickell?
Mr. Hernandez: The retreat that happened in August, that was an educational
symposium --
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah.
Mr. Hernandez: -- that was at Four Seasons.
Commissioner Carollo: Four Seasons.
Mr. Hernandez: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: How many of you stayed at the hotel overnight?
Mr. Hernandez: I believe it was 23.
Commissioner Carollo: 23.
Mr. Hernandez: Yes. 23, 25.
Commissioner Carollo: And do you really think, with everybody living here -- or at
least, we think they're living here -- that there was a need to rent for several nights
expensive hotel rooms like that, and then you expect us to approve the residents'
money to pay for that? I'm sorry. Let 's --
Mr. Hernandez: So just to clarify, that was an annual symposium. And the way we
planned it --
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Commissioner Carollo: Thank God, it's once a year
Mr. Hernandez: No, every two years. So the way we clari -- we justify that is
saying, if we send the trustees out to a conference, it cost about $4, 000 per trustees.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Mr. Hernandez: And I thought it is better to spend that money in the City, and
basically, instead of sending them out to Chicago or New York --
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, Las Vegas maybe --
Mr. Hernandez: -- for conferences --
Commissioner Reyes: Like the other people do, because -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Carollo: -- New York.
Mr. Hernandez: Then you can bring the occasion to them --
Commissioner Carollo: You got a couple of plays with it, too.
Chair Hardemon: But they stayed in the hotel.
Mr. Hernandez: -- and spend the money in the City.
Commissioner Carollo: See --
Chair Hardemon: They stayed in a hotel, though, in the middle -- in the City for
multiple days?
Mr. Hernandez: Just one day, and that rate was negotiated --
Commissioner Carollo: You just confirmed to me --
Mr. Hernandez: -- for $189 a night.
Commissioner Carollo: -- why there's a difference here; it's that mentality, and it's
the wrong type of mentality to have, certainly, from my way of looking at it.
Chair Hardemon: You said it was 180,000?
Mr. Hernandez: $189 a night.
Chair Hardemon: What was --?
Commissioner Carollo: 24 rooms.
Chair Hardemon: How much did you end up paying to create that -- for your
members to attend that symposium?
Mr. Hernandez: For the members?
Chair Hardemon: Whatever your total expenses were on that day.
Mr. Hernandez: The total expenses was right about 33,000, $35, 000.
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Commissioner Carollo: $35, 000.
Mr. Hernandez: And if we sent the trustees out for an educational, we will spend
about 4,000, because --
Commissioner Carollo: Well, if you would have sent them to Hawaii, it would have
been even more.
Mr. Hernandez: We don't (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair, was there a second on the motion?
Commissioner Reyes: What really bothers me is that I thought the FIPO was high.
Chair Hardemon: Was there a second on the --?
Commissioner Carollo: Is there a second on the motion that I made to --?
Commissioner Reyes: I second.
Vice Chair Russell: Discussion.
Chair Hardemon: Yeah. Discussion.
Vice Chair Russell: I appreciate us being sharp on budgets, but I'll be voting "no"
on the motion; and when it fails, I'll be voting to approve their budget as is. I don't -
I believe there's a way to do this in working together with them through the
budgeting season and process. I don't believe in cutting their legs on the dais here
when they come to present to us. I don't have enough knowledge of the depth of their
expenses to really be able to say which hotel they should have stayed at, how many
people they should have taken there, and what they learned at the symposium. And
to do it in this way, I just -- I don't think it's the right way. So I'll be voting "no."
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, sir.
Chair Hardemon: Why does this happen every year? What is it about it? Help me
understand.
Mr. Hernandez: I believe it's a comparison, but what I'm saying is, it's --
Chair Hardemon: Are you -- do you think you're --
Mr. Hernandez: We can come to you and explain the differences as to why one
system is different than the other.
Chair Hardemon: But you believe that you're unfairly being compared? Because I
really want to -- like, for instance, with the life insurance, healthcare, I mean, that --
to me, that's like a basic sort of thing. I would think it's like a -- somewhat
standardish. And so, if you had -- if you were on FIPO's scale, the way that you say
this comparison, your cost would be about $110, 000, but your costs are significantly
more than that, and I want -- I mean, what is it about it that you believe that you can
reasonably tell me -- because I couldn't -- I don't want to say -- I don't think you're
doing anything -- I can't say you're doing anything wrong. It's just that when
someone does that sort of comparison -- Maybe we're comparing apples to oranges -
- we may be. I don't know. But then, you know, someone highlights spending that
seems, you know, a bit superfluous -- you might -- compare it to one thing, it will be
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less, as you said about Chicago, but to another thing, it could be -- you know, we
spent $4, 000, because we bought them lunch, and they all traveled to the thing, and I
understand you want to do nice things for your members. That makes sense to me,
as well, but a million dollars is a lot of money to be cut. I don't know; Commissioner
Carollo probably -- he already knows what he wants to do with a million dollars, but
I can think of lots of things to do with a million dollars, as well, so that's all types of
things that we, you know, talk about. But every year, we find ourselves at this point
with you all, where we're doing some sort of cut, so I just -- you know, I really have -
- I have a listening ear to you to know what is it that's going on.
Commissioner Reyes: Yeah.
Mr. Hernandez: And --
Commissioner Reyes: You see, let's take, for example, the -- I mean, take the
example that --
Commissioner Carollo: Where's Jimmy Hoffa?
Commissioner Reyes: -- the trim, it is life and health insurance. FIPO has five,
right? Five employees. It's only $56,000, which it will be around $11, 000 per
person. You have 10 --
Mr. Hernandez: Okay.
Commissioner Reyes: -- and yours is 274, 000. I mean, those are the things that
makes you wonder, you see. That difference is what makes you wonder. Now, if you
can come in and you can say, "Okay, listen, this is due to" -- you have all the, I
mean, proofs that you couldn't get any insurance because of whatever; that you have
to pay that amount of money? I think that we should increase your budget by that
amount, but until I see that, I cannot -- I'm not willing -- I mean, I cannot, on a clear
conscience, give you $274, 000 for life and health insurance for 10 employees. That's
$27, 000 a year per (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Mr. Hernandez: That includes three insurance, but --
Commissioner Reyes: You see? I mean, it's (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Carollo: Commissioner, you know where he lost any chance of
bringing me around and turning me around? Is when he's trying to justify to me,
after blowing $35, 000 in hotel rooms and food and who knows what, that they
actually gave us a break and a good deal, because they could have gone to Vegas,
Chicago, New York, and it would have cost more money. This is the mentality how
they're running this. How many of our residents get to party that way and live that
way?
Commissioner Reyes: Well, you know, in travel --
Commissioner Carollo: Now, have you gone and walked through East Little Havana
to see how people live there, or Overtown or Liberty City, or over in Commissioner
Gort's district in Allapattah, and see the condition of people? And these are the
people that are paying for your partying, and you really feel that you gave us a
break. You know, if I would see at least that maybe in some other areas you're
higher, but hey, your little get-together, you had it at a reasonable place. We got
plenty of banquet halls with nice, small restaurants that are nice, that you could go
there and accomplish whatever you need to, but no. You guys want to live the high
life. And you know what? Gates did not require that the residents of Miami had to
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pay for you guys the life of the rich and famous; and I, for one, am not going to start
off in the first budget that I have here, since I've been back, in approving something
like this.
Vice Chair Russell: Gentlemen, it's getting late, and I believe you've made your
point. I don't believe it's our job to lecture the board administrators on what they
should do; it is our job to vote "yes" or "no." I've expressed that I'll be voting "no"
on the motion and moving to approve their budget, if it's -- if this is voted down, so
I'd like us to call the question.
Commissioner Reyes: With all due respect, we are the ones that are managing the
people's money.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, but we don't lecture --
Commissioner Reyes: And wait a minute; I haven't finished. We are the ones that
are managing the people's money --
Vice Chair Russell: Yeah.
Commissioner Reyes: -- and we have all the right to tell them that they shouldn't
spend the money -- waste the money like that.
Vice Chair Russell: I get it.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Then we vote it down, but I don't think we should lecture them
like children.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay. And then -- and, you see, talking about travel, FIPO
spent also a lot of money on it, but that's not the point. That is not the major -- The
major problem that I have, it is "Other"; that I think that you should go back and
redo, you see, or try to bring those costs down. You have to bring those costs down.
And it is impossible that your retirement contributions will go to 275,000 for 10
employees, when FIPO has 58, 000 for five.
Mr. Hernandez: Again, Commissioner, I don't do the comparison. I just basically --
Commissioner Reyes: I know, that it's --
Mr. Hernandez: This is an actuarial --
Commissioner Reyes: -- you're not the one that does this; that it's handed to you.
Mr. Hernandez: Right. It's an actual requirement based on the numbers of retirees
and the staff that have retired from the plan.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes.
Mr. Hernandez: So it's something that's decided by --
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Mr. Hernandez: Yep.
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Commissioner Gort: Let me ask a question. Most of the time, in the past, when you
come in here, I know we try to compare. We ask a question constantly between the
FIPO and yourselves, and you always had to come up with the idea that you provide
services to more people or more -- larger frequency, and so on. Because I can see
some of the budget, what they talking about, the expenditure and then travel and all
that. That's something that you really have to look into it. But reducing a million
dollars, I got to know why the differences.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, the difference is, it's $1,145,980.
Commissioner Gort: No, I understand, but the --
Commissioner Carollo: That's a huge difference. It's over a third.
Commissioner Gort: But my understanding is, in the past, there was a reason why
you did not -- you were not able to compare FIPO with the GESE.
Mr. Hernandez: And it's due to the membership and the across-the-board
departments that we served. We go from different departments to diff -- The
membership itself is different. I don't like to compare, but you have firefighters and
police officers, sworn officers -- and I do respectfully agree with what they do and
everything they do. I do live in the City, as well, and I have that in mind. But we
have also members who are in IT, Commissioners' staff Public Works, so we have --
our demand is different. It's not necessarily two different type of employees; it's 33
different type of employees; their classifications are different. We have
classifications from --
Chair Hardemon: But what does that --
Mr. Hernandez: -- unions.
Chair Hardemon: -- mean? Like, I understand that you're describing there are
differences, but what does it effectively mean? Okay, if you're saying, "We service
more people, so I need more people on my staff " okay. Maybe I --
Commissioner Carollo: It's not more people; it's the same.
Chair Hardemon: So -- but if it's the same amount of people --
Mr. Hernandez: So we -- to just give you a daily respect [sic], today somebody from
Public Works come in and spend about an hour and a half with us. That's an hour
and a half that, perhaps, others are not spending, but that's an hour and a half that
we take from our staff to spend, because we think -- and the board -- and the
direction of the board said, "This is a life -changing decision." If they come into our
office, you have to counsel them to make sure that they go out there and they make
the best decision possible. That hour and a half, probably with innovation, self-
services through a website, which we're trying to revamp, as well, can probably be
cut down to 15 minutes, but there will not be that human touch, the point of service,
that is required for some of our members.
Commissioner Gort: Mr. Chairman, let me give you a suggestion. Why don't we
don't pass today, let him come back on the 27th. You're being reduced quite a bit.
You better come up with some answers, why it should not be reduced that much.
Commissioner Reyes: I will -- I agree with you and --
Commissioner Gort: I mean, there's a motion on the floor. I don't want to --
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2018
Commissioner Reyes: That's right. If -- I was the one that seconded, and I'm going
to --
Commissioner Carollo: We --
Commissioner Reyes: -- retire my second of that motion, and I am going to second
yours; that they come back with an adjusted budget --
Commissioner Gort: Okay.
Commissioner Reyes: -- that is more in agreement with costs that are real.
Chair Hardemon: So that means that BH 15 will be continued --
Commissioner Gort: Continued to the 27th.
Chair Hardemon: -- until the next (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Carollo: I will withdraw my motion.
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): It's 15 and 16, right?
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah.
Mr. Hernandez: Yes, sir.
Chair Hardemon: 15 and 16?
Commissioner Carollo: And it should be more in tune with FIPO.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, sir.
Chair Hardemon: Okay. So 15 and 16, if there's no objection, that motion should
carry.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Mr. Hernandez: And the motion was to table for the next meeting?
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, sir.
Mr. Hernandez: Okay.
Commissioner Carollo: And for you to reduce this budget substantially.
Mr. Hernandez: But you're going to give us an opportunity to come in and meet with
you, and hopefully --?
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Mr. Hernandez: Okay. Thank you.
Commissioner Carollo: You could even ask for more money, if you like.
Commissioner Reyes: Maybe you need more money.
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Mr. Hernandez: Thank you.
Commissioner Reyes: Now, when you go back and you do your calculation --
Commissioner Carollo: You could even take on your next field trip Commissioner
Russell; bring it up to 40,000 instead of 35,000.
BH.16 RESOLUTION
4592
General
Employees' and
Sanitation
Employees'
Retirement Trust
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE ANNUAL BUDGET
OF THE CITY OF MIAMI GENERAL EMPLOYEES' & SANITATION
EMPLOYEES' EXCESS BENEFIT PLAN ("GESE EXCESS BENEFIT PLAN"),
ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, IN THE AMOUNT OF $112,477.00 TO
PROVIDE FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE GESE EXCESS BENEFIT
PLAN FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2018, AND
ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2019.
MOTION TO: Defer
RESULT: DEFERRED
MOVER: Wifredo (Willy) Gort, Commissioner
SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Reyes
Notes for the Record: Item BH.16 was deferred to the September 27, 2018, Second
Budget Hearing.
For minutes referencing Item BH.16, please see Item BH.15.
BH.17 RESOLUTION
4711
Miami Sports and
Exhibition
Authority
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE ANNUAL BUDGET
OF THE MIAMI SPORTS AND EXHIBITION AUTHORITY ("MSEA"),
ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, IN THE AMOUNT OF $678,085.00, TO
PROVIDE FOR THE OPERATIONS AND CAPITAL EXPENDITURES OF
MSEA, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1st, 2018, AND
ENDING SEPTEMBER 30th, 2019.
MOTION TO:
RESULT:
Defer by Unanimous Consent
DEFERRED BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT
Note for the Record: Item BH.17 was deferred to the September 27, 2018, Second
Budget Hearing.
Chair Hardemon: RE.10 -- or BH.17, rather.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
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Christopher Rose (Director): Commissioners, Chris Rose, Office of Management &
Budget. BH 17 is the MSEA (Miami Sports & Exhibition Authority) budget. The
MSEA Board has not voted on this budget, so it would be the Administration's
recommendation to defer it to the second budget hearing.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes. Okay.
Commissioner Carollo: All right.
Chair Hardemon: Without objection.
Commissioner Carollo: That's fine.
Chair Hardemon: Motion should carry.
Commissioner Reyes: That's fine with me.
BH.18 RESOLUTION
4693
Office of
Management and
Budget
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), AFTER A DULY NOTICED PUBLIC HEARING, RELATING
TO THE PROVISION OF SOLID WASTE SERVICES, FACILITIES, AND
PROGRAMS IN THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA ("CITY"); IMPOSING SOLID
WASTE ASSESSMENTS AGAINST ASSESSED PROPERTIES LOCATED
WITHIN THE CITY FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2018;
APPROVING THE RATE OF ASSESSMENT; APPROVING THE
ASSESSMENT ROLL; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-18-0395
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Vice Chair
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Reyes
Chair Hardemon: BH.18.
Christopher Rose (Director): Chris Rose, Office of Management & Budget. BH.18
is the --
Chair Hardemon: Solid Waste.
Mr. Rose: -- Solid Waste residential collection assessment fee. It is $380 per
household, per year. It is the same amount as it is in the current fiscal year and has
been for more than seven years.
Commissioner Carollo: 380?
Mr. Rose: 380 per household, per year, sir.
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Commissioner Carollo: I'd like the Administration to provide the following
information.
Mr. Rose: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: The actual cost to us that is projected for this next fiscal
year, and the projected income that we're going to be receiving. It's going to be a
major difference in --
Mr. Rose: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: -- what we get to what we spend, so that that's included in
the billing to the residents, and they could see that they got the best deal of any city
in Miami -Dade County on garbage and trash collection, along with recycling.
Mr. Rose: Yes, sir.
Chair Hardemon: Should short-term rentals pay more in their fee?
Mr. Rose: I have no opinion on the matter, sir.
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): No, they don't.
Chair Hardemon: Could they? Should they? Is that a way that we can generate
more income?
Ms. Mendez: Well, hopefully, when we win in court.
Chair Hardemon: Is that a way we can generate more income?
Ms. Mendez: If we win and show --
Vice Chair Russell: Regulating short-term income --
Ms. Mendez: -- that it's a different use.
Vice Chair Russell: -- or short-term rentals? Yeah.
Chair Hardemon: Is there a motion to approve?
Commissioner Carollo: Motion to approve.
Vice Chair Russell: Second.
Chair Hardemon: All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion carries.
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BH.19 RESOLUTION
4751
Office of
Management and
Budget
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING THE CITY OF MIAMI'S ("CITY") FISCAL
YEAR 2018-19 MULTI -YEAR CAPITAL PLAN, ATTACHED AND
INCORPORATED ("PLAN"), AS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO THE
COMMUNITY PLANNING ACT, SPECIFICALLY SECTIONS 163.3161 AND
163.3177, FLORIDA STATUTES (2018), AND CHAPTER 18/ARTICLE
IX/DIVISIONS 1 AND 2 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA,
AS AMENDED, TITLED "FINANCIAL/FINANCIAL POLICIES/ANTI-
DEFICIENCY ACT/FINANCIAL INTEGRITY PRINCIPLES," TO SET FORTH
THE CITY'S FISCAL NEEDS FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS, SUBJECT TO
AN ANNUAL PLAN REVIEW, TO DETERMINE PROJECT PRIORITIES, TO
ADD NEW CAPITAL PROJECTS, AND TO MODIFY FUNDING
ALLOCATIONS AS NECESSARY; PROVIDING FOR INCORPORATION OF
SUBSEQUENT AMENDMENTS TO THE PLAN; AND PROVIDING FOR AN
EFFECTIVE DATE.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-18-0396
MOTION TO: Adopt with Modification(s)
RESULT: ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATION(S)
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Wifredo (Willy) Gort, Commissioner
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Reyes
Chair Hardemon: BH.19.
Christopher Rose (Director, Office of Management & Budget): BH.19 is the City's
capital plan for Fiscal Year '18/19. It is amended by the change memo, as presented
by the Manager, in two small projects.
Commissioner Carollo: Move, with the changes as stated.
Commissioner Gort: As amended.
Chair Hardemon: Seconded by Commissioner Gort. Any discussion? Hearing
none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion carries.
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BH.20 ORDINANCE
4629
Office of
Management and
Budget
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION RELATED TO
TAXATION, DEFINING AND DESIGNATING THE TERRITORIAL LIMITS FOR
THE CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY"); LEVYING AN AD VALOREM TAX ON ALL
REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY IN THE CITY AT A TOTAL TENTATIVE
RATE OF 8.0300 MILLS ON THE DOLLAR OF THE TAXABLE VALUE OF
SUCH PROPERTY, FOR THE PURPOSES OF FUNDING THE GENERAL
OPERATING BUDGET AND PAYMENT OF DEBT SERVICE, FOR THE
FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2018 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER
30, 2019; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR
AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
MOTION TO: Pass on First Reading
RESULT: PASSED ON FIRST READING
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Reyes
Chair Hardemon: BH.20.
Commissioner Carollo: Move.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, it's an ordinance.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. It could be read?
Chair Hardemon: Madam City Attorney, read it into the record.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes. And for the record --
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): BH.20 --
Commissioner Reyes: -- I still state that there was an increase in the millage --
operational millage, and you should do everything that is possible that we are not
going to -- next year there is not going to be an increase on the total. The total
millage, it don't increase, but operational millage increased, and it was based on the
decrease of debt services that was included -- I mean, it was swapped.
Mr. Rose: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: Who did you take it from, Peter or Paul?
Chair Hardemon: Mary.
Commissioner Gort: Both.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
Chair Hardemon: All in favor of the motion, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
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Chair Hardemon: Against? Motion carries.
Mr. Hannon: Chair, I really do need a mover and a second on this.
Chair Hardemon: I thought we did have one.
Mr. Hannon: For BH 21.
Chair Hardemon: Did we not have one?
Mr. Hannon: I mean, BH 20.
Commissioner Carollo: 20, yeah.
Mr. Hannon: No, sir, I did not have a mover.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Carollo?
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, there was a motion that I made. Yeah, I made a
motion.
Mr. Hannon: I did not capture that.
Vice Chair Russell: That was the previous -- was that the previous item?
Commissioner Reyes: The previous item was --
Mr. Hannon: 19.
Chair Hardemon: The record should reflect that Commissioner Carollo made the
motion.
Mr. Hannon: Okay, for BH 20. And who's the seconder?
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Reyes --
Commissioner Reyes: Yes. I second.
Chair Hardemon: -- he'll second it.
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BH.21 ORDINANCE
4631
Office of
Management and
Budget
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), ADOPTING A TENTATIVE BUDGET AND MAKING
APPROPRIATIONS RELATING TO OPERATIONAL AND BUDGETARY
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2018
AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2019; RATIFYING, APPROVING, AND
CONFIRMING CERTAIN NECESSARY ACTIONS OF THE CITY MANAGER
AND DESIGNATED CITY DEPARTMENTS IN ORDER TO UPDATE THE
RELEVANT DEPARTMENTS, FINANCIAL CONTROLS, PROJECT CLOSE-
OUTS, ACCOUNTING ENTRIES, AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS IN
CONNECTION THEREWITH AND FOR GRANTS IN PROGRESS;
PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
MOTION TO: Pass on First Reading with Modification(s)
RESULT: PASSED ON FIRST READING WITH MODIFICATION(S)
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Reyes
Chair Hardemon: All right. BH.21.
Commissioner Carollo: Move.
Commissioner Reyes: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Been properly --
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): It's also an ordinance.
Commissioner Carollo: An ordinance. Yes, it has to be read.
Chair Hardemon: -- it's been properly moved and seconded. Madam City Attorney,
can you read it into the record?
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): And Chair, for the record, the item will be amended
to account for the exhibit that was submitted into the record earlier by the Budget
Director.
Commissioner Carollo: All right. Okay.
Chair Hardemon: All in favor of the motion, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion passes. I'm so --
Commissioner Gort: Move to adjourn.
Chair Hardemon: -- proud of my friends up here. Meeting adjourned.
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ADJOURNMENT
END OF FIRST BUDGET HEARING
The meeting adjourned at 9:38 p.m.
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