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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSubmittal-Public Comments Submitted Online for the September 13, 2021 First Budget HearingSeptember 13th 2021 First Commission Budget Hearing First Budget Hearing of the Miami City Commission - September 13, 2021 September 14th 2021, 9:14 am EST Public Comment motero@miamigov.com First Last Street Agenda Name Name Address Item Public Comment Good afternoon City of Miami Commissioners, During my Community Budget Canvass Listening Tour — here's just some of the priorities our Residents told me they would like to see funded in our FY21-22 City of Miami Budget. • Allocate funding for construction projects that preserve, develop, and rehab affordable housing rentals and homeownership opportunities using City of Miami -owned land. • Fire Nan McKay and Associates which is the current contractor for the City of Miami Emergency Rental Assistance Program — due to their lack of responsiveness and payment assistance execution. Then Identify another provider that will do the work right and increase funding for Rental Assistance to assist tenants with paying their rent and utility obligations. • Allocate funds to relocate the Model City Neighborhood Service Center from the lobby of the police station to a more accessible location like a city funded mixed -used development apartment building. • Mandate a percentage of the Miami Police Budget is allocated to create a "Miami Response Team" made up of 645 NE BH - licensed clinicians and social workers, who will be dispatched to Michael Hepburn 77th Budget deescalate/provide services to nonviolent and mental health crises Street Hearing calls. • Increase funding for the Senior Rental Assistance Program. • Allocate funds to create an "Illegal Dumping Tips Financial Reward" for residents who provide information that lead to the successful identification/prosecution of illegal dumpers in the City of Miami. • Re -allocate a percentage of the Miami Police Budget to cover the salaries of Four (4) Officers and a One (1) unit Supervisor to comprise the Environmental Crimes Detail. • Allocate monies to create a Tree Trimming Fund to assist Residents with low-income residents to cover the cost of trimming Trees which reside on City of Miami property but with branches that carryover into homeowners' properties. • Increase funding to improve street drainage issues located throughout multiple neighborhoods in District 5, in order to improve and reduce the number of streets impacted by serious flooding. • Increase funding to improve poor lighting conditions on multiple roadways in District 5, by investing in installing solar -panel light post options and Light Emitting Diode (LED) street lighting. • Increase funding to rectify unsafe, unsecure, and abandoned 10745 Submittal -Public Comments Submitted Online for the September 13, 2021 First Budget Hearing structures in District 5 and allocate funds to implement a block -by - block Beautification Program to increase the quality of life for our residents. • Allocate funds to implement recycling services for HUD Public Housing apartment residents located in the City of Miami. • Increase funding for City of Miami Summer Jobs Connect program to invest in and to employ more of our youth during the summer months. Dear Mayor Suarez and City of Miami Commissioners, As you have heard from my fellow residents the staggering impacts of the climate crisis, which challenge our City present day, forces us to ask that the City follows through on its commitments to take climate action and invest in our future. You will be unable to do so, unless you consider resourcing the following in your Proposed Fiscal Year 2021-22 Budget, American Rescue Plan Funds, and the Miami Forever Bond allocations: We must simultaneously mitigate the greenhouse gases that are fueling the climate crisis, as well as adapt to the present day effects of flooding, stronger storms, and extreme heat. The City currently has one program manager to focus on mitigation and another on adaptation. However, we believe more manpower is critical in order for us to do all that we can to address this issue. Therefore we're asking for a multi -year commitment of at least 3 program managers in the Division of Resilience & Sustainability, starting with an investment of $80,000 for increased staffing this year. We believe this third program manager should focus on mitigating the worst impacts of the climate crisis, as well as communicating to the City's most hard to reach residents about how they can achieve climate resilience. The Covid-19 pandemic has threatened the housing stability of thousands of renters and low-income homeowners in Miami. For this reason, we 645 NE BH - urge the City to continue to leverage federal funding for its Michael Hepburn 77th Budget Emergency Rental Assistance Program. In addition, high utility bills Street Hearing contribute to this problem, making it hard for low-income homeowners to keep up with costs and stay in place. The City of Miami has been a leader in this space, through its programs like Keep Safe Miami, Single Family Home Rehabilitation, and the AC giveaways. Therefore, we would love to see these efforts continue to be supported through a $4M American Rescue Plan allocation targeting low-income homeowners, renters, and owners of low-income rental units. This funding could be used to promote equitable weatherization, including roofing, insulation, updated appliances, rooftop solar panels„ and other energy efficiency measures. The Covid-19 pandemic has taught us the importance of having services located within neighborhoods in times of disaster. Therefore, we think it's critically important to allocate $854K in unfunded costs for Resilience Hubs (40-P-20-0636 & 40-P-21-0005, pg. 116 & 143 of the Capital Budget), as well as at least $250,000 to support similar community -based resilience hubs that can work together in tandem with the City of Miami. We believe that General Obligation Bond, the public safety tranche of the Miami Forever Bond, and CRA funds could be leveraged for this purpose. The weight of the Covid-19 crisis is happening simultaneously as our climate crisis. Therefore, we'd like to see a $10M American Rescue Plan allocation for a grants program supporting struggling small businesses and residents needing financial assistance, as well as disaster preparedness and mental health support. The City of Miami just approved $40M in affordable housing investments through the Miami Forever Bond. The University of Florida Shimberg Center analysis (copied below) shows that City of Miami renters under 60% AMI are almost 3x as cost -burdened as all the other AMI categories combined. We need to see all public funding for affordable housing go towards the Miamians that face the greatest cost burden. In addition, we'd like to ensure that affordable housing is prioritized in the communities within the City that are facing the greatest threat of displacement and gentrification, including Little Haiti, Liberty City, Allapattah, Little Havana, and Coconut Grove. We noticed that funding has been allocated to purchase new trolleys. Given the severity of the climate crisis, It would be great to see immediate electrification, including the associated infrastructure, of the city's vehicle fleet, including trolleys. In addition, we would love to see $15.5M of the $23M allocated in the Miami Forever Bond for resilient, multi -modal roadways be used to fill the funding gap for bicycle infrastructure identified in the FY 2022 Proposed Capital Plan. Sincerely, Michael A. Hepburn, M.Ed.