HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 2021-09-13 MinutesCity of Miami
City Hall
3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, FL 33133
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Its
4.7
Meeting Minutes
Monday, September 13, 2021
9:00 AM
City Commission Meeting
City Hall
City Commission
Francis X. Suarez, Mayor
Ken Russell, Vice Chair, District Two
Alex Diaz de la Portilla, Commissioner, District One
Joe Carollo, Commissioner, District Three
Manolo Reyes, Commissioner, District Four
Jeffrey Watson, Commissioner, District Five
Arthur Noriega, V, City Manager
Victoria Mendez, City Attorney
Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk
City Commission
Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
9:00 AM INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Present: Vice Chair Russell, Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla, Commissioner Carollo,
Commissioner Reyes and Commissioner Watson
On the 13rh day of September 2021, the City Commission of the City of Miami, Florida, met
at its regular meeting place in City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida, in
regular session. The Commission Meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Russell at 9:18
a.m., recessed at 12:39 p.m., reconvened at 2:13 p.m., and adjourned at 6:01 p.m.
Note for the Record: Commissioner Reyes entered the Commission chambers at 9:27 a.m.,
Commissioner Watson entered the Commission chambers at 9:29 a.m., Commissioner Diaz
de la Portilla entered the Commission chambers at 9:50 a.m., and Commissioner Carollo
entered the Commission chambers at 9:54 a.m.
ALSO PRESENT:
Arthur Noriega, V, City Manager
Victoria Mendez, City Attorney
Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk
Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance delivered.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. You may be seated. Alright. We have a big day ahead of us. I'm
working on getting us a quorum and a full dais. I've been in touch with commissioner offices. I
understand one has a family issue, medical issue, but will be here, just running a little bit late,
and another one's just a little behind. They are able to listen and see us right now as we speak,
even though they aren't with us physically from their offices and even their cars. So we are
able to continue with the non -quorum related items. And for that, I'd like to start with public
comment, and here's what we're going to do because today we have, I can't even count how
many meetings we have today, we have our regular agenda, we also have our three CRA
(Community Redevelopment Agency) meetings around the lunchtime, and then budget hearing
doesn't start until 5: 00 p.m. So those who are here to speak at public hearing on the budget,
that will be the time when your comments will be recorded for the budget, right? So you don't
want to speak this morning about the budget. You want to wait and speak about this morning's
agenda items here today. But I will start with protocol items. I believe Mr. Mayor and Eddy, do
we have protocol items this morning?
Mayor Suarez: Yes, we do.
Vice Chair Russell: All right, so before we take on public comment, well go ahead with the
protocol. Thank you.
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PART A - NON -PLANNING AND ZONING ITEM(S)
PR - PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS
PR.1
9546
PROTOCOL ITEM
Honoree
Presenter
Protocol Item
Richard Ortuba
Mayor Suarez
Certificate of Merit
Firefighters at Surfside
Mayor Suarez
Certificate of Merit
ORDER OF THE DAY
rRESULT:
PRESENTED
1) Mayor Suarez presented a Certificate of Merit, commending Mr. Richard Ortuba,
Senior Assistant Attorney, in recognition of his excellent service to the City of Miami.
Mr. Ortuba is assigned to labor and employment division in the City of Miami Law
Department and has been working in the City
of Miami since 1999. Elected Officials paused in their deliberations to commend and
wish farewell to Mr. Ortuba and wish him well in his new endeavors.
2) Mayor Suarez and Fire Chief Zahralban presented Certificates of Merit to the City
of Miami Firefighters Urban Search and Rescue ("USAR') Team for their selfless
services and recovery efforts during the City of Surfside Champlain Towers building
collapse. Elected Officials paused in their deliberations and commended the City of
Miami Firefighters USAR Team.
Presentations made.
Vice Chair Russell: We're back from the August break. Welcome to the September
13th, 2021 meeting of the City of Miami City Commission in these historic chambers.
Procedures for the public comment will be explained in a moment by the City
Attorney. Procedures for the swearing into the parties for the Planning and Zoning
and quasi-judicial items will be explained by the City Clerk. The members of the City
Commission appearing for this meeting are Alex Diaz de la Portilla, Joe Carollo,
Manolo Reyes, Jeffrey Watson, and me, Ken Russell. Also appearing are City
Manager Art Noriega, City Attorney Victoria Mendez, and City Clerk Todd Hannon.
I'll save the pledge and prayer for when we have a fuller dais. In the meantime, Mr.
City Attorney, would you please state the procedures for the meeting?
Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): Thank you, Mr. Chair. Any person who is a
lobbyist pursuant to Chapter 2, Article 6 of the City Code must register with the City
Clerk and comply with the related City requirements for lobbyists before appearing
before the City Commission. A person may not lobby a City official, board member, or
staff member until registering. A copy of the code section about lobbyists is available
in the City Clerk's office or online at municode.com. Any person making a
presentation, formal request, or petition to the City Commission concerning real
property must make the disclosures required by the City Code in writing. A copy of
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
the City Code section is available at the office of the City Clerk online at
municode.com. The City of Miami requires that anyone requesting action by the City
Commission must disclose before their hearing any consideration provided or
committed to anyone for agreement to support or withhold objection to the requested
action pursuant to Section 2-8 of the City Code. Any documents offered to the City
Commissioners that have not been provided seven days before the meeting as part of
the agenda materials will be entered into the record at the City Commission's
discretion. If any City Commissioner thinks the documents applied to the Commission
fewer than seven days before merit of continuance, the item may be continued by the
City Commission. Pursuant to Section 2-33, Subsection(f) and Subsection (g) of the
City Code, the agenda and the material for each item on the agenda is available
during business hours at the City Clerk's Office and online, 24 hours a day, at
miamigov.com. Any person may be heard by the City Commission through the Chair
for not more than two minutes on any proposition before the City Commission, unless
modified by the Chair. Public comment will begin when the City Chair -- when the
City Commission Chair opens the public comment period and will be closed by the
Chairperson. Members of the public wishing to address the body may do so by
submitting written comments through the online comment form. Please visit
www.miamigov.com/meetinginstructions for detailed instructions on how to provide
public comment using the online public comment form. The public comments
submitted through the comment fOrm have been and will be distributed to the elected
officials and the City's Administration throughout the day so that the elected officials
can consider the comments prior to taking any action. Additionally, the online
comment form will remain open during the meeting to accept comments and distribute
to the elected officials up until the time the Chairperson closes the public comment
period. Public comment may also be provided live at City Hall at 3500 Pan American
Drive, Miami, Florida, subject to any and all City rules that may be amended. tithe
proposition is to be continued or rescheduled, the opportunity to be heard may be at a
later date if the City Commission takes action on such a proposition. When
addressing the City Commission, the member of the public must first state his or her
name, his or her address, and what item will be spoken about. Any person with a
disability requiring assistance, auxiliary aids, and services to the meeting may notify
the City Clerk. The City has provided different public comment methods to indicate,
among other things, the public's support, opposition, or neutrality on the items and
topics to be discussed at today's City Commission meeting pursuant to Section
286.014(4)(c) of Florida Statutes. The public has been given the opportunity to
provide public comment during the meeting within reasonable proximity and time
before the meeting. Please note, commissioners have generally been briefed by City
staff and the City Attorney on items on the agenda today. Anyone wishing to appeal
any decision made by the City Commission for any matter considered at this meeting
may need a verbatim record of this item. A video of this meeting may be posted at the
Office of Communications or viewed online at miamigov.com. Planning and Zoning
items shall proceed according to Section 7.1.4 of the Miami 21 Zoning Code as
temporarily modified pursuant to Emergency Ordinance Numbers 13903 and 13914.
Pursuant to the Emergency Ordinances, parties for any PZ (Planning and Zoning)
items, including any applicants, appellants, appellees, City staff any person
recognized by the decision -making body as a qualified intervener, as well as the
applicant's representatives and any experts testifying on behalf of the applicants,
appellants, or appellee, may either be physically present at City Hall to be sworn in
by oath or affirmation by the City Clerk, or may appear virtually and snake
arrangements to be sworn in by oath or affirmation in person at their location by an
individual qualified to perform such duty. Pursuant to Ordinance Number 13903,
members of the general public who are not parties to an action pending before the
City Commission are not required to be sworn in by oath or affirmation. The members
of the City Commission shall disclose any ex parte communications to remove the
presumption of prejudice pursuant to Florida Statute Section 286.015 and Section
7.1.4.5 of the Miami 21 Zoning Code. Staff will briefly present each item to be heard.
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For applications requiring City Commission approval, the applicant will present its
application request to the City Commission. If the applicant agrees with the staffs
recommendation, the City Commission may proceed to deliberation of its decision.
The applicant may also waive the right to an evidentiary hearing on the record. The
order of presentation shall be as set forth in Miami 21 and the City Code, provided
that the appellant shall present first. For appeals, the appellant will present its appeal
to the City Commission followed by the appellee. Staff will be allowed to make any
recommendation they may have. Please silence all cellphones and other noise -making
devices. This meeting can be viewed by -- viewed live on Miami TV at
miamigov.com/TV, the City's Facebookpage, the City's Twitter page, the City's
YouTube channel, and Comcast Channel 77. The broadcast will also have closed
captioning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Vice Chair Russell: Good morning, Mr. Clerk.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Thank you, Chair. The procedures for individuals who
will be providing testimony to be sworn in for Planning and Zoning items and any
quasi-judicial items on today's City Commission agenda will be as follows: The
members of City staff or other -- or any other individuals required to be sworn in who
are currently present at City Hall will be sworn in by me, the City Clerk, immediately
after I finish explaining these procedures. Those individuals who are appearing
remotely may be sworn in now or at any time prior to the individual providing
testimony for Planning and Zoning items and/or quasi-judicial items. Pursuant to
Emergency Ordinance No. 13903, those individuals appearing remotely may be
sworn in at their location by an individual qualified to administer the oath. After you
are sworn in, please be sure to complete, sign, and notarize the affidavit provided to
you by the City Attorney's Office. Each individual who will provide testimony must be
sworn in and execute an affidavit. Please email a scanned version of the signed
affidavit to the City Clerk at thannon@miamigov.com prior to providing testimony on
the planning and zoning item and/or quasi-judicial item. The affiant shall -- the
affidavit shall be included in the record for the relevant item for which you will be
providing testimony. Commissioners, are you comfortable with all the notice
provisions set forth in these uniform procedures we have established for this meeting?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, Mr. Clerk. Thank you.
Mr. Hannon: Chair, is it okay if I administer the oath with planning and zoning
items?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, please.
Mr. Hannon: Thank you, Chair. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Good morning,
ladies and gentlemen. If we will be speaking on any of today's Planning and Zoning
items, any of today's Planning and Zoning items, may I please have you stand and
raise your right hand?
The City Clerk administered the oath required under City Code Section 62-1 to those
persons giving testimony on zoning items.
Mr. Hannon: Thank you, Chair.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. And if everyone would please stand, we'll
give the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer led by our mayor.
[Later...]
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Vice Chair Russell: All right, we are going to get on to the order of the day now, and
set the agenda, and then move to public comment. All right, Mr. Manager, moving to
the order of the day, are there any items that the Administration would like to see
continued, deferred, or withdrawn?
Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Good morning, Mr. Vice Chair, Commissioners,
Madam City Attorney, Mr. City Clerk. At this time the Administration would like to
defer and to withdraw the following items: RE.2, which is the AFSCME (American
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) 1907 Collecting Bargaining
Agreement to be deferred to the September 23rd meeting; RE.3, which is the
reimbursement funds for Tranche 2, Miami Forever Affordable Housing to be
withdrawn; RE.4, the redevelopment plan to be deferred to September 23rd; RE.8,
which is the approved, the hire of the President/CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of the
Little Haiti Revitalization Trust, to be deferred to September 23rd; RE.9, which is
direction to the City Manager reference liens to be withdrawn; and FR.3 which is the
-- to amend the Code, Chapter 36 on noise to be deferred to September 23rd. There is
a PZ (Planning and Zoning) item as well which is a zoning text amendment --
Commissioner Watson: Excuse me, what was the last two?
Mr. Noriega: -- which is also to be deferred.
Commissioner Watson: Mr. Manager, I'm sony to interrupt you. The last two REs
(Resolutions) you said was what?
Mr. Noriega: Sony.
Commissioner Reyes: The last two REs?
Commissioner Watson: The last two REs. The last two REs.
Mr. Noriega: On the liens?
Commissioner Watson: No, after RE.8, which was the last two?
Vice Chair Russell: RE.8 and RE.9.
Mr. Noriega: RE.8, RE9.
Commissioner Reyes: RE.9, right?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Manager, what is the reason for request of deferral for the
ratification of Local 1907 Collective Bargaining Agreement?
Mr. Noriega: There is some additional due diligence that has been requested of us
relative to some of the data, so we are still putting some of that together, so we are
going to just defer if one meeting.
Vice Chair Russell: You're recognized, Commissioner.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I missed it because I was talking to the other
Commissioner.
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Vice Chair Russell: Yes, we will go through the list again.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No, no, I did -- the last part, the collective
bargaining agreement.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes. Could you expand a little further, please?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: That's actually what 1 meant.
Mr. Noriega: Yeah, there's some -- there's some data that has been requested of us
that we've been putting together from a couple of different commission offices relative
to the contract and the impact as it relates to the budget, as well as the pension. So,
we're still putting some of that information together. That information obviously will
be disseminated to everyone, but we need a little more time. So we just wanted to
defer for one more meeting.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. I didn't get any -- I didn't hear at briefing that there
was anything left yet to be negotiated. I had understood from staff that the agreement
has been finalized at this point, and that's why it's before us. So what is the additional
data you're looking for?
Mr. Noriega: I mean, 1 can go through a list with you. It's --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well --
Commissioner Carollo: I'm going to be to the point for me, I want a lot of financial
information that I want to see. I'm hearing a lot of numbers all over the place, so I
want to see what the reality is because if I'm going to vote for something, I want to be
able to defend my position in the public. So, I need to see what it is. It's that I'm
hearing, and I don't want to get into a whole discussion here, but I'm hearing
numbers that this is going to cost us 25 million dollars in a year or two, and stuff like
that. So, I want to see, for me, what is this going to cost us. Whether we vote either
today or later, it doesn't matter because they voted on it, and they can wait until we
vote ourselves.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And I think we've been waiting, Commissioner if I
may, we've been waiting on this for about a year and a half or something like that?
Commissioner Carollo: At the very least.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: These negotiations --
Commissioner Carollo: At the very least.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- and then last week in my briefing, I was told that
everybody agreed. I know there's some issues that have surfaced. So my question is,
why, did it take so long to get all this financial data to us and you've been negotiating
for so long?
Commissioner Carollo: Well, I'll --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And I'm interested in the -- I'm interested in the
data -- well, hold on. I'm interested in the data, too. I just don't like to have a briefing,
Mr. Manager, where I'm told something and then the day of the Commission meeting,
I hear the additional, or the last three days, really, a lot of information surfaced, and I
wasn't privy to that information. Why is it taking you so long to keep us constantly
updated on what was going on, the progress of these negotiations?
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Commissioner Reyes: May 1?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I'm asking nice --
Commissioner Reyes: I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just want to clam something.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Remember Commissioner, when I got here a year
and a half ago, I said that I like finality, I like to move things. This is a very --
thought this contract and the other ones were going to be done quicker, and then all
of a sudden 1 thought we had landed the plane, and all of a sudden the last, actually
four or five days that all these things have come up, and why it -- wasn't 1 briefed, I
don't know where the Commissioners were. But we were briefed last week. We were
told that everything was fine and dandy, right? And then all of a sudden everything
started surfacing. What happened in that communication between your office and the
Commissioner's office?
Vice Chair Russell: Go ahead, Mr. Manager.
Mr. Noriega: Yeah, I don't think there's a breakdown relative to the communication.
The agreement took the amount of time it took because it takes two parties to come to
terms on an agreement, right? So it's the Administration and it's the union working,
you know, we work very hard. There were periods of time where there were lulls. It
was a very difficult, you know, agreement to sort of come by, but we did finally agree
to terms. 1 think as far as information is concerned, as information was requested of
various offices, new information was presented. You know, we didn't -- certainly
didn't hold back anything, but there was an additional due diligence requested by
some of the commission offices. We provided that additional information. As a result,
I think because of the late delivery of that information, because it was asked for so
late in the process, I think that everybody wanted an opportunity, the commissioners
that I spoke to, wanted an opportunity to vet it further, Commissioner Carollo being
one of them. And so we just decided it was better to postpone it for another two weeks,
let everybody, you know, digest the information that were -- the additional
information that was requested, and then at that point, you know, the agreement can
be considered. It's just a matter of when we were requested of information and, you
know, how it was presented. It was -- it's a lot of information. So ultimately, you know,
it's unfair, I think, for that information to be digested in a 24 to 48 hour period, so,
you know, that's why the request for the deferral.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Mr. Manager. Commissioner Reyes, did you want to
comment?
Commissioner Reyes: That is fine. (INAUDIBLE) --
VicE Chair Russell: Okay.
Commissioner Reyes: -- clarify that I did receive information, but I mean, numbers,
what day, and different information the other day, I mean, later on. And I want really
to clarify, I agree with it, that as -- I mean, we want to see the final numbers also,
because every time I receive conflicting figures, you see. Okay?
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. We'll leave it in the deferral. And for my part, it's -- if
it were just the Administration asking for this, I would take the same position as
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla and push it through. However, if it's commissioners
who are crucial to the vote of its passage, I'm certainly willing to wait. I'm very
thankful that the management has come to the table with our general employee's labor
union and worked very hard to get through some very broad differences. So I look
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forward to passing this in the next meeting. So we'll leave that, and just to recap,
Commissioners, the deferral requests from the Administration are RE.2, 3, 4, 8 and 9.
Commissioner Carollo: RE --
Vice Chair Russell: 2 --
Commissioner Carollo: -- 2 --
Vice Chair Russell: -- 3 --
Commissioner Carollo: -- 3 --
Vice Chair Russell: -- 4 --
Commissioner Carollo: -- 4 --
Vice Chair Russell: -- 8 --
Commissioner Carollo: -- 8 --
Vice Chair Russell: -- and 9.
Commissioner Carollo: -- and 9. These are all in the RE's?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, so far. And then FR.3, the noise ordinance amendments on
city property, that is also being deferred.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, my apologies, RE.3 is to be withdrawn.
Vice Chair Russell: RE.3 is a withdrawal?
Mr. Hannon: Yes, sir, That's my understanding.
Unidentified Speaker: Yes.
Commissioner Watson: Is that accurate?
Vice Chair Russell: So is the Administration able to withdraw another -- a
Commissioner's item?
Mr. Hannon: He's -- the Administration is requesting from the Commission.
Vice Chair Russell: Okay, that's different.
Mr. Hannon: It's up to the Commission to decide whether or not they're going to
withdraw the item.
Vice Chair Russell: I haven't been given any discussion from the Administration
during my briefing this past week that their suggestion was to withdraw. So is there a
reason you'd like to see it go that way rather than work on this through a deferral?
Mr. Noriega: It was a mayor item, a mayoral item. He presented it after further
discussion and a, I guess, additional sort of strategy behind it with regards to not
piecemealing the affordable housing tranche --
Vice Chair Russell: No, no, no, not that one.
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Mr. Noriega: Which one?
Vice Chair Russell: FR.3. That's my item. And is that the one you were talking to --
talking about?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: RE -- RE.3.
Vice Chair Russell: No, no, RE.3.
Mr. Noriega: RE.3.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: RE.3. Not FR.3.
Vice Chair Russell: No, my -- okay, sorry, I misunderstood. I thought you said FR.3,
Mr. Clerk.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: RE.3.
Vice Chair Russell: FR (First Reading) -- so, okay, yes. So, RE.3 is a withdrawal.
Withdrawal, not a deferral. I apologize. I misheard you completely.
(COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD)
Vice Chair Russell: No, RE.3.
(COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD)
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, it's a withdrawal.
Commissioner Watson: RE.3 is a withdrawal, and that withdrawal --
Mr. Noriega: No, but it's a deferral. It's a deferral to the next meeting.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But FR.3 is deferred.
Mr. Noriega: FR.3 is deferred to the next meeting.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: FR.3 is deferred.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Mr. Noriega: To the next meeting
Vice Chair Russell: RE.3 is a withdrawal. FR3 is a deferral.
Mr. Noriega: Deferral. Right.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. So, yes, I read the RE's there, so it's RE.2 for deferral,
RE.3 for withdrawal, RE.4 for deferral, RE.8 and RE.9 for deferral. FR.3 also for
deferral by the Administration.
Mr. Hannon: Chair?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, sir.
Mr. Hannon: RE.9 is to be withdrawn.
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Vice Chair Russell: RE.9 is also withdrawal. 1 apologize, 1 wrote it down wrong. And
I forgot my glasses today.
Commissioner Watson: It's withdrawn?
Vice Chair Russell: RE --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Not a good time to forget your glasses. Budget --
it's budget day.
Vice Chair Russell: Alright. And then PZ.4 is also for deferral. So those are all of the
Administration's requests, am I correct?
Mr. Noriega: And the deferral on PZ.4 is to the October 28th meeting.
Vice Chair Russell: That changed, I believe you had said September 23rd before.
Mr. Noriega: Yeah, yeah Ijust was corrected.
Vice Chair Russell: Okay, so it's October?
Mr. Noriega: October 28th.
Vice Chair Russell: October 28th.
Mr. Hannon: And Chair, I do have a statement I need to read into the record
regarding the deferral of PZ.4.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, Mr. Clerk.
Mr. Hannon: Pursuant to section 62-22 of the City Code, an indefinitely deferred
action initiated by the City will cost the City mail noticing, advertising, and posting of
properties as applicable.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much. Are there any items that the Commission
would like to see withdrawn, deferred, or continued?
Commissioner Carollo: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: You're recognized Commissioner.
Commissioner Carollo: If we could defer item RE.7, St. James. I am given the time
necessary to see if we come up with a conclusion to this for the betterment of the
people in Allapattah.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Commissioner. That will be to what date, please?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thank you, Commissioner.
Commissioner Carollo: No, I'm deferring it for the next meeting. They're going to
come, I think, for a presentation.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thank you.
[Later...]
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Vice Chair Russell: All right, back to the list of batch deferrals. Is there any
commissioner who would like to see any other item added to the list for deferral,
continuance, or withdrawal?
Commissioner Watson: Yeah, deferring PZ.1 to 9/23.
Vice Chair Russell: PZ.1 is the Rainbow Village item?
Commissioner Watson: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: All right, are there any other conanaissioners who have items to
defer, continue, or withdraw? I believe that's it. Now, are there any items to be added
to the agenda? PZ.1 will be deferred to September 23rd. Any pocket items to add
today?
Commissioner Reyes: (INAUDIBLE) attorney has it, as you all know, September is, I
mean, it is the Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. And I am presenting a resolution
that is going to be read by the City Attorney in order for us to declare December and
accept December as the Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Vice Chair Russell: Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is PL1. Are there other
items to add to the agenda? No other pockets? Alright.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): And, Chair, just for the record, Commissioner Carollo
would like to co-sponsor CA.9 and CA.10.
Vice Chair Russell: Noted.
Mr. Hannon: Commissioner Carollo, it is my understanding you would like to co-
sponsor CA.9 and CA.10. Thank you, sir.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much. All right. Is there -- go ahead. Yes sir?
Commissioner Watson: Question. Did you do a pocket item?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes. Do you have a pocket item to add to the agenda?
Commissioner Watson: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Go ahead.
Commissioner Watson: A pocket item dealing with auditing of non profits that we
give money to. Alright, 171 have it by the time we --
Vice Chair Russell: What is the direction? I'm sorry, I'm not --
Commissioner Watson: I want to find out what do we do and how do we find out
accountability from non profits, organizations that we give money to.
Vice Chair Russell: So a discussion item?
Commissioner Watson: Yeah, we can do a discussion item and whatever it leads to at
that point, yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Alright, so it's a pocket item we'll add it to the discussion item
section and that'll give the management some time to research and get you some
answers. So that is auditing of nonprofits, correct?
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Commissioner Watson: Or accountability of non profits.
Vice Chair Russell: Alright, and that's it for the agenda. Is there a motion on the
agenda?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So moved.
Vice Chair Russell: Moved by Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla, seconded by the
Chair. is there anyone here who would like to speak on the deferrals, on the
timeliness of the deferrals? Seeing none, I'll close public comment. All in favor say,
"aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Motion passes. We now have an agenda for the
day. Thank you very much.
PUBLIC COMMENTS FOR ALL ITEM(S)
10730 DISCUSSION ITEM
Office of the City PUBLIC COMMENTS SUBMITTED ONLINE BY MEMBERS OF THE
Clerk PUBLIC FOR THE SEPTEMBER 13, 2021 COMMISSION MEETING.
RESULT: PRESENTED
Vice Chair Russell: And for those of you so patiently waiting the public, this is now
your time to let us know how you feel about the votes that we are about to take. So
what I'd like to ask is anyone who'd like to address us on the regular and Planning
and Zoning agenda, not the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) items and not
the budget items. So if you're here to speak on the regular agenda and the Planning
Zoning agenda, please come up to the lectern. You'll have two minutes apiece. You
just have to tell us your name, which item you're speaking on. We'd like to ask that
you do not speak on any items that have been deferred, or continued, or withdrawn.
That's -- that's now sailed. So anyone, please come on and come up. You'll have two
minutes. You'll hear a buzzer right at the 30 second point. That's your signal to wrap
it up. We ask you to please be brief today as we have a huge day ahead of us and we
appreciate your advocacy though. Good morning.
Greg Frank: Good morning Ken. Good morning commissioners. My name is Greg
Frank. I'm a former resident of Zip Code 33137. I'm here today about PH 19442. We
need you to legislate protection for your citizens and constituents against mass
evictions by corporate landlords. As a former resident of Hamilton on the Bay and the
Hamilton Board of Volunteers Chairperson, I'm here to tell you that AIR (Apartment
Income REIT [Real Estate Investment Trust]) Communities, the company managed by
AMCO and represented by Weiss Serota, has still not done right by us. I personally
incurred $9,000 of initial expenses in debt, plus $1, 800 of faxed expenses since the
move, and will have an additional $11,000 faxed expense increase over the upcoming
year and more over the duration of my contract that they pressured me and my family
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to sign. They offered me personally less than $6,000. When we spoke with their
lawyers and building representatives, as instructed by you, they responded with an
offer of less than 20 percent of the assistance necessary. When we alerted the media,
they retaliated against us. When we alerted your Commission further, they retaliated
against us. The City of Miami has received $139 million in American Rescue Plan
funds. If you cannot mandate that AIR Communities, managed by AMCO, and
represented by Weiss Serota does right by the people of Hamilton on the Bay, can the
City of Miami declare a portion of these funds be used for the emergency relocation
and financial assistance of Hamilton on the Bay residents who have had to leave their
homes under duress and others who are facing evictions later this week on September
16th.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. We will be taking that up at the budget hearing, but I
can tell you there is a $100, 000 allocated toward legal services in order for them to
help residents like yourselves who are in a private -- a public -- private dispute
between you and a landlord, that will help you have legal services available to you,
but I do not believe we have any other items on the budget to discuss at this time, but
thank you for your comments.
Mr. Frank: Yeah, but that doesn't solve the problem.
Vice Chair Russell: That's the bigger issue here, that we may not be able to solve your
problem. As the local government, when you are in a dispute with your landlord, if
they have violated the Code in some way, we can absolutely step in.
Mr. Frank: What about -- what about violating our safety and public welfare?
Vice Chair Russell: So some of these things are handled at the county level
jurisdiction. But I have asked and have met with your representatives as well as
Smash the Slumlords Organization. And I've been avidly asking my City Attorney
w hat we legally, even have the jurisdiction to do within those requests, and so far
w e're stumped.
Mr. Frank: Because I remember when we were first here as a group, there was three
commissioners that said that they better do right by us, and they have not done so.
And I'm here to let you know that their representatives and their attorneys have not
helped the residents ofyour city.
Vice Chair Russell: And within our ability to try to pressure them to do the best and
hosting meetings in my office as well, my understand out of the dozens and dozens of
residents who are in dispute, we're down to about seven or eight at this point?
Mr. Frank: We're down to seven or eight that are actually -- we're down to nine that
are still in the building, but we are still, we are not, we have not -- that does not speak
for the people that have incurred new debts and expenses in moving out.
Vice Chair Russell: Understood. But the others who have, they have been serviced. In
some way, they've come to, the others who have left have come to some sort of
agreement with the landlord --
Mr. Frank: No. No, incorrect.
Vice Chair Russell: -- they've signed an agreement to settle.
Mr. Frank: Incorrect.
Vice Chair Russell: Okay. I'm misunderstanding then.
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Mr. Frank: Correct.
Vice Chair Russell: What are those people still fighting for?
Mr. Frank: We're fighting for an agreement that actually provides adequate
assistance.
Vice Chair Russell: So above and beyond their having signed to settle to move out and
accept whatever funds were offered, they're asking for further assistance?
Mr. Frank: No, we did not accept, the people that I'm referring to that are still part of
this group, did not accept any funds as a settlement or as assistance.
Vice Chair Russell: Of the nine? The nine remaining?
Mr. Frank: No, no, the people who moved out.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Mr. Frank: There are people that -- the nine that are remaining have not accepted
anything.
Vice Chair Russell: Correct.
Mr. Frank: And there are another 20 to 30 families who have moved out who have
incurred expenses and debts as a result of these people -- this company's actions --
Vice Chair Russell: But and those --
Mr. Frank: -- and we have not --
Vice Chair Russell: -- just a moment, those 20 or 30 have not signed a settlement with
the landlord?
Mr. Frank: Correct. Correct, we have not.
Vice Chair Russell: Okay, so there's up to -- up to 39 people or units that have not yet
signed an agreement.
Mr. Frank: Correct.
Vice Chair Russell: Okay, when I had heard that it was down to nine I had understood
we were much further along. Thank you for that clarification. Let me work with the
City Attorney's Office and what you're asking now is different. This is a budgetary
request which I would say comes at the budget hearing today at 5: 00 p.m. because
you're looking for an allocation of American Rescue Plan funds to assist.
Mr. Frank: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you.
Mr. Frank: Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Good morning.
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Abigail Ape: Good morning, Honorable Commissioners. My name is Abby Ape and 1
sincerely appreciate you being here present to hear our concerns. Thank you, Ken
Russell and thank you, Mr. Carollo. Now I'm here to support FR,3 that removes the
exemption from compliance with noise regulations from any establishment on City -
owned property that have leases. Our noise regulations need to be made stronger and
this is a step in the right direction, closing an enormous loophole. However, I
encourage the City to take further action and adding verbiage to these regulations
that give it a little bit more teeth. Currently, the establishments that violate these
regulations are being cited, and even according to code enforcement officers, all they
can do is issue a citation. Language should be added about what happens after these
citations are issued. For example, after one citation you get closed for three days,
after two citations for a week, after three citations, your permit is revoked. Now I
work with Brickell residents on a daily basis, some of which are here today to share a
little bit more about their concerns, and so they sincerely would appreciate your help
in adding a few more teeth to this regulation.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you and the item has been deferred so it'll be taken up at
the September 23rd meeting. Do you have a specific list of requests within
amendments to that ordinance?
Ms. Ape: Yeah, we can touch base after.
Vice Chair Russell: Okay, yeah, please just forward them to my office offline.
Ms. Ape: And if1 may add, there has to be a better way when items get deferred to
share this with the community. Maybe you share it in the morning, just because some
of these people are here waiting to share about it and it's not going to even be talked
about.
Vice Chair Russell: It's true.
Ms. Ape: So just a suggestion.
Vice Chair Russell: It's true. Unfortunately, our inability to talk amongst each other
between meetings makes it very difficult to know who's going to feel how when the
item comes up. But yes, no, my intention was to take this item up and I appreciate that
every -- who here came on the noise ordinance? Who here's -- I apologize that we've
wasted your time.
Ms. Ape: Yeah.
Vice Chair Russell: But thank you, Abby. I appreciate it.
Ms. Ape: Thank you, I appreciate it.
Vice Chair Russell: And you're representing BHA (Brickell Homeowner's'
Association) in your capacity here. Good morning.
Dolores Gutierrez: Good morning. My name is Dolores Orkey Gutierrez. I live at 150
Southeast 25th Road. We're having a major issue. Are you -- I don't know if can
speak on this item because of the noise.
Vice Chair Russell: It's -- if you're going to speak now you won't be able to speak on it
when it does come up in two weeks. So if you want to save your --
Ms. Gutierrez: Save my --
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Vice Chair Russell: -- ammunition for that.
Ms. Gutierrez: -- ammunition for then.
Vice Chair Russell: It'll be much more effective then.
Ms. Gutierrez: Alright, well thank you very much. I appreciate the time. Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Good morning.
Sabrina Velarde: Good morning commissioners.I just wanted to confirm before I
speak, RE.7, was that deferred as well?
Vice Chair Russell: RE.7 has been deferred. That is rescinding resolution on the
library, correct?
Ms. Velarde: Yes, in that case I will reserve my comments until then, butt did just
want to flag for the Commissioners that I have shared the proposed public policy from
the Public Land for Public Good Coalition with everybody and their staff, and if
anybody has questions they should please reach out to me. My name is Sabrina
Velarde. I'm the Policy Director with Miami Homes for All.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): I'm sorry, your name?
Vice Chair Russell: I'm sorry, your name again? The Clerk didn't catch your name.
Ms. Velarde: Sabrina Velarde.
Mr. Hannon: Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Mr. Leidner. Good morning.
Steven Leidner: Steven Leidner, 555 Northeast 34th Street, Hamilton on the Bay. And
I am here to express my gratitude to you, Commissioner Russell, for committing to
come to our residence and experience and witness the misery that our residents are
enduring during this eviction process. And again, asking what more the City can do to
stop this misery and prevent other residents of the city of Miami from experiencing the
same situation. And again, first and foremost, my gratitude for showing up.
Vice Chair Russell: No, it really meant something to see it in person. Clearly, you are
living through a complete construction zone that doesn't really look habitable. And so,
it's -- I see what you're going through. I was able to visualize -- experience it much
more vividly. So, thank you, Mr. Leidner.
Mr. Leidner: And in terms of any actions, any concrete actions available to this
Commission, to the City Attorney, to the Department of Inspection.
Vice Chair Russell: So other -- so the request from Smash the Slumlords that we do
add money to legal services has been taken up, but as far as actual enforcement or
some sort of violation that we could push against on the landowner, we do not seem to
find jurisdiction at this point within our Legal Department. If your representatives are
able to show us something within our Code that we are able to do, there is a
willingness amongst this body to do it. So, so far, we don't see it.
Mr. Leidner: I'm going to invite Greg back. I may have 30 seconds left. Thank you,
Greg.
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Vice Chair Russell: That's fine.
Mr. Frank: Just wanted to --1 was just going to ask him to reinstate the need for a
portion of the American Rescue Plan funds to be allocated for residents of the
Hamilton since AIR Communities and AMCO and Weiss Serota won't come to a deal
with us.
Vice Chair Russell: So basically, this is financial assistance for those being evicted.
Mr. Frank: Right.
Vice Chair Russell: And jor us to deal with this in a fair way to the community and the
public, it wouldn't necessarily be named for Hamilton, but it's really about anyone
who's getting evicted at this point in mass evictions.
Mr. Frank: Yeah, and everybody, right, exactly. Everybody being eligible for it. So not
just -- so absolutely families that are in a low-income situation that face this problem
need assistance, and as well, families in a medium -income situation and even upper -
income situations, if anybody is facing a problem like this, they, -- we all need help,
not just one category or one income group.
Vice Chair Russell: Alright. Thank you, that's noted. Thank you. Good morning.
Julian Romero: Good morning. My name is Julian Romero and I live in 31 Southeast
5th Street and Fin here in support of FR.3, to remove the exemption from compliance
with noise regulations for any establishment on City -owned property.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. The item has been deferred until the next meeting,
September 23rd.
Mr. Romero: Correct. So on February 19th, 2020, yourself and Mayor Suarez were in
attendance at a Brickell Homeowners Association meeting. In that meeting, you both
advocated for Riverside Miami's opening. Commissioner Russell, you yourself even
mentioned that it would be a family atmosphere with no night events and noise no
louder than a whisper. I understand that's probably what was presented to yourself
and Mayor Suarez, but that is not the reality.
Vice Chair Russell: I'm sorry, and just to stop you because I don't want to get in a
back -and -forth, but I remember that meeting. I do not remember ever making a
promise to you that there would be no night events and no noises over a whisper. That
was never a promise on my behalf.
Mr. Romero: That's fine, either way in the actual --
Vice Chair Russell: Compliance with the noise ordinance is definitely in order, and
FR.3 does not apply to them because they're not on City land. That is a privately
owned land, so they are already subject to the noise ordinance, which has been
applied to them. Please continue.
Mr. Romero: So, since that time, anyways, there has been countless nights of loud
music, screaming people, cheering, and DJs encouraging crowds to make some noise.
The establishment is currently open Thursdays through Sundays until 2:00 a.m.
Commissioner Reyes spoke earlier about favoritism. Antonio Primo is the owner of
Riverside Miami, and he is a well-connected individual in Miami. I believe Mayor
Suarez also knows him. He's not here right now, unfortunately. I'm not saying that
there is anything going on as, far as favoritism is concerned, but I do believe that FR.3
will ensure to the public and to the residents of Brickell that there are no .favoritism --
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there is no favoritism actually taking place. Riverside Miami, as an establishment, has
received countless citations, with three citations last week being confirmed. With that
said, FR.3 citation closures and revocation process that Abigail mentioned, that
would be a great way to actually hold these establishments accountable to actually
turn down the noise, turn down the music, or there will actually be consequences of
repercussions. Because at the end of the day, this establishment is a nightclub.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you.
Mr. Romero: And this nightclub has plenty of money to pay for the citations that are
being issued.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Thank you very much for your comments.
Mr. Romero: Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Good morning.
Bozidar Maslov: Good morning, Mr. Russell. Thank you for your time. I'm here. My
name is Bozidar Maslov. I'm speaking on DI.110583. I'm coming here directly
because my emails and my phone calls have come unanswered. Two or three weeks
ago, I sent you an email personally, your assistant, 1 think her name is Allison Arias,
replied that Daniel Pratt was going to call me in the next few days. It's been two or
three weeks. I haven't heard anything. I'm calling on the issues from 1st Street -- 1st
Avenue to South Miami Avenue, 12th Street and 11 th Street. I invite you to come
down, like 1 said, in an email to come and have cafecito or something like that, .so you
can see for yourself. Since nobody comes down and addresses the issues, the streets
look like a Fourth World country, not even a Third World country. This is really
unacceptable. The flooding, it's coming to a point, it's been two years already that I've
been contacting the app. I think Manolo Reyes told me one day when I found him in
the street, he told me, call the app, call the number, find out. Again, two and a half
years, Brickell Association is here trying to do the same thing, and nothing happens. I
really invite you to come down and see the streets. I don't know if you live in the area,
probably Coral Gables, somewhere else, I don't care, but where I live looks like crap.
And it's unacceptable for a city with this amount of money and this amount of
resources that we're living in this type of conditions.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Tell me your name again.
Mr. Maslov: Bozidar Maslov.
Vice Chair Russell: Bozidar?
Mr. Maslov: Bozidar Maslov.
Vice Chair Russell: I apologize. It sounds like my office did reach back out to you, but
the person dealing with the problem has not yet. If you've got a moment, please --
Mr. Maslov: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: -- I'd invite you to please go to my, office. My entire staff is there,
and I apologize that you didn't get a response. I absolutely do live in my district. It's
one of the legal requirements of this -- of this -- of our Charter, and so I do not live in
Coral Gables.
Mr. Maslov: No, no, no, I know, but you haven't got my street. You don't take that
street as a --
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Vice Chair Russell: 1 have and I do.
Commissioner Reyes: What the address?
Mr. Maslov: I live in 79 Southwest 12th Street, in the Axis of Brickell. It's two towers
that are between 11 and 12th Street.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Yeah, but you're talking about homelessness or cleanliness?
Mr. Maslov: I'm talking about this, well, I can go on and on, but the first thing I'm
talking about is the conditions of the streets, the potholes. Now, a week ago, they did
two potholes -- two manholes. My car, I cannot go out through South Miami Avenue.
Now I have to go through 1st Avenue. So I have to go all the way around to come
around because the potholes, I have a small car, so the car doesn't --
Vice Chair Russell: Got it. My -- one of my directors is here waiting for you at the
door and glad to address your problem. I'm sorry you had to come all the way to City
Hall to deal with it.
Mr. Maslov: I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Have a good day. Bye.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Good morning.
Luis Garcia: Good morning. My name is Luis Garcia. And I'm here to support the
NFR.3 [sic]. And I bring this up because my family, my community, and I are
constantly suffering due to the noise pollution coming from Riverside. I know you --
Vice Chair Russell: Sir, Riverside is not on this agenda in any form today. FR.3
actually does not address that since this FR.3 is about City -owned properties, and
that is not one. So the previous gentleman brought the same thing up. Clearly there's
no favoritism because as he even said in his comments, citations are being issued.
And beyond a certain point of citations, they can lose their certificate of use. So they
are absolutely being enforced again. I can promise you that.
Mr. Garcia: And I understand that, the only problem that I have with that is that not
every time when the residents call you know, these citations are issued, even the noise
being there. And I just want to add something to what my -- the person that spoke
befbre me added. So, I think we need to be consistent with the regulations, right? If
the code enforcements go there and identify that there is a problem, maybe they don't
consider there is too much noise, but the law is clear. They say the regulation of the
noise, the noise ordinance, in the Chapter 3, Section 4 says that there should be no
noise at all at any time between 100 feet from the actual building to the affected
property, right? And that's one of the main reasons why I'm here because that's not
being complied all the time. And also I urge you to check or to consider or review the
permit that this place has, because they're not really complying with the regulation.
This is a temporary permit, right?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Mr. Garcia: So they are going to be there just for some time. They are just a guest.
But they are not complying with what they are -- they need to, based on the temporary
permit. So I urge you to check that, please. And help us with this problem, because it
has been for almost a year since they opened back in November.
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Vice Chair Russell: Yes, thank you. And I've actually been there myself at night and
stood up on the Metro Mover platform, so about the fourth floor of residential, to see,
and I did not experience a loud noise on that particular night. It's not to discount your
experience, but they have been issued citations and they have been mitigating. They
have been changing everything, to my understanding. But if they continue, they will
continue to get citations and they can lose their certificate of use for the temporary
use permit.
Mr. Garcia: And when is it going to happen? Just for my understanding, after how
many citations they can lose that?
Vice Chair Russell: Barnaby?
Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): Right now there's a "three strikes you're out."
Vice Chair Russell: There is a?
Mr. Min: Three strikes you're out provision in the City Code, but the zoning
administrator has the authority to revoke temporary permits and certificates of use
when there's a violation.
Vice Chair Russell: There is a threshold of citations that reaches that with that --
Mr. Min: There is a "three strikes you're out."
Vice Chair Russell: Three strikes you're out.
Mr. Min: That's what said. The zoning administrator has the authority to revoke
upon a first violation.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it. But at three strikes, it's mandatory.
Mr. Garcia: So again, so just for my understanding, if they already had the three
strikes. So how we can address that or who we can talk about this because they
already have.
Vice Chair Russell: I don't believe they do at this point. So, that's -- that can be a
legal and zoning question that we can take up, but it's not on this agenda, sir. So I
apologize, we cannot take more time at this meeting. But I'm happy to deal with it in
my office because it is important to me, and your quality of life is as well. So, I -- my,
office, iif you would like to also head back to the District 2 Office, what we can look up
is exactly how many citations have been not only issued, but adjudicated at the Code
Enforcement Board, to see if they've really reached their three strikes, because I don't
believe they have.
Mr. Garcia: Just for your information, last Thursday, I came here, and the three
citations were tried to be appealed and the City Attorney just confirmed that there
was a problem, that there was violations, three of them. So I'm very --
Vice Chair Russell: So three violations then, okay. If that's the case, we will take the
action under the Code that we absolutely have to. There's no favoritism going on
here, I can assure you that.
Mr. Garcia: Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: And please, my office is happy to work with you. Next comment
please. Good morning.
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Maria Ray: Good morning, Commissioner Russell, Carollo, Commissioner Reyes, hi,
how are you?
Vice Chair Russell: Microphone please.
Commissioner Carollo: I just want the record to reflect that while everyone was
speaking, I was standing by the side right here in the dais listening to everyone.
Obviously, all of you that were here saw me, but in case someone took a smaller
picture to say otherwise.
Ms. Ray: 1 did see you, Commissioner.
Vice Chair Russell: And this day is going to be tough. We're going to try to power
through lunch, my treat.
Ms. Ray: Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: And so if you see a commissioner disappear from the dais, please
know they're listening whether it's from the bathroom or their office, they are
listening.
Commissioner Carollo: Hold on, power through lunch?
Vice Chair Russell: You weren't here.
Commissioner Carollo: Your treat.
Vice Chair Russell: Some decisions were made, Commissioner. You're recognised,
ma'am.
Ms. Ray: And good morning to you, Commissioner Watson. I'm here also not only to
back up what Greg mentioned earlier regarding the residents of the Hamilton and
what has been going on. I realize that you are slightly misinformed as to exactly what
has been going on because of the way that communications have been phrased. But it
is true what Greg says, that the residents that have moved out, many of them did not
take the deal that was offered because it was frankly a miserly offer. And I personally
find that it's rather offensive that now getting towards the end, they are willing to start
shelling out more money and here it is, the 11 th hour, why have they done this, why
have they waited until the last minute? It only adds more stress and costs more
money. But more importantly, I want to focus on the idea that, you know, as a city,
we're a big city, we have a lot of people that are now suffering the consequences of
greedy landlords kicking them out of their homes because they want to do
renovations, taking advantage of a tragedy in a pretty despicable manner, not just
AMCO, many others across the city. And Ifind it offensive to think that the funds that
the City has that have been allocated to help people who are in need should be wasted
because a company that has millions and millions up to billions of dollars at their
disposal to take care of those issues does not step up to the plate. Now don't get me
wrong, I'm not going to turn it down. I need the help. I cannot stay there. But it's --
it's outrageous.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you for your comments.
Mr. Hannon: Chair? Chair?
Vice Chair Russell: Could we get your name please?
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Ms. Ray: Maria Ray.
Vice Chair Russell: Maria?
Ms. Ray: Ray, R-A-Y.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you for coming. Good morning.
Leticia Alvarez: Hi, good morning. My name is Leticia Alvarez and I'm a native
Miamian. I've lived here most of my life. I've never been to a Commission meeting. I
took time off of work. I know you said that, you know, the noise issue at Riverside isn't
at issue, but it is for me, which is why I'm here and 1 hope you'll let me speak. You
know, we don't, we're regular people. We're just trying to live in our condo that we
worked hard to pay for, you know. I'm behind a strong, you know, hurricane proof
glass with a TV on, on a Thursday. And I can't go to sleep at night because of the
noise --
Vice Chair Russell: I apologize to interrupt. Are we talking recently? Are you still
hearing noise issues out of Riverside?
Ms. Alvarez: It's a problem.
Vice Chair Russell: Currently?
Ms. Alvarez: Yes. On Sunday, they had some sort of event for football game,
whatever. There is noise. So it really, really does bother us. It's a quality -of -life issue.
You know, we live next to this nightclub where they have music coming out of this
tent. I love Miami. I want quality of life for our residents. I want things to be, you
know, nice. I don't want to live next to people partying in a tent. It's not classy. It's not
anything that we all want. And, you know, that's basically why I came. You know, we
all --
Commissioner Carollo: I'm sorry, if I could interrupt you for one second --
Ms. Alvarez: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: -- and we'll give you the time that I speak back to you. What
location are you talking about?
Ms. Alvarez: So, it's Riverside. I live at 31 Southeast 5th Street, and it's the business
right next door to our condo, Brickell on the River.
Mr. Min: I think the address, Commissioner, is 431 South Miami Avenue.
Vice Chair Russell: It's a temporary use permit for an empty lot that is now, how
many restaurants on it? It's maybe half a dozen restaurants and some, it's an
activation.
Commissioner Carollo: What place is this?
Vice Chair Russell: It's called Riverside.
Commissioner Carollo: Riverside. Right behind Brickell City Center, between Brickell
City Center and the river.
Mr. Min: Next to the Metrorail.
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Vice Chair Russell: It has a three-year temporary use permit and it abuts a residential
tower that has been complained.
Ms. Alvarez: It's a nuisance. That's basically why we're here and we hope you can
help us.
Commissioner Carollo: This is part of the problem that I have been fighting since I
got here. This city has looked the other way with all these alcohol establishments or
facilities, entertainment locations, and time and time again, across the city of Miami,
and all districts, I'm seeing residents like you complaining. You have rights. You want
your quality of life. And, you know, we're going to have to make decisions because it
just seems to me that when we have, weekends in particular, at night, and then all
day, Saturday and Sunday, but particularly Friday nights, Saturday nights, and then if
you've got a long holiday, the Sunday nights. We have banker's hours for our
employees. We have maybe one code officer for the whole city, no building people, no
zoning people out there. It's a free-for-all. And then, most of the times, we have
depended on off -duty officers that have been hired by these establishments. And in the
past, many of these officers were being paid in cash by the establishments. And, you
know, when calls came in to the station, a regular patrol car was not sent, it was
given to the off -duty officers. And, I mean, we all know what the outcome of that was
going to be. So I am, you know, feeling just like you. In fact, because I protected my
residents in my district, I've taken the brunt and the wrath of some of these alcohol
establishment owners like no one has up here. I, you know, 1 want to be able to
accomplish something for our residents in protection. This is why I've been putting
numerous ordinance that have been citywide ordinance to try to give that protection.
Ms. Alvarez: And I appreciate that. We're at our wit's end, honestly.
Commissioner Carollo: Part of what we're going to be voting today is to, one, put out
more people out on weekends, substantially more. So that's going to be important,
approving not only additional dollars for next fiscal year's budget so that we can put
people there, but agreements that were coming with a particular union to do that. But
it's just not doing it. You need the right people out there because some of these
characters that run these places, they're super aggressive and they like to bully and
intimidate our employees when they go out there.
Ms. Alvarez: I believe it. I rnean, I don't know. And, you know, I like to go out and
have fun as much as the next person --
Commissioner Carollo: Sure, everybody does.
Ms. Alvarez: -- but like, why can't it be inside an actual building where you can close
the door and the noise doesn't come out and bother the residents? I mean, it seems
fairly straightforward, and it would also just kind of look nicer in the community than
some tent.
Commissioner Carollo: That's what I've said from up here since day one. You want to
have, you know, loud music, you want to have a party, do it in closed doors. The noise
level is not going to be going out and bothering the quality of life and the sleep of our
residents.
Ms. Alvarez: Yeah, I mean, that'll work.
Vice Chair Russell: You can finish your time.
Commissioner Carollo: Go ahead. I took a lot of your time. Go ahead.
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Ms. Alvarez: No, that was it. I just wanted to let you know.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you so much for your time.
Ms. Alvarez: Thank you. I hope you can help us.
Vice Chair Russell: And that's partly why I'm bringing FR.3, outdoor music as an
issue. Good morning. No, you're, we alternate. You're recognized.
James Torres: 171 give them the benefit of the doubt.
Vice Chair Russell: You're deferring the time.
Mr. Torres: I'll defer the time. I'll yield my time.
Vice Chair Russell: You're taking, he's, good morning, how are vou?
Adrian Madriz: Morning, yes. Thank you so much. My name is Adrian Madriz. I live
at 1990 Northwest 4th Court, 33136. Speaking on item PH.19442. And this is in
reverence to especially the affordable housing that -- situation that's going on right
now with Hamilton on the Bay. And I do want to go over a meeting that we recently
had, which thank you very much, Commissioner Russell, for helping us set that up
with the City Attorney. Going over the different options that we can pursue to protect
tenants that are facing these kinds of mass evictions to make sure that they get the
assistance and resources that they require in order to move on. There were many
things that the City Attorney's Office said no to, many, many things, not going to lie.
But there were two things that they did say that they had an openness to, one of them
being the allocation of funds for a new program that would allow these residents to
get the financial relocation resources that they need. And I know that we're going to
be addressing that today at the budget hearing and I really appreciate that,
Commissioner. And the other was rent control,, as surprising as that may seem. And
you might be thinking, well if the city of Miami were to dabble in rent control,
wouldn't that be preempted by the State of Florida? And that's not true. I have the
statute right here that actually talks about what the State of Florida would do if the
City of Miami were to pass its own rent control. That's Florida Statute Chapter 252
Section 38, and it says under Number 2, no law, ordinance, rule, or other measure
which would have the effect of imposing controls on rents shall be adopted or
maintained in effect, except as provided herein and unless it is found and determined,
as herein after provided, that such controls are necessary and proper to eliminate an
existing housing emergency which is so grave as to constitute a serious menace to the
general public. I believe we are living in that kind of a housing emergency at the
moment, not only because of what's going on at Hamilton on the Bay, but also
because of the general mass evictions that have been happening. Twenty four
buildings have been ordered to vacate in the County of Miami -Dade. That includes
several buildings in the city of Miami which slumlords have used the conditions, as a
result of the Surfside collapse, to excuse the eviction and mass gentrification of entire
buildings. And so we are living right now in a grave housing emergency. All of the
people who lived at Hamilton on the Bay and all of the people who have been
relocated have had to enter one of the most expensive housing markets in the country,
certainly the most expensive one in the city of Miami's history. I think if there were
ever a time when we needed to have rent control as an emergency measure which
could be absolutely done by executive order by the Mayor, it would be now. And I
think it would be incumbent upon all of you, Commissioners, to really consider this
and see if there's any way that you can formally request such a measure from the
Mayor's Office. Because there's really no reason at this point why such a measure
should not be able to go into effect.
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Vice Chair Russell: Thank you Mr. Madriz.
Mr. Madriz: Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Good morning.
Mr. Torres: It's still morning right?
Vice Chair Russell: It is.
Mr. Torres: We have the invitation for lunch, all of us.
Vice Chair Russell: I don't know, it's --
Mr. Torres: I'm just asking. James Torres, president of the DNA (Downtown
Neighbors Alliance). FR.3, we do support that. I know it's been deferred but we need
to have that conversation later on. Don't want to get into that right now. There are a
couple items that we do want to talk about. Commissioner Joe Carollo has sponsored
them, RE.10, RE.11, and FR.4. The DNA fully supports the initiatives that are on the
agenda at this point, for this will create a conversation piece that the DNA feels that
the city should be having. It's important for the quality of life and also for the
residents of downtown. We know that this is a valuable decision that you have to
make, and we do want to have the dialogue. And 1 want to quote something that's
important. Our current president, back in February 6, 2014, was at a speech in
Philadelphia and his comments were as follows, "IfI blindfold somebody at 2 o'clock
in the morning and 1 took them to the Hong Kong Airport, they would think they were
in America. IfI take them to the New York LaGuardia Airport at the same time frame,
they're going to think they're in a third world country." That's what many downtown
individuals feel that downtown looks like because of the homeless problem, because of
the abandonment of certain things that are going on in our city. The DNA has taken a
very proactive approach this past month in reaching out to just about every
commissioner and getting points of view. So we are asking for your help and
assistance. When are these things going to be moving forward? Because we do have
to ask the questions and the uncomfortable questions. We know we're in budget
season. There are resources that are needed for the city, especially in downtown. If
it's additional police officers, if it's the DDA (Downtown Development Authority)
providing additional support. So we don't want to turn around and just kind of sweep
this under the rug. That's why we ask again, what is the importance ofRE.10, 11, and
FR.4? IfI can ask that in an open question, maybe I get some dialogue from you folks.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much. We will definitely be taking those items up
and the full discussion will happen at that time. Thank you.
Mr. Torres: And maybe we can get a seat at the table to have this conversation
because I think it's important that the DNA knows about it.
Vice Chair Russell: Absolutely, and I was glad to welcome you in my office to have
you at the table. DNA is very important to our decision -making process.
Mr. Torres: Thank you. Appreciate it.
Vice Chair Russell: Yep. Good morning.
Victoria Mallette: Good morning. Vicki Mallette, Executive Director of Miami -Dade
County Homeless Trust, 111 Northwest 1st Street, 27th floor, Miami, Florida 33128. I
amunfortunately here to speak in opposition to FR.4. I do not believe that
criminalizing homelessness is going to solve the homeless problem. We're making
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tremendous progress. We've increased coordination. We have increased resources
through ARP (American Rescue Plan) and the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and
Economic Security) Act. Together with the DDA, we put additional outreach teams on
the street, including one targeting women. We've put another three teams on the street
targeting encampments and substance use disorders. I will tell you that if you
criminalize homelessness, it will make it much harder to house the individuals that
we're working with. They will become more service resistant, and you will see an
increase in jail costs, but not necessarily a change in behavior. I think there is at least
a dozen other ideas on the table. Ilook forward to talking about D1.2 [sic]. I think
that not all of those ideas involve money, that there are opportunities for additional
and enhanced coordination, including with the DNA. And I want to point you to the
August census. We counted 510 people on the streets of Miami, certainly too many.
That is the lowest numbers we've experienced since 2013.
Vice Chair Russell: What was the number again? I apologize Vicky.
Ms. Mallette: 510.
Vice Chair Russell: 510.
Ms. Mallette: That's the lowest numbers we've had since 2014. And let me also point
out, we have capital projects in the works that I'd love to brief you on. Two, one which
would exclusively help seniors, the other one which is for individuals with severe
mental illness and substance use disorders. We could -- we would certainly like to
look at the CARES Act and ARP funds being made available to the city to contribute
to those projects. And 1 will tell you from that August census, this is countywide, 28
percent, 28 percent of those individuals on the streets were 60 years and over.
Commissioner Reyes: Let me ask, Mr. Chairman.
Vice Chair Russell: You're welcome. Yes, Commissioner Reyes.
Commissioner Reyes: Let me ask you a question. You claim that because of the last
year's census was over 600 and that's what we were informed, that a census claimed
that we were over 600. And now there is a decrease of homeless in the city of Miami?
But I have a question, you see, since I would say a couple of years ago, areas as
Flagami, which would never had a problem, I mean we had one or two, but now we
are, I mean the number of homeless in that area has increased. Is it that they are
moving, or you are counting only the ones that are there in Downtown Miami?
Ms. Mallette: No, we are seeing a total decrease in the county. So our county -wide
numbers are down, lowest numbers we've experienced since 2014. Our city numbers
are down even further, lowest numbers' we've had since 2013.
Commissioner Reyes: By your count, by your count, yes, I know that it states that it
shows a decrease, but by visual, what we are experiencing in that part of the city that
never had a problem before, now we have an increase on people sleeping in bus
benches or in storefronts. We had an increase.
Ms. Mallette: I would say to you that the numbers are down.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes ma'am. I'm just asking --
Ms. Mallette: I would also say it's a very transient community. I will also tell you the
optics have gotten worse. Encampments have become more entrenched during the
pandemic. That's in part because of CDC (Center for Disease Control) guidance.
That's why we've deployed three additional substance -use encampment focused
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outreach teams to the street. They're making great progress. We've seen all these
decreases without criminalizing homelessness, and 1 would tell you that we can, with
the amount of resources coming through ARP and CARES Act, we continue along this
trend. I will also tell you we received 33 to 35 million dollars from the federal
government. We're in the middle of that competitive process right now. There are
points, points tied to those federal applications that the continuum of care could lose
if we criminalize homelessness. That jeopardizes our federal funding. And you are a
direct recipient of some of those federal dollars.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, we are.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Ms. Mallette, if you're able to stick around, I thank
Commissioner Carollo for making this such a prominent issue on our agenda, and we
will probably batch his items and take them together for a robust discussion on how to
move forward. So we will take that up.
Commissioner Carollo: But I do take offense to something that you said here, that
we're criminalizing homelessness. This ordinance is not to criminalize homelessness.
This ordinance is to deal with the homeless issue in the most humane way that we can.
But if individuals decide that after we offer them beds, we offer them shelters, we offer
them hotels, whatever we can, that they want to put a tent anywhere they want to,
blocking sidewalks and other points of where our residents walk through so they can,
that they can't do that. We live in a civilized society that all residents have rights to.
And if there are many that want to stay out in tents that are blocking the pathway of
the rest of our residents because they want to be out there using drugs, like is the real
issue for those that want to stay out in the streets, then we have an obligation for them
and for the rest of our residents to act in a humane fashion with them. The problem is
that we have been spending millions upon millions of dollars on the homeless issue.
And even though you're trying to put a Barney face on it, that everything's okay and it
keeps going down, I'll be very blunt with you. The only numbers that I see shifting are
on a weekly/monthly countdown of how many homeless people are dying in the
streets. But don't believe that even so, there's been enough of them to bring the
numbers to what you're saying. But the problem is, Vicki, that the homeless issue has
become a business. There are many out there that don't want it to go away. They want
the homelessness out there because it's a business. They have a job on it, they make
money on it, and the ones that are losing out are all our residents that pay taxes, and
we're putting millions of dollars out to this issue that we shouldn't be doing. And if
you guys aren't going to resolve this issue, then we have to find a way to resolve it
ourselves, no matter what you want to call it, no matter what you want to say.
Residents of Miami have a right also to their quality of life. You should not have to
see elderly senior people have to walk through a middle of the street because there's a
tent city blocking a sidewalk, and they're petrified on top of that of who's going to
come out. Are they going to be assaulted or anything else? So that's the bottom line.
So please don't say that we're trying to criminalize something when there's no city in
America that's had the record, like Miami has, of being humane with people that are
homeless. But what we're facing here in Miami today, and in America, is not what
traditionally we've known, and we've dealt with as homelessness. A lot of the people
that we're having are people that have been burned out on drugs and people that don't
want any kind of shelter at all because they want to be out in the streets using their
drugs.
Commissioner Reyes: Mr. Chair?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, Commissioner Reyes. You're recognized.
Commissioner Reyes: I want to add something that really it's unfair, for our residents
also and something got to be done about it. You see, all along 8th Street, Flagler, and
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all the main thoroughfares, we have those bus shelters. Those shelters are to protect
people that are going to take the bus from the inclements, I mean whether it be the sun
or rain. And what 1 have witnessed, and I've seen it, that a group of homeless, 1 mean
one or two, they make a camp right there on those shelters. And you see, my district is
jull of seniors. Full of seniors. I mean, I think that it is the district that has more
seniors in it. And it's not fair that the seniors that are waiting for a bus to come have
to be outside of the shelter, outside of the shelter, either under the rain or under the
sun, because the homeless have taken -- a couple of homeless, they have taken
possession of that shelter and they even hick them out, they push them out, they tell
them, no, no, no, no, no, you cannot be here, or they just are occupying it, it is their
home. What can we do about that? What do we do? Call the police and get them out?
Is that persecuting the homeless? How about the people that pay taxes and are using
the buses? And they have the right to protect themselves and that's why we have built
those shelters. You see? I mean, 1 agree that maybe we can include in your resolution,
you see, that shelters shouldn't be occupied by anybody but those people that are
waiting for a bus. And you see it day after day after day after day. It is not fair. I do
understand that we have, they are human beings, we have to do the most that we can
in order to direct them into becoming members of society, or also offer them shelter,
training, whatever it is, I'm all for it. But we also have a duty of protecting our people,
our residents, you see. I have witnessed in my district also, what Commissioner
Carollo is, they're in the middle of the street and they don't move. And you see people
that they have to go into 8th Street, you see, go to the street and then come back.
That's a life safety issue also because those people could be run over by a car.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Commissioner. I'd like to hold this discussion for the
discussion item itself and let's get through public comment. 1 have plenty to say on
this as well and I really appreciate you bringing it up, but let's get into it at the item
because we have four items including RE.10, RE.11, FR.4, and DI2, all having to do
with the homeless issue in Miami.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: So thank you.
Ms. Mallette: Thank you, Commissioner. Hook forward to the discussion and I would
love to speak to all of those points. I do not think we're in disagreement on many
issues.
Commissioner Reyes: But I don't want just to talk. I want solutions. What are we
going to do about it? Because we can be talking. I mean, since day one that sat here,
we've been talking about this.
Commissioner Carollo: And nothing gets done.
Commissioner Reyes: You see.
Commissioner Watson: Yeah, I mean, I think that 1'll wait for the discussion, too.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you.
Commissioner Watson: But was on, as I said to them, and I'll say now, I don't think
my colleague is trying to criminalize homelessness. I think there are issues relative to
the homelessness problem, and we're trying to address them. We have, unlike it to be,
our responsibility. Homeless Trust gets a dedicated source of money. We do not
necessarily get that, and we don't have the staff to deal with it from a singular
perspective. We have dysfunctional governments around here, right? But I know for a
fact, the city has probably spent over 150 million. And for those who've been here for
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a long period of tine, they're just like, okay, what's happening? Because optics then
plays a part of it. And 1 really want to hear the solutions. Because just 1 said to the
activists on the Zoom call, there's 70 of you all, but there's 70 people who don't want
to be perceived as no character, as I've been called, on the outside calling us, saying,
hey, little girls walk down those streets, what are you doing? I got a business that
people want to come to, what are you doing? So please understand, we're not trying
to criminalize anybody, we're trying to find solutions. So, please talk to us with
solutions, because everybody always saying something different. And since me and my
colleague, who says I have no character, have the most homeless in our districts, we
really do want solutions.
Ms. Mallette: I appreciate that. Looking forward to the discussion.
Vice Chair Russell: We're coming with solutions. 500 is not a celebration. 500 is a
starting point to get to 0. We must get to functional zero.
Commissioner Carollo: Who knows what the real number is, Commissioner. I don't
believe for one minute it's 500. I could count that for you real quick in one night, just
in a few seconds alone.
Vice Chair Russell: Good morning.
Isaac Gutierrez: Good morning. My name is Isaac Gutierrez. I am a homeowner at
2000 Southwest 14th Avenue, District 3. This is a quite simple, very local issue. After
following up on a very challenging and timely city issue as being homeless, mine is
very local in nature.
Vice Chair Russell: Sir, which item is it you're speaking on?
Mr. Gutierrez: This is a tragic and sign in my neighborhood.
Vice Chair Russell: Is it an item on the agenda?
Mr. Gutierrez: I wasn't given an item on it.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it. So it's not one of our agenda items today. Would you like
to work with Commissioner's Office directly?
Mr. Gutierrez: It's very simple.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, if we can. I mean, the gentleman has taken time to come
here.
Vice Chair Russell: Please continue.
Commissioner Carollo: Can we give him two minutes at least? Thank you.
Mr. Gutierrez: I appreciate that.
Commissioner Carollo: And you could go to my office afterwards to see how we could
help you further, sir.
Mr. Gutierrez: Thank you, Commissioner Carollo. I'm here representing
approximately 10 homeowners that were impacted the first week of September. And
they were -- we had City staff that were not police officers, they were, I believe, code
enforcers that were ticketing vehicles that were parked on the right of way. The
specific area that I'm referring to.
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Commissioner Carollo: It would have to have been, not -- code doesn't take it for
people parking, it would have had to have been either people working for our police
department or the parking authority.
Mr. Gutierrez: Parking authority, you're correct.
Commissioner Carollo: Most likely it was parking authority.
Mr. Gutierrez: Thank you, they were parking authority. The specific issue is on
Southwest 20th Street between 14th Avenue and 13th Street. This is adjacent to --
Commissioner Carollo: 14th Avenue and 13th Avenue maybe?
Mr. Gutierrez: 13. 13th Avenue --
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, and 14th Avenue.
Mr. Gutierrez: -- and 14th Avenue, on 20th Street.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah.
Mr. Gutierrez: Directly adjacent to Coral Way Elementary. There is an area that the
residents parked on the street, on the school, there's a chain link fence with signs that
says, no parking, school staff only. It will be towed away.
Commissioner Carollo: In the city right of way?
Mr. Gutierrez: In the -- there's the fence --
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah.
Mr. Gutierrez: -- on the perimeter of the school.
Commissioner Carollo: Right.
Mr. Gutierrez: And I believe those are not City or County signs. I do believe there are
-- the school board signs.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay, but what 1 want to make sure I understand is the signs
are on the city property, the -- where you park your cars in the street.
Mr. Gutierrez: They are -- Commissioner, they are on the chain link fence, right on
the property line behind the sidewalk.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay, if they're behind the sidewalk, then that is school
property.
Mr. Gutierrez: Right. So my question is this. One, it could be as simple as a sign was
improperly placed, it should have been facing into the school and not out. But as a
result of that, a lot of the vehicles, approximately five vehicles were towed away, and
the neighbors and the owners in that area had to pay approximately 200 and their
time to retrieve those cars. So this is something that needs to be corrected. That is, if
those signs are not properly placed, or if the school board is renting the space from
the City. And if they are, then it's a different issue because we're taxpayers and we're
entitled to be able to park in the right -- right of away if it's lawfully permitted. And
I'm asking for- your help to look into that.
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Commissioner Carollo: If you can right now, I have my chief of staff that's back here,
Mr. Suarez. If you could go back, he'll go with you, and we have other staff at the
office so that we can work with you on that and the neighbors.
Mr. Gutierrez: Thank you so much.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: And he will give you our numbers, so from here on, you can
call us direct any other problems you have.
Mr. Gutierrez: Okay. Thank you, Commissioner.
Commissioner Carollo: Surely.
Mr. Gutierrez: Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Good morning, ma'am.
Jane Joyner: Good morning. My name is Jane Joyner. I am still living at the Hamilton
on the Bay. It's about the PH.1 9442. I am still a resident of Hamilton on the Bay, 555
Northeast 34th Street. And I am here just asking you guys, please help us. What
AMCO or their communities are doing. They are trying to force us to move, doing
extremely, not just noise, but everything they can to take our off the building without
make any reimbursement or any payment for us. We need the help. Still, we are
standing there, we have no way to move if we don't receive help. I cannot. I can tell
you, ifI don't find a way, ifI don't have any help like the others, they are trying -- they
are sending letters to us, trying -- they say they are trying to help us to move, finding
apartments to move, but they are not. They just lie and lie all the time. And we need
your help, please.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, ma'am. Thank you.
Brenda Betancourt: Good morning again. Brenda Betancourt, 1436 Southwest 6th
Street. I actually have a question to Commissioner Carollo. I have here an email from
May with the Office of the Mayor stating about he was sponsoring an event this past
Sunday.
Vice Chair Russell: Which item is this on the agenda?
Ms. Betancourt: It's not an item on the agenda. This is public hearing, right?
Vice Chair Russell: For agenda items only. Commissioner Carollo, if you would like
to hear Ms. Betancourt, you obviously can grant her time, but this is not an agenda.
Commissioner Carollo: Ms. Bettencourt is not here for any real questions. She is here
because she is trying to promote the newly candidate that is her husband or boyfriend
that's running against me. And she's looking for a platform for that campaign. So this
is not the platform for that and certainly not in a day that we have so much in the
agenda.
Vice Chair Russell: Ms. Betancourt, if you have a non -agenda item, please go to
Commissioner Carollo's Office and you can ask him (UNINTELLIGIBLE) --
Ms. Betancourt: So as a resident of I am not allowed to speak in anything unless it is
approved --
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Vice Chair Russell: It's on the agenda, that is absolutely correct.
Ms. Betancourt: -- it's approved by the Commissioner where I live. That's what you're
saying.
Vice Chair Russell: No, that's not how it works.
Ms. Betancourt: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Here's the rule. If you'd like to address this -- if you have a
complaint with the City that's not on an agenda, you can go to the City's -- your
Commissioner's Office or the City Manager. If you cannot get relieffrom either, you
can request a special appearance before the City Commission, which will give you
additional time, perhaps five minutes instead of the two, and then you can address this
body because it will be on an agenda item. We absolutely give everyone their fair
share of time. But you cannot come to a Commission meeting where we have a set
agenda and speak on items that are not on the agenda. And so it's not to keep you
quiet or make you go through --
Ms. Betancourt: But Commissioner, I understand, but you just heard right now a
resident from my district too having an issue that it was not in the agenda. So if we're
going to be fair about people have to speak in the city of Miami in the Commission
meeting, the same way that you just asked that gentleman to speak, it was not an item
of the agenda.
Vice Chair Russell: Correct.
Ms. Betancourt: Right?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Ms. Betancourt: So, and this had nothing to do with an item with anybody else. I'm
talking about Brenda Betancourt. I'm not talking about anybody else. I don't need to
talk about anybody else. I have -- I'm a big woman and I know what I'm talking about.
But I want to you and the rest of the Commission and the citizens who are listening to
us right now to understand that you just let somebody speak and it's nothing to do
with the Commission agenda. And now you are telling me that I am not allowed to
speak.
Vice Chair Russell: Any commissioner can request an exception to the rule to allow
anyone to speak at any time. And Commissioner Carollo actually asked specifically
because I was going to send that resident to the office to speak about it as well.
Nobody has requested that exception for you and this is not an agenda item.
Commissioner Carollo: The problem here, Chairman, is that she spoke before
already. So she used her two minutes before already. She is not here like the
gentleman before that had a real legitimate problem. Anything she has, if anybody
knows the process of our city, it's her. She can go through the Manager for whatever
she needs. She's here to try to make political statements. Look, her husband or
boyfriend is running against me. She can make all the statements she wants with the
rest of the crew that they got out there. Let's move on with our meeting because she
hasn't been around for a while to get cameras. She's getting enough cameras for
today and we have to go on with our meeting. Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much.
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
Ms. Betancourt: 1 don't have a problem, 1 just want you, 1 know that I'm not supposed
to speak, hut I'm glad that you are copying my, event that I've been preparing since
April and you're doing it next Sunday. Thank you so much.
Commissioner Carollo: Chairman?
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you for your comments. Thank you for your comments.
Good morning.
Caleb Freestone: Good morning. My name is Caleb Freestone, and 1 would like to
voice my opposition to FR.4. 1 had no intention of speaking until 1 heard some of the
comments made. And I would like to thank the Commissioner for describing what he
believes to be the great collapse of civilization. I believe it was blocked sidewalks.
And 1 would just like to inform the Commissioner what I believe to be uncivilized
behavior.
Commissioner Carollo: Sir?
Mr. Freestone: Such as, for example, the use of guns, the use of cages, and the use of
machines larger than the dais that you sit behind in order to clear these
encampments. Our police force has already killed someone in order -- during the
course of effectuating an eviction. 1 believe it was the eviction task force. And now this
Commission wants to send these police officers after the people who live in public
spaces? And I'd like to remind Commissioner Reyes that no one can take public
property. People exist on public property. Because it is owned by all of us. Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else here who
would like to speak, at public comment on any of the agenda items?
Commissioner Carollo: Can I make a brief statement?
Vice Chair Russell: Of course.
Commissioner Carollo: I thank the gentleman for coming up. I really don't know what
he is referring to. I don't think any of us knew, but one of my biggest concerns is
precisely people that are so-called homeless in the streets that are dying every day.
The week before last, I'll tell you what, one event that I had. In Maurice Ferre Park, I
received a call, where I'm chairman of that trust, that we had a drug overdose. Not in
the actual park, but when I got there I found out that it was in the seats between the
Frost Museum and the Perez Museum. The gentleman had died of an overdose. Not
someone from here, from what I understand. On my way to him, I saw two police
officers that, based on numerous calls from residents, were engaged with another
homeless individual that 1 recognized from two and a half months earlier with
problems that was obviously strung out on drugs also, and they had to arrest him.
When I got to the fatality, I asked why didn't we have any of our people that
specialized in this there to take him out already and it was because we had two other
drug overdoses in our city, and they were handling those at that time. One of them, I
was told, was in my own district somewhere in Little Havana. The other one, I don't
know if it was in downtown or in District 5. So, this is an issue that I believe is
becoming quite serious in our city that we're having a tremendous amount of death
from drug overdoses and it's one that goes hand -in -hand with the homeless situation
in our streets.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Commissioner Carollo, and just a clarification. I've
checked with our police chief who -- who says that the City of Miami Police
Department has not been involved in a death regarding a homeless or eviction
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
situation. There was a Miami -Dade County issue but not with our police force. But
thank you for --
Commissioner Carollo: I'm glad that was clarified.
Vice Chair Russell: Yeah, I wanted to make sure the facts are straight. Is there anyone
else here who would like to speak at public comment for anything on this morning's
agenda? This is for the Planning Zoning agenda as well as the regular agenda,
everything but the CRAs and the and the Budget agenda in the afternoon. Mr. Recio,
good morning.
Tony Recio: Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the Commission. My name is
Tony Recio with law office at 2525 Ponce de Leon Boulevard. I'm here on behalf of
Hamilton on the Bay and AMCO. I just wanted to clarif, a couple of things because
we've heard some information. I want to make sure we're all on the same page here.
This has been a difficult situation for everyone involved. We understand that, we
recognize that, we recognize that it's been difficult for our residents especially. This is
the last thing anyone wanted, including us. We did not do this intentionally. When we
attempted to do -- to perform maintenance on the sanitary risers, the actual sewage
lines, they were in danger of imminent failure.
(COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD)
Vice Chair Russell: Please, please, please control public comment. Everyone's had
their chance to speak.
Commissioner Carollo: What are we --
Vice Chair Russell: This is about Hamilton. This is --
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: He's a representative of Hamilton responding to the items that
were brought up under PH 1.
Mr. Recio: So, I'll try to sum up because I know you guys have a long agenda. Look,
we're not a slumlord. We're literally spending millions of dollars to fix up the
building. This is not affordable housing. There's no public money. This is entirely a
private contract matter. Nevertheless, we understand that this has been impactful to
our residents. So we've tried to work with our residents. We worked with you, Mr.
Chair, and your staff, and we worked with many of the individual commissioners to
try to resolve this situation. We're at the point where 95 percent of the 149 apartments'
have vacated the building.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Recio, sorry to interrupt.
Mr. Redo: Yes sir?
Vice Chair Russell: Is it 9 people left or 39 people left?
Mr. Recio: It's nine people left in the building.
Vice Chair Russell: Not physically in the building, but who have accepted whatever
offer you have made.
Mr. Recio: I don't think it -- well, I don't think it gets up to 39 total.
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
Vice Chair Russell: But it is more than the nine.
Mr. Recio: There were some, yeah, who did not accept our offer, but that doesn't
mean we didn't make the offer and we tried to resolve it with them. They chose to
leave without accepting an offer, without making a settlement. We can't force them to
the table. We've tried.
Vice Chair Russell: So the question is, how many people have accepted your offer? Or
how many units?
Mr. Recio: It's probably on the order of 39, yeah, 120, in that range.
Vice Chair Russell: So about 120 of the residents?
Mr. Recio: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Okay.
Mr. Recio: Yeah, and out of the nine, there's about three or fbur that we think we're
getting close to that we will have resolved before September 16th. But the fact
remains, and the unfortunate fact is, we have to moveforward with this. This is not a
negotiable situation. We need to fix what's wrong with the building. So we need to get
there. We extended the deadline. We've done what we can. September 16th, that day is
coming, and we just have to move on this. So that's where we are right now. We're
trying to work with everybody. Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else here to speak
a public comment?
Sandra Ross: Not that you haven't heard this before. Good afternoon, Commissioners.
Vice Chair Russell: Your name please for the record.
Ms. Ross: Sandra Ross from the Hamilton on the Bay, you know the address I'm sure.
Just to tell you that I have been living in Miami for 42 years, always rented, have
never met people that have treated us so badly as AMCO. It's not even possible.
Everything they've done or everything they haven't done, they're just not -- now
they're starting for the people who haven't left yet, and I haven't, but nobody's even
approached me as to what they're going to do. Anyway I've got 10 more days and I
have to say it's been a horrific experience.
Vice Chair Russell: Are you still living in the building?
Ms. Ross: I am but not for another 10 days.
Vice Chair Russell.• I can imagine it's horrific. I've seen the conditions.
Ms. Ross: I know. So you know what we've dealt with. But I did look and now I've
decided to leave Miami.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you for your comments.
Ms. Ross: I'll see what happens. Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes. Is there anyone else here who would like to speak at public
comment on the regular agenda?
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David Winker: Good afternoon. David Winker, law offices at 4720 South Le Jeune
Road. 1 live in the City of Miami. You've heard from residents about what's happening
at the Hamilton. And a quick Google search about AMCO makes clear they are a
slumlord. I'll just read a few quotes from the Internet, Google search: horrible
slumlords. If I could leave negative stars for AMCO, I would. One of America's worst
slumlords. Years of slumlord conditions and bad management at apartment complexes
owned by AMCO. Parktown Place used to be a great place to live until AMCO took
over. I want to object as a taxpayer. This is a multi -- a publicly traded company that
has come to our community and is inflicting this on us. And now we're going to give
money to pay for lawyers to fight them. To -- hopefully money, to relocate these
people. This company can afford to do that. We're all capitalists here. This is -- this is
what the definition of corporate welfare. They shouldn't be allowed to come here,
inflict this on our residents. You heard the real pain, and they should be held
accountable. This is going to continue. This is a blueprint. They have more projects in
the pipeline and residents need your help. This is the canary in the coal mine. Thank
you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else here to speak
in public comment on any of the items?
Commissioner Watson: Let me just say this right quick, because this I think it's
important. I think we both have tried to, Tony is there, I think we both tried to assist in
this case, 1 think when it first started out. And 1 want to now not be crude or crass, but
at least have people appreciate. I have probably about two miles from you, due west,
people who have of little means living in a place that they shouldn't be living because
it's abandoned, because they have nowhere else to go. l just want to say that, and it
was stated by a virtual City Attorney, that unless we have monies in projects, it is
literally almost impossible to deal with projects that exist like the Hamilton. So we've
tried our best. I've helped some people. I've helped talk to Mr. Recio. I think that that
should be understood. The Hamilton folks was given 60 days. The folks that now live
due west of you, two miles, was given three days. And I understand the dynamics of
everything that's' involved at this point, because I've been made to. I have friends that
live in Hamilton. And so I think that when we do have an opportunity to stand
forward, we do. However, those resources then go to places like these other folks who
have monies in it, and we try our best to make sure the resources are deployed as best
we can. And so that should be made clear that we're not not trying to do anything.
We've tried to do the best we can. To those corporate entities, you can't just wholesale
throw people out even if we don't have the ability to oversee you. But if you're trying
to do something else going forward, other than what you're doing, you will have a
very unwelcome occurrence because people, and we, don't want to stand for that. So I
just wanted to make sure that was clear, Mr. Chair, because I think it's important.
And I think also the residents in the Hamilton who remain should try to figure out
very swiftly to the extent we can help you, we will, but to the extent that we are unable
to help you, then we'll say so, not necessarily being reticent in doing so, but at least
making clear what we can and can't do to assist you in your issues. Right? Okay?
Right? Good.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much, Commissioner. Final call for public
comment. Anyone here to speak on the remainder of the agenda? Seeing none, I'll
close public comment.
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
MV - MAYORAL VETO(ES)
MV.1 RESOLUTION
8358
Commissioners
and Mayor
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING, SETTING FORTH, AND SUBMITTING
TO THE ELECTORATE A PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE
CHARTER OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED
("CHARTER"), BY AMENDING SECTION 26, TITLED "SUSPENSION
AND REMOVAL OF CHIEF OF POLICE AND FIRE CHIEF", TO SET
FORTH A PROCEDURE, COMMENCING IN NOVEMBER 2021, FOR
SELECTING AND APPOINTING THE POSITIONS OF POLICE CHIEF
AND FIRE -RESCUE CHIEF; CALLING FOR AND PROVIDING THAT
THE PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT BE SUBMITTED TO THE
ELECTORATE AT THE REFERENDUM SPECIAL ELECTION TO BE
HELD CONCURRENTLY WITH THE CITY OF MIAMI'S GENERAL
MUNICIPAL ELECTION SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER 2, 2021;
DESIGNATING AND APPOINTING THE CITY CLERK AS THE
OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CITY COMMISSION WITH
RESPECT TO THE USE OF VOTER REGISTRATION BOOKS AND
RECORDS; FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO CAUSE A
CERTIFIED COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO BE DELIVERED TO
THE SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY NOT
LESS THAN FORTY-FIVE (45) DAYS PRIOR TO THE DATE OF SUCH
ELECTION; PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE.
rRESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN ON THE VETOED ITEM
Note for the Record: No action was taken by the City Commission on the vetoed
legislation (Resolution R-21-0327), therefore the Mayor's veto is deemed sustained.
Vice Chair Russell: All right, everyone. Thank you for your patience. Here's my hope of
how we can keep today as efficient and organized as possible. With a regular agenda, a
planning and zoning agenda, three CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) meetings
and a budget hearing that starts at 5:00, my recommendation, gentlemen, is going to be
to order in lunch. If we take a three-hour break at noon and come back at 3..00, we may
not get to the budget hearing until 6:00 or 7:00. So if your staffs are open to that, my
goal would be to power through public comment first.
Commissioner Reyes: Are you buying?
Vice Chair Russell: If you're eating what I'm buying, then yes.
Commissioner Reyes: Oh, you said order. Well, I just want to know what can I order?
Vice Chair Russell: Put it in with my team. Sushi for everyone.
Commissioner Reyes: No, I don't eat sushi.
(COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD)
Vice Chair Russell: So that's the objective. Of course, it's the will of this Commission
how -- what we have the capacity to take on. But 1 will go ahead and start with public
comment. And here's how we're going to do this. Please, a reminder if you're here to
speak on the budget -- yes, Mr. Clerk?
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): A friendly reminder regarding the mayoral veto.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes. I was going to wait and see if we can get the full dais here
before the veto is held. Commissioner Carollo is dealing with a family medical issue
that says he'll be here relatively soon.
Commissioner Reyes: I don't mind taking it right now.
Vice Chair Russell: That's absolutely fine. Mr. Clerk, if you'd read the statement for the
veto, please.
Mr. Hannon: Thank you, Chair. Mayor Suarez has vetoed Resolution R-21-0327 that
was passed at the July 22nd, 2021 City Commission meeting. Resolution R-21-0327 is a
resolution of the Miami City Commission with attachments approving, setting forth, and
submitting to the electorate a proposed amendment to the Charter of the City of Miami
Florida, as amended, by amending Section 26 titled Suspension and Removal of Chief of
Police and Fire Chief to set forth the procedure commencing in November 2021 for
selecting and appointing the positions of Chief of Police and Fire Rescue Chief calling
for and providing that the proposed Charter amendment be submitted to the Electorate
at the referendum special election to be held concurrently with the City of Miami's
general municipal election scheduled for November 2nd, 2021, designating and
appointing the City Clerk as the official representative of the City Commission with
respect to the use of voter registration books and records, further directing the City
Clerk to cause a certified copy of this resolution to be delivered to the supervisor of
elections of Miami -Dade County not less than 45 days prior to the date of such election,
providing an immediate effective date. Thank you, Chair.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Is there a motion regarding the mayoral
veto?
Commissioner Reyes: Let me make clear that if we override this bill right now, the veto,
there is -- I mean, we are -- we don't -- there's no time to place it on the ballot. Very
smart of you, Mr. Mayor. Very tricky. Everybody was out, okay. I stand by my proposal
that we should have -- we should have a process to select the City Chief of Police and
the City Chief -- Fire Chief. And we should take out any political interference. We
should do it professionally. And my proposal was to -- to select those two positions
based on a process that will be as follows. A committee will be formed with residents
and professionals and the field, ex police officers, fire chiefs, ex -attorneys, State
attorneys, people that they are knowledgeable of the public safety, you see. In my
opinion, public safety is the most important service that we provide our city. Therefore,
what I wanted to do -- want to do, and I promise you I'm not going to stop here, I'm
going to keep on doing it until we pass this, until we get and we establish a process, you
see. And that process, that selection committee will vet and interview every single one of
those -- of the people that applied to the position. And it will recommend three
candidates, the top three candidates, regardless where they come from. Three
candidates. And the City Manager should pick from those three candidates. The City
Manager should not pick the one that the Mayor tell them to pick, you see. And let's be
clear about this. And I always, you know that I don't hold my punches. I never hold my
punches. I call it like I see it. Historically, the police chief as well as the fire chief has
been picked by the mayor. Not only this mayor, all the previous mayors. Because that's
the way the system was established.
Commissioner- Carollo: Excuse me, excuse me. When I was mayor --
Commissioner Reyes: No, you didn't.
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
Commissioner Carollo: -- I never picked the police chief 1 don't know about any other
mayors, hut 1 never picked the police chief.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay. Every mayor butCarollo, okay? Every mayor but Mayor
Carollo.
Commissioner Carollo: Is that including Mr. Regalado?
Commissioner Reyes: Including Mr. Regalado. Including Mr. Regalado. And what I
want to do, and it's nothing wrong with that, but that's a system that -- that --1 mean,
allows favoritism, people that you want, people that you like, people that you have. It's
not based on expertise or qualifications, you see. It could be. It could be, but if we leave
it like that, it's going to come a time that we're going to have a fire, I mean, somebody
picked that doesn't know what they're doing, and it's going to hurt the population and
the residents. And that's why I presented that, and that's why I wanted the people of
Miami to vote in favor. The Mayor has his problems, and we spoke. We have spoken,
and he has committed himself to work with the Commission, not with me only, with the
Commission in order to establish a process that it is totally detached from politics. And
I promise you guys and I promise this city that if we don't agree, next election it will be
on the ballot. I will present it again and the Mayor can override it and I hope that at
that time I will have the support of the Commission to override that veto if it happens
again.
Vice Chair Russell.: Thank you, Commissioner. Is there a motion?
(COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD)
Vice Chair Russell: The mayoral veto is the issue on the table.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay, so we're voting on the veto.
Commissioner Reyes: We're voting --
Vice Chair Russell: There is no motion at this point.
Commissioner Reyes: There is no motion.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay, no.
Commissioner Reyes: I mean, let's -- then let's override it. But we don't have an order.
But -- but the motion is let the veto stand, let's work on it. Okay? Let's work on it. All of
us. I want all of us to be part of it.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. To allow the veto to stand, no motion is necessary.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay, that's right.
Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chair.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Carollo, you're recognized.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you. I'm glad that we're making that decision today
because, frankly, as well-intentioned as this charter change was, it is far from what I
originally started talking about, and we need both the legislative branch and the
executive branch of government to be involved. I think that we're basically all in
agreement that we are going to have to implement a process for the future, at least put it
before the people of Miami so they can decide. Very clear and transparent, professional
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City Commission
Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
process, and at the same time it's got to be a process that no police chief no fire chief
feel that they are so insulated that they're in their own island and that their actions will
not have consequences by this body also. So I think it's good that we're leaving this
aside. We have elections next year. I think the first will be in August, where any
referendum that we put up, any charter change, will not cost us any additional dollars
by holding an election on its own. So we will have plenty of time between now and then
to come up with a constructive process to present to the voters.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Commissioner. Mr. Mayor, you're recognized.
Commissioner Reyes: Fair enough.
Mayor Suarez: I just want to briefly agree with what both Commissioners have said. I've
had an opportunity to speak with many of you on this, and I think that a collaborative
process to come up with something that we all feel comfortable with where everyone is
involved in making sure that it is a professional process. And I just want to touch on one
thing that the commissioner said. I think that there has to be accountability after the
fact, right? So it's not just about selecting a chief. It's also about having accountability
mechanisms after the fact. And I think that's important as well and I think that should
also be taken into account with whatever we put together. Thank you.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, Mr. Mayor, and I think that's like what Forrest Gump says --
said, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE). There's nothing that we have to say. Okay? That's
all we have to talk.
END OF MAYORAL VETO(ES)
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City Commission
Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
CA.1
9538
Office of the City
Attorney
CA - CONSENT AGENDA
The following item(s) was Adopted on the Consent Agenda
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Jeffrey Watson, Commissioner
SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION
AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO PAY RACHEL
JOHNSON, WITHOUT ADMISSION OF LIABILITY, THE TOTAL
SUM OF $40,000.00 IN FULL AND COMPLETE SETTLEMENT OF
ANY AND ALL CLAIMS AND DEMANDS, INCLUDING ALL CLAIMS
FOR ATTORNEYS' FEES, AGAINST THE CITY OF MIAMI AND ITS
OFFICERS, AGENTS, AND EMPLOYEES (COLLECTIVELY,
"CITY") IN THE CASE STYLED RACHEL JOHNSON VS. CITY OF
MIAMI, PENDING IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE ELEVENTH
JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY,
FLORIDA, CASE NO. 18-006087 CA 01, UPON THE EXECUTION
OF A GENERAL RELEASE OF ALL CLAIMS AND DEMANDS
BROUGHT FOR NEGLIGENCE PENDING IN STATE COURT AND
A DISMISSAL OF THE CITY WITH PREJUDICE; ALLOCATING
FUNDS FROM ACCOUNT NO. 50001.301001.545010.0000.00000.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0331
This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number CA.1, please see "End
of Consent Agenda."
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City Commission
Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
CA.2 RESOLUTION
9393
Department of
Innovation and
Technology
CA.3
9350
Department of
Police
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION ACCEPTING
THE TERMS IN THE AGREEMENT RELATED TO THE CONSENT
TO TRANSFER THE DOT MIAMI GEOGRAPHIC TOP-LEVEL
DOMAIN REGISTRY FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF INNOVATION
AND TECHNOLOGY BETWEEN MINDS AND MACHINES, LLC
AND REGISTRY SERVICES, LLC; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE
CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE ANY AND ALL
DOCUMENTS NECESSARY, INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS,
RENEWALS, AND EXTENSIONS, SUBJECT TO ALL
ALLOCATIONS, APPROPRIATIONS, PRIOR BUDGETARY
APPROVALS, COMPLIANCE WITH ALL APPLICABLE
PROVISIONS OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA,
AS AMENDED, IN FORMS ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY
ATTORNEY, AND IN COMPLIANCE WITH ALL APPLICABLE
LAWS, RULES, AND REGULATIONS, AS MAY DEEMED
NECESSARY FOR SAID PURPOSE.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0332
This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number CA.2, please see "End
of Consent Agenda."
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO
EXECUTE AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY
THE ATTACHED FORM, BETWEEN THE CITY OF MIAMI AND
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, FOR A PERIOD OF ONE (1)
YEAR WITH AUTOMATIC RENEWALS FOR TWO (2)
SUCCESSIVE ONE (1) YEAR PERIODS FOR THE PURPOSE OF
PARTICIPATING IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF FOR -HIRE
TRANSPORTATION REGULATIONS OF CHAPTERS 4 AND 31 OF
THE CODE OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0333
This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number CA.3, please see "End
of Consent Agenda."
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City Commission
Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
CA.4
9403
Department of
Police
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION ACCEPTING
THE BID RECEIVED ON JUNE 11, 2021 PURSUANT TO
INVITATION FOR BIDS NO. 1345388 FROM THE SOLE
RESPONSIVE AND RESPONSIBLE BIDDER, BISCAYNE ANIMAL
MEDICAL CENTER, INC., A FLORIDA PROFIT CORPORATION,
FOR THE PROVISION OF VETERINARY SERVICES FOR CITY OF
MIAMI ("CITY") POLICE DOGS AND HORSES, ON AN AS NEEDED
BASIS, FOR THE CITY'S POLICE DEPARTMENT ("POLICE") FOR
AN INITIAL TERM OF FOUR (4) YEARS WITH TWO (2) ONE (1)
YEAR OPTIONS TO RENEW; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM
POLICE GENERAL ACCOUNT NO.
00001.190101.531020.0000.00000 AND SUCH OTHER SOURCES
OF FUNDS, SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND
BUDGETARY APPROVAL AT THE TIME OF NEED; AUTHORIZING
THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE ANY AND
ALL DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS,
RENEWALS, AND EXTENSIONS, SUBJECT TO ALL
ALLOCATIONS, APPROPRIATIONS, PRIOR BUDGETARY
APPROVALS, COMPLIANCE WITH ALL APPLICABLE
PROVISIONS OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA,
AS AMENDED ("CITY CODE"), INCLUDING THE CITY'S
PROCUREMENT ORDINANCE, ANTI -DEFICIENCY ACT, AND
FINANCIAL INTEGRITY PRINCIPLES, ALL AS SET FORTH IN
CHAPTER 18 OF THE CITY CODE, IN FORMS ACCEPTABLE TO
THE CITY ATTORNEY, AND IN COMPLIANCE WITH ALL
APPLICABLE LAWS, RULES, AND REGULATIONS, AS MAY BE
DEEMED NECESSARY FOR SAID PURPOSE.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0334
This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number CA.4, please see "End
of Consent Agenda."
CA.5 RESOLUTION
9446
Department of
Resilience and
Public Works
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), ACCEPTING NINE (9) RIGHT-OF-WAY DEEDS
OF DEDICATION, AS MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN
EXHIBIT "A", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED (COLLECTIVELY,
"DEEDS"), FOR RIGHT-OF-WAY PURPOSES; APPROVING AND
AUTHORIZING THE RECORDATION OF THE DEEDS IN THE
PUBLIC RECORDS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA;
FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO RETAIN COPIES OF
THE DEEDS.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0335
This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number CA.5, please see "End
of Consent Agenda."
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
CA.6 RESOLUTION
9346
Department of
Resilience and
Public Works
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO
EXECUTE THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY
THE ATTACHED FORM, WITH MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
("COUNTY"), A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE OF
FLORIDA, REPLACING THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT THAT
WAS EXECUTED PURSUANT TO RESOLUTION NO. 07-0272,
ADOPTED MAY10, 2007, TO CONTINUE TO ALLOW THE CITY OF
MIAMI ("CITY") TO RECEIVE ITS PORTION OF MUNICIPAL
SHARE FUNDS FROM THE CHARTER COUNTY TRANSIT
SYSTEM SURTAX FOR TRANSPORTATION AND TRANSIT
PROJECTS AND TO ALLOW THE USE OF THE SURTAX FOR ON -
DEMAND TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, PRE -ARRANGED
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN ADVANCE, FOR LOW-INCOME
SENIORS WHO ARE AGED SIXTY-FIVE (65) YEARS OR OLDER
AND INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0336
This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number CA.6, please see "End
of Consent Agenda."
CA.7 RESOLUTION
9550
Department of
Parks and
Recreation
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND
EXECUTE A COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT, IN A FORM
ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, BETWEEN THE CITY
OF MIAMI ("CITY"), AND THE SCHOOL BOARD OF MIAMI-DADE
COUNTY, FLORIDA FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONTINUING THE
NATIONALLY ACCLAIMED PROJECT SEARCH PROGRAM AT
THE CITY, WHICH PROVIDES MARKETABLE JOB TRAINING AND
SOCIAL SKILLS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES BETWEEN
AGES EIGHTEEN (18) AND TWENTY-TWO (22) TO ACHIEVE THE
GOAL OF SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYMENT; FURTHER
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND
EXECUTE ALL NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, AMENDMENTS,
EXTENSIONS, RENEWALS, DELEGATIONS OF AUTHORITY, AND
MODIFICATIONS TO THE AGREEMENT, ALL IN A FORM
ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR SAID PURPOSE,
FOR THE PERIOD COMMENCING JULY 1, 2021 THROUGH JUNE
30, 2024, WITH THE OPTION TO RENEW FOR TWO (2)
ADDITIONAL THREE (3) YEAR TERMS THEREAFTER WITHOUT
THE NEED TO OBTAIN FURTHER CITY COMMISSION
APPROVAL.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0337
This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number CA.7, please see "End
of Consent Agenda."
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CA.8 RESOLUTION
9539
Commissioners
and Mayor
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENTS, DIRECTING AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY
MANAGER AND THE CITY ATTORNEY TO TAKE ANY AND ALL
ACTIONS AGAINST T.Y. LIN INTERNATIONAL, A FOREIGN
PROFIT CORPORATION REGISTERED TO CONDUCT BUSINESS
IN FLORIDA ("T.Y. LIN"), INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
ISSUANCE OF A NOTICE OF DEFAULT, TERMINATION,
LITIGATION, AND ANY OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS
UNDER THE CITY OF MIAMI'S PROCUREMENT ORDINANCE
AVAILABLE AGAINST PROFESSIONAL
ARCHITECTURAL/ENGINEERING FIRMS WHICH ARE IN
DEROGATION OF THEIR CONTRACT DOCUMENTS AND
APPLICABLE LAWS, AS MAY BE DEEMED NECESSARY,
REGARDING THE CITY OF MIAMI OFFICE OF CAPITAL
IMPROVEMENTS' REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS CONTRACT
NO. 12-13-004 FOR THE PROVISION OF MISCELLANEOUS CIVIL
ENGINEERING SERVICES ("SERVICES") FOR GOLDEN PINES
PROJECT NOS. B-50412, B-50413, B-50414, B-50420, AND B-
50421 (COLLECTIVELY, "PROJECT") DUE TO T.Y. LIN'S
REPEATED FAILURE TO TIMELY COMPLETE AND SUBMIT THE
SERVICES FOR SAID PROJECT.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0338
This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number CA.8, please see "End
of Consent Agenda."
CA.9 RESOLUTION
9517
Commissioners
and Mayor
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION CO -
DESIGNATING SOUTHWEST 16TH STREET FROM SOUTHWEST
22ND AVENUE TO SOUTHWEST 27TH AVENUE, MIAMI,
FLORIDA AS "JOHNNY VENTURA WAY" PURSUANT TO
SECTION 54-137 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI,
FLORIDA, AS AMENDED; FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY
CLERK TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE
HEREIN DESIGNATED OFFICIALS.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0339
This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number CA.9, please see
"Order of the Day" and "End of Consent Agenda."
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CA.10 RESOLUTION
9518
Commissioners
and Mayor
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION CO -
DESIGNATING NORTHWEST 47TH AVENUE FROM WEST
FLAGLER STREET TO NORTHWEST 3RD STREET, MIAMI,
FLORIDA AS "AGAPITO 'EL GUAPO' RIVERA WAY" PURSUANT
TO SECTION 54-137 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI,
FLORIDA, AS AMENDED; FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY
CLERK TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE
HEREIN DESIGNATED OFFICIALS.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0340
This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number CA.10, please see
"Order of the Day" and "End of Consent Agenda."
CA.11 RESOLUTION
9551
Commissioners
and Mayor
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND
EXECUTE, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY
AND BOND COUNSEL, AN AMENDMENT TO THE EXISTING
LEASE AGREEMENT ("AGREEMENT") FOR THE CITY -OWNED
PROPERTY LOCATED AT 450 NORTHWEST 14TH STREET,
MIAMI, FLORIDA, MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS GIBSON PARK
("PROPERTY"), BETWEEN THE CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY") AND THE
OVERTOWN YOUTH CENTER, INC. ("OVERTOWN YOUTH
CENTER"), A FLORIDA NOT -FOR -PROFIT CORPORATION, IN
ORDER TO EXPAND THE PERMITTED USES PURSUANT TO
THE AGREEMENT TO ALLOW THE OVERTOWN YOUTH CENTER
THE ABILITY TO USE THE PROPERTY FOR CHARTER OR
PRIVATE SCHOOL PURPOSES, SUBJECT TO COMPLIANCE
WITH ALL APPLICABLE LAWS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED
TO COMPLIANCE WITH ANY APPLICABLE FEDERAL INCOME
TAX RULES AND REGULATIONS REGARDING THE PRIVATE
USE OF FACILITIES FINANCED WITH TAX-EXEMPT BONDS;
FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE
AND EXECUTE ANY AND ALL OTHER NECESSARY
DOCUMENTS, ALL IN FORMS ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY
ATTORNEY AND BOND COUNSEL, TO EFFECTUATE THE SAME.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0341
This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number CA.11, please see "End
of Consent Agenda."
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CA.12
10608
Office of the City
Attorney
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), EXPRESSING SUPPORT OF A UNIFIED PLAN
FOR THE ALLOCATION AND USE OF OPIOID SETTLEMENT
PROCEEDS, AS GENERALLY DESCRIBED IN THE FLORIDA
PLAN, ATTACHED HERETO AS EXHIBIT "A"; EXPRESSLY
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE FLORIDA
PLAN, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE FORM ATTACHED AS EXHIBIT
"A"; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE
THE ANY FORMAL AGREEMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO
THE CITY ATTORNEY, IMPLEMENTING A UNIFIED PLAN FOR
THE ALLOCATION AND USE OF OPIOID SETTLEMENT
PROCEEDS THAT IS NOT SUBSTANTIALLY INCONSISTENT
WITH THE FLORIDA PLAN AND THIS RESOLUTION; MAKING
FINDINGS; DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMIT A COPY
OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE OFFICES NAMED HEREIN.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0342
This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Note, for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number CA.I2, please see "End
of Consent Agenda."
END OF CONSENT AGENDA
Vice Chair Russell: Here's my goal, gentlemen, while we have a quorum. Get through
as much of the regular agenda as we can right now. Then we're going to breakfor
about 15 minutes. And I have food for everyone on the dais in my office. And then
we'll take up the CRA meeting agenda where if we want to eat through, you're very
welcome on the dais. It's just finger foods and things like that. And that way we can
definitely get through this day and be done well before budget hearing.
Commissioner Reyes: But you're talking about food, but you have not described the
menu.
Vice Chair Russell: Oh, it's got everything. You're going to love it.
Commissioner Reyes: I mean, you see, I'm a little finicky.
Vice Chair Russell: As the f rst Japanese -American elected official of the City, I'm
going to be very offended if you do not enjoy everything in my office.
Commissioner Reyes: I enjoy everything but sushi.
Vice Chair Russell: I thought of you. I thought of you. So we have edamame, gyoza,
we have other things. Not just raw fish.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: But I'm going to work on converting you on the sushi though. I'm
going to work on that.
Commissioner Reyes: Alright. So, thank you. So the CA (Consent Agenda) agenda. Is
there a motion on the CA agenda?
Commissioner Watson: So moved.
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(COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD)
Vice Chair Russell: Moved by Commissioner Watson, seconded by Commissioner
Reyes. CA.12 is one thing I'd like to make a comment about. This is an authorizing
agreement for settlement of future proceeds from the opioid settlement with the -- with
the drug companies, but this money does not have allocation of where it will go once
it's received. I believe we should give direction to the management on what they
should start thinking about. The two things that come to mind for me is an expansion
of the Lazarus Project, because it's about drug addiction in the streets, and as well as
assistance to Judge Leifman's program.
Commissioner Reyes: 1 second that. If you make a motion,1 will second, because 1
think that Judge Leifman, if you take the tour, if you go and -- and learn what he is
proposing and what he's going to do, I didn't believe that because I didn't see it. But
once I took the tour and I talked to him, I'm a firm supporter of --
Vice Chair Russell: It's going to be an amazing facility.
Commissioner Reyes: It's going to be amazing.
Commissioner Watson: So, at least though, I'd like to find out, because that's a county
facility, or did they give it to him? Is that a county facility?
Commissioner Reyes: No, it's a state facility.
Commissioner Watson: It's a state facility?
Vice Chair Russell: State facility leased to the county to operate.
Commissioner Reyes: Leased to the county for $1.
Commissioner Watson: Why have they not provided the funds to fix it so it can be in
use? Do we know that?
Commissioner Reyes: So he has the money for fixing it, but now what he's looking at
for is a contribution for operation.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Commissioner Watson: So yeah, let's let the record reflect, like that's not ours, right?
That's theirs.
Vice Chair Russell: We're going above and beyond.
Commissioner Watson: We're doing something -- yeah, but you know, but nobody will
remember that next year. So that's, nobody will remember that next year. I know Steve
very well, and so, and it's been languishing for some time. So yes, that's something
that we should do. I just want to know whose facility it was because we will not get
credit for it if somebody --
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you.
[Later...]
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
Vice Chair Russell: Now the tabled motion for CA.1 through 12 has already been
moved and seconded. Are there any comments on the remainder of the CA (Consent
Agenda) agenda?
Commissioner Reyes: I think that I had some representatives for the Dominican
community that we are naming a street. You see, designating CA.9 --
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Commissioner Reyes: -- and CA.10. That -- that by the way, Commissioner Carollo is
co -sponsoring both of them.
Commissioner Carollo: Yes.
Commissioner Reyes: Both of them.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I would also like to co-sponsor those.
Commissioner Watson: Commissioner Watson too.
Vice Chair Russell: Sounds like we have a universal thing.
Commissioner Reyes: Universal, okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Reyes, is (FOREIGN LANGUAGE) referring to
you? because I don't think you're allowed to name anything. Oh, that's somebody else.
I apologize.
Commissioner Reyes: Well, I mean it all depends --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: It means two things, right?
Commissioner Reyes: That's right.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: It means courageous and good looking. So you got
to vote. We're good to go.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, I think the Cuban slang for it is not the good looking
one.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No, that's not. That's why it's Dominican.
Commissioner Reyes: IN take the second.
Vice Chair Russell: All right. Thank you. CA.1 through 12, any further discussion? All
in favor say, "aye."
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): Chairman? Chairman?
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
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Ms. Mendez: Yes, really quick on the CA.11, 1 just wanted to remind everyone that
whether it's through a rezoning or through exemption, pursuant to state law, we'll
figure out about the uses after you allow this, so thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. All in favor say, "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Motion passes on the CA agenda. Thank you.
[Later...]
Commissioner Reyes: Before we break, 1 would like to -- Madam City Attorney?
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): Yes, Commissioner.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, and on CA.8, you see, direct action against TYLin
International. You see, these people, I mean, this company has kept us from going
forward in a project that will definitely benefit the residents because it is a total
reconstruction of the streets and because they have taken forever with the plans and
every time that we have -- well, Zerry can talk, I mean, can vouch for it. You see, it
has been like they don't want to do it, or they don't pay any attention to it. And enough
is enough. Could you please take action as soon as you can? Because there are some
funds that were provided by other governmental agencies, and 1 don't want to lose
those funds and I want to be able to improve the quality of life of those neighbors in
those streets. And it's not fair that this company is holding us hostage.
Ms. Mendez: We already assigned a litigator to the matter last week, so we'll swiftly
proceed to court.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay, please.
Ms. Mendez: Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: All right, so we're going to come back at 1: 45 for the CRA
(Community Redevelopment Agency) meetings, and then we'll go right back into the
regular agenda as soon as we're done. And please enjoy our brief lunch, one hour.
Thank you very much.
Commissioner Carollo: I'm going to try the Japanese first and if it's not up to --
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PH - PUBLIC HEARINGS
PH.1 RESOLUTION
9442
Department of
Housing and
Community
Development
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION
AUTHORIZING THE ACCEPTANCE OF STATE HOUSING
INITIATIVES PARTNERSHIP ("SHIP") FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF
$2,088,221.00 FOR FISCAL YEAR 2021-2022 FOR THE
STRATEGIES UNDER THE CURRENT SHIP LOCAL HOUSING
ASSISTANCE PLAN; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY
MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE ANY AND ALL
NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING AMENDMENTS,
EXTENSIONS, AND MODIFICATIONS, ALL IN FORMS
ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, SUBJECT TO ALL
FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LAWS THAT REGULATE THE USE
OF SUCH FUNDS FOR SAID PURPOSE.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0343
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: For additional minutes referencing Item Number PH.1, please
see "Public Comments for all Item(s)."
Vice Chair Russell: The remainder of the PH (Public Hearing) agenda, please. The
only one deferred is PH.3, so this would be PH 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7. Is there a motion?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Moved.
Vice Chair Russell: Moved by Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla.
Commissioner Reyes: PH and PH 4, I think that we have included some protection, an
amendment to protect the City of Miami, making clear that we are not liable for
anything that these people do. And do you have those amendments, Madam City
A ttorney?
Vice Chair Russell: In the meantime, the Chair will second the motion by
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla and Commissioner Reyes is requesting an
amendment on PH.4.
Commissioner Reyes: PH 4. Which is just clarifying that -- I mean, letting people
know that we are not liable for anything that is done, or responsible.
Commissioner Carollo: If we could, as a friendly addition, also add that we have
done -- that the Administration has done its due diligence on these people?
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): So based on Commissioner Reyes's request, he
wanted to make sure that the final negotiated settlement has indemnity language,
prohibitions on the use of the City seal and similar logos, clarification on the
expansion of the ability for the City to terminate the agreement, clarification on the
prohibition of City assets being invested, and a prohibition on any endorsement by the
City. And then Commissioner Carollo had wanted to make sure that certain
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
background checks had been done to make sure who we were negotiating with, and I
believe the Manager can talk about that.
Commissioner Carollo: Just a quick line that will refer to that in the resolution, that
the Administration made its due diligence on the principles and is satisfied with the
results.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Any further comments?
Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Can I -- can 1 add an additional element to this, too,
if niay?
Vice Chair Russell: What's that?
Mr. Noriega: No, that in addition to the due diligence we've done already, we're also
going to place the proceeds in a reserve account for about six months, not spend the
money in order to be able to just reassure ourselves that there are no additional
issues. With regards to the proceeds, that's just as an additional precaution.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay. So we should include that in the resolution too.
Mr. Noriega: Yeah.
Commissioner Reyes: Yeah.
Commissioner Carollo: So it's part of it, what we approve.
Commissioner Reyes: I agree.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it. All in favor of the item say, "aye. "
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: All opposed? Motion passes on the PH agenda --
Ms. Mendez: As amended.
Vice Chair Russell: -- as amended.
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PH.2 RESOLUTION
9471
Department of
Resilience and
Public Works
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), ACCEPTING THE PLAT TITLED "SPRING
GARDEN APARTMENTS", A REPLAT IN THE CITY OF MIAMI OF
THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED IN ATTACHMENT "1", SUBJECT TO
SATISFACTION OF ALL CONDITIONS REQUIRED BY THE PLAT
AND STREET COMMITTEE AS SET FORTH IN EXHIBIT "A",
ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, AND THE PROVISIONS
CONTAINED IN SECTION 55-8 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED; ACCEPTING THE DEDICATIONS
SHOWN ON THE PLAT; AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE
CITY MANAGER AND CITY CLERK TO EXECUTE THE PLAT AND
CAUSE THE RECORDATION OF THE PLAT IN THE PUBLIC
RECORDS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0344
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number PH.2, please see Item
Number PH.1.
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PH.3 RESOLUTION
10584
Department of Real
Estate and Asset
Management
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), PURSUANT TO SECTION 29-B(C) OF THE
CHARTER OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED,
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND
EXECUTE A GRANT OF EASEMENT ("EASEMENT"), IN A FORM
ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, TO THE FLORIDA
POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, A FLORIDA PROFIT CORPORATION,
FOR A PERPETUAL, NON-EXCLUSIVE EASEMENT OF
APPROXIMATELY FIVE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED
NINETEEN (5,719) SQUARE FEET OF CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY")
OWNED PROPERTY LOCATED AT 3385 PAN AMERICAN DRIVE
(FOLIO NO. 01-4122-002-0040) AND 2640 SOUTH BAYSHORE
DRIVE (FOLIO NO. 01-4122-002-0011) MIAMI, FLORIDA
(COLLECTIVELY, "PROPERTY"), AS MORE PARTICULARLY
DESCRIBED IN EXHIBIT "A", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED
("EASEMENT AREA"), FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSTRUCTION,
OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE OF UNDERGROUND
ELECTRIC UTILITY FACILITIES, INCLUDING CABLES, CONDUITS,
APPURTENANT EQUIPMENT, AND APPURTENANT ABOVE
GROUND EQUIPMENT, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS AND
CONDITIONS OF THE EASEMENT, WITH THE RIGHT TO
RECONSTRUCT, IMPROVE, AND REMOVE ALL OR ANY OF THE
FACILITIES WITHIN SAID EASEMENT AREA LOCATED AT THE
PROPERTY.
MOTION TO: Defer
RESULT: DEFERRED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de la Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: Item PH.3 was deferred to the September 23, 2021, City
Commission Meeting.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay. I also would like to defer to the next meeting to give the
City Attorney the time to look at the legal parameters that I was just made aware.
Vice Chair Russell: Which item?
Commissioner Carollo: PH.3. This is the FPL (Florida Power & Light) easement next
to Pan American Drive. It's a substantial amount of property that we're giving an
easement. That was my original question when I was briefed, but the Manager
explained that it comes all the way from 27th Avenue straight up. That's why it's a lot
of land, even though it's not that wide. But I, you know, it's been brought up to my
attention that the tenant next door has claimed that in their contract they have certain
rights and that part of this easement, unlike what I was led to believe is not just in the
other property that we have leased, part of it goes into their property. So these are
two projects that the city needs. One is already built and has been very successful and
I certainly don't want to do anything that can contribute to us receiving, or the
potential to receive, less dollars into the future or to harm that project in any way.
The second one is one that's also very important to the city and has not been built,
and we need it to be built. So what I'm trying to do here is, since this is something that
frankly surprised me, is have the time for the City Law Department to go through it,
see if in fact what I have been led to believe is true, and if. so, then we sit with the City
Manager and figure out how to get the easement that's going to be needed.
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Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner, could we table the deferral until the item? It may
end up getting very well deferred if there is unclarity, but my understanding from the
City Attorney's Office, they have studied this. Both sides of the issue are here and
probably ready to make their case and hash it out. So if Mr. Lima's side is correct and
prevails, we would absolutely defer it. If the other side, we really don't want to delay -
Commissioner Carollo: I really don 't think this is an issue for one side to be making
presentation over another. This is a legal issue that only our City Law Department
should make that determination. Both of these sides, you know, have conflicts of
interest. They all have their own issues to deal with. So, I don't want to, and especially
a day like today, that we have so much on the agenda. I don't want to be putting an
hour of time on this. And there's no need to deal with it today. We could deal with it,
you know, quickly at the next meeting, and this should be sufficient time for the City
Law Department to look at this and give us an opinion. And if the other side is right in
what I've been led to believe, then, you know, with the Manager we have to find a
quick way to get an easement through there, because we can't have this property
that's been sitting there for at least six years or more, keep sitting there and doesn't
get built. So, that's all that I'm saying. This should be fairly quick.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Commissioner Carollo. Madam City Attorney, I
understand from Mr. Greco in your office that they've already analyzed this, that the
easement does not affect the northern tenant and that there is a judge order actually
directing that easements not be -- that easements be granted, for this to move forward.
Is that correct or am I incorrect?
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): It's not exactly like that. We have looked at the issue.
This is before there was an objection by -- by --
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Lima.
Ms. Mendez: -- Mr. Lima's group. So we have looked at it. We think this is something
that can go forward. However, I understand the Commissioner's issue. He wasn't
briefed on this exactly, so we --
Commissioner Carollo: Well, we're talking two weeks deferral, that nothing's going to
change. And we certainly have been waiting on this for six years or more to make sure
that we're standing in firm ground, wherever this easement is going to go through.
You know, this is not, you know, any kind of problem as I see it, for a deferment.
Vice Chair Russell: Understood. Well, I --
Commissioner Reyes: Mr. Chair.
Vice Chair Russell: -- certainly, and just a moment Commissioner Reyes, the -- for my
part, and this is one of the most important parts of my district, the district I serve, that
has been, the RFP (Request for Proposal) on this development was awarded before I
even came into office, and I'm about to go out of office. And there's just a bunch of
dirt being pushed around because of a lot of reasons. They're actually about to come
to fruition with the first restaurants and they'll be back in order. And I'm really
excited to see that happen. But 1 do completely respect both sides of that border,
because the tenant to the north is also a very -- he's a tenant in good standing with a
very successful operation that's serving the city. So I want to respect both sides, but I
don't want to hold things up over their, fights if we are already clear. But I understand
you're not, so there will be public comment on the vote for this, but it stands in the
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request for this motion at the time. There's no motion yet, but it stands in the request,
so thank you, Commissioner. Go ahead Commissioner Reyes.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, I also want to add to that. I mean, if we are going to defer
this, I also wanted to be briefed on it, and particularly on the economic impact of
delaying this project and the consequences that it could bring to the city of Miami.
Because I think that the longer that we take to develop this, the longer that we take on
receiving any revenues from it.
Commissioner Carollo: But guys, listen, I'm not asking for two years --
Commissioner Reyes: No sir, I'm not saying that.
Commissioner Carollo: -- to make sure the city is safe from any winnable lawsuit.
Commissioner Reyes: Mr. Carollo, I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is that 1 want
to know what the economic impact is.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla.
Commissioner Reyes: It's going to benefit us and if we don't -- and i f we pass it, or
what are the consequences of not passing it? That's the only thing that I'm saying.
Commissioner Carollo: In two weeks, Commissioner?
Commissioner Reyes: No, sir. Come on. Joe, what I'm saying is that I want a report.
I'm not saying to delay it, and I'm stating that this is going to affect anything. What
I'm saying is that this delay, two weeks, I mean for two weeks nothing is going to
happen. But 1 want to know in the long run what would happen if we keep on
postponing it or we don't take action. That's what I'm trying to say.
Commissioner Carollo: I understand that.
Commissioner Reyes: I want to know it because, you see, to start with, I was never
briefed on it, you see? And I want to know what's going on.
Commissioner Carollo: What I was briefed on was that it was a sizable amount of
land, 5,000+ square feet, which is like a regular lot in the city of Miami, which I
thought was a lot of land, but they explained to me it came all the way from 27th all
the way to the back --
Commissioner Reyes: You see, you know more than I do.
Commissioner Carollo: -- and it wasn't that wide. But that's all I was told. I wasn't
told that there was any discrepancy or claims or allegations that it was going into
another leaseholder's lease or anything else. And what I'm trying to do is, as I stated,
and I'll state it again, we need to get that easement to get this project finalized. But
where that easement should go, we have to be sure so that, you know, this project
doesn't end up getting delayed even more if the City is standing in firm ground by
court action or anything else.
Commissioner Reyes: I do understand.
Commissioner Carollo: That's all that I'm trying to do.
Ms. Mendez: Commissioner.
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Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla, you're recognized
and then the City Attorney wanted to say something as well.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I agree with both commissioners. I don't think two
weeks is the end of the world. I do need more time also to look at it and study it a little
bit more. I think those two weeks are important. And we're not really going to delay
the project. So is it appropriate now, Mr. Chair, that 1 make a motion to defer?
Vice Chair Russell: We're doing the entire Order of the Day in one vote.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, no, because I want to take this out of order.
Vice Chair Russell: You want to take it separately, that's fair.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yeah, because what I don't want to do is have
public comment and have them come back in two weeks and do it again. We're not
going to take it up today. If its the will of the body, of course. I don't know what the
vote is going to be, but if we don't want to take it up today, why go through that
process on a day that we have so many items? We have three meetings. I think it
makes more sense, unless we're going to be out of here at 3 in the morning, right?
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: It makes more sense to just defer it.
Vice Chair Russell: There's a motion to defer PH.3. Is there a second?
Commissioner Reyes: Second.
Vice Chair Russell: Second. Is there anyone here who would like to speak on public
comment regarding the timeliness only, not the substance of these issues, but the
timeliness of this deferral?
Commissioner Carollo: Excuse me, have we included RE.7 in the deferment or did we
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) ?
Vice Chair Russell: No, Commissioner is just asking for one item to be deferred at
this point.
Commissioner Carollo: But the one that I said before, RE.7.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, it is included in the batch deferral, but we're not doing that
right now.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay, okay. All right.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, I can combine it with my motion and add
RE. 7.
Vice Chair Russell: I'm sorry, your motion was for PH 3.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right. I can add RE.7 to it also and defer both
items.
Vice Chair Russell: Okay, we're trying to do one vote that batches all of them. Is there
a reason for RE.7 to be included in this?
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Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I'll wait to defer it, but let's just take a vote on this
one.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, that's what I thought.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And I would appreciate it if we don't have to go
through the whole public comment. That's the whole purpose of my point.
Vice Chair Russell: It's an action.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: My point is that we don't prolong the meeting, that
we're going to take up the item in two weeks. As long as the world won't end in two
weeks for anyone, any of these two parties or the city, why -- we're talking two weeks.
Like Commissioner Carollo said, we're not talking two years, we're talking two weeks.
But if you want to go through it twice and go through the exercise today, that's fine.
Vice Chair Russell: So, I want transparency in our government and to follow all
procedures, and as the -- as the acting chair, my goal is to have public comment on
anything we take an action on. And the action we are taking is the deferral. What if,
for example, we are told that by deferring this, someone loses financing because
they're at a critical point of construction and they can't continue. It's just a
hypothetical, but we don't know that up here on the dais, but public comment on this
action could reveal that. That's the type of thing I want to hear. I do not want to hear
about the substance of the item and where the easement is and who's right or who's
wrong, but I need to hear from anybody who's here on the -- on the deferral of the
item of why it should or should not be deferred. Beyond that, it's up to the will of this
body if they don't want to hear public comment, but as long as I've got the gavel,
that's the way I'd like to do it.
Abigail Ape: (INAUDIBLE).
Vice Chair Russell: I'm sorry, you may address the --
Ms. Ape: I got lost in the discourse. I didn't understand if FR.3 is being deferred.
Vice Chair Russell: Not at this point. We are only deferring one item in this moment.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, ifI can get the speaker's name.
Vice Chair Russell: Your name, please.
Ms. Ape: Hi, my name is Abigail Ape.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you.
Ms. Ape: I'm here to speak on FR.3.
Vice Chair Russell: We were working on a batch deferral, but the Commissioner
pulled one item, which -- so that nobody has to vote yes or no on the batch if they
disagree.
Ms. Ape: I understand.
Vice Chair Russell: So we're just looking atPH3 at this point. If there's no one here
for public comment on the item, I'll close public comment. Any further statements
from the dais? All in favor say, "aye."
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The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Motion to defer to September 23rd.
Mr. Hannon: PH.3.
Vice Chair Russell: PH.3. Thank you very much.
Mr. Hannon: Understood.
PH.4 RESOLUTION
9541
Commissioners
and Mayor
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, BY A FOUR -
FIFTHS (4/5THS) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE, AFTER AN ADVERTISED
PUBLIC HEARING, RATIFYING, CONFIRMING, AND APPROVING
THE CITY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION TO ENTER INTO A
GIFT AGREEMENT ("AGREEMENT") PURSUANT TO SECTION 18-
85 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS
AMENDED ("CITY CODE"), WAIVING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
COMPETITIVE SEALED BIDDING METHODS AS NOT BEING
PRACTICABLE OR ADVANTAGEOUS TO THE CITY OF MIAMI
("CITY") FOR PURPOSES OF ACCEPTING A GIFT OF THIRTY
PERCENT (30%) OF THE REVENUE AMOUNT GENERATED
FROM A CRYPTOCURRENCY CALLED MIAMICOIN LAUNCHED
BY CITYCOINS, INC., A DELAWARE NOT FOR PROFIT
ORGANIZATION PENDING REGISTRATION TO CONDUCT
BUSINESS IN FLORIDA ("CITYCOINS"), AND, IN PARTNERSHIP
WITH THE CITYCOINS FOUNDATION, PROVIDING ONGOING
MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CITY OVER WHICH THE
CITY SHALL HAVE UNILATERAL CONTROL ON THE USE OF SAID
FUNDS YIELDED BY MIAMICOIN; AUTHORIZING THE CITY
MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE CITY AND CITYCOINS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE
TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR SAID PURPOSE; FURTHER
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND
EXECUTE ANY AND ALL OTHER DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING ANY
AMENDMENTS, RENEWALS, AND EXTENSIONS, SUBJECT TO
ALL ALLOCATIONS, APPROPRIATIONS, PRIOR BUDGETARY
APPROVALS, COMPLIANCE WITH ALL APPLICABLE PROVISIONS
OF THE CITY CODE, INCLUDING THE CITY'S PROCUREMENT
ORDINANCE, ANTI -DEFICIENCY ACT, AND FINANCIAL
INTEGRITY PRINCIPLES, ALL AS SET FORTH IN CHAPTER 18 OF
THE CITY CODE, IN FORMS ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY
ATTORNEY, AND IN COMPLIANCE WITH ALL APPLICABLE LAWS,
RULES, AND REGULATIONS, AS MAY BE DEEMED NECESSARY
FOR SAID PURPOSE.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0345
MOTION TO: Adopt with Modification(s)
RESULT: ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATION(S)
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number PH.4, please see Item
Number PH.1.
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PH.5 RESOLUTION
10570
Office of Capital
Improvements
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENTS, AFTER A PUBLIC HEARING, AUTHORIZING AND
DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO TAKE ANY AND ALL
ACTIONS NECESSARY TO EXPEDITIOUSLY REQUEST THAT THE
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION &
PUBLIC WORKS ("DTPW") CONSIDER PROPOSED TRAFFIC
FLOW MODIFICATIONS REGARDING THE CITY OF MIAMI'S
OFFICE OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT NO. 40-
B203608, WAIVE THE REQUIRED RESIDENT/PROPERTY OWNER
CONCURRENCE, AND EXEMPT THE BALLOTING PROCESS IN
ORDER TO EXPEDITIOUSLY PROCEED WITH THE DESIGN AND
CONSTRUCTION OF A PARABOLIC SPEED HUMP ON
SOUTHWEST 23 STREET BETWEEN SOUTHWEST 27 AVENUE
AND SOUTHWEST 29 AVENUE IN DISTRICT 4; DIRECTING THE
CITY CLERK TO SEND A CERTIFIED COPY OF THE THIS
RESOLUTION TO THE DTPW DIRECTOR.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0346
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number PH.5, please see Item
Number PH.1.
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PH.6 RESOLUTION
10571
Commissioners
and Mayor
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), PURSUANT TO SECTION 18-85(A) OF THE
CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, BY A
FOUR FIFTHS (4/5THS) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE, AFTER AN
ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARING, RATIFYING, APPROVING, AND
CONFIRMING THE CITY MANAGER'S FINDINGS, ATTACHED AND
INCORPORATED AS EXHIBIT "A," THAT COMPETITIVE
NEGOTIATION METHODS AND PROCEDURES ARE NOT
PRACTICABLE OR ADVANTAGEOUS FOR THE CITY OF MIAMI
("CITY") AND WAIVING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR SAID
PROCEDURES; AUTHORIZING THE ALLOCATION OF GRANT
FUNDS FROM THE DISTRICT 5 COMMISSIONER'S SHARE OF
THE CITY'S ANTI -POVERTY INITIATIVE FUND IN A TOTAL
AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY FIVE
THOUSAND DOLLARS ($175,000.00) TO MULTI -ETHNIC YOUTH
GROUP ASSOCIATION, INC. ("MEYGA"), A FLORIDA NOT FOR
PROFIT CORPORATION, FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY
MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE ANY AND ALL
DOCUMENTS NECESSARY, ALL IN FORMS ACCEPTABLE TO
THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR SAID PURPOSE.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0347
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number PH.6, please see Item
Number PH.1.
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PH.7 RESOLUTION
10614
Department of Real
Estate and Asset
Management;
Department of
Parks; Office of
Capital
Improvements
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), PURSUANT TO SECTION 29-B(C) OF THE
CHARTER OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED,
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A LAND
EXCHANGE AGREEMENT, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE
CITY ATTORNEY, ("LAND EXCHANGE AGREEMENT") BETWEEN
THE CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY") AND THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF
THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND ("BOT") OF THE
STATE OF FLORIDA ("STATE") THROUGH THE STATE
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ("FDEP"),
FOR THE CITY TO CONVEY BACK TO BOT ONE OF THE BUTLER
ACT PARCELS, IDENTIFIED AS PARCEL PART III IN THE
DISCLAIMER ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED AS EXHIBIT "A"
AND ACCEPTED PURSUANT TO CITY RESOLUTION NO. R-21-
0322, CONTAINING APPROXIMATELY EIGHT HUNDRED AND
SIXTY-NINE (869) SQUARE FEET, IN EXCHANGE FOR THE
CONVEYANCE FROM BOT TO THE CITY OF THREE (3)
ADDITIONAL PARCELS, CONTAINING A TOTAL COMBINED SIZE
OF APPROXIMATELY THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY THREE
(343) SQUARE FEET, ALL AS LEGALLY DESCRIBED IN EXHIBIT
"B", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, WITH THE VALUATION
DETERMINED BY THE STATE -REQUIRED APPRAISALS
PROVIDED IN EXHIBIT "C", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED,
WITH TERMS AND CONDITIONS TO BE MORE PARTICULARLY
DESCRIBED IN THE LAND EXCHANGE AGREEMENT; FURTHER
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND
EXECUTE ALL NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING
AMENDMENTS AND MODIFICATIONS TO SAID LAND EXCHANGE
AGREEMENT, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY
ATTORNEY, AS MAY BE NECESSARY TO EFFECTUATE SAID
LAND EXCHANGE; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM OFFICE OF
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT NOS. 40-B-193500 AND 40-
B-193803, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED EIGHT THOUSAND
DOLLARS ($8,000.00), TO COVER THE COST OF SAID
ACQUISITION, INCLUSIVE OF THE COST OF SURVEY,
ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTS, TITLE INSURANCE, AND ALL
RELATED CLOSING COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID LAND
EXCHANGE, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS AND
CONDITIONS OF THE LAND EXCHANGE AGREEMENT.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0348
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number PH.7, please see Item
Number PH.1.
END OF PUBLIC HEARINGS
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RE - RESOLUTIONS
RE.1 RESOLUTION
9473
Liberty City
Community
Revitalization Trust
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENTS, APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE
SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET OF THE LIBERTY CITY COMMUNITY
REVITALIZATION TRUST, ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED AS
EXHIBIT "C," IN THE AMOUNT OF $969,711.00 FOR THE FISCAL
YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2020 AND ENDING
SEPTEMBER 30, 2021.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0349
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Jeffrey Watson, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Vice Chair Russell: Alright, back to the regular agenda, we had already completed
the CA (Consent Agenda) agenda as well as the PH (Public Hearing) agenda. We are
moving into the RE (Resolutions) agenda. Just as a reminder, the deferred items or
withdrawn items include 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9. And Commissioner Carollo, with your
permission, I'd like to batch the homeless items together, be all taken up at one time.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. I agree.
Vice Chair Russell: So, and -- so, is there a motion to approve the remainder of the
RE agenda?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So moved. So moved.
Vice Chair Russell: Outside of RE.I0 and 11. Moved by Commissioner Diaz de la
Portilla --
Commissioner Reyes: Second.
Vice Chair Russell: -- seconded by Commissioner Watson. Is there --
Commissioner Carollo: Well, we have RE.5 that was taken out too.
Commissioner Watson: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Was that deferred?
Commissioner Carollo: That was deferred.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): I'm sorry, Chair. RE.5, FPL (Florida Power & Light)
EVolution Agreements, that's on the agenda. RE.5.
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Vice Chair Russell: No, that's different than the FPL easement. That one was -- that
one was deferred.
Commissioner Reyes: The FPL easement --
Vice Chair Russell: This one is about car chargers.
Commissioner Watson: Car chargers.
Vice Chair Russell: FPL wants to fund car charging stations.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Those are two stations per district, right? Is that
the one?
Commissioner Reyes: Two stations for district?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: That one, okay.
Vice Chair Russell: So that one is still on the agenda.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, that is. Which is the other one here?
Vice Chair Russell: So we're taking up RE.1 --
Commissioner Carollo: RE.6 --
Vice Chair Russell: 5 and 6, and 12.
Commissioner Carollo: What are we asking Biden?
Vice Chair Russell: We're asking them to include the entire watershed of South
Florida as part of their infrastructure spend.
Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): Mr. Chairman.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, sir.
Mr. Min: I believe RE.12 has an exhibit that needs to be handed out by someone
because it's not in the record.
Commissioner Watson: RE what?
Mr. Min: 12.
Commissioner Watson: Yeah.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: RE.12 is the American Rescue Plan allocation.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes. That's different.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So that's a necessary vote before we go into our
budget hearing.
Vice Chair Russell: Correct.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Correct. So this is a big issue where everybody
gets their little baggier of goodies.
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Vice Chair Russell: So RE.12's backup was not in the printed agenda. It's being
handed out now, is that correct?
Mr. Min: I have no idea, sir. Unfortunately, it's not been shared.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I think the Mayor's Office was going to deliver it.
Commissioner Watson: Yeah.
Vice Chair Russell: Alright.
Commissioner Watson: Where is the mayor?
Vice Chair Russell: Barnaby, before you interrupted, we were talking about RE.6.
Commissioner Carollo: Is RE.9 part of this, too?
Vice Chair Russell: It is.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: No, I'm sorry, that's deferred.
(MULTIPLE PARTIES SPEAKING IN UNISON)
Commissioner Watson: RE.9 was (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 9/23.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Commissioner Watson: It was deferred.
Vice Chair Russell: So we are only taking up RE.1 --
Commissioner Reyes: 3?
Vice Chair Russell: Nope, 1, 5, 6, and 12 right now.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Correct.
Commissioner Carollo: On 6, why are we asking the President for so little money?
Vice Chair Russell: It's not for us actually. This is the $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill,
which may or may not pass anyway, but it has nothing in it for the fixing between
Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades that will restore and replenish our Biscayne
aquifer, our drinking water, which keeps the pressure off the salt water that comes
into our aquifer. And so we are asking Congress to include that in their --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But my understanding, Chairman, is that they have
about $536 million of all kinds of turkey and pet projects for all the congressmen, but
they're not including anything about Everglades restoration?
Vice Chair Russell: Correct.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Wow.
Vice Chair Russell: Correct.
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Commissioner Reyes: Remember --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: That is your president.
Commissioner Reyes: Remember, he didn't like, I mean, he doesn't like our governor
very much.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I don't think so.
Commissioner Reyes: That's why.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: It's got a whole bunch of bridges.
Commissioner Reyes: Florida is not getting (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: It's got a whole bunch of bridges to nowhere,
right?
Commissioner Reyes: That's right.
Vice Chair Russell: No, and in fact, it doesn't say it specifically here, but I'll be
advocating to vote against the bill if it doesn't include --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: -- the simple task of Everglades restoration.
Commissioner Reyes: That's right.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well 1 agree.
Vice Chair Russell: So that's RE.6.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay. This is -- I mean, you're sponsoring that?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: Are you sure you only want five billion? You don't want to put
any more in here?
Vice Chair Russell: Army Corps has a very specific line item. They said if you give us
the five billion, we will complete the project in three years instead of ten.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Alright. So we have a motion, we have a second. Is there any
further discussion on those specific items?
Commissioner Watson: Yes. Yes. Well, number 12, however I'm supposed to do that,
I'd like for that to come out and be voted on separately.
Vice Chair Russell: I'm sorry?
Commissioner Watson: RE.12.
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Vice Chair Russell: What would you like to come out?
Commissioner Watson: RE.12 to come out and be voted on.
Vice Chair Russell: Pull it separately, yes. Okay, does the mover and seconder agree?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: Sure, yeah.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes. Alright, so we're just taking up RE.1, RE.5, and RE.6 at this
point. Thank you. Any further discussion on those three items? All in favor say,
"aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: The motion passes on RE.1, 5, and 6.
RE.2 RESOLUTION
9540
Department of
Human Resources
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), RATIFYING THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
AGREEMENT, BETWEEN THE CITY OF MIAMI AND THE
EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATION KNOWN AS THE MIAMI GENERAL
EMPLOYEES AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY,
AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES LOCAL 1907, AFL-CIO, FOR THE
PERIOD OF OCTOBER 1, 2020 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2023.
MOTION TO: Defer
RESULT: DEFERRED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: Item RE.2 was deferred to the September 23, 2021, City
Commission Meeting.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number RE.2, please see
"Order of the Day."
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RE.3 RESOLUTION
9016
Commissioners
and Mayor
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENTS, ALLOCATING FUNDING, ON A
REIMBURSEMENT BASIS, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED
FIFTEEN MILLION DOLLARS ($15,000,000.00) FROM THE
PROPOSED TRANCHE 2 MIAMI FOREVER AFFORDABLE
HOUSING LIMITED AD VALOREM BONDS ("BONDS") FOR
FUNDING THROUGH THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING MIAMI
FOREVER BONDS PROJECTS STRATEGIES' CITY ACQUISITION
OF LAND STRATEGY ("ACQUISITION STRATEGY"), ATTACHED
AND INCORPORATED AS EXHIBIT "A"; FURTHER ALLOCATING
FUNDING, ON A REIMBURSEMENT BASIS, IN AN AMOUNT NOT
TO EXCEED TEN MILLION DOLLARS ($10,000,000.00) FROM THE
BONDS FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE THROUGH THE
AFFORDABLE HOUSING MIAMI FOREVER BONDS PROJECTS
STRATEGIES' AFFORDABLE NEW CONSTRUCTION RENTAL
STRATEGY ("RENTAL STRATEGY"), ATTACHED AND
INCORPORATED AS EXHIBIT "B," FOR PROJECTS THAT HAVE
APPLIED FOR AND HAVE RECEIVED LOW INCOME HOUSING
TAX CREDITS; ALL ALLOCATIONS MUST BE IN COMPLIANCE
WITH ALL APPLICABLE FEDERAL, STATE OF FLORIDA
("STATE"), LOCAL, AND CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY") LAWS, RULES,
AND REGULATIONS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE CITY'S AFFORDABLE
HOUSING MIAMI FOREVER BONDS PROJECTS STRATEGIES,
THE MIAMI FOREVER LIMITED AD VALOREM BONDS FINAL
VALIDATION ORDER OF DECEMBER 16, 2019, THE TRANCHE 2
AFFORDABLE HOUSING INTENT TO REIMBURSE RESOLUTION,
AND THE BONDS (COLLECTIVELY, "LAWS"), AND THESE
ALLOCATIONS ARE IN ADDITION TO THE AMOUNTS
PREVIOUSLY ALLOCATED FOR THE PREVIOUSLY ALLOCATED
PROJECTS; FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER AND
THE CITY OF MIAMI'S ADMINISTRATION TO DEVELOP AND
REVISE, AS NECESSARY OR APPROPRIATE, ANY AND ALL
NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, RULES, REQUIREMENTS,
GUIDELINES, AND REGULATIONS, ALL IN FORMS ACCEPTABLE
TO THE CITY ATTORNEY AND BOND COUNSEL, IN ORDER TO
IMPLEMENT THE FUNDING UNDER THE ACQUISITION
STRATEGY AND RENTAL STRATEGY (COLLECTIVELY,
"STRATEGIES"), SUBJECT TO ALL LAWS THAT REGULATE THE
USE OF SUCH FUNDS; THE FORGOING IS SUBJECT TO THE
CITY MANAGER IDENTIFYING AND PRESENTING TO THE CITY
COMMISSION THE SPECIFIC PROJECTS FOR THE STRATEGIES
THAT WILL BE RECEIVING BOND FUNDS PURSUANT HERETO;
PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
MOTION TO: Withdraw
RESULT: WITHDRAWN
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
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Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number RE.3, please see
"Order of the Day."
RE.4 RESOLUTION
9447
Commissioners
and Mayor
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE WEST
GROVE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY'S
REDEVELOPMENT PLAN ("PLAN") PREPARED BY PLUSURBIA,
LLC., ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED AS EXHIBIT "A";
ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THE PLAN IS IN CONFORMITY WITH
THE CITY OF MIAMI'S COMPREHENSIVE NEIGHBORHOOD
PLAN; ACCEPTING AND INCORPORATING THE BOUNDARIES
SET FORTH IN THE EXHIBIT "A," ATTACHED AND
INCORPORATED; FILING THE BOUNDARIES, WITH A MAP, WITH
THE CITY CLERK; FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER
TO TRANSMIT THE PLAN TO THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY FOR FURTHER
LEGISLATIVE ACTION.
MOTION TO: Defer
RESULT: DEFERRED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: Item RE.4 was deferred to the September 23, 2021, City
Commission Meeting.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number RE.4, please see
"Order of the Day."
RE.5 RESOLUTION
10600
Commissioners
and Mayor
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND
EXECUTE TWO (2) ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING EQUIPMENT
AGREEMENTS, IN FORMS ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY
ATTORNEY, WITH FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, A
FLORIDA PROFIT CORPORATION, TO INSTALL ELECTRIC
VEHICLE CHARGING AND RELATED EQUIPMENT ON CITY
PROPERTY.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0350
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Jeffrey Watson, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number RE.5, please see Item
Number RE.1.
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RE.6 RESOLUTION
10603
Commissioners
and Mayor
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION URGING
PRESIDENT JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR. AND THE 117TH CONGRESS
OF THE UNITED STATES (COLLECTIVELY, "FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT") TO ALLOCATE FIVE BILLION DOLLARS
($5,000,000,000.00) OF FUNDING FOR EVERGLADES
RESTORATION WITHIN THE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT
AND JOBS ACT ("INFRASTRUCTURE BILL"); FURTHER URGING
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO APPROVE THE
INFRASTRUCTURE BILL WITH THE FUNDING ALLOCATION FOR
EVERGLADES RESTORATION; DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO
TRANSMIT A COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE OFFICIALS
NAMED HEREIN.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0351
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Jeffrey Watson, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number RE.6, please see Item
Number RE.1.
RE.7 RESOLUTION
9253
Commissioners
and Mayor
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION RESCINDING
RESOLUTION NO. 20-0295 ADOPTED SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 AND
RESOLUTION NO. 21-0238 ADOPTED JUNE 10, 2021
CONCERNING NEGOTIATIONS WITH SAINT JAMES
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION OF MIAMI, INC.,
AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTY FOR THE CITY OF MIAMI-OWNED
PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1785 NORTHWEST 35TH STREET,
MIAMI, FLORIDA.
MOTION TO: Defer
RESULT: DEFERRED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: Item RE. 7 was deferred to the September 23, 2021, City
Commission Meeting.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number RE.7, please see
"Order of the Day" and "Public Comments for all Item(s). "
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RE.8 RESOLUTION
9309 MAY BE DEFERRED/WITHDRAWN
Commissioners
and Mayor
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENTS, APPROVING THE JULY 1, 2021 LITTLE HAITI
REVITALIZATION TRUST'S ("TRUST") BOARD APPOINTMENT OF
AS THE TRUSTS
PRESIDENT/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER ("PRESIDENT")
PURSUANT TO SECTION 12.5-45 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY
OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("CITY CODE"); FURTHER
APPROVING THE SALARY AND BENEFITS OF THE PRESIDENT
IN THE APPROXIMATE TOTAL AMOUNT OF FIFTY SIX
THOUSAND DOLLARS ($56,000.00) FOR THE THREE (3)
REMAINING MONTHS OF JULY 1, 2021 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 2021
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020-2021 PURSUANT TO SECTION 12.5-45
OF THE CITY CODE.
MOTION TO: Defer
RESULT: DEFERRED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: Item RE.8 was deferred to the September 23, 2021, City
Commission Meeting.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number RE.8, please see
"Order of the Day."
RE.9 RESOLUTION
10612
Commissioners
and Mayor
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION URGING THE
CITY MANAGER TO WORK IN CONCERT WITH THE OFFICE OF
THE CITY ATTORNEY TO DETERMINE WHICH CODE
COMPLIANCE PROPERTIES THAT HAVE OUTSTANDING
RECORDED LIENS OF OVER $50,000.00 SHALL BE
CONSIDERED FOR FORECLOSURE PURSUANT TO SECTION 2-
817(E) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS
AMENDED.
MOTION TO: Withdraw
RESULT: WITHDRAWN
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number RE. 9, please see
"Order of the Day."
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RE.10
10624
Commissioners
and Mayor
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DIRECTING
THE CITY MANAGER TO ENHANCE THE COORDINATION AND
FREQUENCY AMONGST CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY")
DEPARTMENTS TO FACILITATE THE CLEANING OF CERTAIN
LOCATIONS, AT LEAST THREE TIMES A WEEK, AT AREAS
CONSIDERED TO BE HOT SPOTS OF RECURRING HOMELESS
ENCAMPMENTS FOR PURPOSES OF IMPROVING THE
CLEANLINESS OF CITY STREETS AND SIDEWALKS WHILE
PREVENTING A GENUINE PUBLIC HEALTH THREAT.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0372
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
AYES: Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
NAYS: Russell
Note for the Record: For additional minutes referencing Item Number RE.10,
please see "Public Comments for allltem(s)."
Vice Chair Russell: Which of the two that you have?
Commissioner Carollo: Well, we can start with RE.10.
Vice Chair Russell: You have RE.10, RE.11, and FR.4. 10 is to direct the City
Manager to clean up recurring homeless encampments. 11 is direct the City Manager
to create -- look for designated areas for temporary encampments and the ordinance
FR.4 is the Code amendment encampments on public property.
Commissioner Carollo: Would you like to do each one separately or both at the same
time?
Commissioner Reyes: Both at the same time.
Commissioner Carollo: I'll make the motion.
Commissioner Reyes: I second.
Commissioner Carollo: Commissioner Reyes seconded.
Vice Chair Russell: For which items? All three?
Commissioner Carollo: For RE.10 and RE.11. The ordinance has got to be read --
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: -- separate.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it. RE.10 and RE.11, there's been a motion by Commissioner
Carollo and a second by Commissioner Reyes. Is there any further discussion on the
dais? So questions, I have some questions because I do have some heartburn on this,
Commissioner Carollo, and I'm very appreciative of the push to address the homeless
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issue because it is -- we know that our residents feel more than what is being reported
to us in the numbers. So 1 am with you in that.
Commissioner Carollo: And again, Istand by what said. I truly believe there's a lot
more than just the 500 or so that they're telling us. For instance, Chief Morales gave
us some numbers there. They recently have gone through 329 contacts. Well, that's 65
percent of the total numbers that they claim that we have out there. I don't know about
that. That's why I think there's a lot more that are not being counted.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it. It's my understanding we do already have ordinances that
keep blocking -- any blockage of the sidewalk from happening. So we are already able
to enforce if someone's pitching a tent on the sidewalk and blocking the sidewalk. Am
1 correct?
William Porro (Director, Human Services): That's correct.
Vice Chair Russell: I am concerned about trying to create an encampment. I don't
know where we would do that within the city of Miami, but, and I've never been
through that. If I'm -- probably during your mayoral tenure you went through
encampments.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, not during my mayoral years. My years as a barely
turning 25-year-old commissioner, we had the Mariel Boatlift. We had an
encampment in the area now where we have basketball courts underneath, between
the Publix area there all the way back to where Marti Park was.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Tent City.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, well, that was Tent City. And so nobody came rushing
saying, how dare you? You're inhumane. You can't do that. You know, there was a
pact. Now what I'm talking about in this one is for the Manager to designate areas or
an area as an option, I'm not saying that we have to. As an option to bring people to --
look, if we keep offering time and time again a hotel room, a shelter room to
individuals and they do not want it. And they're blocking our sidewalks. They're
infringing on others' rights in violation of the law. I'd rather get their tent, they want
to be outside in their tent, we'll bring you to a location that they can be outside in
their tent. But not where they're blocking the roadway of our residents, not in areas
where they're urinating, they're doing all kinds of things, and we're not being able to
be on top of it like we haven't been able to do, and there are areas out there. I mean,
let the Manager figure it out. In the middle of Virginia Key, we have several hundred
acres that is available. It's great for putting a tent up if that's where you want to put it
up. But this is an extreme option because if they're telling us we only have 500. Even
if we only had 1,500, 200 percent more than they're telling us, we should be able to
find enough shelters for those that want it.
Commissioner Reyes: Mr. Chair.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Reyes?
Commissioner Reyes: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we having an option, and let me tell you,
not only when -- when Mariel Boatlift, and you should remember this, I know you
remember this also, when we had once under 836, remember? It was a big, huge,
huge homeless camp there. And they had, some of them, vet); few, had tents, but some
of them they had made out of cardboard, they had made, just some refuges. And it got
to the point that we had to clean that up and fence it. That's why it was fenced. It was
fenced to avoid them having it. Now, when I -- I support that we should get and
identify, you see, you mentioned Virginia Key, identify a place that we could provide
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for the homeless to go and camp there, and -- but that has to be accompanied also of
facilities.
Commissioner Carollo: Of course.
Commissioner Reyes: They have to come with facilities, with running water, come
with also with bathrooms, restrooms, and also I will -- that idea of providing support,
and we will have to have support personnel there that will work with them.
Commissioner Carollo: That's the plan, to have all types of support.
Commissioner Reyes: That -- that I agree with.
Commissioner Carollo: Police, fire rescue, support for mental issues, medical
support, but I'm not talking about, you know, doing a resort lifestyle.
Commissioner Reyes: Yeah.
Commissioner Carollo: I'm talking about doing a much better situation than they
have out in the streets. Maybe we'll have bigger tents. Maybe they'll have some other
amenities in those tents. But there can't be any drugs. There can 't be a free,* all,
like we're having in the streets. Look, as long as we provide people with a better
option than where they're at, you know, I don't see what we're doing wrong, or why
can't we do it. And 1 don't believe that have a right to decide that ifl want to go into
whatever neighborhood 1 want, that 1 could throw a tent in front of any sidewalk that I
want. There are limitations to everything.
Vice Chair Russell: Agreed. So, --
Commissioner Reyes: There --
Vice Chair Russell: -- I'm going to make a recommendation. Go ahead,
Commissioner.
Commissioner Reyes: There is, I mean, I always ask the City Attorney, I don't know if
you already made the -- that handbook that I asked, giving instructions to the police
officers what they can do, what they can't do with the homeless. Because my problem
was all the time and I asked, ifI defecate in the middle of 42nd Avenue, in the middle
of all traffic and all of that, I'd be arrested, you see? IfI am performing anything -- I
mean a sexual act on the sidewalk and a police comes by, I'd be arrested and rightly
so. Why -- why a person, because it is -- it has problems, you see, I do understand and
we have many people that they have psychological problems. I don't mean to tell the
police to go and kick them and -- but take them, away, and that person, just try to get
them some help. But by just looking the other way, you see, looking the other way and
let them do whatever, what I am not allowed to do, okay, I have seen people, you go to
42nd Avenue, I mean I said 42nd Avenue because it's the last time that I saw this. I
mean, there was one that is in one of those -- in Flagler, a couple of people there, they
are in one of those shelters, bus shelters, and you are -- you stop at the light, and they
urinate right there in front of you, just like anybody else, you see. And then you have
your family, you have your kids. That shouldn't be permitted. I don't care if you're
homeless, you're a Martian, whatever it is, it shouldn't be permitted, you see? Now,
what are we going to do? What are we going to do with that person? Well, we can tell
that person, listen, there is a place that you can go, okay? You cannot do this here
because you're going to be arrested. That's it. Period. Okay? Now, we are going to
give you all the facilities, we're going to try to help you. You don't want no help, you
want to remain here, we'll remain here. Okay, but you cannot have the ability or -- I
mean, the liberty of doing things that any regular, regular individual cannot do, you
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see? I mean, 1 understand you have a mental problem, okay, .fine. You shouldn't he in
the street doing that. That's it. Let me get you some help. Let me get you some help.
But it is -- let me tell you, it has gotten out of hand. 1 remember when I moved, I lived
in Chicago, there was a group of -- they were not called homeless, they were called --
there were some hobos and there were some people that were living on the streets and
it was on Adams Street. And I -- it was fascinating to go and talk to them and find out
why they choose that way of life. But they got the bunch of winos there, they -- they
drank their wine and all that, but they were not allowed to defecate, to urinate, and to
block the streets, the sidewalks, or intimidate people. They were not, you see? And
they were living down the street, but they were not allowed to do that, and they have
shelters that they could go and spend the night because they were not allowed to do it,
you see. And I think that we should bring some order to what we are having. It's out of
hands. And besides that, and let's talk, let's talk -- it is bad for the community, it's bad
for the neighborhood, it's bad for the economy. You see, who is going to open a
restaurant or store where whenever you come out of the store, whenever you're
walking in, you have people blocking the street and people defecating there in front of
you, I mean I don't want to live in a place like that. Now if you want to live in the
place like that, by all means move next to where they are, but it is very nice to be
living in Coral Gables or on Pinecrest, and then telling the people that live in
downtown and people that live someplace else, you have to put up with it. Because it
is their right. How about my right? You see? And I don't mean that we have to be
abusive. I don't mean that we have to be so strict. We have to be very human, but at
the same time we will have to encourage, you see, behavior. And if you don't comply
with it, you cannot be around here. That's it. It's simple.
Vice Chair Russell: I have a recommendation. So 1 think the will is here amongst this
entire body to put the right funding and partnership with all the stakeholders together
to get to functional zero homelessness. I want to talk about that briefly because --
Commissioner Reyes: That'd be almost impossible.
Vice Chair Russell: Well, that's what 1 want to bring up because this is an initiative
that the Mayor's Office has been working with the Manager on, and I reached out to
them to understand it because it hasn't been launched. There's no -- been no
announcement of how this will work, but I believe they've been talking to each one of
us separately.
Commissioner Reyes: Yeah, I spoke with them already.
Vice Chair Russell: So the idea here is it's not about you'll never see a homeless
person, but the idea is that the resources are here to have a full pipeline for anyone to
get off the street into shelter, out of shelter and into housing.
Commissioner Reyes: That's right.
Vice Chair Russell .• We don't have that right now because we have a bottleneck. We
have a bottleneck.
Commissioner Reyes: That's right.
Vice Chair Russell: Now, everything -- and Commissioner Carollo got ahead of the
ganie because in his understandable frustration, he wants to address this and these
three items definitely address it. But what if, and this is for my part because when I
met with the Manager and the Mayor's office their functional zero plan didn't really
address new units. It addressed all the services and going out and really hitting all of
this from the cleanups to the -- the, you know, Lazarus Project, you name it. But. for
me, if that bottleneck still exists, we can't get people out of shelter, we can't get new
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people into shelter. So for my part, the focus is going to he housing, new housing to
graduate the homeless from shelter with wraparound services, but fast, and Fin
talking funded and identified within the next 12 months, 500 units of new housing.
Commissioner Reyes: It's not that easy, sir.
Vice Chair Russell: I know it's not that easy, but I'm -- but it is very possible.
Commissioner Reyes: You have to crawl before you walk, and we have to take the
same steps. And they are no mutually exclusive. Let me put it this way.
Vice Chair Russell: I haven't finished it myself
Commissioner Reyes: Okay, okay, good, good, good. Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Because I know, I know you're right that it, you know, it's a big
jump. This is a homeless moon shot. Why do we go to the moon? Because no one else
has and because we can. Because nobody else has done this before in the entire
country. We will not be Los Angeles. We will not be San Francisco, where I know who
you're talking about when you talk about a political party that enables and throws
money at a problem without solving it. We are going to solve it in a thoughtful way.
And 1 really believe we have to take the resources and get the partnerships. And it's
not just all on our shoulders or on our money, but 1 want the Manager to identift the
land. If we have land going out for RFP (Request for Proposal) that could be used for
affordable housing, if we can acquire new land for affordable housing, whether it's in
my district or another district, let's do it. Because we can get the 500 units, and I've
talked to them at Camillus house and the Homeless Trust; if we can provide the 500
units, we can open that pipeline and get people out of shelters.
(MULTIPLE PARTIES SPEAKING IN UNISON)
Vice Chair Russell: So let me just finish with my request because I know the Mayor's
trying to launch the functional zero program later this week and it may encompass
some of these ideas in it and it may not, but if we could defer these three items, the
Mayor can get all of us together on it. Because my worry about going forward with an
encampment is creating another, it's another temporary, because it's a temporary
encampment, versus the permanent, which is where we could really go.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay. You're going to start just to create the permanent and
leave them on the street. What I'm saying is, let's bring them someplace and create the
housing. I am all for the housing, you see? I'm all for creating housing and permanent
housing. I'm all for it. But you cannot say, okay, well let's build the houses and then
we get them out of the street. No, you get them out of the street while you are building
the houses, while you are building houses. They are not mutually exclusive, you see?
Let's identify the land that we can build housing and let's identi a place that we can
at least keep them there and provide all the support that we can. They are not
mutually. exclusive. I agree with you 100 percent that we need housing, you see?
Vice Chair Russell: Is there an appetite to defer it two weeks so we can incorporate it
with the Mayor's entire plan?
Commissioner Carollo: No. Let me explain to you why. First of all, let me say this,
Commissioner, this is not about any party. I don't care who helps, whether it's
Democrat, Republican, Independent, Green Party, Moon Party, it doesn't matter to
me. This is not about parties. And I think since you've seen me up here I have not
been a partisan elected official. This is about getting something done and whatever
else, and I haven't had the opportunity where the Mayor has explained to me his
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whole plan, hut whatever else the Mayor would like to suggest, we can certainly
incorporate it into some of the things that we're presenting here. What does kind of
hits me the wrong way is that we're talking about 500 units for so-called homeless
people that haven't wanted to be taken out of the streets. And for four years as I've
been here, I've been pleading, screaming, dragging, you name it, to try to get
affordable units built and particularly affordable to own. And I don't care who's been
in the administration, it goes in one ear and out the other, and we haven't gotten
anything, anything moved forward with the exception of some areas that I've been
pushing like stairs, no tomorrow, and we're still going at it in turtle paces. Now how
can 1 look for any of us, and particularly Commissioner Watson, Commissioner Diaz
e la Portilla, and myself, that have the three poorest districts. Commissioner Reyes
has some areas too, and you have a small area. How can we look at our residents in
the face? In my case, I know how many of nay residents live in broken down places,
mold, roaches, rats, and they're paying an exorbitant amount for where they're living
in. How can I look them in the face and tell them, listen, because you are
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) a tent in the street, I can't get you an affordable place to live in.
Pin sorry, if anyone is going to give priority for having their own homes, it's going to
be the residents that we have had here paying taxes, putting up with the kind of lives
that they had to live, but they're trying to be responsible for themselves, for their kids.
Residents that are not out in the streets because they were drugged up and now
they're burned out. That doesn't mean that, as we have shown here with millions of
dollars that we're giving each year, in excess of 7 million, not counting police, that
we're not going to be compassionate, that we're not going to find places to --
homeless people to live in. That's what we've been striving for, the shelters, hotel,
motels to go to. But its a big jump from that to be creating 500 new apartments. I
mean, look, our residents would rightly so want to grab us, you know, tar us and
feather us and string us up. I mean, this is -- this is not right. I mean, I understand
that you're trying to be as compassionate as possible, but I have to have compassion
too for the people that I've seen how they live.
Commissioner Reyes: Particularly the elderly.
Commissioner Carollo: The elderly couple that have been in their homes, and I
stopped counting after 10 cockroaches or more, and this is normal to them, the poor
things. They have nowhere else to go.
Commissioner Watson: So --
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Watson, and let's bring this to a vote.
Commissioner Watson: Yeah, no, I was just going to say, why don't we do it in
reverse, right? Why don't we go with what Commissioner Carollo has put on the
table, right, and we get some sort of resolution on that, so that could move forward.
And then, go two weeks later; let the Mayor unfold his plan to all of us so that he can
now let us know what he wants. Because the truth is, I don't want to sav this, but I find
it kind of lofty, we're going to spend 75 million on homeless housing. We haven't spent
any yet on something we've had already for the last four years. So, you know, let's do
something we can do real, and then figure out this funding plan for housing.
Commissioner Carollo: Look, Jeffrey, I don't want to be in a situation where I tell my
residents, hey listen, if you want a place to live that's new and clean and affordable,
go out in the streets, here's a tent, pitch it out there, and they'll come get you and get
you a place to live in.
Commissioner Reyes: Mr. Chair. Commissioner Watson, I think if I can understand
what he's saying, he said, let's do this. Let's try to find shelter and encampments
where they are, and then let's wait and see what the Mayor is going to bring, but we
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will not leave everything, all the affordable housing that we want to do aside and just
jump into building housing units for homeless only, leaving behind the rest of the
population that needs, and I agree with you. I have, 1 mean, if you go out in nay
district and in Carollo's District, in any one of our districts, and you knock on doors,
you're going to see how many elderly are living in rooms this big, full of roaches, and
they cannot get an affordable housing or Section 8, you see? That is a big problem
that we have in our city. But that doesn't mean that we are going -- and we are not
going to try to build also shelters for those people that are out in the street that they
want to be sheltered and they want to go through the transition. You see?
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Let's go ahead and bring it to a vote then,
Commissioner. Complete and fitll respect because I do agree with the intention. I just
don't agree with the method. So I'll be a no vote on it.
Commissioner Carollo: I understand.
Commissioner Reyes: I thought by a minute you have become a little Republican.
Vice Chair Russell: Alright.
Commissioner Carollo: Now, now, let's keep the parties out of this, gentlemen.
Vice Chair Russell: Always. Although that would have made my father very happy.
Alright. So, RE.10 and RE.11, there is already a motion on the floor for those two
items. It's been moved and seconded. Is there any further discussion? All in favor say,
"aye."
Commissioner Reyes: Aye.
Commissioner Carollo: Ave.
Commissioner Watson: Ave.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? No. Motion passes.
Commissioner Carollo: For the record, let me briefly explain what we just voted on.
RE.10 is to have cleanings three times a week in all the hot spots that have
homelessness encampments in the city of Miami. Cleaning the city streets, sidewalks,
preventing a public health hazard. And no matter what program the Mayor would like
to bring in addition to these, this should not be any kind of a problem in moving
forward. RE.11 is a resolution directing the City Manager to designate an area or
areas that could be permitted temporarily for encampments, for shelters as another
option for homeless individuals. And all that the Manager will be doing in this
resolution is that he is going to come to us and give us the options within the city that
he sees, whether it's one or more, and include in that option of whatever places he
thinks are best for us to decide if we end deciding on doing it, what are the additional
requirements that will be needed in security, bathrooms, et cetera. Again, there
should not be any conflicts with this.
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RE.11
10626
Commissioners
and Mayor
RE.12
10620
Commissioners
and Mayor
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DIRECTING
THE CITY MANAGER TO DESIGNATE AN AREA OR AREAS IN
THE CITY OF MIAMI PROVIDING FOR PERMITTED TEMPORARY
ENCAMPMENTS OR OTHER SHELTER OPTIONS FOR
HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0373
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
AYES: Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
NAYS: Russell
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number RE.11, please see Item
Number RE.10.
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), ALLOCATING $68,819,708.50 THAT WAS
PREVIOUSLY ACCEPTED BY THE CITY OF MIAMI FROM THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PURSUANT TO THE AMERICAN
RESCUE PLAN ("FUNDS") FOR THE PURPOSES SPECIFIED IN
EXHIBIT "A," ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED; AUTHORIZING
THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE ANY AND
ALL NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING AMENDMENTS,
EXTENSIONS, AND MODIFICATIONS, ALL IN FORMS
ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, SUBJECT TO ALL
FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LAWS THAT REGULATE THE
USE OF SUCH FUNDS FOR SAID PURPOSE.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0352
MOTION TO: Adopt with Modification(s)
RESULT: ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATION(S)
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Vice Chair Russell: RE.12, we'll start with a request for a motion before we get into
discussion. Is there a motion on the allocation of American Rescue Plan funds.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So moved.
Vice Chair Russell: Moved.
Commissioner Reyes: Second.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
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Vice Chair Russell: Moved by Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla, seconded by, 1 think
Commissioner Reyes beat you to the punch. Commissioner Watson, you have, I'll open
it up for the floor. Who has any discussion items on Rescue Plan?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No, I'm fine.
Commissioner Reyes: (INAUDIBLE) know you are very much an environmentalist.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Watson, do you have any comments or questions
on the American Rescue Plan item RE.12? Is our microphone on?
Commissioner Watson: My comments was just suggesting some numbers. I think it's
straight now.
Vice Chair Russell: You're good.
Commissioner Watson: So, do I amend these, do I amend the numbers or how does
that go?
Vice Chair Russell: You have amendments to add?
Commissioner Watson: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, we can do that on the floor right now.
Commissioner Watson: So, on the employee home ownership plan, I think one of my
colleagues and I have had like minds and that number should be 4 million instead of
2.
Vice Chair Russell: Just a moment, where is it in the in the backup? The
Homeownership Program?
Commissioner Watson: Yes.
Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): It's on Page 4 of what I just handed out.
Vice Chair Russell: It's currently 500,000 in this. Is that the one?
Commissioner Watson: Yeah, it should -- it should have been, you say you have 500?
Vice Chair Russell.: I see 500,000 in the back up for City of Miami. That's employee
home ownership.
Commissioner Watson: Yeah, employee home ownership.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Commissioner Watson: Right? It should be 2 million, right? That's what we have. And
a number of our employees are living every place but in the city, and so to the extent
they can get help to live in the city, maybe they'll appreciate, positively, some of the
things that we have to deal with, right? Because a lot of them can't afford to be in the
city. So that should have been moved to 4 million.
Vice Chair Russell: So you're going to take what's currently at 500,000?
Commissioner Watson: Well, it's not -- the City of Miami Employee Homeownership
Program is listed as 2 million.
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Vice Chair Russell: I've got it listed as 500,000 here. Right? See if we're looking at
different places.
Commissioner Watson: Mine says -- am I looking at old documents? Okay. Okay.
Now somebody will get hit even worse. The City of Miami Homeownership Employee
Program should at least, at a minimum, be $2 million. I don't know where it comes
from, but it should come from somewhere,
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, that's kind of frny question. Maybe Nick can
clarify. Are there any of the -- because he spoke to the Commissioner. Are any -- if
you don't mind Mr. Chair, through you?
Vice Chair Russell: Of course.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Are any of these changes --
Nikolas Pascual: Nikolas Pascual, Chief of Staff to Mayor Francis Suarez.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Do any of these changes impact the conversation
that I think all of us have had with your office on the specific allocations with different
districts that everyone is kind of okay -- think, my understanding, is okay with
because it's equitable although it gives Commissioner Russell a lot more than he
really should be getting.
Mr. Pascual: In order to --
(MULTIPLE PARTIES SPEAKING IN UNISON)
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: It's for the City, it's for big projects, but everybody
has more or less the same amount.
Mr. Pascual: Right, we can definitely fulfill the Commissioner's' request. It would be
taken from the revenue loss portion of the --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: From the revenue loss portion, not from the
reserves?
Mr. Pascual: Correct. Not from the reserves.
Vice Chair Russell: So Nick, that would be an amendment from 500,000 up to 2
million --
Commissioner Watson: 2 million.
Vice Chair Russell: -- for the City of Miami Employee Housing Homeownership
Program. Is that correct?
Mr. Pascual: Correct.
Vice Chair Russell: That's your request?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And that's citywide?
Mr. Pascual: That is citywide. Yes.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay.
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Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: That's fine.
Vice Chair Russell: Does the mover and seconder approve that amendment?
Commissioner Reyes: Not all of our allocations are going to be affected.
Mr. Pascual: Correct.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay, fine.
Vice Chair Russell: Does the mover and seconder approve of that?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Good. 2 million there. Commissioner Watson, are there any other
amendments?
Commissioner Watson: Now that I have the correct forms, 1 don't see --1'm fine. Yea,
fine.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much. And for my part, it won't be on this agenda.
We were trying to get it ready for this agenda, but it's probably going to come at the
next agenda. We're looking to do land acquisition for affordable housing. And one of
the projects I'm working on is with Casa Valentina, which helps former foster youth. I
believe they said that you visited their facility in the West Grove.
Commissioner Reyes: I did. They need a lot of help. If whatever you're going to do, I
will help you get them funds because those people are doing an excellent job with our
youth.
Vice Chair Russell: So this is my goal of utilizing a partnership between the West
Grove CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency), which doesn't have funding yet, but
it can start doing TIF (Tax Increment Financing) agreements, it can start doing some
minor grants for the future, but we need to help with the land acquisition portion. So
that's one of the main initiatives of the portion that I've had a hand in affecting is land
acquisition for affordable housing, and I just wanted you to know Casa Valentina is
going to be coming down the line. So if you guys want to get familiar with them, it's
an amazing organization.
Commissioner Reyes: It's amazing what they do.
Vice Chair Russell: Yeah.
Commissioner Watson: Can I just ask a question right quick? You know, some time
ago we were asked about parks for public Wi-Fi. And now where did that go? Where
is it?
Mr. Pascual: It should be in the IT (Information Technology) Section, the parks pilot
program and an expansion for connectivity.
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Commissioner Watson: And that's corning up how? When? When is that going to
come up? I just --1 guess 1 put a park in, 1 thought it was already being done, and
they called us today about spotty Wi-Fi, and I'm like, well, wait a minute, I thought it
was already in.
Mr. Pascual: This is more of an allocation for that bucket of funding, and then from
there, they'll identify --
Commissioner Watson: So it was never funded?
Mr. Pascual: The specific park, not that I'm aware of no.
Commissioner Watson: Alright. Okay. Alright. Thank you.
Mr. Pascual: Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Any further discussion on the American Rescue Plan allocation?
So this is the full 137 million. This isn't just this year's spend, right?
Mr. Pascual: Correct, this is over the two years.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes. Okay.
Mr. Pascual: So for the city programs, it would be half this year and then half the
following year. So to use Commissioner Watson's home ownership for City employees,
it would be a $2 million allocation, but there will be 1 million available this year with
an additional 1 million available next year.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And there will be, if I may, Mr. Chair, and there
will be a debate for additional allocation within these segments, right? So we can go
into the itemization process and all that as we move forward, right?
Mr. Pascual: Correct.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Within the existing home ownership program,
right?
Mr. Pascual: Correct.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: We'll have those conversations. And there'll still be
the 17 million, I think it is, in reserves, correct?
Mr. Pascual: Correct.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Question for Mr. Mensah's department. What -- good afternoon,
your name for the record, please.
George Mensah: Good afternoon. George Mensah. I'm the director of the Housing
and Community Development Department.
Vice Chair Russell: So one of the things that was brought up in public comment this
morning had to do with Hamilton. I don't want to put this in the lens of Hamilton. I
want to put this in the lens of the city of Miami currently recoveringfrom om a pandemic.
We've got people being evicted with the evictions being lifted. Do we have, funds to
assist people with relocation who are being evicted?
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Mr. Mensah: That's correct. Correct. We do have funds for relocation expenses. As
you know, there was recently a property that was declared unsafe at 5050, I believe
Northwest 7th. We did provide assistance to all the individuals who went to hotels.
Those funds were from the ESGCB [sic] funds that we received.
Commissioner Reyes: Mr. Chair.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: One -- hold on. That's in my district. I just want to
make sure its clarification. My understanding is, for clarification purposes, my
understanding is that that was done by the Homeless Trust, the placement of the
people at the Hampton Inn. It wasn't done by City funds.
Mr. Mensah: No, it was done -- we're using City funds, by Camillus House.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: It was by Camillus House; it wasn't the Homeless
Trust.
Mr. Mensah: Not Homeless Trust, no.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay.
Mr. Mensah: They assisted. They all together -- they assisted in making sure things
get done, yes.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay, just so you know, because Ron Book took
credit for it, just so you know.
Vice Chair Russell: So how much is it and how is it to be deployed for people who are
facing eviction?
Mr. Mensah: Currently we have $5 million for that pot of money to assist in that
particular relocation assistance.
Vice Chair Russell: And when you mentioned, Commissioner, it's in your district?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: 5050 Northwest 7th Street is in my district.
Vice Chair Russell: So these funds are specific for evictions from that property?
Mr. Mensah: No, no --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No, no, no, for every --
Mr. Mensah: -- it's eviction in general.
Vice Chair Russell: What's in your district? I apologize. Sorry I'm not following.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: 5050 Northwest 7th Street.
Vice Chair Russell: And what is that facility?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: It's a building that was declared unsafe.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thev were all taken out of the building --
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Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- and situated in temporary housing at a hotel.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So they fortified the building. The
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) building.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, but the amount you're saying, you said what, 500,000?
Mr. Mensah: No, $5 million --
Vice Chair Russell: $5 million.
Mr. Mensah: -- is allocated for that program, yes.
Vice Chair Russell: But not just for that building?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No.
Mr. Mensah: No, no.
Vice Chair Russell: Okay, so that's why I wasn't making the connect. 1 apologize.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No, no, no. Don't worry, I don't make that kind of a
candy grab.
Vice Chair Russell: So 5 million is available to all residents of the city of Miami --
Mr. Mensah: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: -- facing eviction. And what --
Mr. Mensah: No, Commissioner, let me restate that. We have over, right now, $22
million that will be coming next commission meeting for eviction due to COVID. So
that's very different from eviction, other types of evictions. So if somebody is being
evicted because they weren't able to pay their rent, we have more than $22 million
currently which will be coming to commission next, I believe, October 14th. So that is
there. And then we have people who are not being evicted due to COVID but being
evicted, for other reasons like unsafe structure. So we have that $5 million that takes
care of those type of evictions.
Vice Chair Russell: So you have a $5 million program to help people relocate if
they're being evicted because of unsafe structures?
Mr. Mensah: Other reasons, yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Or other reasons.
Mr. Mensah: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: And then 22 million to help people with evictions if it's due to
COVID.
Mr. Mensah: Yes.
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Vice Chair Russell: And not that they had COVID, hut that COVID affected their
inability to pay their rent.
Mr. Mensah: Covid in some way affected their -- they have to show that the Covid in
some way affected their ability to, either they got laid off or something happened to
them. Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it. So, for example, the people who were here this morning
asking us to allocate funds, and they said ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) simply
because they saw that was on our agenda, you're here to say that there is a fund that
they could apply to of $5 million with assistance for relocation.
Mr. Mensah: Yes, 1 think what their issues has always been the ability to qualify
because some of them are very, high income and therefore they're not able to qualify
the income levels that we need.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. So what is the qualification to be applicable for that 5
million?
Mr. Mensah: 80 percent of median income is generally what is required. If unsafe
structure purposes, everybody qualifies for the next 6 weeks or so. We can put them in
a hotel or so, but to get them permanent housing, we have to make sure that they meet
the requirements of income.
Vice Chair Russell: So if it's for unsafe structures, it doesn't matter their income level
at this point.
Mr. Mensah: We're able to help them. Right.
Vice Chair Russell: For what period of time?
Mr. Mensah: I believe it's 6 weeks, and we can extend it based on how they're able to
relocate.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Or temporary housing.
Mr. Mensah: Yes.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Hotels, things of that nature.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it. But it's not moving expenses to get them into a new
location.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No.
Mr. Mensah: No.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No.
Commissioner Watson: Matter of fact --
Mr. Mensah: We did help with moving expenses immediately, yes.
Commissioner Watson: For them.
Vice Chair Russell: You could.
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Commissioner Watson: But matter of fact, because 5050 was on the 123 list.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right.
Commissioner Watson: So the priority is going to be given on the 123 list.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, yes, but it says, and other reasons, right? So.
Mr. Mensah: Yeah, I think the issue that has been with the other property is that they
are not use -- I don't know if they use unsafe structure statute to be able to evict them.
1 think they are using -- those are what we call man-made evictions. Somebody just
typically decided that they are not going to --
Vice Chair Russell: Their claim, the developers claim, is that they identified
something that needs fixing in the building which will preclude anyone from living
there while they fix it. So I don't know, it hasn't been classified as an unsafe structure
by the City? So are you saying these funds would not be applicable to that sort of
eviction?
Mr. Mensah: Not on a general wholesale basis, but any individual who qualifies
based on income can be assisted.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it. Got it. And that's 5 million. And so -- and is there a limit
what each person can apply for within that 5 million?
Mr. Mensah: They have a limit on, in the first instance, there's no limit in terms of
when they're doing temporary. But when it goes to number of months, we don't have a
limit. We just have number of months. They can only stay -- you can help them for 12
months and then they have to find a way to, to live on their own.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it. So from what it sounds like though, of all the options
you've created available here, none of them would be applicable to those residents
who are here today. Is that --
Mr. Mensah: Whose income -- if their income like I said is all -- if they say needs -
based, if they are low-income, yes. If they are not at low-income, no.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it. So they're being -- yes, they're -- some and some of them
may be, I don't know their personal financial situation, but it's 80 percent of AMI
(Area Median Income), correct?
Mr. Mensah: Yes, that's correct.
Vice Chair Russell: All right. Thank you, Mr. Mensah.
Mr. Mensah: Thank vou.
Vice Chair Russell: Alright. Are there any further comments or questions on the
ARPA budget? Alright. Do we have a motion and a second?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes, I move.
Vice Chair Russell: Hello, would you like to address us on the ARPA?
Hilda Fernandez: Just some information, Hilda Fernandez, Camillus House, 1603
Northwest 7th Avenue. There is a website, stopevictionnow.org, where anyone who
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believes may qualify for this assistance, specifically, this County and City money, your
$5 million, they can go on there. It tells you how much their income limits are, if they
qualms. They answer seven questions. if they don't qualify, then they're sent to other
resources based on the fact they don't qualify for this program. stopevictionnow.org,
and that was set up to be able to assist individuals who are at risk of homelessness,
such as the clients, in particular the individuals from those households from 5050
Northwest 7th. And there was over 80 households that were assisted. They are in
hotel, but they are being provided relocation assistance. They're being case managed.
So it's not just providing them a hotel room. We have case managers going out to the
hotel, meeting with the families, and helping them move into other locations.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I had -- if I may.1 had a meeting with 9 of those
residents last Friday. I think their time runs out for the hotel on September 30th and
they were seeking an extension of that. Are you doing that as well?
Ms. Fernandez: It'll be a case -by -case basis. They have been there since August 9th.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I know.
Ms. Fernandez: So generally speaking, they try to move folks out within 30 days but if
someone needs more time because they're looking for housing that's appropriate for
their household, for their situation, then we will work with them. But the idea is
obviously to allocate the funds for their next opportunity. We give them the security
deposit, the first month's rent, we can even pay for moving if we have to.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And are you helping them with the application
process because a lot of these people are seniors that cannot go on sites online and
fill out the application.
Ms. Fernandez: Absolutely.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So they call your office, you'll be able to tell them,
hey, you know, come over here, we'll fill it out for you. Or you go to the hotels at
Hampton, you'll tell them we'll fill it out for you.
Ms. Fernandez: With the families that are -- all these households that have been
affected by these condemnations, we go to the site and meet with them there. Our
teams go to the locations to meet with them and they're bilingual, in some cases
trilingual, because we realize that a lot of these individuals that are older are going to
need help with any of the paperwork. So we have a homeless help line, the County
operates a homeless help line --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I know that.
Ms. Fernandez: -- and we run the homeless prevention part of it. So we walk them
through that process.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But let's be specific about this, the 5050 building.
Ms. Fernandez: We've been there.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: We've allocated, right now we're about to allocate
$5 million for this, continuing this program, right? The question is how many
applications have you filled out for these people in 5050 that are staying at the
Hampton Inn?
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Ms. Fernandez: So the allocation was done, we've been under contract with the City
since July.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right.
Ms. Fernandez: A portion of the money is for prevention, and I will tell you right now
how many people have been assisted from 5050. There were 138 units evacuated, 83
households have been assessed, and 79 households placed in hotel.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right.
Ms. Fernandez: Some of the individuals moved in with their families, for example.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right.
Ms. Fernandez: But those that did not have any resource were placed in a hotel, a
very nice hotel, and we've provided case management. We literally send our teams out
there and have been case managing.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: If I may, be more specific about what case
management is. Have you filled out the applications, for any of these 79 people?
Ms. Fernandez: That's exactly what we do through case management.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I know. How many people have completed their
applications?
Ms. Fernandez: I cannot tell you specifically, so I'd be making it up. Of the 79, I will
tell you, if they are in hotel, then they have been attached to case management. A case
manager has met with them, has identified their unique situation and what it's going
to take to move them into alternative housing. One of the initial issues is the
uncertainty by the building in giving information about whether they were going to fix
the issues. There's always a hope by a lot of these individuals that they have a chance
to go back to where they've been living, especially if they've lived there for a long
time. So that has been a little bit of a challenge, but we assist them with whatever
paperwork is necessary, Commissioner.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Can you work with my office, go case by case
basis, to see how many people have actually filled out the application? Of course,
you're correct. There are some people that have the hope of returning to their house.
There's a big, for lack of a better term, civil war --
Ms. Fernandez: Yes.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- between the condo association and these people.
So, they're kind of caught in the middle. It's like two different factions there. So, the
issue becomes, I would like to know -- my office and I would like to know, your work
with Karla sitting back there, my chief of staff sort of help us -- well, 10 people have
filled out the application. This person is missing that, that person is missing that, so
we can work together.
Ms. Fernandez: Okay. That'd be great.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So give them a sense of certainty of what their
future looks like, right?
Ms. Fernandez: That'll be nice.
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Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Because right now, they're very scared that on
September 30th, in 17 days, they're going to be left without a home. And they may not
know, they can't go online, they may not know the process, you know, they may be
scared, they may be hoping they can return back to their homes. They may be hoping
that the building will be shored up as part of the conversation that we had with them,
that they're going to shore up the building, four columns. All these conversations have
been taking place, and they're very confused. So I'll have the answers for them, right?
All I told them was that I want to put some money in the budget for them, but I was
also going, a separate budget item, but I was also going to make sure that I spoke to
you guys so you can give them more time if they haven't filled out their applications at
the hotel.
Ms. Fernandez: I'll meet with my staff and make sure they understand we need to be
considerate of the fact that not everybody can move at the same speed.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Sure. That's the only thing, yeah.
Ms. Fernandez: But again, at least the 83 households, when we say they've been
assessed, that means they met with a case manager and started the process of
determining what was going to be --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But you couldn't tell --
Ms. Fernandez: We'll give you the details.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Please, I need to know how many of those people
have been deemed qualified to get this help or not, how many don't qualify, that's
what 1 need to know.
Ms. Fernandez: We'll get you that information.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thankyou, and Karla back there is my Chief of
Staff Karla Fortuny, and you can talk to her.
Ms. Fernandez: I'll give her my card.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thank you so much for helping.
Ms. Fernandez: No problem. Thankyou.
Commissioner Watson: Is that money — is that — are they being helped out of that
original tranche of money, the 5.1 million we gave you two or three months ago?
Ms. Fernandez: So that 5 million is the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and
Economic Security) Act II funding that was allocated to us --
Commissioner Watson: Right.
Ms. Fernandez: -- back in July --
Commissioner Watson: Right.
Ms. Fernandez: -- and it's for a combination of homeless prevention and this is a case
of homeless prevention --
Commissioner Watson: Right, that's what I'm saying.
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Ms. Fernandez: -- or rapid rehousing, which is to move people quickly so, out of
homelessness if they become homeless. So in this case the people from condemned
buildings and we have had four buildings so far condemned in the last few months
after Surfside, another two pending sort of In fact the total number of households that
have buildings that have been condemned since this started is about 500. It's five
buildings, how many units? Probably about 300.
Commissioner Watson: For the city of Miami.
Ms. Fernandez: But in Miami, the 5050 Northwest 7th was the one that we have been
engaged with, which is in the Commissioner's District. And we are using these funds
for those that are eligible to assist them, again, in relocating into stable housing
somewhere else in the community.
Commissioner Watson: So -- so there was about 4,000 applications. What's
happening? What's the tabulation on the 14.1 million eviction money we gave you?
Ms. Fernandez: So on the eviction side, again as Mr. Mensah explained, if someone is
not eligible for your emergency rental assistance program, so the City received $14
million for displaced workers, a hospitality worker who's getting evicted, all that
money was a different pot of money.
Commissioner Watson: Right.
Ms. Fernandez: Then you have the CARES Act II funding, which is a particular HUD
(Housing & Urban Development) program, Emergency Solutions Grant program --
Commissioner Watson: Right. Right.
Ms. Fernandez: -- which is for the extremely poor individuals that don't get the other
assistance but would qualms for this. So those are folks that are earning at the lower
end of the scale, 31, you know, one person earning a lot less money. And I cannot tell
you how many applications we received. I know we're starting to see the uptick of
calls to the Homeless Prevention Helpline. The moratorium created a reality where a
lot ofpeople waited and that not necessarily start the process. We anticipate that is
going to change very quickly now that the moratorium has ended.
Commissioner Watson: But will we -- because you received a lot of applications, we
never did an accounting of what was left or who was served.
Ms. Fernandez: That was with your City money --
Commissioner Watson: Right.
Ms. Fernandez: -- not the CARES Act money. That was Mr. Mensah would have to
speak to that.
Commissioner Watson: And so of that five million, how much more do we have left to
service people on that list? Like on the one --
Ms. Fernandez: So we just started the contract in July.
Commissioner Watson: Okay.
Ms. Fernandez: I can tell you that so far year to date, just with this relocation
program helping the -- these households is over $300, 000 that have been expended in
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the last two -- a month and a half because of the cost associated with placing these 70
something households in a hotel, providing them assistance with food, providing them
rental assistance, moving assistance to get then out. We are right now at a little over
300,000 spent just on this one condemned building and that's coming out of the
CARES Act.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I know but what's important is if you have itemized
where that money, has gone, is it only for the hotel is for administrative expenses? For
what other expenses have you used that money for to make sure that we're
accountable to the way that money's being spent.
Ms. Fernandez: Absolutely. Our invoicing is very specific under that program. We've
submitted an invoice package to the City, I'd be happy to share a copy with you. It
itemizes it by expenses.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Pm surprised that you didn't bring the -- in fact,
that's the only building in the city of Miami that's been declared unsafe. There's no
other building in the city of Miami.
Unidentified Speaker: No, no.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: A residential.
Ms. Fernandez: A residential.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Pm talking about residential. Residential. That's
the only building.
Ms. Fernandez: In the city.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So, Pm sure, I mean, I want this to happen, butt
predict there will be more buildings along the way. So, we want to make sure that we
allocate the resources to cover everybody who falls under these dire circumstances.
So for me, it's important to know how you're spending that money. And for example, I
would like to know how much you're paying the hotel per night.
Ms. Fernandez: I can provide you that info.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: We want to make sure that the money is well spent
Ms. Fernandez: Of course.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- and that it's well negotiated with the hotel
because there may be other hotels that may give us a better deal, right? So I predict, I
project or predict, there'll be other residential complexes that will have this problem.
Ms. Fernandez: Yes sir.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And maybe 5 million is not enough, maybe we need
10 million. I don't know, as we move forward, you know. There will be budget
reallocation along the way. We want to make sure that we are adequately funding this
program.
Ms. Fernandez: Absolutely, sir. And we'd be happy to provide you that information.
It's public information. So we'd be happy to provide you a copy of that as well.
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Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thank you. Thank you.
Ms. Fernandez: You're welcome.
Victoria Mallette: IfI could just reiterate one more point, Vicki Mallette, Executive
Director of the Homeless Trust. We have been through five of these large-scale
condemnations so far. It is so important that the residents get some sort of clarity on
what the future holds because if they think that their building is going to reopen, they
will not pursue other housing options. And we can have all the applications we want
filled out, but if they have some hope that at the end of September, 5050 is going to
reopen, that's where they -- that's their first choice. They want to return to where all
their belongings are and what they know. If that's not going to happen, though, we
have to tell them, you know, it's time to go out and pursue other options. We are
committed to making sure no one hits the street, even if those sources do run out,
which I don't foresee happening at this point in time. And I'll just point out that we're
not a direct service provider. We contract, just as you do, with the Camillus Houses of
the world. But as you know, Commissioner, we were on the ground. We identified the
hotel. We make sure that these -- that all of the troubleshooting happens. We are
coordinating entity. So, yes, we do have some hand in making sure that these common
condemnations are handled efficiently and expediently because they are all urgent
cases.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thank you.
Ms. Mallette: Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Vicki and Hilda both, while I thank you for your work and
service, I say this with all respect and affection, this body wants to put you out of a
job. If we eliminate homelessness in the city of Miami from a functional basis, your
mission will be accomplished. So that is our goal and the spend within the American
Rescue Plan, as well as the Miami Forever Bond, and all the other work that this
body is taking on, including a lot of the items Commissioner Carollo is bringing up
later, are all going to that end. So thank you for your service. Is there any further
comments on the American Rescue Plan funding recommendations? Seeing none, all
in favor of RE.12 say, "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Motion passes.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): As amended.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much. That's a big one.
END OF RESOLUTIONS
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SR - SECOND READING ORDINANCE
SR.1 ORDINANCE Second Reading
9213
Commissioners
and Mayor
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, BY A FOUR -
FIFTHS (4/5THS) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE, AMENDING CHAPTER
2/ARTICLE X/SECTION 2-817 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, TITLED
"ADMINISTRATION/CODE ENFORCEMENT/ADMINISTRATIVE
COSTS, FINES; LIENS," TO PROVIDE FOR IRREPARABLE OR
IRREVERSIBLE VIOLATIONS OF UP TO $15,000.00 FOR
PERSONS OR ENTITIES FOUND IN VIOLATION OF CHAPTER 22
OF THE CITY CODE; FURTHER AMENDING CHAPTER
22/ARTICLE I/SECTION 22-93 OF THE CITY CODE, TITLED
"GARBAGE AND OTHER SOLID WASTE/IN
GENERAL/ENFORCEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE FEES," TO
PROVIDE FOR INCREASED PENALTIES AND PROSECUTION
OPTIONS TO ENFORCE THE CITY OF MIAMI'S SOLID WASTE
LAWS PERTAINING TO ILLEGAL DUMPING AND OTHER
VIOLATIONS OF CHAPTER 22 OF THE CITY CODE; CONTAINING
A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE
DATE.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: 14017
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
ABSENT: Diaz de la Portilla,
Vice Chair Russell: All right, I'd like to have the City Attorney please read the Second
and First Reading ordinances into the record please. That's SR.1, FR.2 and FR.5.
We'll skip FR.4 for now please.
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): Say the ordinances again.
Vice Chair Russell: SR.1, FR.2 and FR.5.
Ms. Mendez: Thank you.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
Ms. Mendez: FR.2.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, please.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
Ms. Mendez: And FR.5.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
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Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much. Is there a motion on FR.2, FR -- I'm sorry,
SR.1, FR.2, and FR.5?
(COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD)
Vice Chair Russell: And FR.5, code relief. Moved by Commissioner Reyes, seconded
by Commissioner Carollo. And SR.1 is a four -fifths, by the way. Is there any further
discussion on those three items.
Ms. Mendez: For FR.5, Chairman, I just wanted to clarify that between first and
second reading, we're going to scratch out the actual sunset date. So that'll be the
change between first and second reading.
Vice Chair Russell: You don't need an amendment for that at this point?
Ms. Mendez: No, I just wanted to advise. Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Okay, it's on the record. Thank you. All in favor of those three
items say, "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Motion passes on SR.1, FR.2, FR.5.
Commissioner Carollo: Could you give me a plan by later this week how we're going
to roll out SR.1? Cause we need to really move with this quickly.
Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Well get you a plan by Friday.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you. I appreciate it.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. I'd like to take up PZ.2 and 3 if the Planning Director
is here.
Commissioner Reyes: Before that, Mr. Chair.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes Commissioner.
Commissioner Reyes: Through the Chair. Mr. Manager? Mr. Manager? Arturito?
Commissioner Carollo: Arturito 1.
Commissioner Reyes: Mr. Manager.
Mr. Noriega: Yes sir.
Commissioner Reyes: You know that when we passed this illegal dumping and the
fines were increased, we spoke about letting every single resident in the city of Miami
to know, inform them that -- of this action, inform them where they can -- what they
can bring out, what they cannot bring out, and the days that they are going to be
collected.
Commissioner Carollo: That's right.
Commissioner Reyes: And I think the first thing to do is to inform every single
resident. And I am -- also, I would like for you, Mr. Manager, to try to contact and
request, from the --from the media, you see, some public service information, letting
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people know that they are going to be paying a lot more unless they comply with it.
Okay?
Mr. Noriega: Yes, sir. Do you want an update on our communication plan? Wade do
you want to give him one?
Wade Sanders: Hello, Wade Sanders, City of Miami Solid Waste Director. We have
plans that when we roll this out, which we are planning to roll out in October, to
educate everyone exactly what we are doing as far as the increase. With those
individuals, along with our Code Enforcement individuals, when we go out and do our
blitz, we make sure that we put that literature out there for those individuals, letting
them know that those fines can go up to the $15,000 or whatever it is that we sought
for. They can go up to those fines. They will be educated. The mail -outs will be going
out, which is geared, once we go through the October 1, the new fiscal year thing,
those things are ready for -- to be mailed out and educate all of the residents in the
city of Miami.
Commissioner Reyes: That educational process cannot be only a one-shot deal, you
see?
Mr. Sanders: No, no.
Commissioner Reyes: We have to continue. That is why -- why I will request from, 1
mean, different radio stations --
Mr. Sanders: Right, so --
Commissioner Reyes: -- and TV stations, you see that, and a public service
announcement in order for people to know.
Mr. Sanders: So what we are doing, the plan is to, as far as the mail outs, we're doing
the mail outs. We're also doing the radio stations. We're also putting it on the bus
benches. We're also doing things that are -- the wraps on our vehicles, on our
personal vehicles, to get that information out to make those individuals aware of it.
And the campaign consists of we call it the REID program, report illegal dumping.
That's what a couple of the young people came up with within our department, which
was Katie and Mauricio, which was a great idea. It sticks with what the plan is. But
the media stuff, the radio, the TVs, yes, we have all that ready to go out, which we're
rolling out October 1. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Reyes: Okay. Thank you, sir. Just making sure.
Mr. Sanders: Yes sir.
Commissioner Watson: Let me ask a question, though. In this whole thing you're
rolling out, how much money, is allocated for communicating this to the public?
Because the last one I saw was not enough.
Mr. Sanders: Yes. Okay. Can you give me one minute?
Commissioner Watson: 40,000?
Mr. Sanders: No, it's a little more than that, I think.
Commissioner Watson: Okay. Good, we changed it. Okay, good. So, while also you're
looking, for that, you should know in some areas --
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Mr. Sanders: Oh, 1 am sorry.
Commissioner Watson: No, no, go ahead.
Mr. Sanders: It's 72,000.
Commissioner Watson: 72,000. Okay, good.
Mr. Sanders': 72, 000 for the new fiscal year for our media blitz.
Commissioner Watson: Thankyou, Mr. Manager. 1 appreciate it.
Mr. Sanders: Okay.
Commissioner Watson: Thank you. You should also know too that there has to be
coordination. We are not coordinating. I mean, we are not coordinated. If the police
department finds an abandoned structure and they say something, and then Code
doesn't say anything, at least in my district, those residents are screwed because when
you find bad lots and abandoned houses, you find a lot of illegal dumping, right? And
so we also had, supposed to have inspectors and cameras and all that has to be in
sync because otherwise people come, and they tell the residents to go in the house or
whatever. So, it has got to be in sync with what we are doing, right? Find places
where we put these cameras up and if the Police Department identifies a location then
Code has to immediately now help us deal with it.
Mr. Sanders: Also, to let you know Commissioner, what we have done working with
the police department is that we are now bringing them over into the solid waste
department. We have a room that we're going to set up to set that up.
Commissioner Watson: And all those new cameras and stuff are activated.
Mr. Sanders: And that's going to be housed right there with us. And they'll be, you
know, handled by us.
Commissioner Watson: Thankyou.
Mr. Sanders: Okay.
Commissioner Reyes: Thank you sir. Thank you very much.
Mr. Sanders: Thankyou. Thankyou. All right Commissioner.
Commissioner Reyes: Also thank you for every time that we let you know that there is
illegal dumping and there is dumping waste.
Mr. Sanders: Thank you.
Commissioner Reyes: And you always answer, the people always be -- are there real
fast.
Mr. Sanders: Thankyou.
Commissioner Reyes: Thankyou.
Armando Aguilar: Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the Commission, just -
- Armando Aguilar, Assistant Chief of Police, just to pick up on what Mr. Sanders
said also, we went live today with Crime Stoppers of Miami -Dade in taking illegal
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dumping tips. And so Crime Stoppers is also going to he part of the public
information strategy. And so they'll be paying out a reward of $500 for anybody that
calls in a felony or commercial amount of illegal dumping. And so we are working
with Code in our real-time crime center -- I'm sorry, with Solid Waste in our real-time
crime center, and monitoring the cameras. Year to date, we've already made more
illegal dumping arrests than all of last year, so we're moving in the right direction.
Commissioner Reyes: Thankyou.
Mr. Aguilar: Thankyou.
Commissioner Reyes: Thank you very much.
END OF SECOND READING ORDINANCE
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FR - FIRST READING ORDINANCES
FR.1 ORDINANCE First Reading
9523
Commissioners
and Mayor
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION RENAMING
THE PARK AT 342 SOUTHWEST 7 AVENUE, MIAMI, FLORIDA,
CURRENTLY KNOWN AS "RIVERSIDE PARK/JORGE MAS
CANOSA PARK", AS "JOSE FRANCISCO MORAZAN QUESADA
PARK"; AMENDING CHAPTER 38/ARTICLE I OF THE CODE OF
THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, TITLED "PARKS
AND RECREATION/IN GENERAL", BY CREATING SECTION 38-28,
TITLED "NAMING OF JOSE FRANCISCO MORAZAN QUESADA
PARK"; FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO TAKE
ANY AND ALL ACTIONS NECESSARY TO EFFECTUATE THE
RENAMING OF THE PARK; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY
CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE
DATE.
MOTION TO: Pass on First Reading
RESULT: PASSED ON FIRST READING
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Jeffrey Watson, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Commissioner Reyes: Okay, Mr. -- Chair, I have a resolution which is a pocket item.
Vice Chair Russell: Pocket item? I'm going to get to that in just a second.
Commissioner Reyes: A pocket resolution. Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Okay, so Mr. Manager, what I'd like to do now is take up the
Order of the Day. I'll take up the items of the Administration we'd like to see deferred
or continued. Then I'll take up the -- any deferrals from the body, and then I'd like to
add in any pocket items to our agenda that commissioners would like to add to that.
Commissioner Carollo: If I could, Mr. Chair.
Vice Chair Russell: Sir.
Commissioner Carollo: I'd like for us to take one item out of order. We have the
Council General of Honduras is here with us today, and a very sizable group of the
Honduran community and leadership in Miami. And if we could take FR.1 as the first
item of the day, I would appreciate it.
Vice Chair Russell: Absolutely. Would you like to do that at this point before we do
the rest of the order?
Commissioner Carollo: If we could --
Vice Chair Russell: That's fine.
Commissioner Carollo: If we could, I would appreciate it.
Vice Chair Russell: Absolutely. I'll take that as a motion on FRI.
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Commissioner Carollo: There's a motion on FR.1.
Vice Chair Russell: Is there a second?
Commissioner Watson: Second.
Vice Chair Russell: Seconded by Commissioner Watson. Is there anyone who would
like to comment on this item from the public? Just for this item, which is the renaming
of Riverside Park to Jose Francisco Morazan Quesada Park. Is there anyone here
who would like to speak on this item?
Commissioner Reyes: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Vice Chair Russell: Seeing that I'll close public comment. Yes. You're recognized.
Just a moment. Go ahead.
Brenda Betancourt: This is not my two minutes of public --
Vice Chair Russell: This is two minutes, yes, but if ,you have other items to speak on
you'll be able to come back.
Ms. Betancourt: Okay, thank you. Good morning to all. I really appreciate the
Commission to do this new renaming of the park. Even though I am a resident of the
District 3, I have never was part of it, I was not even asked for it to be part of it, but
that's -- I am grateful because that's my country that I'm born. So thank you so much,
especially for all of you who are going to vote in favor to name the park as the Jose
Francisco Morazan Quesada, because even though people might not realize, I'm from
Honduras.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes.
Ms. Betancourt: So thank you so much because actually now on after I've been here
almost 30 years, and the first time we actually, after Bruno Reino did an
announcement of 20 of July being as a Honduran date, and the governor did last
week, September 15th, as independent of Central America, technically we never
existed before. So thank you, because now you're recognizing that we are here, that
we are part of the community, that we vote. And I live in the District 3 of the city of
Miami. So thank you, Manolo, like always. Thank you.
Commissioner Reyes: Let me add to that, that I -- there's great, great population and
a very hard-working population of Hondurans in Miami and -- and in our city
particularly, and they have to be recognized. I for one, I have visited the Francisco
Morazan Avenue and I had -- have my share of drinks and also food in that beautiful,
beautiful avenue that every Cuban that goes there will witness statue, one of the first
statues is Jose Marti -- is Jose Marti, and I was very proud when I saw it and I felt
very close to Honduras because of that. And besides that my father was able to leave
Cuba through the Honduran embassy. They opened up the doors for my father to get
in and they opened up their arms when my father got to Honduras and then until he
could come to Miami. Thank you.
Ms. Betancourt: Thank you because it's important for those who live actually in the
area to be asked about, even though it's a great thing. Thank you so much,
Commissioner Carollo. But 1 live in District 3. I vote in District 3. I should be one of
those who were part of this park. Thank you. I appreciate it.
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Commissioner Reyes: Thank you. Is there anyone else here who'd like to speak a
public comment on this item?
Martha Hero: Good morning Commissioners, Mayor, all the publics and
organizations. I'm from Ecuador and I'm here to speak about Honduras because since
20 years ago, I've been working with Francisco Portillo, who was the president of
Francisco Morazan organization. I was one of the leaders. I support them to do the
PTS. And I respect when people stated to, we are part of this community, part of this
country, part of this kind of services, but I do really want to appreciate every
commissioner. Commissioner Joe Carollo, Commissioner Manolo Reyes,
Commissioner Ken Russell, Commissioner de la Portilla, Commissioner Watson,
because you guys as leaders, in my experience, I know you always call the community,
and I know you've been calling the District 3 to be part of this process. And I'm here
to support all the Honduran people, all the Honduran people. You know why?
Because all the people deserve the park there. All the people have been working hard
there. And here, we are together, just to support each other and to appreciate all the
job you guys are doing for the community. It's not politician's thought. It's to be part,
to succeed, to do great things together. And again, I do really appreciate Joe Carollo
Commissioner, because you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) think about Honduras, Ecuador,
Salvador, Guatemala. You're always there for the people when they need you. You're
always there, Manolo Reyes, when the people call you. And I know that because I'rn
working for all organizations. Pm working for all the people, since 30 years ago when
I came as immigrant. And 1 really want to appreciate our embassy from Honduras.
We've been working since the disaster to help our people in Honduras. 1 said our
people because as an immigrant, I think I'm part of any country that they need our
help. I want to appreciate all the support, and I want to thank you again. We are here
to grow up, we are here to keep going, we are here to support each other. Thank you.
Have a blessed day, everyone.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much. Is there anyone else here who would like to
speak in public comment on this item? Seeing none, I'll close public comment.
Commissioner Carollo: Can we ask, first of all I'd like to welcome the Council
General of Honduras is here with us today. Thank you very much, sir, for being here
with us. If you would like to say a few words, English or Spanish, you're certainly
welcome.
Vice Chair Russell: Of course, you're very welcome.
Jose Roberto Diaz: Hello, good morning. My name is Jose Roberto Diaz. I'd like to
try in Spanish because it's a very good moment. (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
Vice Chair Russell: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE). Do we have a translator in the house?
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Yes, sir.
Vice Chair Russell: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE). Ifyou would like to stand at this
lectern, you'll be able to.
Mr. Diaz: I try in English now.
Vice Chair Russell: No, no, no, it's okay.
Mr. Diaz (As translated by Official Spanish Interpreter): In commemoration -- in
commemoration for the 200 years of independence of Honduras. We're very
appreciative of the City of Miami, and the Mayor, and the Commissioners,
particularly with Commissioner Carollo. He had a big part in -- with the Honduran
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people. We represent the third community in the city ofMiami. And we're committed
to continue to develop this city, the culture, and the wish to work together with the
rest of the community. On behalf of the Honduran government 1 want to -- I'm very
appreciative of this gesture. In the name of all the Honduran population here, we
welcome this city as our home for this first park in name of our city. General
Francisco Morazan was all about unity in Central America. So one more time -- very
thankful. We're very thankful for this opportunity. And on the name of General
Francisco Morazan. Thank you very much.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you so much.
Applause.
Commissioner Reyes: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
Vice Chair Russell: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE). Is there anyone on the dais who would
like to comment on this item?
Commissioner Carollo: I would, Mr. Chairman. I would assume that most people
don't remember that Central America was once a very proud country, not the different
countries like they are today that comprise Central America. The president that that
country of Central America had was precisely Jose Francisco Morazan Quesada.
General Morazan was called by Jose Marti, the Simon Bolivar of Central America.
Marti was a great admirer of the general. Central America now are a series of proud
also, individual countries. But at one time it was a very united, one country of Central
America, led by this great man that was born in Honduras. Since I was first elected,
going back almost four years ago, how time has passed, I've worked with the
Honduran community, just like I've worked with other communities in my district, and
I've worked with the highest of the leadership to the most humble of our residents in
the same way, because I've always felt that you treat people the way that you would
like to be treated yourself. Because always, you're going to meet the same people on
your way down that you met on your way up in this part of life. Life is an up and down
endeavor, and we should deal with as much respect and compassion that we can with
individuals. Having said that, this is why from the very beginning that I was elected,
when I saw that the parks that we had in parts of Little Havana, that is called Little
Havana, but it has a great Central American population, mainly Honduran and
Nicaraguan. When I saw the state of the parks that we had, that were the parks of the
City ofMiami in the worst state, with the oldest playgrounds, the oldest this
equipment, I made sure that that would change. And today, in Jose Marti Park, a
neighborhood that while still you have a lot of Cubans live around, you have a
tremendous, if fnot majority, of the residents around that are Central American. And
many of those, if not a majority, from Honduras. The same of the old Riverside Park,
now the General Morazan Park, that had the -- one of the oldest playgrounds in the
whole city. Now it's got the newest that just recently opened with a baseball field
that's being completely redone with the help of the Marlins. We put new lights all
throughout it, many other things that we've done there, and more that we're going to
do. Centro Mater; which was around when I was -- founded when I was a very young
commissioner, in my 20s, and which I supported very much when I was mayor. Centro
Mater is right in the heart of a community, this majority Central American,
Hondurans, Nicaraguans, from Salvador and others. I have made sure that Centro
Mater receives a lion's share of the dollars that come from my office, because while
there's not a single family there that sends kids that has a single vote, because they
are the most neediest, the poorest of the families that we have in our area. These are
children that deserve and we also have an obligation to make sure that we can
provide the best education, the best care for them. And this is why I have put them
each year with a substantial amount of dollars, from my office so that we could help
close to 700 families that have children there, the most needy in our community. Now,
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1 thank all of those that have worked with me, my office, the City of Miami, throughout
these years. And 1 apologize if anyone feels that they needed to be counted for, for any
steps that we would take. But frankly, 1 don't deal with egos. 1 don't care about those
that feel that they're very important and well-known in their own home. I deal with
what's right for our community, and this is why, since day one, I've been taking these
steps and many more that I wouldn't even mention here, in our community, where
Morazan Park is at, where Jose Marti Park is at, where Henderson Park is at. And
getting ahead of myself, we are going to have four new parks, sizable parks, in
District 3, the district that has had the least amount of parks in all of the city of
Miami. One of those parks, I will cone to this Commission and propose that it be
named Ruben Dario. It's a park that while it's in District 3, it's right next door to
District 1, and right close to District 4, and that would be in the very near fixture that
that announcement will be made.
Vice Chair Russell: That's good news. Thank you, Commissioner. Is there anyone else
who would like to speak on FR.1 ?
Commissioner Reyes: The only -- I just want to add to what Commissioner Carollo is
saying about the influence that -- and the partnership that Cuba and Honduras had. I
just want to remind all of the Hondurans here, maybe you might not know, Antonio
Maceo was the commander of the garrison in Puerto Cortes, when -- after the 10 year
war. And in my trip to Honduras, 1 went from (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to Omoa, Puerto
Cortez. I went through most part of the -- of the country. And I was staying in
Muchilena. A little -- friend of mine, he owns a house next to the sea. And here comes
this lady that she learned that a Cuban was there. And that lady was a niece, an old
lady, a niece of Antonio Maceo, that she stayed in -- in Honduras. And she was -- she
had traveled to Cuba and received all the honors and all of that, but she came back to
Honduras and her family is there. And she's a descendant of one of the greatest
generals, not only in the Cuban Independence War, in the history of -- of -- I would
say in the military history, being even studied at West Point, his tactics and
techniques. And I just wanted to bring that up. There was always great cooperation
between Honduras and Cuba for the freedom of Cuba.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Mr. Mayor.
Mayor Suarez: Just real brief. I just want to commend the Commissioner. We've been
talking about this for a long time. He has really focused on wanting to do some, you
can call it rebranding if you want, renaming some parks that really better correlate
with some of the communities that are now in his district, in the city, and are really
making a significant impact. And so, you know, we've been talking about this for a
while. I know sometimes we both are frustrated that the wheels of government don't
turn quite as fast as we would like them to.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah.
Mayor Suarez: But it's a promise that he made and a promise that he's delivered on.
So you know, you have to commend him for that.
Commissioner Carollo: Counsel.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you.
Commissioner Carollo: Counsel General, I have to say that if it weren't for the strong
support that have received from Mayor Francis Suarez, we would not be here today,
we would still be in the drawing boards. So I think that the Mayor deserves a big
round of applause also for the effort and work that --
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Applause.
Commissioner Carollo: -- he has done for this park, for General Morazan, and for the
other parks that we are working in. Remember I mentioned one name, but there's four
more big parks that are corning. So I don't want to overextend myself I said enough.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) --
Mayor Suarez: We take them one day at a time.
Commissioner Carollo: -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Yeah, one park at a time. Thank you
all very much for coming. May I suggest, Counsel General, if you could honor us on
such an important day for not just the Honduran community in Miami, but for the city
of Miami as a whole, and if we could take a picture with you and this whole group
from the community up front here with the Mayor and City Commissioner.
Vice Chair Russell: Well, let's make sure we've got the votes here to you pass this
first, I think you're safe. But in the meantime, let's have the City Attorney please read
the item into the -- this is a first reading ordinance, please.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
Vice Chair Russell: All in favor of the item say, "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously on first reading. Thank
you. Let's take that photo.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you.
Applause.
Vice Chair Russell: We're just going to do a quick photo down front with the elected
officials and those who are visiting.
(COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD)
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FR.2 ORDINANCE First Reading
9454
Commissioners
and Mayor
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING
CHAPTER 54/ARTICLE V/SECTION 54-190 OF THE CODE OF THE
CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, TITLED "STREETS AND
SIDEWALKS/BASE BUILDING LINES/NONSTANDARD STREET
WIDTHS," BY MODIFYING THE WIDTH OF SOUTHWEST 23RD
AVENUE FROM SOUTHWEST 17TH ALLEY TO SOUTHWEST
18TH STREET, MIAMI, FLORIDA AND SOUTHWEST 17TH
TERRACE FROM SOUTHWEST 22ND AVENUE TO SOUTHWEST
23RD AVENUE; RENUMBERING CERTAIN SUBSECTIONS;
CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR
AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
MOTION TO: Pass on First Reading
RESULT: PASSED ON FIRST READING
MOVER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
ABSENT: Diaz de la Portilla,
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number FR.2, please see Item
Number SR.1.
FR.3 ORDINANCE First Reading
10602
Commissioners
and Mayor
AN ORDINANCE BY THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING
CHAPTER 36/SECTION 4 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI,
FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("CITY CODE"), TITLED
"NOISE/OPERATION OF RADIOS, PHONOGRAPHS, OR OTHER
SOUND -MAKING DEVICES; BANDS, ORCHESTRAS, AND
MUSICIANS — GENERALLY," AND CHAPTER 36/SECTION 5 OF
THE CITY CODE, TITLED "NOISE/SAME — HOURS OF
OPERATION OF JUKEBOXES, RADIOS, ETC.; EXEMPTION FOR
EVENTS ON CITY -OWNED PROPERTY; RELAXATION," TO
REMOVE THE EXEMPTION TO ADHERE TO THE NOISE
ORDINANCE FOR TENANTS ON CITY OF MIAMI OWNED
PROPERTIES OR FACILITIES; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY
CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE.
MOTION TO: Defer
RESULT: DEFERRED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: Item FR.3 was deferred to the September 23, 2021, Citj
Commission Meeting.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number FR.3, please see
"Order of the Day" and "Public Comments for all Item(s). "
City of Miami
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FR.4 ORDINANCE First Reading
10623
Commissioners
and Mayor
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING
CHAPTER 37 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA,
AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "OFFENSES -MISCELLANEOUS," MORE
PARTICULARLY BY ADDING A NEW SECTION TO PROHIBIT
ENCAMPMENTS ON PUBLIC PROPERTY; PROVIDING FOR
DEFINITIONS AND PENALTIES; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY
CLAUSE AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
MOTION TO: Pass on First Reading
RESULT: PASSED ON FIRST READING
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Jeffrey Watson, Commissioner
AYES: Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
NAYS: Russell
Note for the Record: For additional minutes referencing Item Number FR.4, please
see "Public Comments for all Item(s). "
Vice Chair Russell: Next, Commissioner, is FR.4.
Commissioner Carollo: FR.4 is the last of the homeless resolutions and ordinance
that I placed in today.
Vice Chair Russell: Is there a motion?
Commissioner Carollo: There is a motion for FR.4.
Vice Chair Russell: This is amend the Code regarding encampments on public
property. Is there a second to the motion?
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): So, I just want to -- just to keep up, we did RE.10
and RE.11 ?
Vice Chair Russell: Correct.
Commissioner Carollo: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Both passed 4-1. Now we're on FR.4. There's a motion. Is there a
second?
Commissioner Watson: Second.
Commissioner Reyes: FR.4.
Vice Chair Russell: Seconded by Commissioner Watson. Is there any further
discussion? Hearing none, please read it into the record, FR.4, first reading.
Commissioner Reyes: Hold on a second. I want to clarify this. FR.4, we are -- what
are we -- this is to (INAUDIBLE)?
Commissioner Carollo: Prohibiting encampments on public property.
Commissioner Reyes: On public?
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
Commissioner Carollo: On public. Public.
Commissioner Reyes: Public property.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, the sidewalks, et cetera, the streets.
Commissioner Reyes: That's right, butt don't want to be a contradiction there
because if we are going to -- if the City Manager says that we are going to take them -
- I mean we want to provide a camp in Virginia or under the expressway, those are
public property.
Commissioner Carollo: But this is not what we're meaning by that. If the City
Attorney would read that, I think she will explain that.
Commissioner Reyes: Because I don't want to go against what we've said.
Commissioner Carollo: You have a good point, and it's a good question for what
we're truing to do. Keep in mind that our first priority has always been and will be to
find people a shelter like we've been doing in the past or a hotel room like we've been
doing in the past. This is options of last resort or if people just want to be out in the
open air. That's what we're doing with the shelters. This is for the people that refuse
to go indoors and want to be out in open air.
Commissioner Reyes: Go to assigned places.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah.
Commissioner Reyes: People that don't want to go to assigned places.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah.
Commissioner Reyes: But shouldn't we -- we -- I mean, Madam City Attorney,
shouldn't we clarify this, that is this for people that don't want to go to assigned
places, they cannot encamp on public property? Because if we are going to establish
an encampment in any property that belongs to the City or the State or whatever, you
see, it would be contradictory to this.
Ms. Mendez:: So it's a very good question, but as drafted, it says permitted. So if we
have permitted locations, then it's okay. This is for unpermitted. So anything that is on
the public right of way that's not supposed to be a tent on the public right of way and
what have you, it's not supposed to be there.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay. I just wanted to clarify.
Ms. Mendez: But it's a very good question and then just -- I think that it's, but it's
nuanced because it says permitted versus unpermitted. So that's why sometimes it's
not easy to grasp.
Commissioner Reyes: You think or you're sure?
Ms. Mendez: No, no, Pm just telling you why it may, have looked to you like it didn't
stay, it says permitted, so it has to have a proper permitted location for you to be in
that location. This is just not allowing for tents to be on the right of way.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Madam City Attorney. You're clear. Could you read
the ordinance into the record, please?
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The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much. All in favor of the item say, "aye."
Commissioner Carollo: Aye.
Commissioner Reyes: Aye.
Commissioner Watson: Aye.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Mark me as a no. Item passes 4-1.
Commissioner Carollo: Mr. City Manager, can you bring up at the next meeting, two
weeks from now, since tomorrow is the deadline for putting items on the agenda, the
resolutions of how you're going to be moving forward in implementing all of these
items that we've approved, whether resolutions or ordinance. I'm not saying that you
have to take action so quickly. You have to put plans together and so on. I understand.
But to come back to us in each of these items to let us know how you're moving
forward, how you're going to accomplish them. And particularly one that is the one
that you can move at quicker than any of the others. And that's cleaning three times a
week all the hot spots that we have. Now, can -- okay. Yeah, and these items, hang on,
let's go back to.
FR.5 ORDINANCE First Reading
10630
Commissioners
and Mayor
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING
CHAPTER 10/ARTICLE V OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI,
FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, TITLED "BUILDINGS/CODE RELIEF
PROGRAM"; MORE PARTICULARLY BY AMENDING SECTION 10-
70 TO REMOVE ANY SUNSETTING DATE; CONTAINING A
SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE
EFFECTIVE DATE.
MOTION TO: Pass on First Reading
RESULT: PASSED ON FIRST READING
MOVER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
ABSENT: Diaz de la Portilla
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number FR.5, please see Item
Number SR.1.
END OF FIRST READING ORDINANCES
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BC.1
8938
Office of the City
Clerk
BC - BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE AFFORDABLE HOMEOWNERSHIP LOAN
PROGRAM TASK FORCE FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
NOMINATED BY:
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
City of Miami
Page 109 Printed on 07/02/2024
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.2
8152
Office of the City
Clerk
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT COUNCIL FOR
TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Mayor Francis Suarez
Mayor Francis Suarez
Mayor Francis Suarez
Mayor Francis Suarez
Mayor Francis Suarez
Mayor Francis Suarez
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
City of Miami
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.3
6672
Office of the City
Clerk
BC.4
8803
Office of the City
Clerk
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE AUDIT ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR TERMS
AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION CONFIRMING THE
APPOINTMENT OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE CIVILIAN
INVESTIGATIVE PANEL FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
Gabriel Paez Civilian Investigative Panel
Joseph John Rinaldi Civilian Investigative Panel
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
City of Miami
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.5
9304
Office of the City
Clerk
BC.6
6958
Office of the City
Clerk
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A CERTAIN
INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE CLIMATE RESILIENCE COMMITTEE FOR A
TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY:
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE CODE COMPLIANCE TASK FORCE FOR
TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
City of Miami
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.7
9548
Office of the City
Clerk
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A CERTAIN
INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD FOR A TERM AS
DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE:
Yvonne Bayona
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0355
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
SECONDER: Jeffrey Watson, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
ABSENT: Diaz de la Portilla
NOMINATED BY:
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Vice Chair Russell: In that case, let's take up the Boards and Committees, please.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Thank you, Chair. Item BC. 7, Code Enforcement
Board. Commissioner Carollo will be appointing Yvonne Bayona.
Vice Chair Russell: Is there a motion? Commissioner -- Commissioner Reyes moves,
Commissioner Watson seconds. All in favor say, "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Motion passes.
Mr. Hannon: That concludes the boards and committees. Thank you very much.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much.
City of Miami
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.8
8804
Office of the City
Clerk
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
AND QUALITY OF LIFE COMMITTEE FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Mayor Francis Suarez
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commission -At -Large
Commission -At -Large
City of Miami
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.9
8534
Office of the City
Clerk
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD FOR TERMS
AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Mayor Francis Suarez
Mayor Francis Suarez
Mayor Francis Suarez
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
City of Miami
Page 115 Printed on 07/02/2024
City Commission
Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.10
5976
Office of the City
Clerk
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY ADVISORY BOARD
FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
IAFF
FOP
AFSCME 1907
AFSCME 871
City of Miami
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City Commission
Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.11
8154
Office of the City
Clerk
BC.12
7963
Office of the City
Clerk
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE FOR TERMS AS
DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Mayor Francis Suarez
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE HEALTH FACILITIES AUTHORITY BOARD FOR
TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
City of Miami
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.13
8267
Office of the City
Clerk
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER,
QUEER ("LGBTQ") ADVISORY BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commission -At -Large
City of Miami
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.14
8269
Office of the City
Clerk
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE
COMPETITIVENESS FOR TERMS AS
APPOINTEES:
COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
MAYOR'S COUNCIL ON GLOBAL
DESIGNATED HEREIN.
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Mayor Francis Suarez
Mayor Francis Suarez
Mayor Francis Suarez
Mayor Francis Suarez
Mayor Francis Suarez
Mayor Francis Suarez
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
Commission -At -Large
Commission -At -Large
City of Miami
Page 119 Printed on 07/02/2024
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.15
8155
Office of the City
Clerk
BC.16
8805
Office of the City
Clerk
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE MIAMI COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE FOR
TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Mayor Francis Suarez
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE MIAMI FOREVER BOND PROGRAM CITIZENS'
OVERSIGHT BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Mayor Francis Suarez
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Joe Carollo
City of Miami
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.17
7261
Office of the City
Clerk
BC.18
9270
Office of the City
Clerk
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A CERTAIN
INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE MIAMI RIVER COMMISSION FOR A TERM AS
DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY:
Commission -At -Large
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE MIAMI TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL FOR TERMS
AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
Commission -At -Large
City of Miami
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City Commission
Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.19
9557
Office of the City
Clerk
BC.20
3693
Office of the City
Clerk
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD
FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE STARS OF CALLE OCHO WALK OF FAME
COMMITTEE FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
NOMINATED BY:
Mayor Francis Suarez
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commission -At -Large
Commission -At -Large
Commission -At -Large
City of Miami
Page 122 Printed on 07/02/2024
City Commission
Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.21
5453
Office of the City
Clerk
BC.22
9549
Office of the City
Clerk
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD
(UDRB) FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
NOMINATED BY:
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Ken Russell
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
Commissioner Jeffrey Watson
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A CERTAIN
INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE VIRGINIA KEY ADVISORY BOARD FOR A TERM
AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
Commissioner Ken Russell
City of Miami
Page 123 Printed on 07/02/2024
City Commission
Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
BC.23
8943
Office of the City
Clerk
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN
INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE VIRGINIA KEY BEACH PARK TRUST FOR
TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES:
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
END OF BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
NOMINATED BY:
Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner Manolo Reyes
City of Miami
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Meeting Minutes September 13, 2021
DI.1
10583
City Manager's
Office
DI - DISCUSSION ITEMS
DISCUSSION ITEM
A DISCUSSION REGARDING TAKING ANY AND ALL ACTIONS IN
RELATION TO ESTABLISHING THE CITY OF MIAMI'S
LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR THE 2022 FLORIDA LEGISLATIVE
SESSION AND THE 117TH UNITED STATES CONGRESS.
RESULT: DISCUSSED
Vice Chair Russell: I'd like to go back to DI.1, legislative priorities.
Donny Wolfe: Good afternoon, Vice Chair, Commissioners. This discussion item from
the City Manager's Office. Oh, pardon me. I'm Donnie Wolf Senior Advisor to the
City Manager. Good afternoon.
Vice Chair Russell: Donnie, is this your first time appearing before us?
Commissioner Reyes: Yes.
Mr. Wolfe: It is.
Vice Chair Russell: And you are our legislative liaison. What is the exact?
Mr. Wolfe: So the exact title is Senior Advisor to the Manager, but Pm encompassing
also the government affairs and legislative role as well.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it. So anything that we're working on as legislative priorities
to the state and federal government, you're our guy.
Mr. Wolfe: Correct. County as well.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it. I'd like your cell phone, please.
Mr. Wolfe: Absolutely.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Please go ahead.
Mr. Wolfe: So this discussion item is here before you today to let you know that we
are currently preparing a living, breathing document of legislative priorities like we
did last year for the State Legislative session. This time, the document is beyond and
will be complete right around the time that the committees first begin. So the good
news is we have now priorities. We're in communication with our contracted lobbying
teams. The commission offices should have a copy. If you do not, I have extra copies
up here for your review. But more importantly, if you haven't submitted any of your
priorities or specific appropriations as of yet, have no fear. We're collecting them and
we're adding them to the list. However, the Manager wanted to give you all an
opportunity to discuss priorities and appropriations amongst each other.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Commissioners is there anything you'd like to bring
up specifically? I mean, you can always reach out directly to the Manager as well as
Donny to add your items. Is there anything you'd like to bring up together with us?
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Commissioner Reyes: Whatever 1 had is in here, (INAUDIBLE).
Vice Chair Russell: Got it. The only one that's been added which is on its way to the
Mayor's signature right now is the reso (resolution) urging Congress on the
infrastructure bill with regard to the Everglades. There is a transportation
infrastructure meeting tomorrow, committee meeting tomorrow, and rf the Mayor
signs, which I believe he will soon, we'd like to transmit that and urge all of our
delegation in Florida not to vote yes on the infrastructure bill unless it includes the
money for the Everglades.
Mr. Wolfe: Understood.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Go ahead, sir.
Commissioner Watson: How does this coincide with our stormwater plan that they've
been floating around? Does it coincide at all on this legislative priorities?
Mr. Wolfe: It absolutely does. We're still working with our contracted lobbying teams
too, to have the right tact so that when we do approach session the committees, we're
working on the right angles for all of our appropriations, but the answer is yes.
Commissioner Watson: And then 1 know everybody's talking about this on the film
side, since that was big for us at one point, maybe we should have a film something
we're supporting as it relates to the film industfy.
Mr. Wolfe: Sure, we're happy to consider an add in.
Commissioner Watson: And this is draft, so when do we finalize this?
Mr. Wolfe: Either the next or following Commission meeting, we'll have another
either agenda item or discussion where this board can bless it.
Commissioner Watson: Okay, thank you.
Mr. Wolfe: Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much. Well done. Welcome. So that is DI. 1.
DI.2 DISCUSSION ITEM
10625
Commissioners
and Mayor
A DISCUSSION REGARDING THE EXPENDITURE OF CITY FUNDS
AND RESOURCES TO ADDRESS HOMELESSNESS.
rRESULT: DISCUSSED
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Corolla, you can move on to DI.2.
Commissioner Carollo: DI.2.
Vice Chair Russell: Expenditures of City funds in homelessness, and also you feel free
to include RE.10 and RE.11 and FR.4 in your discussion.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you. Let me, while going to that one, which is, I had
asked you, Mr. Manager, to see if I don't know if you've been able to put it together
yet or not, to put together all the funds that we spent on a yearly basis from the City,
and when I mean the City, any sources from the City, whether general fund or not,
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and then some of our agencies, DDA (Downtown Development Authority), 1
understand you spent quite a bit in the homeless situation. I don't know if, you know,
some of our other agencies do too or not, but I'd like to have, on the table, how much
we're spending on the homeless situation in the city of Miami. Because first of all, we
need to show the public how compassionate we've been, that we haven't taken this
lightly. I don't know if we've spent throughout the years as much money as
Commissioner Watson has stated, butt know that we spend a tremendous amount of
money. And while you know, I heard Vicki trying to put a Barney face into it, that, oh,
we're having less homeless out there. I don't see it. Do you see that in your district,
Commissioner? In fact, 1 will tell you what recently one of our top people out in the
front lines fighting homelessness told my chief of staff that if we keep at this rate with
the homeless situation in our streets, we're going to be like Seattle or San Francisco
in another year, year and a half: So, that we're going down in homelessness in the
streets, I don't know about that. You know maybe it's the areas that we counted, the
time of day, I don't know but I haven't seen citywide, the reduction in homelessness.
But I don't know if you've been able to put together the amount of dollars that we have
set aside for this, Mr. Manager.
Arthur Noriega (City Manager): We do. William's going to share with you. The only
numbers we don't have included in that is the DDA, whatever the DDA has allocated.
William Porro: Commissioners, good afternoon. William Porro, Director of Human
Services. Total funds that are expended on homelessness, and I'll give you just round
numbers, is $5.1 million.
Commissioner Carollo: Yearly?
Mr. Porro: Yes, sir. That's for this year. Now, out of that, 3.5 million is provided by
different funding sources to the City, Homeless Trust, ESG (Emergency Solutions
Grant) funding, CV (Coronavirus), so you're looking at 3.5 million is given to the
city, 1.5 million annually is general fund dollars. Added to that we had some
additional --
Commissioner Carollo: Hold on.
Mr. Porro: Go ahead, sorry.
Commissioner Carollo: You told me 5.1.
Mr. Porro: That's correct. I'm just rounding it Where.
Commissioner Carollo: You have 3.5, so it would be 1.6 that the City's doing.
Mr. Porro: Approximately, yes, sir. That's correct. Sorry.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Mr. Porro: We have the shelter bed program, which is $460,000, which is annual.
Commissioner Carollo: $460,000.
Mr. Porro: Yes, sir. With Camillus House, that's the Dade program. We also have
$100, 000, which is the -- I'm sorry, that's the shelter bed program, which is 460, 000.
Commissioner Carollo: 460.
Mr. Porro: And the 100,000 is the Dade program, which is annualized as well.
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Commissioner Carollo: 100, 000 for?
Mr. Porro: So 560,000 total to Camillus House annually. So total general fund, if
add the 1.5, or the 1.6, plus the 560, you get a 2.2 million, little over 2.2 million.
Commissioner Carollo: 2.2 million?
Mr. Porro: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: General fund?
Mr. Porro: Yes, that's correct.
Commissioner Carollo: And then on top of that, we've got the 3.5 million that you said
we get.
Mr. Porro: That's what we -- yes sir, to support the program, that's correct.
Commissioner Carollo: So, 3.5 million and 2.2 million is 5.7 million.
Mr. Porro: That's correct, roughly, yes sir.
Commissioner Carollo: Now --
Mr. Porro: For the -- for the entire homeless program, yes sir.
Commissioner Carollo: Right. That does not include the amount that DDA puts into it.
Mr. Porro: No, sir, it does not. That's just our general fund dollars, our budget.
(COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD)
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Commissioner Reyes, you're recognized. Can you
put on your microphone, please?
Commissioner Reyes: Not only DDA, but CRAs (Community Redevelopment Agency)
also. They contribute.
Commissioner Carollo: That's right. Omni contributes.
Commissioner Reyes: Omni contributes some.
Commissioner Carollo: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Reyes: Omni contributes and Overtown/Park West.
Commissioner Carollo: Now I believe that Christina, your executive director at the
DDA, told me that you're spending about half a million dollars approximately.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, and also we are going to be working on other things with
Onini, like bathrooms and facilities and all of that. And we have the Green Shirts and
we have all the ambassadors and people that, as a matter of fact, I would like to
increase the number of psychologists and counselors that we can put in the streets,
and in this areas, in order to provide more -- additional service to the homeless and
be a little bit more effective in trying to get them out of the streets and probably into
shelters or in other programs where they could be trained and all of that. Okay.
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Commissioner Carollo: How much dollars are spent from the Overtown Southeast?
Commissioner Watson: He's coming now.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Commissioner Watson: He's coming now.
Commissioner Carollo: How about, Commissioner Russell, from the Omni? How
much approximately do we spend in homelessness?
Vice Chair Russell: Give me a second, I can get that for you from the director.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay. Right now we're up to about 6.2 million a year, which
gentlemen and ladies, it's not chicken feed. It's serious money. This is why I wanted to
bring this up. We're spending this kind of money, and it's like a merry-go-round. You
know, I still see the streets, sidewalks full of tents, and sometimes when we move them,
we move them from one part of our city to the other. But I don't see anybody leaving
permanently.
Mr. Porro: May 1 say something Commissioner, just again for everybody's
edification? For me personally, I mean, since I took charge of this department, it's
been a pleasure to work with the police department and the HEAT (Homeless
Empowerment Assistance Team) team, really, and you mentioned it, Commissioner
Reyes, effectiveness is the key word here, to be effective as possible, especially with
this type of investment. And I can tell you that it's been -- it's been really a joy
working together so closely with the HEAT team, Solid Waste and everybody, to make
these things happen. Twice a year, I don't know by law, but by regulation, they have
to provide the count of census, point in time count. It's done in January, and it's done
again now in August 19th, it was done again. The number has been reduced and I
don't want to, I mean, I have on my whiteboard in my office 100 less for the following
year when we come around again. So the number is going down. Now, what is
happening, and you just alluded to it, is that if you have the HEAT team and others
going out each and every day instead of 3 times a week, we're hitting the streets every
day with Solid Waste and so forth and so on, they're going to not go to loth Street or
11 th Street, they're going to go where there's least path of resistance if you're an
unsheltered homeless person. So I guess from my heart, and if I can just share a little
bit personally, what motivates me day in and day out, is that we don't allow the
homeless to adapt to where they're at. And I mean that in the most compassionate way
possible, by giving them a tent, by giving them food. As counterintuitive as it is, we're
making them adapt to their location and their situation. I think it makes it more
pervasive for the unsheltered to go into shelter.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, I agree with that.
Mr. Porro: So it's not a lack of resources --
Commissioner Reyes: Mr. Chair?
Mr. Porro: -- per se, and we can get into nuances in terms of shelter and the whole
continuum in terms of housing, which is -- there's a bottleneck as well.
Commissioner Reyes: Let me ask you something, Mr. Chair -- through the Chair. We
passed an ordinance, the feeding ordinance --
Mr. Porro: Yes sir.
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Commissioner Reyes: -- if you remember. How is that working? It being effective or
there's still people feeding them on the streets?
Mr. Porro: There are. I'll be honest with you.
Commissioner Reyes: And that is lack of enforcement. And who is responsible for
enforcing that, Mr. City Attorney? Or Mr. City Manager? Who is -- who is
responsible for enforcing the street feeding ordinance?
Mr. Porro: Commissioner, can 1 say something in terms of that?
Commissioner Reyes: Of course, you can say whatever you want.
Mr. Porro: No. Thank you. In terms of when I took the post, I noticed that we had an
amazing ordinance, but no signage anywhere. So, we immediately made it a priority
to put up signage, which is not included in this amount. Now, there are over 100 and
something signs all over the city. I just saw somebody the other day that brought in an
enforcement permit for $250. So, I would say to you that, yes, it is, but we need to
keep hammering away. I also created a video personally with the Department of
Communications and sent it out to tell people to stop doing the handing out offood.
We have four locations that are designated spots within --
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Mr. Porro: -- so MPA (Miami Parking Authority). So 1 think it'll work. 1 think we just
need to --
Commissioner Reyes: Well, sir, that ordinance was developed not only to get people
away from feeding them on the street, but also to get the homeless under one roof and
at that place, we will have all the support that it was -- I mean, that is needed for them
to be in contact with them. For example, psychologists, social workers, people that
are nurses, people that will try to provide as much support to the homeless. You see,
now that you have them all together, you can go on and try --
Mr. Porro: I agree.
Commissioner Reyes: -- instead of going from one place to another --
Mr. Porro: That is correct.
Commissioner Reyes: -- you have them then under one roof and then you will contact
and make -- I mean, establish a relationship so you can, maybe they can get, you can
gain their trust and you can guide them into getting assistance.
Mr. Porro: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay. And now, do you have enough support system -- I mean,
personnel for those places?
Mr. Porro: Well, it's a matter of coordination in terms of staff, our outreach team.
There's approximately 13 of them, 10 of them is just in the city. Remember that our
outreach team, our Green Shirts, are funded countywide, where predominantly their
time is spent in the city.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay. But if we don't have enough support, when they are
coming for their food, you see, that we can reach to them and try to help them as
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much as we can. 1 mean, it won't work. That was the idea behind it. When I proposed
that, it was in order to have a support system whenever they are feeding, being fed.
Instead of going to the street, and 1 know that people were -- they were very well -
intended, but they would bring a van fill food and they would give it to whoever
they see and if they don't like it, they would throw it on the sidewalk.
Mr. Porro: As of Friday last week, I had the fortunate -- that a young couple, married
couple, formerly homeless, are one of the ones that are feeding on Thursdays. So they
came to the office to, I forget what it was, but the ACM (Assistant City Manager) was
able to introduce them to me. 1 sat down with them. I think 1 can do a lot just with,
with them two, connecting to know who is doing what, where it's the blind leading the
blind. You never know when the feedings are occurring sometimes, other than the
weekend.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Mr. Porro: So if can get that group to start and many follow, I think we're going to
go in that direction.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay, and please feel free to contact my once if you need any
additional personnel or whatever.
Mr. Porro: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Reyes: And we'll see what we can do with maybe working with the
other CRAs or the DDA and the Administration and working everybody because it is a
problem that affect all of us.
Mr. Porro: Yes sir.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Commissioner and Commissioner Carollo to answer
your question. The Omni CRA spends $300, 000 a year on their Purple Shirt program,
employing the formerly homeless for cleanup in the area, and gives 1 75,000 to
Camillus House every year as their contribution toward the city shelter program.
Commissioner Carollo: 300 and 175.
Vice Chair Russell: Correct. So 475,000 altogether.
Commissioner Carollo: How about --
Commissioner Watson: Under -- under the Interlocal Agreement in 2007, the CRA
gave Camillus 10 million over five years.
Vice Chair Russell .• Overtown?
Commissioner Watson: Yes. 10 million
Commissioner Carollo: 10 million over five years?
Commissioner Watson: Over five years for the facility itself.
Commissioner Carollo: When did that end?
Commissioner Watson: I think it ended in '12, that we did the whole contribution.
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Commissioner Carollo: Okay, so that was done already, 10 million.
Commissioner Watson: Yeah.
Commissioner Carollo: Nothing in the present.
Commissioner Watson: We don't do -- sparingly, programs, but nothing ongoing
programmatically.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay. Now, I'm up to 6,675, $6, 675, 000. And I'm trying to get
the actual money that we're spending in this out there, because if there's not a real
difference, and I want our residents to be the ones that are the judge of this, in a
reasonable amount of time, whether it's 6 months, 9 months, but a reasonable amount
of time, then I think we need to start revisiting how we should be doing in spending
this money, in coming up with ways that are going to help us more, in using it best.
Now, there's no doubt in my mind that you're trying to do the best job that you can,
sir, and I'm not here to try to say anything different. What 1 will say to you is that this
is a huge amount of money for us to spend as a city, and to still see what we're seeing
out in the streets. And you might be convinced that it's less people that we have out
there. I'm not convinced from what I'm seeing in many areas of our city. And it's one
thing to have surveys that cover certain areas from time to time, but you know, a lot
depends on how ingenuous some people are, how strongly some want to go out there
and really get into the areas where you're going to be doing the counting. So what I
will say to you is that I'm hearing more and more complaints from people about this
situation. I don't know what, you know, many in other districts see, but there's a major
problem out there. And in the downtown Miami area are two premier parks, we got
one heck of a mess with the homeless situation. For me to have cleared some of the
biggest areas that I've had, I've had to come here meeting after meeting until finally
the Manager himself went out there to direct, you know, the cleaning. He shouldn't
have to be doing that. After that happened, I don't think much more was done, and
people started corning back until the Manager, I guess, put the -- his foot to the pedal,
and we've gotten some of what came back starting to be cleared out again. This is a
weekly task that we have to be on top of and that's where I like to put our dollars in.
And like I said, if we have to get rooms and rent out entire small motels and hotels
ourselves, I don't mind doing it. But our residents that are not out in the streets also
have rights. And we need to protect that homeless population that's out there also
from others and from themselves.
Manny Morales: Commissioner, if I could, Manny Morales, Assistant Chief of Police
Department. I think that what Director Porro was trying to say is that we're far from
reaching a place where we're content with the situation. I think that what he is trying
to highlight is that we're heading in the very right direction. If I could give you some
stats from what he's alluding to as the HEAT team, which is the Homeless
Empowerment Assistance Team, that the police department joined with other City
departments to kind of create and more -- have a more cohesive approach to homeless
outreach and encampment cleanups. We began this back on August 2nd, and what we
did is we sat down with all the City departments that were impacted, which is the
Police mainly, Homeless Outreach, and Solid Waste. Those are the three main
components that we have. So we're going out there in a task force configuration. We
created internally a dedicated team full time, a sergeant and four officers, that all
they're solely delegate -- dedicated is to homeless issues. They're partnering up with
at least three to four Green Shirts every single day. And we bring along a pick-up
truck with about three or four service workers. We bring out the bucket, the truck, the
sweeper, and the water truck. And what we're doing is we're going to the areas where
the commanders have indicated to us in the various nets and districts where they're
having these large encampments and we're having issues where we're trying to get the
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services to the people without homes and where we're trying to address public health
issues like human feces and urine on the sidewalk. So if I could just in that brief time
from August 2nd to September 9, we conducted 32 details. We're able to hit 39
locations. Some of them were duplicates because we believe that you're right, it's not
only a weekly task, it's got to be a daily focus on each of the areas that are being
impacted. In that time, we did 329 homeless contacts. We filled out the field interview
cards. 112 of those accepted shelter of one sort or another. We did have 10 arrests,
which is a minuscule amount compared with the individuals that we contacted. But I
think that you'll kind of get a little better idea of the impact and the highlights that
Director Porro is saying when 1 tell you that from January to August, the end of -- the
beginning of August, right before we instituted the HEAT concept, we had 311
contacts in the entire police department in that period of time. So you're comparing
almost seven months versus one month. And out of those, only 40 were placed in
shelter. So what we're finding out out there is that by having the same officers that
have been highly trained, they're crisis intervention trained, and they are masters of
de-escalation, we're able to build these relationships with people without homes and
where they're more easily accepting shelter and they are guided into the continuum of
care, which is what we want. Now, I know that Director Porro said that there is a
cost. Now, that doesn't include the Police Department, right? That overall cost of
being engaged in the business of homelessness, but the Police Department also has a
cost. And I can tell you thatfbr the HEAT team, just that one sergeant of four officers
in that month was about 65,000. Granted, we did do some additional overtime
because we know that the beginning of the program is when we have these large
encampments that we got to hit with a little more continuity. But if you kind of follow
that concept alone and the results that we've had, we've got some pictures to kind of
demonstrate that we could provide to the Commission later on. But that would be
about 800, 000. But that doesn't even take into account the labor-intensive work that
would have to be calculated for every instance a police officer responds to a call or
makes an arrest of a homeless individual. So the costs are much higher. To give you
an idea, year-to-date, 1,219 homeless folks have been arrested. It takes about two
hours to process an arrest. If you take an average officer's salary, we're talking about
100, 000, and that's just year-to-date. But as Director Porro was highlighting, we're
very hopeful, and we're seeing very positive results. And that's not the only strategy.
We saw that there's some friction, and we usually talk about the shelter -resistant
homeless and how they're kind of like the hardest segment of our population to reach.
What we've seen is that there was a little bit of mistrust and a little bit of
apprehension on their part to take because they had gotten so used of mistrusting the
homeless outreach. So what we're doing is, as you're seeing the same folks coming
over and over again, we're building that connection with them and they're able to
more easily accept the assistance. Along those lines, we are getting together and
we're putting a training course not only for the homeless outreach on de-escalation
and crisis intervention, an abbreviated class, so they can better help us deal with
those conflicts that we're having with the homeless on the streets, but we're also
including Solid Waste in that. So we're kind of taking an all -hands -on -deck approach
and Commissioner, trust me, I know that this has been a subject that we've spoken
about for many, many times, but I think we're, I feel very strongly that we're on the
right track this time. So all we need to do is I ask the members of the Commission and
the Administration to give us a little bit of time, and I guarantee you that you're going
to be pleasantly surprised with the results that the task force is going to bring forward
to the city with compassion and care.
Commissioner Carollo: Chief Morales, you were here when Ipresented the
resolution, when I got soon elected as the Commissioner, to go into the federal courts.
All my colleagues that were here at the time voted with me on it, into going back to
the federal courts, into doing away with the handcuffs that Miami was the only city in
the country that had such handcuffs placed upon it in dealing with homelessness. I
presented that because I thought that it was going to be successful because of what we
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had done in showing compassion for so many years. And I was right. The trial judge
agreed with us. People appealed. We won the appeal. And we're still in the same
place again, like if we couldn't do anything about it and we can. We can. So I'm trying
to put all these ideas together so that we could get something accomplished. And I
don't have to spend my next four years here, you know, in a merry-go-round, just
seeing the same thing again and again and again. You know, our city deserves better
than that. When we have visitors, tourists, our own people that are going day in and
day out through different major avenues or streets, and they're seeing all these people
taking up the sidewalk with mattresses thrown in there, with couches, you name it. I
will tell you, I have traveled extensively throughout the world, and particularly in our
own hemisphere, in Latin America. But I've traveled through many countries in the
world that are poor. And the situation that I see in many parts of our streets I didn't
see it in foreign countries. So we could do better than that. You know, we're Miami.
We're America. And this is not something that we should be living with day in and day
out. Let's see the area of the financing and how much we're spending. Gentlemen,
where would you like to go? Do you want to go with the resolutions or you want to go
with the ordinance?
DI.3 DISCUSSION ITEM
10627
Commissioners
and Mayor
A DISCUSSION ITEM REGARDING STATUS OF SOLID WASTE
REWARD PROGRAM.
RESULT: DISCUSSED
Vice Chair Russell: Gentlemen, we are going to be out of here with time to spare. You
can take a nap before the budget hearing, but for now we've got a little bit of business
left. We have the remaining discussion items and then the batch of the homeless
related items and that is it, if I'm not mistaken. So let's do the discussion items first to
get them out of the way and well save the best for last, Commissioner Carollo, the
homeless issues that you'd like to tackle. So DI 1 is legislative priorities. Who is
presenting? Whose item is this?
Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Donny Wolfe will be presenting, give us two minutes.
Vice Chair Russell: You need some time for that to get them here? I can move on?
Mr. Noriega: If want to advance, well when he gets here you can do it.
Vice Chair Russell: All right, DI.3, status of solid waste reward program.
Wade Sanders: Again, Wade Sanders, City of Miami Solid Waste Director. Rewards
program, that's the -- so the -- yeah, you can come if you want to. So, the reward
program -- reward program that was put in place was for the illegal dumping
throughout the city. And it was mandated to come up with a plan to address the illegal
dumping and how we would pay out that reward. We got the department together and
we're working with Crime Stoppers and 311. The individuals are able to call in the
Crime Stoppers, they'll be anonymous. But if they call in the 311, they will not be -- it
won't be -- it won't go into anonymous. And we are also working with Budget and
Finance to put an account together so that those funds that we get from the violators,
we use those funds to pay out those monies to the ones that report the illegal dumping.
And that way, that this program will be self:sufficient where it takes care of itself. So
with that, you know, we work with them, we're working with them, and now the last
thing is just waiting until -- working with the Police Department waiting for the Chief
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to tell us that it's ready to roll out. He said earlier that he met with them today. They
did a pilot program. The pilot program worked. I guess a few people called in to test
to see exactly how it would flow through. So those individuals will receive those
moneys. I think also staff identified if individuals try to duplicate and get the $500 fee
twice, it's able to, you know, kick them out, but they only get that $500 fee once. So,
that's the program. It's ready to roll out. I hope I answered it correctly.
Commissioner Carollo: Again, that you will be ready to roll this program out.
Mr. Sanders: When?
Commissioner Carollo: By when.
Mr. Sanders: October 1. We was waiting for this approval for the increase in the fees
because the fees are what we're going to use to pay -- for it to pay for itself. So we
were targeting October 1 to roll out everything, but since the Chief already tested it,
they did the pilot program, we're ready to roll it out. We're just waiting to get those
funds so when individuals start calling in, asking for their reward, which consists of
it's got to be either a fine or a conviction in order to receive those funds, then we're
able to pay them out of that.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay, well let's just make sure we've sent direct information
to each household in the city --
Mr. Wade: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: -- that we do sufficient advertisement. And the Manager has
spoken to me about that, that we do public service commercials and ads, not just in
our own TV, but to try to get it out in regular television.
Mr. Sanders: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: Whatever we can get on radio.
Mr. Sanders: Right.
Commissioner Carollo: And in any additional way through your department that we
could get that out.
Mr. Sanders: Yes. So for right now what we're doing, Commissioner, what we have in
place, Spanish radio, Creole radio, the regular radio, we're looking at social media,
we're looking at taking care of the trolley systems, doing the wraps on the trolley
system, posting it on the trolley system, billboards, and the bus benches. The direct
mailers that we're looking to mail out, looking to mail those out, and when we go out
to any of the associations, when we're doing our rounds and stuff with our
homeowners association, well make sure we pass that literature out and make sure
that they get that and understand what the reward program is.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Any further discussion on the Solid Waste Reward
Program?
Commissioner Watson: So that's the reward program. The communication effort is
going to be language friendly, right? It'll be language friendly, appropriate, however
you want to call it. You're doing this both in Spanish, Creole.
Mr. Sanders: Right. Spanish, Creole, American radio stations.
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Commissioner Watson: Because some of those mediums don't necessarily work for
certain communities.
Mr. Sanders: Okay.
Commissioner Watson: The Cuban community, Haitian community, are heavy radio
oriented. So they may not look at trolleys, you know what 1 mean, as opposed to
hitting them with the mediums that they get a lot of their information from.
Mr. Sanders: Okay, we'll look into it.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, sir.
Commissioner Reyes: Thank you.
Mr. Sanders: Don't go too far, right?
Vice Chair Russell: That is DL3 done.
DI.4 DISCUSSION ITEM
10632
Commissioners
and Mayor
A DISCUSSION ITEM REGARDING CHIEF ACEVEDO/CITY OF
MIAMI POLICE.
RESULT: DISCUSSED
Vice Chair Russell: And the only remaining item, if1 am not mistaken, is the
discussion item on the police. Commissioner Carollo.
Commissioner Carollo: Yes, thank you. It is 5:15 and we still have a very long day on
the budget that will be coming next.
[Later...]
Vice Chair Russell: And Commissioner, is there anything else you had on the police
discussion item before we close that item?
Commissioner Carollo: We have a packed house here almost.
Vice Chair Russell: With the budget.
Commissioner Carollo: With the budget. I don't know how long we're going to be
involved in the budget. I'd like to do the following. have a day, 0411 day, that we deal
with this item and this item only.
Vice Chair Russell: Which item, Commissioner?
Commissioner Carollo: The one that I have for discussion here.
Vice Chair Russell: DL4, discussion of the City of Miami Police.
Commissioner Carollo: The one before --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Police Chief Art Acevedo.
Vice Chair Russell: I'm sorry, DI.4?
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Commissioner Carollo: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: So yes, it's just called a discussion item, City of Miami Police.
Commissioner Carollo: No.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: no.
Vice Chair Russell: What am 1 missing?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: The name of the police chief.
Commissioner Carollo: Can you read the title for me, Commissioner? Here we go.
Discussion item regarding Chief Acevedo/City of Miami Police. This is an item that is
going to take up a considerable amount of time in going to the areas that we need to.
And I think we would be better served, and the public would here too, that has come
to speak on different items. If we pick a date, or bring this back to a date, that we will
deal with this strictly on that date. I want to be clear that one of the options that I'm
looking for in dealing with this bringing up a charter provision that this body will
empower itself into an investigative panel that would have subpoena powers to get to
the bottom line of certain things that would be brought up. In the meantime, 1 would
respectfully, respectfully request of the Manager if you could make sure that what you
told me that you were going to do would happen. That our police chief would stick to
being a professional administrator and not spend all his time, or should I rephrase
that, a substantial amount of time in doing all kinds of interviews, no matter, not local
or local, not be out there in every major event in the front of the line taking self es or
giving interviews. And at the same time, Mr. Manager, I would hope that this constant
firing and non -compassion of our police officers would stop in status quo until we
come back to this.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner, if that's a request for deferral on the item, so we
can have more time to take it up further?
Commissioner Carollo: This is where I'm heading to, but I would like other members
here, if they would like to step in. I will say this to you, Mr. Manager, that I'm
extremely concerned with some of the things that have come to me, that have
happened within our department, or that have tried to be done within our department.
I will tell you that I'm very disturbed on the morale of our police department from top
to bottom. And this is not something that, you know, I'm just throwing out. This is a
reality. And you're the city manager. You need to get your feet in the ground and
speak to sufficient officers on your own to get the, feedback. I have no axe to grind
with anyone. I really don't know that many people inside this police department. It
had been many years since I was mayor and then came back, so I don't have those
contacts that I once had. A lot of the people that worked when I was here are no
longer here in the PD (Police Department). But I care about this department, and we
need to do things in the right way, in a compassionate way, and the so-called family
and friends program could truly be put aside. So, I hope you understand me, Mr.
Manager, because if anyone has any doubts, whatsoever, of how serious I am,
whether whatever is going on in the next 50 days, please don't t'y to blame me,
because I've been around for a long, long time. I know how to do things properly, and
I'm not a pushover. And my limitation has come to its limit, to its limit. And even
though, yes, I am one of those Cuban -Americans that is of Sicilian descent, partly, I
am not part of the Cuban Mafia. So, having said that, and I was going to go into a few
areas, but there's too many people here that are waiting for the budget. I don't know
how long we're going to be stuck in this budget. I still have some very serious family
pending 'natters that I have to attend to before the night is over. I would defer to the
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members of the Commission as to what date they would like to meet to discuss this
item and how many days do you want to give.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner, so that we don't get caught in the same situation
with the next budget hearing, would you like to take this up on the 14th of October
where we may have a little more room in the agenda?
Commissioner Carollo: I would be willing to do that if the Manager gives me his
solemn word that he is going to keep status quo, and no massacres, no more just
firing people for BS reasons, you know. And, Mr. Manager, we've spoken. I think you
know exactly where I'm coming from.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Reyes, I'll recognize you in just a second. I want to
capture the motion. Is there -- it's a motion to defer D1.4 to October 14th. Is there a
second?
Commissioner Reyes: Second it, butt have a comment that have to make.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, motion and a second. Commissioner Reyes, you are
recognized. The Commissioner Watson would like to --
Commissioner Reyes: I believe that,l mean, the air must be clear. And if we have a
meeting, we will have to -- every one of us, let it all hang out in the open, any problem
that we have with police chief either if you agree with him or if you don't disagree, or
whatever. But there is a specific, specific problem thatl have. I want to know what's --
and I'm not, I don't want any answer now, I'm going to ask the Chief please give me
all the information of why the Camacho -- Officer Camacho, it is not back at his post.
Because it was an investigation that was asked. He asked about 60 days or something
like that. Time has gone by.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: 45.
Commissioner Reyes: 45 days. And time has gone bv. And I want to know why,
because I don't accept that because of conflict of personalities, will ruin the career of
an individual, as Camacho, as it happened with Hiram (phonetic) before. You see, it's
not the first time that it happened, and I don't want this to keep on happening.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner, would you like the response on the dais or would
you like the Manager to come back to you offline?
Commissioner Reyes: I will -- however it is, but now you see because of indifference
to the people that are here, you see, I don't think that -- I mean there's so many people
here for this and I want to have some -- and I don't know about my colleagues if they
want, I don't know, probably Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla would like an answer
also. You see?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes sir.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay. And also Commissioner Watson and Commissioner --
okay, all of us. And I don't know, I defer to you guys, what do you prefer, but we have
to have certain consideration with the old --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I --
Vice Chair Russell: You're recognized.
Commissioner Carollo: Can I just say a quick word?
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Vice Chair Russell: 1 had Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla next.
Commissioner Carollo: No, just quick so he can go. When I said to the manager,
being very respectful, that I would appreciate very much if he could give me his word
and make sure we were going to be keeping status quo until we dealt with this, I
meant everything, including the Camacho situation. Mr. Manager, I didn't want to get
into it, but I'm going to say it publicly. If the information that's gotten back to me is
true, that the police chief was even trying to get others to agree to, that this officer
would be arrested, not just fired, pretty darn outrageous. And I hope that you have
more of us, you know, backbone not to let this go on any further this way. Because
you know well that, you know if they want to open up Pandora's Box, believe nie, it's
going to be the biggest mistake that's been made. And I said it to you before, 1'll say it
again. If 1 have to play Samson, let the whole roof fall on everyone, I will be more
than willing to do it. And I'll be darned if I'm going to let a new transplant come here
and think that he could do whatever the heck he wants to do, or say, and act like if
he's got no bosses whatsoever. Each one of us and the mayor have been elected.
We've gone through elections. Whether we've had many opponents or few opponents,
strong elections or not. But each one of us have gone through elections, were duly
elected, and each one of us have roots, very deep roots, in this community. And I want
every officer in this city to understand that you don't have to live in fear any longer. If
this has to come, to whatever it has to come, it'll come to that.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I'm not --
Vice Chair Russell: You're recognized Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla.
Commissioner Carollo: And Mr. Manager, let me clarify --
Vice Chair Russell: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: He's not done vet.
Commissioner Carollo: -- and Mr. Manager, let me clarify more than anything else,
we are your bosses. You are his boss. You're the one that brought him in. I don't think
you did adequate or sufficient looking into the best police chief in the country when
you brought him in, but frankly, as one man's opinion, in football, baseball, in
college, we have -- in basketball, we have the Associated Press's Top 25. I don't even
think he makes the top 25, and frankly any one of our assistant police chiefs that we
have here today, including the one that he fired, would have been better police chiefs
for this city than this gentleman. With all due respect.
Commissioner Reyes: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla was next, then Commissioner
Reyes.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thank you, Mr. Chair. To be honest with you,
Commissioner Carollo and Commissioner Reyes, I'm not really in favor of deferral to
October 14. I don't like, since I've been here, I've only been here a year and a half, I
don't like to interfere in departments, but the kind of loss of morale and the
conversations, probably close to two dozen conversations I've had with rank and file
members, have been very, very, very disturbing to me. And I think some of the things
that you said, Commissioner Carollo, and you Commissioner Reyes, it goes beyond
Luis Camacho. It's bigger than that.
Commissioner Carollo: Oh, it's much bigger than that.
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Commissioner Diaz de la Fonda. It's much bigger than that. And that's why we need
that special meeting, but not October 14th. My Lord, 1 would have it tomorrow ifI
could or the day after. Because I don't thinkjust asking the manager for his word,
although his word is good, I think we should clearly have a moratorium on any more
firings, any more suspensions without evidence, without conversations.
Commissioner Carollo: Unfortunately, we cannot do that.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I know. I know. I know. But 1 think it's to make a
point, right? That 1 think we live in a country, in a city, 1 was in a country where we
have due process. The people are entitled to say their side of the story before
determinations are made. And what I've seen, not only in the Camacho case, so far, in
other cases without going into any names, everybody here knows, every police officer
back there knows the names, and the loss of morale among the rank and file, they
know that a lot of these decisions, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), have been taken without
getting the other side of the story. And every story has two sides. And everything has
to have a conclusion, because what happens is when you accuse someone of
something, even if you reinstate them later, you've already tarnished their reputation.
And when you say something without allowing them the due process that this country
allows, you're damaging their careers. And these are people that have been here lbr
decades, that have been through everything from bad situations like the Miami River
Cops, to the Mariel Boatlift, to the McDuffie Riots, to Lozano, to the Mariel Boatlift,
to Elian, and we go on and on and on and on and on. It is a fraternity of pain and
suffering and success along the way, and reform, that they've lived through. You can't
come from the outside and not respect that process, not respect that history, that
institutional knowledge that would have been extremely valuable for you, because you
didn't know the certain things that Cuban Americans, almost every Cuban American,
knows that the Castro government refers to the Miami Cubans as the Mafia, the
Cuban Mafia. That's something that almost every Cuban is born knowing. And for you
not to know that, and that insensitivity to not understanding that, plus other things
that need to be discussed at a special meeting. I understand that people are waiting
for a budget hearing, and I'm very sensitive to that too. But this, there's no department
that's more institutionalized than the police department. There's no department that's
more representative of city than its police department, especially with what's
happening now in the country with the police and all the challenges they're facing.
They're no longer the good guys. They've become the bad guys. When they're here to
protect and to serve and to defend and to keep us safe. And to have them be unhappy
in the jobs that they do every day, risking their lives, is concerning to me. It's not
something that can wait until October 14th. And I'm not saying -- I get the schedule
that we have and the important work that we have to do, but this is very important
work. And I also think, Commissioner Carollo, and you also, Commissioner Reyes,
the comments you made, I would like for the Chief to answer some of those questions.
Even if we limit the time that he can stay today, and we bring him back to a .special
meeting. I would like to know, to give him the opportunity to say, hey, this is why I did
it. But not to say this is under investigation because what he said here, I haven't re-
heard the tape, but I remember, I have a good memory. What he said here was, with
the Luis Camacho case, there'll be 30 days, 45 days, I'll come back to you. And if we
find that it's inconclusive or that he didn't do anything wrong, then we'll reinstate him
and bring him back here. It's been how many days? Is it 80-something days?
Commissioner Carollo: But Commissioner, we're not going to get to the whole truth
of that.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I know I agree, but I'm saying the same thing you
are. I think we do a special meeting sooner rather than later, but I would like for him
to at least tell me so I can go home tonight --
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Commissioner Reyes: We have to --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- and have some sort of reason why these things
haven't happened. Not to go into everything else, not to go into the firing of, I'm not
going to mention names, of this person or that person. But what's happening is it is
true what Commissioner Carollo said, the police officers need to have their morale up
here.
Commissioner Reyes: Absolutely.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And they are in fear for their jobs. They can't say
what they think. When they say, they say it very privately. And we will --1 think that
reflects poorly in our city and on this Commission. And we have a responsibility to
open it up and air out the differences because they can't, but we can.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And it's open forum. They can't go and complain,
but we can.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay. Just let me state one thing, and I think that we should
respect the people that are waiting for the budget. But one thing that 1 want to know is
the Camacho case, from who initiated it, how it happened, where, because that is very
dangerous, what's going on. 1 inean, that an innuendo or somebody that says and tell
the Chief this is happening, and then he takes action because it being --1 mean, 1
don't know who made him take the action that it was. I want to know the truth because
this is not the first time it happens.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So we have a public records request to see every
email that went back and forth --
Commissioner Reyes: That's right. But I think that --
Commissioner Carollo: Subpoena powers.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I agree with that too.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But 1 mean, there has to -- what 1 heard was so
disturbing. Look, and I'm not accusing you of anything, Police Chief I'm not saying
it's true or not because I don't do -- I don't accuse people without having evidence. Let
me tell you what I've heard. That there was a report on the Camacho case, and you
turned it back because you didn't like what the report recommended. And you asked
the person to send you a different report and then that person was fired. And you got
somebody else there. That's what I've heard. I hope it's not true. But if there's a paper
trail, if there's a paper trail --
Commissioner Reyes: Commissioner.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- somebody recommends something, and
somebody rejects it because that's not the conclusion that you wanted, I also heard in
the Camacho case that there was a decision made without even interviewing the guy.
The interview came after the decision, without giving the guy the opportunity to make
his case. And I've heard that about other cases with other officers, and that's
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disturbing. As a City of Miami Commissioner, we have -- and as City Commissioners,
we can have this discussion without fear.
Commissioner Reyes: Absolutely.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Without fear.
Commissioner Reyes: Absolutely.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But they can't because they'll be fired.
Commissioner Reyes: But 1 want to clam something, and I have a witness here in all
--1 mean, just for the sake of justice, because 1 like to be just. I admit by coincidence,
1 was coming in the day after the Chief called -- used that phrase, the Cuban Mafia,
and I was real pissed. And when I (UNINTELLIGIBLE), when I explained that the
Castro -- I mean, the government, Castro government, has referred to us as the Cuban
Mafia, he got -- I mean, said, I didn't know, I didn't know. I mean, and he got livid. He
said it wasn't my intention of insulting. And I grew up in California, and I did not
know, you see? It was a joke. And I told him, you don't joke in Miami with the Cubans
like that. You don't joke with our -- you have to be very careful because we are a
group of people, we're a population that has suffered, has suffered for 60 years. You
see, a dictatorship, there is a lot of blood, a lot of tears, a lot of persecution, people
that have been in jail for 30 years, 1 mean, torture and all of that. You see, we are --
we are very sensitive about what you call us. And he expressed that, and I have a
witness that was with me, and he said, we apologize. 1 accept that, okay, I accept that,
and I gave him the benefit of the doubt of ignorance, you see. But what 1 want to know
is other things, I mean, things that are happening, and complaints within the
department, that it is very important also, you see, very important also, because what
we cannot lose is the trust of the police force.
Vice Chair Russell: All right, so Commissioner Reyes, I'm going to try to get you
those answers about Camacho and everything else by the next meeting where we will
bring this up, by your motion. Commissioner Watson, you are recognized, and I want
to make one more comment before we close the discussion.
Commissioner Watson: I just think in fairness to everybody involved, both us, public
waiting on the budget
Vice Chair Russell: Yep.
Commissioner Watson: -- to the Chief, and what should be decided, or what answers
to be given, to do it sooner than the 14th, pick a date, we are all inclined to be able to
do that. So pick a date sooner than the l4th, Mr. Chair.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Commissioner Watson: Pick a date sooner than the 14th.
Vice Chair Russell: It is.
Commissioner Carollo: We should all pick a date sooner than the 14th.
Commissioner Watson: Yeah.
Vice Chair Russell: Well the previous date before that is another budget hearing and I
thought we might get into the same jam. If you want to spend a considerable amount
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of time on it, the 14th we'll keep it wide open, but if you want to bring in the 23rd we
can as well.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Is that a Thursday, the 23rd?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So let's do a Tuesday before the 23rd?
Vice Chair Russell: You want to do a special meeting outside of Friday?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: A special meeting outside of --
Commissioner Carollo: This is what we've been speaking about.
Vice Chair Russell: Okay, you said options for both, the 14th or, I mean, I'm sorry,
the --
(MULTIPLE PARTIES SPEAKING IN UNISON)
Vice Chair Russell: So you'd rather have a special --
Commissioner Watson: Well, first of all --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: We could do it on Friday, or we can do it on
Monday of next week.
Commissioner Carollo: Monday would be maybe better, but if not, any day ---
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: How about Friday next week? A Monday next
week?
Commissioner Reyes: Mr. Chair.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, Commissioner.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: With the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Reyes: Why do you like Friday so much?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I love Friday. Fridays I'm more relaxed. Mondays
I'm a little bit tense. I'm more relaxed on Fridays.
Vice Chair Russell: Alright. Alright so --
Commissioner Reyes: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I think Monday works.
Vice Chair Russell: I'm sorry. So we have a -- I'm sorry --
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney).: Can I --
Vice Chair Russell: We need to amend the motion. Madam City Attorney, just a
moment.
Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Can I offer a suggestion? Go ahead.
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Vice Chair Russell: Just a moment. We need to amend the motion. Is that correct,
Commissioner? Because your motion is for October 14th to defer this item to that,
which is a commission day. Would you like to withdraw that motion or amend it?
Commissioner Carollo: No, the motion that we agreed that what would be better for
the majority of us, Monday or Friday of next week?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Monday for me.
Mr. Noriega: Can I offer --
Vice Chair Russell: Okay, let me bring in the City Manager for scheduling as well as
the City Attorney who are going to let us know about noticing --
Mr. Noriega: We already -- next week is already the second budget hearing, alright?
It's -- we have a lot of work to do between first reading and second reading of the
budget, and a pretty packed agenda for next City Commission meeting. I think this
needs to be addressed sooner than later as well and I don't think we need to wait till
the 14th, and I suggest the week of the 27th, which is the following week after the
budget hearing. That way it gives us an opportunity to get through the budget. There's
a lot of work to be done there and we spent a lot of times -- a lot of time briefing.
There's going to be amendments to the budget between now and the second hearing. 1
just think we're trying to cram a lot into basically a week and a half.
DI.5 DISCUSSION ITEM
10628
Commissioners
and Mayor
A DISCUSSION ITEM REGARDING RESOLUTION NUMBER R-20-
0158 AND INMATES RELEASED INTO THE CITY OF MIAMI.
RESULT: DISCUSSED
Vice Chair Russell: I'd like to take up DI.5, inmates released into the city of Miami.
Whose discussion item is this?
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): Commissioner Carollo.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Carollo. You have a discussion item about inmates
released into the city of Miami. You have the floor. Mr. Manager, discussion
regarding inmates released into the city of Miami.
Commissioner Carollo: For some time now we have had a county that has a jail well
outside of the city of Miami. The jail, in fact, is unincorporated Miami -Dade, going
almost into -- a little further into the boundaries of Doral and the city of
(UNINTELLIGIBLE). They purposely do not let any of the inmates that are arrested
countywide out of that jail. They claim that they have to send them back to the city of
Miami facilities off of 12th Avenue, where they process them to get them out. What
has been happening traditionally for years is that when many, of these individuals are
let out, they're let out into the city of Miami. The first place that some of them go to try
to find money, food, is in the Allapattah area. From there, they cross into the bridge
into my district, and Little Havana gets hit. Then they cross into downtown, District 5,
and those that make it to District 4, all in the city of Miami. This is not fair to the City
of Miami that the County is letting all the inmates out in the City of Miami limits. I
could accept that inmates that are arrested by Miami Police in the city of Miami are
let out here, but not for the whole entire population of greater Miami -Dade County to
be let out here. This is causing us a tremendous additional amount of dollars that we
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have to put towards this in all kinds of services, not just police services. And I'd like
the Administration to explain to me what it feels that we could do to put a stop to this.
Now, if the County's just going to flip a sign, you know, like one of those that you
recently shown that they're okay, or fix another sign to us with maybe a different
finger up and the rest down. That's fine, butt want to be ready to take whatever legal
action our City can take in the courts so that we get some relief. Now, Mr. Manager,
Madam City Attorney, what say you that this City could do in trying to talk to the
County in the most diplomatic ways to see if they will change this, and if not, what,
Madam City Attorney, can we do to correct this through the courts? And last but not
least, the Chief can address, if he so wishes, what constraints and costs it is causing to
our police department and some other of our agencies that work with police in
homelessness in the streets and in other ways?
Arthur Noriega (City Manager): So ifI may, Chief So we've had conversations. We
had a conversation with them last year, administratively, and we really had no
response. That was under a different administration. So I think the first order of
business would be to reach out to the current County government, the Mayor in
particular, since she oversees corrections, which is the department responsible for
inmate release. If you'd like, I can reach out to her, express this Commission's desire
to address that particular situation, make it more equitable, and then see what kind of
response I get. I can certainly report back to this Commission at the next meeting to
see if there's been any movement or traction on that. 1 would certainly encourage this
Commission to pass a reso (resolution) to that effect, and that would certainly give the
political support required, you know, to -- and obviously this discussion is a preamble
to that, but 1 would really, really recommend that the Commission pass a resolution. It
would add a little value to it in terms of my discussion with the County Mayor and her
administrative staff.
[Later...]
Commissioner Carollo: Last but not least, to the Police Department, if you could
address the areas that are police oriented that I've asked upon.
Art A cevedo (Police Chief): Yeah, good afternoon, Commissioners, Chairman, City
Manager. This is an issue not just unique to here. A lot of cities, part of the problem is
that the central booking station is in the city, and they bring people from the county.
TDCJ (Texas Department of Criminal Justice) in Texas would do that to us and dump
prisoners from all over the place, right there in downtown Houston, downtown Austin,
and it extends beyond jails. It also happens with state mental health facilities that
many times are in cities. So I think it is a timely conversation to look at, and from our
perspective, we'd like to take a look at making sure that we're not having state
prisoners from other jurisdictions being brought to Downtown Miami or people that
have been held, mental health 72-hour holds from different communities that are
brought to Miami, next thing you know they end up on our streets. So we're going to,
with your concurrence Mr. Manager, we're going to look at all those issues and
report back.
Commissioner Carollo: Chief can you go through and assign whoever is appropriate
in your department to do this? The list of arrestees that we have had in I think at least
a year's time and see how many of those you could ascertain if they have -- that have
been arrested before by Miami -Dade County and have served time in the jail system
here.
Mr. Acevedo: We could do that. We'd also take a look if we can. It'll be labor
intensive, but we will try to see --
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Commissioner Carollo: It's definitely labor intensive, hut it's the kind of stuff that
we're going to he needing.
Mr. Acevedo: I think it would also be interesting to see how many were arrested by us
shortly after their release in the city. And I'm talking about residents from other
communities that were released in Miami and within, you know, 3, 5, 6 hours get
arrested by us.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, but the only way that we're going to get somewhat of an
idea, not fully, by far, is by checking people that we have arrested during the past
year here and see, you know, if they were part of the population that was previously
dumped into the city of Miami.
Mr. Acevedo: We will come up with a plan, Commissioner. And then Chief Aguilar
also spoke with the Director of the Department of Corrections for the County. Would
you like to hear from him the conversation we had related to this matter? Very briefly.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay. Alright (UNINTELLIGIBLE) --
Commissioner Watson: Before he comes up, let me ask a question.
Commissioner Carollo: Would you like to add any more to that?
Armando Aguilar: Good afternoon. Armando Aguilar, Assistant Chief of Police. So,
according to Director Dan, Jr., the number of inmates that are released on a daily
basis from DCJ (Miami -Dade County Jail) are seven inmates. Those are released
after hours. I'm not sure if you've been made aware of the issue that they don't release
them if there's not a public transit line nearby, which is running at that time. So there
is none at TGK (Turner Guilford Knight) after 9: 00 PM up until 6. 00 AM. So seven
per day, 34 that get released from TGK But we could definitely explore a few options
as far as maybe adding lines or finding alternative locations to release those people.
Everybody else that gets released from DCJ is an almost negligible number. These
are people that are held without bond, or they couldn't pay bond. And their criminal
case gets resolved in court. And so then they get released from the courthouse. But
we'll definitely, work with the County to find whatever other alternatives.
Commissioner Carollo: Give me the total amount that you're saying that you were
told are getting released on a weekly basis into the city.
Mr. Aguilar: So daily average is 7 so we're talking 49 per week.
Commissioner Carollo: That's what it would be 7 times 7.
Mr. Aguilar: Right. So we don't know what the breakdown is. We could certainly find
out what the breakdown is between city arrestees and --
Commissioner Carollo: Have we done anything to confirm those numbers?
Mr. Aguilar: Well it was in a written memo that that the corrections director had
authored about a year ago and so I spoke to him and confirmed those numbers today.
Commissioner Carollo: We should, maybe in the form of a public record, try to
confirm those numbers if they're accurate or not, but any way you cut it, you're
looking at a couple of hundred people a month. Actually more than a couple hundred
Mr. Aguilar: About 200, yes.
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Commissioner Carollo: -- a month, cause there's more than 28 days in a month. And
still, even if it's that, that's still a significant amount of individuals that are being let
loose into our city.
Mr. Aguilar: So, again, we'll explore some of the alternatives and also obtain some of
those records and take a look at the other information that you asked for as far as our
arrestees and how soon after their release are they getting re -arrested.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Commissioner Reyes: Chair?
Commissioner Watson: Commissioner, can I ask a quick question? I'm sorry.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Reyes, Commissioner Watson.
Commissioner Reyes: I'm just going to add something to what we were -- it's not
necessarily criminals, but in the past, there have been some -- I'm just going to say
this, some cities that they are close to Miami, like Miami Beach for example, there
were some accusations before that they could -- I mean that they will dump their
homeless in our city. Some people claim that -- I've never seen it, but 1 heard that
accusation. And now that you are going to be in the lookout for the criminals that are
going to be dumped in our city, could you also instruct your officer to be on the
lookout if any homeless, 1 mean a homeless person, is being dumped in our city from
other cities that are close to Miami, or they abut Miami.
Mr. Acevedo: Absolutely, Commissioner. We'll add that to the directive to our
officers.
Commissioner Reyes: That was -- that was an accusation that was made for a long
time, a long, long time. Have you heard about that, Mr. Aguilar?
Mr. Aguilar: I have and it's -- and I hope that it's still not happening. And I think with,
thankfully, many agencies, including us, Miami Beach, have body worn cameras now.
It would be easy enough to be able to confirm that if there were ever such a
complaint.
Commissioner Reyes: That's right. We have enough with our problem now that they
would cause more problems to us. Okay. Thank you, sir.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Watson, you are recognized.
Commissioner Watson: I have a question, Commissioner Carollo. Is it our issue that
you believe we spend a lot of money on offenders that are transitioning back in that
we shouldn't have to pay for? Is that the essence of what we're looking at?
Commissioner Reyes: What?
Commissioner Watson: I was asking Commissioner Carollo on his -- on the
discussion, is it such that we're spending a lot of money on offenders transitioning
back in that we should not have to pay for?
Commissioner Carollo: The issue is that we shouldn't be spending any money on
people that should be released into their own neighborhoods, not into ours.
Commissioner Watson: Right.
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Commissioner Carollo: These people were not arrested in the city of Miami,
Commissioner Watson: Miami right.
Commissioner Carollo: But they're being let loose in the city of Miami.
Commissioner Watson: In the city of Miami, okay.
Commissioner Carollo: We're talking, even if their numbers are correct, which I have
a lot of reservations on, 2,500 people a year that are being dumped into our streets. A
significant number.
Commissioner Watson: Let me at least say to Chief Aguilar, or Chief there is a
program called Transition. So for those that are coming back in because they have
done whatever their time in the city of Miami, arrest by the City of Miami, maybe you
can work with this program, Transition Inc., and there is a happy medium so that at
least from that perspective, maybe out of the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and
Economic Security), or one time, or something, so that you now -- kind of lost in
thinking, you're dealing with people coming back in that now they are no longer go
back in, right, and deal with Transition, Inc. and we can find some fimding to deal
with our -- deal with people arrested by you guys and can help them transition back in
and be in a better position and not have to fall back into the system, which helps us.
So, that is something else you take a look at what that might be. Then maybe I can get
the Manager to find money out of the CARES that might help you guys with that
component.
Mr. Acevedo: And we can work, Commissioner, with NGOs (Non -governmental
organizations) and maybe have service providers or entry program providers to be
out in the middle of the night when these people are being released and offer them a
ride, sign them up for transit -- for re-entry programs. So I think we can work also to
try to use that.
Commissioner Watson: That's something that now -- because if that's something that
works, then you can incorporate that into --
Mr. Acevedo: Yes sir.
Commissioner Watson: -- now at least minimizing our costs for folks arrested by you.
Mr. Acevedo: Yeah.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Is there any further discussion regarding inmates
released in the City of Miami?
Commissioner Carollo: Not on this one.
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DI.6 DISCUSSION ITEM
10634
Commissioners
and Mayor
A DISCUSSION ITEM REGARDING REQUESTING A
PRESENTATION FROM POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS ON
THE TOTAL DRUG OVERDOSES IN THE CITY OF MIAMI FROM
JANUARY 1, 2019 TO THE PRESENT, BY DISTRICT AND BY AGE.
RESULT: DISCUSSED
Vice Chair Russell: The next discussion item, we're done with that one, correct?
Commissioner Carollo: on DI.5, correct?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes. We have the City of Miami Police Discussion Item.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, let's take all the items that we have that have to do with
the --
Commissioner Reyes: Police.
Commissioner Carollo: -- homelessness in the streets.
(MULTIPLE PARTIES SPEAKING IN UNISON)
Vice Chair Russell: You want to do that one first. That's absolutely fine. If I'm not
mistaken, Mr. Clerk, 1 believe the only things remaining are DI.4, discussion of the
City of Miami Police, and all the remaining items on the homeless topic, which are
D1.2, DI.6 as well, which is total drug overdoses in the City of Miami that relates.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah.
Vice Chair Russell: And then RE.10, Clean Up Recurring Homeless Encampments.
RE.11, Direct the City Manager, regarding designated areas for temporary
encampments. And FR.4, Encampments on Public Property. We'd like to take all these
items up at once. Commissioner Carollo, you have the floor.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, we need to deal with them as a whole, but still take them
item per item. Let's start maybe with DI.6.
Vice Chair Russell: Drug overdoses in the city of Miami.
Commissioner Carollo: Has the Police Department been able to ascertain in the last
two plus years how many drug overdoses have we had in the city of Miami by month,
and then overall by year. For our purpose here to go quicker, I prefer you give them
to us by year.
Art Acevedo (Police Chief): Yeah, good afternoon, Commissioner. We had from 18
through July 1 of 2021, we've had a total of 390 overdoses and 30 homeless ODs
involving a death from overdose.
Commissioner Carollo: This is from what date did you say?
Mr. Acevedo: We have it by year starting in 2018. We have it by year and district,
Commissioner.
Commissioner Carollo: This is starting by January 1st as I ask, 2000 --
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Mr. Acevedo: 18, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: 18, okay.
Mr. Acevedo: Yeah.
Commissioner Carollo: To the present.
Mr. Acevedo: To July. Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: To July of this year.
Mr. Acevedo: Yes sir. July 1. July 7, excuse me.
Commissioner Carollo: July 7th this year.
Mr. Acevedo: Yes sir.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay, can we start going by year, Chief. 18, 19, 20, and then
the remaining part of this year.
Mr. Acevedo: Yes sir. In 2018, we had 96.
Commissioner Carollo: 96.
Mr. Acevedo: In 2019, we had 109. In 2020, we had 124. And this year, as of July 7th,
we are at 61.
Commissioner Carollo: We're at 61 in July 7th?
Mr. Acevedo: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: So we're at the very least at the same level of 2020.
Mr. Acevedo: We're slowly creeping up every year.
Commissioner Carollo: Not necessarily yet, knowing if we're going to go higher than
in 2020. I suspect also that, depending on the time of year, possibly, you might have
higher amounts than others. So, the -- it's still unknown whether we're going to go
even higher than in 2020, in 2021, but at least we're keeping that pace up. Now from
'18 to '19 to '20 we're creeping up. We're well over 20 percent higher in '20 than in
'18. We're about 10 percent higher, actually over 10 percent higher in '19 than in '18,
then 20 percent higher in '20, and we're keeping that pace on now. The number in all
these three and a half years is 390 overdoses.
Mr. Acevedo: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: And out of those, you have been able to identify that at least
30 were homeless.
Mr. Acevedo: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: Now when we're talking about overdoses, Chief are you
going down fatalities here, people that have died or?
Mr. Acevedo: Yes, sir. We've pulled out all the fatalities.
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Commissioner Carollo: How many more have you had throughout these years that
were not fatalities, but nevertheless --
Mr. Acevedo: You've got the data.
Commissioner Carollo: -- these were overdoses that --
Mr. Acevedo: Fire -- we -- Fire has that data on the non fatal. We focus on the fatal
and they focus on the non fatal, Commissioner.
Commissioner Carollo: Maybe that's my fault that 1 wasn't specific enough and maybe
you thought that 1 was only looking for fatalities.
Mr. Acevedo: No, we have it. Commissioner, we did get it from Fire. We just need to
go grab it.
Commissioner Carollo: I'm actually looking for both because it's obvious that you're
going to have less fatalities than the overall calls on drug overdoses. So that we could
get a real accurate picture.
Mr. Acevedo: We have it, Commissioner.
Commissioner Carollo: Of what we're looking in the city.
Mr. Acevedo: We did get it from Fire, Commissioner. They're coming down.
Commissioner Carollo: Does Fire have it handily? It would be great if they did.
Eloy Garcia: Good afternoon, Commissioners, Deputy Fire Chief Eloy Garcia. Based
on the information I received from your office, what we gathered was since January
1st, 2019, year to date --
Commissioner Carollo: Okay so you're going to start from 19, okay.
Mr. Garcia: Yes sir.
Commissioner Carollo: That's fine, yeah.
Mr. Garcia: We had ourprimary impression 1,321 overdoses in total.
Commissioner Carollo: 1,300?
Mr. Garcia: And 21.
Commissioner Carollo: And 21. These include --
Mr. Garcia: In total from -- yes sir.
Commissioner Carollo: In total from -- okay, go ahead. From January 1, 2019.
Mr. Garcia: Year to date.
Commissioner Carollo: To July 7?
Mr. Garcia: No, until last week.
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Commissioner Carollo: Can you give me the date last week?
Mr. Garcia: 1 may not have exactly the date on me. 1 have it back in the COW
(Committee of the Whole) Room.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay, but it would be August, the end of August, more or
less?
Mr. Garcia: No, I believe it was early September, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: Early September?
Mr. Garcia: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: So, we're looking January 1st, 2019 --
Mr. Garcia: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: -- through September, on 2021, 1,321. And this number
includes fatalities too, or just overdoses that did not die?
Mr. Garcia: This number includes all overdoses that are primary impressions by our
arriving --
Commissioner Carollo: Primary?
Mr. Garcia: Primary impressions, which is a category used by our rescue lieutenant
on arrival on what is perceived to be an overdose. Those are 1,321 overdoses.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah but my question, and forgive me --
Mr. Garcia: Yes sir
Commissioner Carollo: -- because I don't know how it's done between the Police and
Fire. When you receive an overdose --
Mr. Garcia: Yes sir.
Commissioner Carollo: -- call, like the one in the -- between the Perez and the Frost
Museum a couple of weeks ago, that they're dead on arrival already. It's clear. Do
you handle those, or does PD (Police Department) or someone else handle that?
Mr. Garcia: No, we will always go and approach unless it's, you know, injuries
incompatible with life.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay, so my direct question.
Mr. Garcia: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: This 1,321 will include those that have also died out of the
overdoses?
Mr. Garcia: They may be, and we overlapped our police and fire data and we had 12
of those.
Commissioner Carollo: I have to -- I apologize, I have to take this.
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Mr. Garcia: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: This is the hospital --
Mr. Garcia: Of course.
Commissioner Carollo: -- for something that 1 have to attend to.
Commissioner Reyes: I'm going to take over for you.
Mr. Garcia: 15n sorry?
Vice Chair Russell: Tag team, tag team, Commissioner Reyes.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, let me ask you something. After looking at all this data,
and I've seen that they are -- you see variations among the, significant variations, they
are different districts that they are -- they have more fatalities and more overdose. But
I want to know what is the police department doing in order to attack this, I mean I
would say the sale and the purchase of drugs? And I'm going to give you an example.
I was driving about a couple of -- about three weeks ago, I was driving at night in
downtown Miami. I was going around downtown Miami, which I -- very often I'll do,
and I witnessed, definitely, stopping at a red light, 1 witnessed a drug transaction. It
was clear. You see, it reminds me when I lived in New York that you could see that in
the streets all the time. So 1 look around, there was not a patrol car, there was not a
police officer that was undercover. There was nobody there, only homeless, and a
couple ofpeople that are just walking by looking the other way. What are we going to
do? And this is in the middle of downtown. But do you have any plans, or you have
any -- you are developing some strategy to try to catch, at least try to get the pushers,
the people that are the sellers, and try to get the users and maybe we can get them to
go to a program and try to convince them that they should go through rehab. But do
we have any, I mean, I want to know why. Because it's nice to know, I mean, okay, so
many people have died, so many people have been -- are using it, okay, what are we
going to do about it? What are we going to do about it?
Mr. Acevedo: Commissioner, --
Commissioner Reyes: That's what is important to me.
Mr. Acevedo: Well, it's an ongoing battle, not just here, but across the country against
street -level narcotics and obviously drug trafficking organizations. We're working
daily with our federal partners through the HIDTA, which is a High -Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area, to actually leverage all of our federal resources to combat the
DTOs, the drug trafficking organizations, and then obviously we're working on a
regular basis with the community being our eyes and ears, working on the street -level
activity. We talked about that at the meeting we had.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes, we did.
Mr. Acevedo: And I won't say the street because we're going to be working that street.
But our operations continue. And then some of the programs that the County has to
deal with the addiction, I think it's really important using some of the tools that we
have under state law, which under state law we can put people in detoxification
programs. And I think the new drug facility that the County is putting together that
will be an effective tool to try, to get people on the right track as it relates to addiction.
Commissioner Reyes: I saw, as I went through this, there are districts that they have
substantially a larger number of overdoses than even my district and downtown, I
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mean it's pretty high incidents in downtown and District 5, you see. I mean, definitely
they need more resources. And more emphasis should he placed in those areas. And
more undercover officers should be there to work at street level and see how can we
curtail this. And that's the question.
Mr. Acevedo: One of the challenges with the street -level narcotics trafficking in
district -- is the fact that we displace it. They move, so our resources need to move
with the traffickers, with the street -level drug dealers. So when we hit one area hard,
typically that displaces it. And it's really important the community continue to be our
eyes and ears, that when they do come back that we know so we can, kind of like
traffic enforcement, same thing. We hit it, people start doing what they are supposed
to be doing, and then they come back. So we will continue to be looking at all these
street level activity, and continue to put our resources where we know it is happening.
But intelligence from everyone, including the community, our elected officials, is
really important in that regard. And Chief Aguilar has got our narcotics division. Did
you want to add anything, Chief to any of my comments?
Mr. Aguilar: Just to follow up on the Chiefs comments, we -- our narcotics unit
executes anywhere between five and eight search warrants per month on drug
locations. We can get the number of total drug arrests. which would be not just
sellers, but people in possession of drugs, and there's definitely -- I'm sorry, go ahead,
Commissioner.
Commissioner Reyes: You see, well 1 took about 25 credits in statistics. 1 know
statistics. Statistics doesn't mean anything. The only thing that 1 want to know is, are
we, are we really making a dent on the purchase, on the sales, and on the violence
that is created by drug trafficking? What are we doing to reduce the number ofpeople
that have been shot? Because here, people have died because offatalities, because of
overdose. But this does not include, does not include people have been shot, people
have been killed because of the drug trade.
Mr. Aguilar: So --
Commissioner Reyes: What I want to know is how are we going to fight it, if we're
going to fight it. I went to a meeting that you call among all the other police officers. I
mean, Dade County was there. We were going to work together, all police
departments, and the State Attorney, and whatever, DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency),
everybody was going to work. Are we working together? Are -- we are doing, I mean,
taking a strong action against those -- the drug trafficking? We have a concerted
effort that we are cooperating among ourselves, you see. What I want to see is results.
That's it.
Mr. Aguilar: So, just to answer a few of those questions, we're working with the full
range of the federal alphabet soup that you mentioned, not only in investigating
crimes that already happened, but being proactive as well. So, one of the things that
we're doing is identifying our repeat offenders, our repeat shooters. We have, 1'll tell
you right now, five that were very prolific trigger pullers throughout our city and
suspected in several shootings. And so they are now in custody either on ATF
(Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) charges for gun trafficking, at Secret Service for
committing fraud and drug offenses as well. So as a result, I'm afraid to say this, but
we have not had a gang homicide in the city since Memorial Day. I know that I just
jinxed this, and I apologize for that, but we are targeting not just locations for repeat
sales, but people who we know that are responsible for disproportionate amounts of
crime.
Commissioner Reyes: That's the only thing that I want, an honest effort that it is
together with what you proposed that day. I want to know if you're doing it, if we are
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working together, and if -- and what effect has it had? You see, have you seen a
reduction on traffickers? Have you seen a reduction on shootings? Have you seen a
reduction on people that have been arrested?
Mr. Acevedo: Well, we're heading in the right direction as it relates to violent crime.
So we are seeing impacts. The biggest challenge on the war on drugs is that the war,
we're fighting it here instead of at the source. I think the Commission knows that
we've got foreign governments that are involved in narcotics trafficking. It's well
established. It's well known. But we don't have that reach as an organization into
different hostile government nations that are nations that --
Commissioner Reyes: That is different because 1 want to know what's going on in our
neighborhood and how are we going to fight it.
Mr. Acevedo: And we're doing it. We're all hands on deck, Commissioners.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay, sir. Thank you.
Commissioner Carollo: If I could go back to the area that 1 was inquiring about, and I
apologize I had to step out, but it's a true emergency. As best as I can see, in the time
period from January 19th to about a couple of days into September, from the Fire
Department, Police goes back a year more. From what 1 understood from the Fire
Department, they have at least 1,321 minimum overdoses in about a 2 and a half year
period. There are more, from what I understand, because they don't have everything
from those that died and were fatalities. So there could a couple hundred more here,
possibly. So, this could be as high as maybe 1,500 or more. That's a huge number in 2
and a half years. We're talking about a lot of people that are going down in overdoses
in our city, and it's still a high number offatalities. What 1'd like to get is some
additional numbers, for the Fire Department to go back one more year, January 1st,
'18, so at least in 3 and a half years we could have something to look at, what's been
happening overall even though we're getting a picture just in the homicides, butt
want to do that with all the overdoses overall. And then if we could break them down,
if it's possible, by age. Further, if you could show to us the breakdown by district also,
if you can. And I know it's a lot of work I'm asking, but it's -- I'm heading somewhere
with it. Gentlemen and ladies, we cannot afford to be having these kind offatalities
and overdoses in our city. We're talking about real human lives. And I'd like, once we
get this whole picture, the areas where the bulk is coming from. And look, we all can
suspect what areas have more than others, but it's one thing to suspect where they're
coming from, another thing is to see it and be sure. Once we have that, the age
brackets, I'd like to have a plan of action, mainly from the PD, but Fire has its place
in it also, on how we're going to combat this. I see it in the street, to both chiefs, Fire
and Police. I see it in the homeless population that I got people out there that I've
seen time and time again and they're drugged out. Forget about that they were burned
out and checked out, you know, years before already because of drugs. But at the time
that I'm seeing them in the street, they're high as a kite. And what he tells me is that
whatever monies they get, whether it's from Social Security or they're breaking into
places, they're using that money to buy drugs. Where are they buying it? Who are the
people that's selling to them. So I'd like a plan of action across the board on the
homelessness, drug usage, and then on the drug usage overall in our city, in
particular with the youth. Those are the new targets. This is why you have groups out
there that want to defund the police. Because if you don't have as many cops out
there, that means there's less of a chance that you're going to be able to be caught
selling the drugs and poisoning our youth, so we have another generation of
casualties. And I don't know how long this will take both of these departments to put
this together for us. I hope that you could do it by the next meeting. The data part I
think will be easier, even though I understand there will be work involved in it. But
the part that I don't know how much time you need to come back with a solid plan is
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the one that 1 would like for you to tell me. Can you do that by the next meeting, or do
you need more time on that?
Mr. Garcia: Commissioner, if you allow me to, once again, Deputy Fire Chief Eloy
Garcia, City of Miami Fire Rescue. If you'll allow me to elaborate one second, the
1,321 alarms since January 1st to September 2nd, I confirmed the date for you.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you.
Mr. Garcia: Those alarms are primary impression of overdoses. Those overdoses can
be niaybe a child that got into someone's open pill bottle and swallowed more pills
than he should have or by mistake. So those all fall within overdoses. However, you
just want --
Commissioner Carollo: I understand but we all know --
Mr. Garcia: You want the opiate related ones.
Commissioner Carollo: -- those of a child getting to a medicine cabinet and
overdosing, will be very few and far in between.
Mr. Garcia: That's correct. And that's why when we broke it down into age brackets
for you, you'll see that you have from 1 to 5, there's 2, 11 to 15, there's 2. So we broke
those down.
Commissioner Carollo: And that's why I had purposely asked for the breakdown in
ages also.
Mr. Garcia: Correct. Now if you just want opioid related, we will have to go into each
of those 1,321 and actually read the narrative.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, if you could break it down into opiates, into cocaine --
Mr. Garcia: Yes sir.
Commissioner Carollo: -- into heroine, into you know, whatever is out there. And
sadly, every darn week China is sending more poison through the Mexican cartels so
they can bring it through the border and see how they can destroy us without having
to fight a war with us.
Mr. Garcia: Done. We'll have it for you, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: Chief.
Mr. Acevedo: Commissioner, and that's the international national security overseas
aspect that we were talking about a minute ago that it requires more than the police.
There's one other aspect that I'd like -- and we can do it in two weeks, Commissioner.
I just asked my staff The other issue is we're a destination city. We're probably the
hottest destination city in the country right now. So I've actually asked my team to
look at how many. out-of-towners -- I'm going to ask them for out of the out of the city,
out of the county, out of the state, so we can try to get a sense of the tourism industry,
how much of that workload is related to that. So we're going to add that, and we
should be able to get the report back to you in two weeks.
Commissioner Carollo: That's an important aspect of it too, and that's why by asking
what I did, we should be able to get all those areas. But this one that you mentioned is
a very important one too, because it's going to tell us how many are coming from
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outside that are either bringing the drugs themselves or maybe are buying it in our
town. But I want a solid plan, Chief that -- and I know that any time you put together,
in any city, a plan to go in after the drug traffickers, it's not going to be an easy task.
Because most likely along the way, you know, there's going to be some people that,
you know, are not going to end up well. Those that are pushing it, those that are
involved in the drug trade, and then there'll be controversy and everything else.
Because it's also a very dangerous, as you all know, business. But we need to try to
make a dent on that in our community. And then the other aspect of it, that I'd like
you, with Fire, and whoever else you've got to bring in, an educational program that
we could put our people into the schools, beginning elementary level, trying to get it
across to our kids, you know, to keep away from drugs. Last but not least, 1 would
want to get the feedback from you and Fire on how much you think a program like the
one we just approved for garbage in the streets could work if we put rewards for
people that would give us information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of
those that are peddling and pushing drugs in our community.
Mr. Acevedo: Quite honestly, when it comes to money, people involved in this area, if
you have reward money and it's significant enough, they will turn in -- they'll turn in
people. There's a --
Commissioner Carollo: Well, then this is where we have to go to consider doing
something like that. And maybe on this particular one, 500 bucks is not enough.
Mr. Acevedo: No.
Commissioner Carollo: We might have to go with at least 1,000. But 1 will hear what
the recommendations are of the professionals, but I truly want our city to be in the
forefront of this battle, and I'm tired of seeing kids dying in our streets from
overdoses. But not just that, the other aspect of it. How many have been shot? How
many have been killed because of the turf wars, the getting back at people because of
drugs? So even the numbers we have here, if we include all the others, they're way,
way higher.
Mr. Acevedo: May I make one brief comment on that? There's been a move about
marijuana. It's not a big deal. It's not this, it's not that. And Major Cities Chiefs, as
you know, I'm president of we've pushed back because a lot of the violence in our
neighborhoods is about marijuana and it's about marijuana sales. We have drug grips
involving marijuana where people are getting shot, they're getting killed. Marijuana
is a huge driver. And not the overdose, it's a huge driver of violent crime across our
country. That's why we as an organization have not supported those efforts because of
the violence that brings to our neighborhoods and some of our prosecutors across the
country, not here, but across the country; just don't understand that marijuana and
the distribution of marijuana, the sales of marijuana, is a huge driver of death and
shootings in our cities.
Commissioner Reyes: And I agree with you.
Mr. Acevedo: Yes sir.
Commissioner Carollo: I'm in agreement with those statements, too.
Mr. Acevedo: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: All right, so Chief?
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Joseph Zahralban: Chairman, Commissioner, Joseph Zahralban, Fire Chief
Department of Fire Rescue. What you're requesting is not unreasonable and it's
crystal clear to me. And what you're looking for is a citywide response to --
Commissioner Carollo: Absolutely.
Mr. Zahralban: -- what is essentially an epidemic, not much different than our
response to the pandemic as it relates to COVID-19.
Commissioner Carollo: Chief you hit the nail on the head.
Mr. Zahralban: That's clearly understood. And what we will do, obviously, we will
need to rely heavily on our police partners because prevention is a major key to the
success of this. However, we will provide them with our response protocols to include
in the overall plan as it relates to how we would and do respond to medical
emergencies involving overdoses. And as a final point, your request of overdose
breakdown by district, we do have that readily available and rather than consume the
Commission's time, I'll provide it to the Manager, and he can distribute it to each of
your offices.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you.
Mr. Zahralban: Thank you.
Commissioner Carollo: For instance, to the point that you're making, Chief my
district for instance, but I'm sure it's the same in many of our different districts. Many
of the homeless, they all have bikes. I will be willing to bet that practically all those
bikes have been stolen from someone. Those bikes are used to break into homes,
where they probably got them from, to steal, to move around quicker from one place
to the other. And then the proceeds of those actions go into buying more drugs. And
that's why many of these homeless want to stay in the streets. In my district, I have
seen, and the worst part about this, these were people that didn't even live in my
district, elderly males riding these bikes, moving around, and they're being used by
somebody, it's organized, to sell crack cocaine. I even had to, some time ago, you
know, we had just been talking to two good foot patrol officers, myself my chief of
staff at the end of Domino Park. The minute they left, there was a female that, she
was clearly visible, but she was very happy, and it wasn't because of emotions, it was
because of drugs. And I could see one of these elderly guys came in and pretended to
shake her hand as he was pulling it out, I could see just for one second, the bag, back
in my days, we called them the 50-cent bags. They're no longer 50 cents. And it had
some white powder. So I got a hold of Jose, he -- to get these cops, that he had their
number. I didn't, to get him back. And they came right away, and here was this guy
putting the crack cocaine into some pipe behind the Tower Theater in Little Havana,
and he was arrested. And the only good thing, the only good thing that COVID has
brought to my district is that a lot of these characters that weren't from my district,
but they would come there and pretend that they were, you know, part of it, and were
selling drugs all over the place. A lot of them, not all, some we're seeing coming back
now, a lot of them disappeared. So it's a real epidemic, and you're calling it what it
needs to be called, and we've got to deal with it in the same way that we put a plan for
COVID. You know, we've got to put a plan for this and I'm just trying to get all the
facts so that we could do a joint plan in going forward.
Mr. Zahralban: Understood sir, and you have our commitment, and our police
partners have our commitment as well. We will do whatever they need us to do in
order to help them move forward.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you very much, Chief
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Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much. Does that conclude our discussion on drug
overdoses in the city of Miami?
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. Mr. Manager, we understood that they're coming back
with all these numbers, whether they give it to you, give it to us. We'll have this in the
agenda next meeting. And I'm only emphasizing that because I believe that by
tomorrow is the last day to put something in the agenda for the next meeting, so that
this way we could go over this again. The chiefs can come back with a plan on how to
combat this epidemic.
Arthur Noriega (City Manager): We'll put it as a discussion item for next meeting.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. DI 6 is concluded.
END OF DISCUSSION ITEMS
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PART B: PZ - PLANNING AND ZONING ITEM(S)
PZ.1 ORDINANCE Second Reading
9104
Department of
Planning
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING THE ZONING ATLAS OF ORDINANCE
NO. 13114, THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI,
FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, BY CHANGING THE ZONING
CLASSIFICATION FROM T4-L, "GENERAL URBAN ZONE —LIMITED,"
TO T5-O, "URBAN CENTER ZONE -OPEN," OF THE PROPERTY
LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY 2000 NORTHWEST 3 AVENUE,
MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN
EXHIBIT "A"; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY
CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
MOTION TO: Defer
RESULT: DEFERRED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: Item PZ.1 was deferred to the September 23, 2021, City
Commission Meeting.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number PZ.1, please see
"Order of the Day."
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PZ.2 ORDINANCE Second Reading
9111
Department of
Planning
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 10544, AS
AMENDED, THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP OF THE MIAMI
COMPREHENSIVE NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN, PURSUANT TO SMALL
SCALE AMENDMENT PROCEDURES SUBJECT TO SECTION
163.3187, FLORIDA STATUTES, BY CHANGING THE FUTURE LAND
USE DESIGNATION FROM "MEDIUM DENSITY MULTIFAMILY
RESIDENTIAL" TO "MEDIUM DENSITY RESTRICTED COMMERCIAL"
OF THE 0.158 ± ACRES DESCRIBED HEREIN OF REAL PROPERTY
AT 180 NORTHEAST 50 STREET, MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS MORE
PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN EXHIBIT "A," ATTACHED AND
INCORPORATED; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A
SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE
DATE.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: 14018
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Jeffrey Watson, Commissioner
SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Carollo, Watson
ABSENT: Diaz de la Portilla, Reyes
Vice Chair Russell: Are we ready to move on to PZs (Planning and Zoning) 2 & 3?
All good? Good afternoon Mr. Planning Director. Mr. Watson, these are in your
district, I believe. How would you like to move forward?
Commissioner Watson: Did you ever reach the neighbor next door?
Iris Escarra: Yes, we have Iris Escarra with offices at 33 Southeast 2nd Avenue. We
did and we've coordinated with him a new fence that we're putting in the side between
ourselves and them and we're actually putting up the fence even before we start
construction in order to mitigate any dust or anything that happens. Because right
now it's a -- dirt and it's very sandy --
Commissioner Watson: Yes.
Ms. Escarra: -- so he has concerns about like dust moving because it's just a chain
link fence now, but we've coordinated that with him and we've proffered that we're
going to build that first.
Commissioner Watson: Okay, all right. So moved.
Vice Chair Russell: PZs 2 and 3 have been moved. Is there a second, Commissioner
Carollo?
(COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD)
Vice Chair Russell: Seconded by Commissioner Carollo. Would you like to read these
into the record, Madam City Attorney?
Victoria Mendez (City Attorne)): PZ.1 ?
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Vice Chair Russell: PZ.2 and 3.
Ms. Mendez: PZ.2.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
Ms. Mendez: PZ.3.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much. There's a motion, there's a second. Is there
any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say, "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Motion passes on PZ.2 and 3.
Ms. Escarra: Thank you very, much.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Iris. Mr. Clerk, do you need MV.1 to be withdrawn?
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): No, sir. We're good to go.
Vice Chair Russell: So there's no action necessary even though it's on the agenda?
Mr. Hannon: Yes, sir.
Vice Chair Russell: Okay. Thank you.
PZ.3 ORDINANCE Second Reading
9112
Department of
Planning
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH
ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING THE ZONING ATLAS OF ORDINANCE
NO. 13114, THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI,
FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, BY CHANGING THE ZONING
CLASSIFICATION FROM T4-R, "GENERAL URBAN TRANSECT ZONE
— RESTRICTED," TO T4-L, "GENERAL URBAN TRANSECT ZONE -
LIMITED," OF THE PROPERTY GENERALLY LOCATED AT 180
NORTHEAST 50 STREET, MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS MORE
PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN EXHIBIT "A," ATTACHED AND
INCORPORATED; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A
SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE
DATE.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: 14019
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Jeffrey Watson, Commissioner
SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Carollo, Watson
ABSENT: Diaz de la Portilla, Reyes
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number PZ.3, please see Item
Number PZ.2.
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PZ.4
9385
Commissioners
and Mayor - PZ
ORDINANCE
MAY BE DEFERRED
First Reading
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING
ORDINANCE NO. 13114, THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY
OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("MIAMI 21 CODE"); MORE
SPECIFICALLY BY AMENDING ARTICLE 2, SECTION 2.2.1.3 AND
SECTION 2.2.2 TO CLARIFY THAT THE MIAMI 21 CODE PROVIDES
A HIGHER STANDARD OF ZONING FOR THOSE PROPERTIES
LOCATED IN THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM
DEVELOPMENT ZONE AND PROVIDING THAT ALL SUCH
PROPERTIES SHALL REMAIN SUBJECT TO ALL OF THE
PROVISIONS OF THE MIAMI 21 CODE; CONTAINING A
SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE
EFFECTIVE DATE.
MOTION TO: Defer
RESULT: DEFERRED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: Item PZ.4 was deferred to the October 28, 2021, City
Commission Meeting.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number PZ.4, please see
"Order of the Day."
END OF PLANNING AND ZONING ITEM(S)
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NA.1
10723
Office of the City
Clerk
NA - NON -AGENDA ITEM(S)
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION OBSERVING
THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 2021, AS CHILDHOOD CANCER
AWARENESS MONTH; ENCOURAGING ALL RESIDENTS TO
OBSERVE CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS MONTH, TO
SUPPORT THEIR FRIENDS, FAMILIES, AND NEIGHBORS
COPING WITH CHILDHOOD CANCER, TO OFFER
ENCOURAGEMENT TO PATIENTS UNDERGOING TREATMENT,
TO REMEMBER LOST LOVED ONES, TO SPREAD AWARENESS
OF THIS CAUSE THAT SO MANY FAMILIES MUST STRUGGLE
WITH, AND TO APPRECIATE THE EFFORTS OF THOSE WHO
WORK TO TREAT AND SUPPORT CHILDREN DIAGNOSED WITH
CANCER.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0374
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Jeffrey Watson, Commissioner
SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: For additional minutes referencing Item Number NA.1, please
see "Order of the Day."
Vice Chair Russell: If the Clerk's Office could let me know which of the pocket items
have not passed yet. I believe we have PL 1 through 5 on the agenda. Some of them
have passed, some of them have not. What's left?
Nicole Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): We have PI1 and PL2 pending.
Commissioner Carollo: P -- P -- PI --
Vice Chair Russell: PL 1 and 2, which are childhood cancer awareness, and PI.2 is
auditing of not -for -profits for accountability. Is there a motion on PL 1 and PI.2?
Commissioner Watson: So moved.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Vice Chair Russell: Moved by Commissioner Watson, seconded by Commissioner
Carollo. Is there anyone from the public that would like to speak on PL1 and PI.2,
childhood cancer awareness and auditing of non -for -profits for accountability?
Seeing none, I'll close public comment. Any further discussion? All in favor, say,
"aye.
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Motion passes on PL 1 and 2.
Commissioner Reyes: (INAUDIBLE).
Vice Chair Russell: Counting Commissioner Reyes has a yes vote on his own item.
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NA.2
10724
Office of the City
Clerk
NA.3
10725
Office of the City
Clerk
Commissioner Reyes: Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Of course.
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DIRECTING
THE INDEPENDENT AUDITOR GENERAL TO CONDUCT AUDITS
OF ALL NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS THAT RECEIVE
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT FUNDS, ANTI-
POVERTY INITIATIVE FUNDS, AND/OR AMERICAN RESCUE
PLAN FUNDS; FURTHER DIRECTING THE INDEPENDENT
AUDITOR GENERAL TO ATTEND ALL CITY COMMISSION
MEETINGS IN -PERSON.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0375
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Jeffrey Watson, Commissioner
SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number NA.2, please see
"Order of the Day" and Item Number NA.1.
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION
DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO PRESENT TO THE
CITY COMMISSION, FOR ITS REVIEW AND APPROVAL, A
PLAN FOR THE ALLOCATION OF PROCEEDS RECEIVED
FROM THE OPIOID SETTLEMENT.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0376
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Jeffrey Watson, Commissioner
SECONDER: Ken Russell, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Watson, Reyes
Vice Chair Russell: This will be PL3, Pocket Item 3, motion by Commissioner
Watson, seconded by the Chair, a resolution directing the City Manager to analyze
the opioid settlement proceeds and create a plan to divide those proceeds between
expansion of the Lazarus Project and assistance to Judge Leifinan's facility to treat
the drug addicted and psychologically affected homeless.
Commissioner Watson: But also, Mr. Chair, I just want to state this. This is kind of --
this is just one component of the funds that's going to be received. So there's a bigger
pot that's going to grow as a result of this settlement because it's just now one
company on the settlement and they're Johnson, they're going after the other. So the
pots going to grow. So maybe you might want to wait until that (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
weighs in. Mr. Managers, Mr. Casamayor is around. So this is just one piece of it, but
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the pot's going to grow. So you may have a list of other things that we can do as well,
hut the pot is going to grow.
Vice Chair Russell: Absolutely. So any specific line item they'll have to bring back to
us. This direction simply asks them to create a plan.
Commissioner Reyes: But 1 want a point of information. Every time that we look at all
of these demands and -- and agreements, and when we sue, and huge companies are
sued, we always go back to the cigarette settlement. And that was billions of dollars.
This is not like that because, from what 1 heard, some of the companies that were
distributing the opioids, they went bankrupt. And it is not going to be that big pot of
money. But whatever it is, if we want to spread the wealth, it is fantastic. But what 1
like about your suggestion, Mr. Chair, is that it is going to ,specifically it's going to be
used to fight and try, to help those people that are now, that they are addicted, be it by
opioid or any other.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. I apologize, I believe I have two active motions on the
floor now, one for the entire CA agenda and then one for this separate PZ.3. Mr.
Clerk, how about that?
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Which is fine. We've moved to what I would call a new
section, which is going to be P1.3, so you have a motion. The other one right now has
just been tabled. The motion on CA.1 through --
Vice Chair Russell: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Mr. Hannon: -- has been tabled, so we're currently on PL3, which is the motion
pertaining to a resolution directing the City Manager.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Is there anyone here from the public that would like to
comment on this pocket item, PI.3 to direct the Manager to come up with a plan to
allocate the drug settlement funds?
Victoria Mallette: Thank you. Vicki Mallette, Miami -Dade County Homeless Trust. I
would just urge you to take a look at permanent housing options, including supportive
housing options. We have a capital project in the pipeline that is situated outside of
the city of Miami that is supposed to focus specifically on people suffering from severe
mental illness and substance use disorders, including opioids. I'd also mention that
you're going to need to shift the focus of the Lazarus teams. Those teams are focused
on severe mental health, not opioid addiction.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Correct.
Ms. Mallette: The three new teams that we recently deployed are very much focused
on substance use. So I would just ask that you keep that in mind and keep a permanent
housing option open for the use of these funds. And I'd love to brief each and every
one of you on that project that I think can help a significant number of people in the
city, many of whom are suffering from opioid addiction.
Vice Chair Russell: What are -- Vicki, what are the number of units in that and what
is your shortfall?
Ms. Mallette: So its already county property. It has a deed restriction. We're working
with the federal government to remove the deed restriction. It's 112 beds, but we think
the facility could add additional capacity up to 200 beds. So we not only need capital
money to make some improvements on the property, we also need startup operational
dollars. But this is focused on individuals with severe mental illness, substance use
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disorder, property already designated or could he designated for homeless
individuals.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. If I could ask the mover to maybe amend the
resolution to include the broader scope.
Commissioner Watson: I will amend --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well --
Commissioner Watson: I'm sorry, I will amend my colleague was speaking. I want to
know where is this outside the city of Miami you're talking about?
Ms. Mallette: This is a property in West Dade.
Commissioner Watson: In West Dade?
Ms. Mallette: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: To make the case, as the devil's advocate here though, this is to
treat homeless within the city of Miami and take them elsewhere.
Commissioner Watson: So we're going to get, my colleague and I, we're going to get
the benefit of additional capacity.
Ms. Mallette: Correct.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla, I apologize, you were trying to
say something.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Thank you. I was working on budget matters in my
office, but I've been watching the whole meeting, obviously, and all the public
comment and everything. And I heard Commissioner Watson's very brilliant
comments about, you know, why not wait until we have, know exactly how many
dollars are going to be allocated as a result of the settlement agreement before we
start divvying it up. And you were very good at very aggressively saying these are the
two organizations that I want to do it, but we don't know, number one, how many
dollars we're going to have, and number two, whether some other commissioners may
have some priorities that they're aware of that they might want to fund. To your point,
and to your point now, Commissioner, something in West Dade, my understanding,
and Vicky, I'm sorry, Vicky's not here, but Manager, Manager? Manager? Okay, all
right, that this West Dade project was a good project. I believe Miami -Dade County is
going to get its own dollars, and each city gets over, you know, X number of, I think
300,000 or whatever people, right, get their own money. So why are we giving our
money to Miami -Dade County and Miami -Dade County is going to get their own pot
of money? And we all know -- is that correct, Miami -Dade gets its own pot of money
and Miami will get its own pot of money because we're a city that's worth 300,000
people. That money is not a lot of it, right? There's still negotiations, still litigation.
It's whether we're part ofa settlement agreement or not. But we haven't even decided
that we're going to be part of the settlement agreement and we're going to divvy up
the money now before we decide? That's kind of my concern.
Vice Chair Russell: No.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, let me tell you what --
Vice Chair Russell: I know what it may have sounded like, but I'll clarify.
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Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Let me tell you what I heard. 1 heard two
organizations, Lazarus and -- Project and what else?
Vice Chair Russell: Lazarus is the City of Miami.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I know what Lazarus is. What's the second one?
The Leifman Project, right?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So that's what 1 heard.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: And then I heard you say --
Commissioner Reyes: It is in your district.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No, it's not. Lazarus is, yeah.
Commissioner Reyes: Leifman is.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, it doesn't matter what district. You know that
I always do things for the city of Miami.
Commissioner Reyes: I know, I know. Listen, I'm not saying anything like that.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No, no, I know.
Commissioner Reyes: I'm just saying that if you know it's where the old railroad
station is.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I know, but my issue is it doesn't matter what
district it's in.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay, I'm sorry.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: For me. But it does matter that it's in the city of
Miami. And it does matter that it addresses the issue precisely that we're supposed to
be dealing with, which is the crisis that we have, what the settlement agreement is
about. So we need entities that are specializing in that particular issue, not that deal
with other things. That's my issue. So I will, if it's in any district, if the crisis is here or
the entity is somewhere else, I'm okay with that, right? It doesn't bother me.
Commissioner Reyes: Mr. Chair.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So if you leave it --
Vice Chair Russell: Just a moment, Commissioner Reyes.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I haven 't finished yet.
Vice Chair Russell: Go ahead, go ahead.
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Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So 1'd like to know a dollar amount. Well, we spoke
about it in the briefing. Vicky, I had a lot of questions in the briefing.
(COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD)
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yeah, Johnson & Johnson has settled. Some have
gone bankrupt, but we do have a --
(COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD)
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- no, I know the issue, because a bit --
Commissioner Reyes: We need --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Let me just finish my point. When I had my
briefing, I asked a lot of questions of lawyers that are involved in the settlement
agreement, the negotiations. There was an amount that was thrown out, right Vicky,
of what they think it's going to be and what it's going to represent for the city of
Miami. The argument that I made was, don't talk to me about the big numbers of the
billions nationwide or statewide and all that. Talk to me about what you think is going
to be the City of Miami's, for lack of a better word, cut. And what number was that?
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): 1 think that when we did like rough math, it was like
a million dollars.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: About a million dollars.
Vice Chair Russell: I heard much more than that.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: That's what the lawyers told me, that Miami's cuts
would be a million dollars. So that's -- so we, kind of when we have these
conversations before we start saying let's fund this or fund that, that we need to know
more or less where we, it's still hypothetical, right, because it's still not something that
we're set in stone, the amount, but we want to know where we're headed. It could also
-- they also said that it could increase.
Vice Chair Russell: In my briefing, it was much more than that --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right.
Vice Chair Russell: -- over a period of time.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So I don't want to have the Manager come back to
us, Manager, with two or three organizations, but with different organizations, no
matter where they are in Miami. I would like for them to be in Miami, if we can't find
those organizations that deal only with this crisis in Miami, then I'll buy your
argument. But if we can, let's have a broader debate about that, let the Manager do
some research, and Vicky you help, and come back to us and tell us this is where we
can best spend those dollars, because it could be a million.
Vice Chair Russell: That's a good point.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But it could be 2.5.
Vice Chair Russell: Yeah. Commissioner Watson, and then Commissioner Reyes.
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Commissioner Watson: Just because it's my amendment, we can be passionate about
it. How about my amendment, because what 1 was saying, Commissioner, is that's
from what we're doing on the settlement. However, outside of this settlement, there
are some other companies that's going to have money coming to us. So rather than us
to be specific, how about we just now have the Manager tasked to do a plan, survey of
those --
Commissioner Reyes: Mr. Chair?
Commissioner Watson: -- solutions that can help us, right, help us in our efforts
without now drawing names or (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to projects, at least come back
and plan. That way everybody will get surveyed, everybody will get talked to, you can
now bring your solutions to the table.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it.
Commissioner Watson: And so we'll do that.
Vice Chair Russell: That's a good one.
Commissioner Watson: So that then will be my --
Vice Chair Russell: Seconder approves the amendment. Commissioner Reyes, you're
recognized.
Commissioner Reyes: Mr. Chair. The most important thing about this -- this
resolution, ordinance, whatever it's going to be, is that we are earmarking those
funds to be used where they are needed he most. Who is going to be the -- which
organization are going to be the recipients, I think that the City Manager, just as you
said, should identify those that are more effective and will use the funds more
effectively and bring out a recommendation. But the important part here is that 1.5 or
1 million is going to be earmarked only for that purpose. That is the most important
part of this.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: We are in agreement.
Commissioner Watson: So that is my amendment.
Commissioner Reyes: I agree.
(MULTIPLE PARTIES SPEAKING IN UNISON)
Vice Chair Russell: I think we are in accord here.
Commissioner Reyes: Commissioner de la Portilla, I agree with what you are saying,
what -- and your comments and also Commissioner Watson.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you.
Commissioner Reyes: Let's do it like that.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you for clarifying. That made it better. So, PI.3 has a
motion and a second with amendments. Is there anyone else from the public that
would like to speak on the item? Seeing none, I will close public comment. All in favor
of the item say, "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
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Vice Chair Russell: This is a pocket item directing the Manager to come up with a
plan on the opioid settlement proceeds if the item passes during this. All in favor say,
"aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Motion passes.
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DIRECTING
THE CITY MANAGER TO PRESENT TO THE CITY COMMISSION,
FOR ITS REVIEW AND APPROVAL, ANY AND ALL OPTIONS FOR
THE USE OF THE GIFT AMOUNTS RECEIVED PURSUANT TO
THE GIFT AGREEMENT WITH CITYCOINS, INC.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0377
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DIRECTING
THE CITY MANAGER TO PRESENT TO THE CITY COMMISSION,
FOR ITS REVIEW AND APPROVAL, ANY AND ALL OPTIONS FOR
THE USE OF THE GIFT AMOUNTS RECEIVED PURSUANT TO
THE GIFT AGREEMENT WITH CITYCOINS, INC.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0377
MOTION TO: Reconsider
RESULT: RECONSIDERED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
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RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DIRECTING
THE CITY MANAGER TO PRESENT TO THE CITY COMMISSION,
FOR ITS REVIEW AND APPROVAL, ANY AND ALL OPTIONS FOR
THE USE OF THE GIFT AMOUNTS RECEIVED PURSUANT TO
THE GIFT AGREEMENT WITH CITYCOINS, INC.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0377
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Vice Chair Russell: And similar to what we just did with the opioid settlement
proceeds, I would like to start a process to decide how we will spend the City coin
proceeds. And so I believe direction to the Manager may be in order at this point. My
Commissioner Reyes: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: -- my recommendation is that we you know this is going to be
money generated from basically the tech industry on this Bitcoin situation and the
MiamiCoin, my recommendation would be going towards affordable housing,
especially the extremely low income.
Commissioner Reyes: Affordable housing, yes.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I thought you were going to go to the technology.
Vice Chair Russell: No (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Reyes: I thought you were going to jump on the tech.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I was giving Commissioner Reyes a look. We
looked at each other and said, is he going to go to tech, more tech money?
Vice Chair Russell: Na, no, no. I really, you know --
Commissioner Reyes: Affordable housing.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, we're good to go.
Vice Chair Russell: And I'd like to recommend we focus on extremely low-income
housing where we have the biggest gap for getting the homeless out of shelter.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: I think we, you know, but we can expand that. But I'd like the
Manager to come up with a plan. My goal in my -- in our collective effort to create a
functional zero for homelessness is to find 500 units of extremely low-income
affordable housing in the next couple ofyears, new units. But I'm open to how we
spend this money as long as it goes toward the extremely low-income range of
affordable housing. Is that something the other commissioners are open to as well?
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Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I have, ifI may.1 have a little bit of an issue with
that. I think the Mayor is already allocating 6 million to homelessness. I think the
Homeless Trust has, we've had this discussion many times, a substantial amount of
money in a surplus account and everything else we talked about. I think it's better that
we don't continue to target extreme low-income housing and that we begin to focus a
little bit on things like home ownership, things like workforce housing maybe, a
broader direction to the City Manager.
Vice Chair Russell: Broader affordable housing?
Commissioner Carollo: Absolutely.
Commissioner Reyes: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Broader housing, public housing.
Commissioner Reyes: Right. I mean we have funds that they are being identified as
affordable housing.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right, that's what I mean.
Commissioner Reyes: That's a pot of money that we draw from that. Just include that
in it.
Vice Chair Russell: Got it.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right.
Vice Chair Russell: So, I'm open to that. Whoever would like to make the motion
capturing all of that?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I'll make it. I'll make it.
Vice Chair Russell: Seconded by the Chair.
Commissioner Reyes: And I'll second it.
Vice Chair Russell: Okay, seconded by Commissioner Reyes.
Commissioner Carollo: I --
Vice Chair Russell: And this is PI --
Commissioner Carollo: I think this is important because I don't want to be in a
situation that some of our residents are going to think that they're better off going out
and blocking a sidewalk and putting up a tent, and that's how they're going to get help
a lot quicker than they are now.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. But at least we're putting our flag on the ground that
proceeds from MiamiCoin will be directed toward affordable housing. There's a
motion, there's a second. Is there anyone here from the public who would like to
comment on that?
Commissioner Carollo: I do have one question.
Vice Chair Russell: Seeing none, I'll close public comment. Go ahead, Commissioner
Carollo, then Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla.
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Commissioner Carollo: 1 remember years hack when 1 had at the --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Commissioner Carollo, may I interrupt you? I
have a question. It's still timely. I see a frenzy of media over there on the right that's
kind of hurting my eves. Who's being interviewed over there? The police chief? Okay.
I couldn't see. I thought something was happening that was according to what was --
In sorry to interrupt you, but I saw all those lights and, you know, I haven't seen that
many lights here in, I don't know how many.
Commissioner Reyes: 1 don't know what's going on.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Since I've been here, I haven't seen that many
lights. So to me, it's like, 1 was shocked, you know, it's kind of like, you know, it looks
like the White House or something.
Commissioner Reyes: Commissioner, I was wondering what the.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: The press floor, you know, the White House press
floor.
Commissioner Carollo: 1 thought it was Pepe Policia.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So, 1'm sorry to interrupt. I was just curious why
I've never seen this kind of press activity here in Miami.
Commissioner Carollo: This is the kind ofstuff, gentlemen, that, you know, here we're
getting all these cameras where it's even hard to look forward.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I can't see.
Commissioner Carollo: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) lights.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: They're aiming straight at me, but they're not
interviewing me. I don't get it. I thought we were the politicians.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, Mr. Manager, can we try to get some decorum here
where, I mean, this is not Texas, okay? This is Miami, and if he hasn't realized that
this is Miami, he's going to be in for a crash landing.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: This is also City Hall. I mean, there's a police
headquarters where you can do the interviews over there, but not to interrupt our
meeting with all these lights on us because we're trying to focus on important city
business beyond whatever it is he's talking about over there.
Commissioner Carollo: Exactly. And we're not saying that he cannot talk about real
city business that's before us today, and particularly in the area of budgeting for
police, et cetera, but not in this fashion. This has got to come to an end, frankly, but
I'm getting ahead of myself
Vice Chair Russell: I'll sure that'll come in on PI4. Discussion Item 4 will have that.
I believe that's your item there.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: But thought it was timely, that's why I interrupted
Commissioner Carollo. I thought it was timely because it was happening before my
very eyes and I thought we need to bring attention to what I know is a growing
concern in this -- among this body.
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Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, I'm glad you brought it out because I couldn't see who
was there with all those bright lights hitting me here.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I was blinded by the light. That's like a song. I
don't even know.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. I've closed public discussion for PL 4, the direction to
allocate funds from the Bitcoin mining.
Commissioner Carollo: I was making a statement when Commissioner Diaz de la
Portilla brought this up, and I remember back in the day when we had the Mayor's
Summit of the Americas, and out of 16 mayors that came from Canada, one was the
mayor of Toronto. And he had a silver coin. Now silver wasn't worth as much you
know, back in 1999, 2000, as silver is worth today; it's gone up quite a bit. But he had
silver coins, one ounce, that he would pass them out, and on one side it had City of
Toronto, and the other side it had his face. Now these bitcoins, are they going to have
any kind offace in them?
Commissioner Reyes: They're going to have the Mayor's (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, I think we alternate. We'll get a
(UNINTELLIGIBLE), Commissioner (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in one of them.
Commissioner Reyes: That's right.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yours on the other one.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Reyes: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(MULTIPLE PARTIES SPEAKING IN UNISON)
Vice Chair Russell: He just coined it, but you remember.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: You know, we alternate.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: With six versions of course the mayor has to be on
it.
Vice Chair Russell.• All in favor of item PL4 say, "aye.
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Motion passes. We're going to take a break now for
lunch and to satisfy all palates, we have Japanese in my office, we have Chicken
Kitchen upstairs, and I would like to make a short break so that we can come back
and even eat here during the CRA. It's mostly finger food (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Reyes: We're going to have both CRAs meetings or?
Vice Chair Russell: Three CRA meetings and then we'll go back to finishing the
regular agenda and then we should be able to break early enough to have a break
before 5: 00 p.m. for --
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Commissioner Reyes: Okay, let's do it.
Vice Chair Russell: That's how we roll.
Commissioner Watson: Can I ask you a quick question?
Vice Chair Russell: So, so --
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): For what time?
Vice Chair Russell: So, we'll take 30 minutes right now, please.
Commissioner Watson: Quick -- quick question.
Vice Chair Russell: I'm going to bring it back to the --
Commissioner Watson: Did we do all the PH (Public Hearing) items?
Commissioner Carollo: I need at least an hour Commissioner.
Commissioner Watson: We did all?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Can we do 45?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: An hour maybe?
Commissioner Carollo: An hour.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): And for the record, PH.3 was deferred to September
23rd.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I think we can do an hour.
Vice Chair Russell: I'm a man of compromise. One hour it is.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: One hour. It's not three hours. Look at the bright
side, it's actually just one hour.
Vice Chair Russell: No, it's very fair. Let's see so it's --
[Later...]
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. We are good. During the lunch break, I heard from
the mayor, who was very thankful that we are all moving quickly to address our
affordable housing crisis. However, on item PH4, the City Coins Item, he's been
working on an initiative and would like to work with each of us in how those funds are
spent more specifically. We passed a resolution, a pocket item resolution, directing
the Manager to put everything, just sweep it toward affordable housing. But I think
the Mayor would like to reach out to each of us with a more specific initiative within
the tech equity world, meaning if tech is affecting it, how do we use that money to
mitigate it? And so he's got some concepts within that. So is there a motion to
reconsider PH.4?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I'll move to reconsider.
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Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Vice Chair Russell: Moved by Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Vice Chair Russell: Second by Commissioner Carollo. All in favor say, "aye."
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair? Chair?
Vice Chair Russell: Sir,
Mr. Hannon: I think it would be the reconsideration of --
Vice Chair Russell: I'm sorry, PI --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: 3.
Vice Chair Russell: 3.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: PI.3.
Vice Chair Russell: No, P1.4.
Mr. Hannon: 4, yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Yep. Sorry, it's a reconsideration ofP14. We have a motion and
we have a second. All in favor say, "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Motion passes. I would like to capture, I believe,
who was the original mover on PI4? Was it Commissioner Watson or was that for the
PI. 3?
Mr. Hannon: It was moved by Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla, seconded by
Commissioner Reyes.
Vice Chair Russell: That's right. So we can either leave it with no action at this point
or we can give the Manager direction. What would you like to do? You want to wait?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Give him some direction.
Vice Chair Russell: What's that?
Commissioner Carollo: Give some direction.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Give him some direction. I think it's important to
be a little bit clearer. I spoke to the Mayor also. What he's looking -- what he's
looking at is among many ideas is to have tech supported charter schools, things of
that niche, so that some of the tech companies can pay for some of these charter
schools or sponsor some of these charter schools. He talked to me a little bit about
that. So, he wants just to have a broader, not a specific mission statement, but just
more things coming from the Manager's Office to us for future debate and future
discussion from us. So, there's no real allocation, just what the Manager is bringing
back to us. And so what we should use that money for, which will include affordable
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housing and everything we talked about, just additional things and options that can be
given to us to have a broader choice of you know, choices basically. That's what it is.
Commissioner Reyes: Mr. Chair?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Reyes: Mr. Chair, if that is what -- that's what it is, what we, I think we
should do instead of taking any action, I mean against it, just to establish that the use
is going to be broad use and has to come to the Commission. And we decide if we can
use it or not.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right, but the idea was jor the Manager to come to
us with what they think.
Commissioner Reyes: Absolutely.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yeah, that's it.
Commissioner Reyes: That the Manager include whatever it is.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Whatever else he wants to.
Commissioner Reyes: Whatever he wants to and then we decide.
Vice Chair Russell: All right, so the motion is by Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla
directing the Manager to come back with options for how the Miami City proceeds
can be spent.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Any and all options.
Commissioner Reyes: Any and all.
Vice Chair Russell: Moved by Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla, seconded by
Commissioner Reyes. Is there any further discussion? Is there any discussion from the
public?
Commissioner Carollo: I like that word, any and all options.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: It's very broad.
Vice Chair Russell: That is broad. All in favor say. "aye."
"
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Motion passes on PI.4.
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RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DIRECTING
THE CITY MANAGER TO MEET WITH MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
MAYOR DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION
DIRECTOR DANIEL JUNIOR TO DEMAND THAT MIAMI-DADE
COUNTY ("COUNTY") PROVIDE PROVISIONS OR
ACCOMMODATIONS FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF JAIL
INMATES RELEASED FROM THE TURNER GUILFORD KNIGHT
CORRECTIONAL CENTER LOCATED AT 7000 NW 41ST STREET,
IN UNINCORPORATED MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, BACK TO THE
INMATES ORIGINATING COMMUNITIES AND CEASE FROM
FURTHER TRANSPORTING RELEASED INMATES TO THE CITY
OF MIAMI ("CITY") FOR PURPOSES OF ABANDONING THOSE
INDIVIDUALS WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE CITY;
PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0378
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Jeffrey Watson, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
ABSENT: Diaz de la Portilla
Commissioner Reyes: Can we direct the City Attorney to draft a resolution to that
effect? And I'm going to ask a question. It might sound, you see, stupid or whatever,
but can we pick them up and send them back, and drive them back?
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): I --
Commissioner Reyes: Look at Jeff. Look at Jeff.
Ms. Mendez: So we could potentially have certain shuttle services to the locations
where they came from, like their homes or what have you, something like that. I don't
necessarily think we could just take them back to TGK (Turner Guilford Knight).
Commissioner Reyes: Can we ask, you see, that they be released at the point or
whether we're arrested, something like that, you know, try to establish some type of
policy.
Ms. Mendez: We could definitely look into that.
Commissioner Reyes: What will it take? What will it take? To go to court or
whatever? I don't know.
Ms. Mendez: So I believe, as the Manager said, first we're going to talk to the
administration and then if that goes nowhere, then well take legal action. Whether
that's a 164 proceeding, or court, we will definitely do so.
Commissioner Reyes: Could you do some legal research? Is that happening in any
other areas of the country?
Ms. Mendez: Will do.
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Commissioner Carollo: Well, can we make any financial claim against the County for
doing this? They're causing a financial hardship, among others, to the City of Miami
by dumping and releasing all the inmates county -wide in the city of Miami.
Ms. Mendez: We will definitely research if that claim is something we can do.
Commissioner Carollo: Can you bring this back at the next meeting with all the legal
options that this body, this legislative body, has at its disposal in a court of law.
Ms. Mendez: Commissioner, I normally don't like to lay out like our whole strategy
for suing someone. We would definitely sue them. We'll just figure out all the different
ways and we can brief you about that if possible?
Commissioner Carollo: Well, you might not like it, Madam City Attorney, but I want
some solutions to the record because we've been going around this in circles for years
before I came back. In the last four years, it's the same thing. And I'm to a point that I
don't care what others don't like in the City of Miami bureaucracy.
Ms. Mendez: We can definitely sue them.
Commissioner Carollo: I want -- I want to find answers so we can resolve this whole
issue for our residents.
Ms. Mendez: Right, we could definitely take legal action, Commissioner. I'm just
saying that if we can talk about the strategies of that lawsuit --
Commissioner Carollo: I just want point one, two, three, whatever points you have on
areas that we could possibly take legal action. You don't have to put your whole case
in front of us or anything other, but I want to be able to see what we have at our
disposal so we're not going out there with a, you know, gun with blanks.
Ms. Mendez: Okay.
Commissioner Carollo: Now, Mr. Manager, on your request of speaking, which is
part of what I would expect, going to the County in the best diplomatic way that we
can, to begin with, in requesting their assistance in this, what would be a fair time
that you think you would need to get back to us with whatever response the County
wants to give us.
Arthur Noriega (City Manager): I will make contact with the County tomorrow, so if
you'd like, we can have this conversation at the next meeting and I'll provide an
update.
Commissioner Carollo: I will put a resolution forward now, as you requested, so you
could have the backing of this legislative body.
[Later...]
Commissioner Carollo: I will make the resolution the Manager requested now, that
we are instructing him to meet with Miami -Dade County officials and to try to find a
solution where all inmates that were not arrested inside City of Miami limits are not --
are the only ones rather, that are let out in city of Miami. And only those.
Vice Chair Russell: Is that a motion, Commissioner?
Commissioner Carollo: That is a motion.
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Vice Chair Russell: That'll be --
Commissioner Watson: So moved.
Vice Chair Russell: -- PL5 moved by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by
Commissioner Watson, directing the Manager. Is there anyone here at public
comment who would like to speak on this item? Seeing none, I'll close public
comment. Any further discussion from the dais?
Commissioner Reyes: Nobody from the County?
Vice Chair Russell: All in favor say, "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Motion passes on PL 5, Pocket Item 5. Thank you,
Commissioner Carollo.
RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DIRECTING
THE CITY MANAGER TO REQUEST THAT MIAMI POLICE
DEPARTMENT DISTRICT COMMANDERS PLACE EMPHASIS ON
HOMELESS ISSUES PARTICULAR TO EACH DISTRICT AND
ENDEAVOR TO SECURE AVAILABLE SHELTER OR ALTERNATE
HOUSING ARRANGEMENTS FOR HOMELESS PERSONS;
FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO TAKE ANY AND
ALL LAWFUL ACTIONS TO PREVENT HEALTH HAZARDS
CAUSED BY ENCAMPMENTS OF HOMELESS COMMUNITIES ON
SIDEWALKS AND RIGHT-OF-WAYS; FURTHER AUTHORIZING
THE CITY MANAGER TO ALLOW THE USE OF CITY OF MIAMI
POLICE VEHICLES TO ASSIST DURING CLEANING OF CERTAIN
LOCATIONS CONSIDERED TO BE HOT SPOTS OF RECURRING
HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS AND USED AS A FORM OF
ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION RESOURCE FOR THE
TRANSPORTATION OF HOMELESS PERSONS TO AVAILABLE
SHELTERS OR ALTERNATE HOUSING FACILITY TO PREVENT A
PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD AND COMBAT THE SPREAD OF THE
CURRENT NOVEL CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC.
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0379
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Fortilla, Carollo, Watson
ABSENT: Reyes
Commissioner Carollo: Let me touch one quick area on this item that has to do with
the City of Miami Police. I would like to present a resolution to the City Manager
requesting of the Manager that the different commanders in all of our districts put an
emphasis on homelessness in our districts, in humanely finding shelters for them,
finding places they can move to. And if there are individuals that are encamped in
sidewalks, blocking the passage of residents, that have sofas, that have all kinds of
other furniture and equipment thrown out there, that they take whatever action is
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needed to make sure that these areas do not become a health hazard and are cleaned
three times a week. Furthermore, because of COVID, because of other health
hazards, if we have to use for transportation other means than the regular patrol
vehicles that they will be used. And I think the Police Chief will understand clearly
what we're referring to it. If not, he could ask you, Mr. Manager, and I think you
would tell him what we're talking about.
Vice Chair Russell: Is that a motion, Commissioner?
Commissioner Carollo: That is a motion on this issue. YVhat I'm trying to do is get
everybody engaged in the same plan because the only way that a lot of this is going to
be able to happen, and for us to help the homeless compassionately in the streets and
keep our city streets and sidewalks safe for our residents is by having the strong
participation of our police department also in this. It cannot be done without our
officers, Chief And I will say this to you with all respect to commanders. They will do
a lot more for our residents if instead of spending so much time in the cafecitos with
merchants that nobody shows up for the most part, ifthey would concentrate on this
that I just asked for and what I previously talked about in putting plans together in
our individual districts that will be part of your overall plan that you're going to
present to us on going after the drug trade with the drug overdoses in our city.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. That will call it PI.6. There is a motion. is there a
second?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I'll second it.
Vice Chair Russell: Seconded by Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla.
Commissioner Reyes: May I?
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Reyes.
Commissioner Reyes: You see, I am a little concerned about this, Commissioner
Carollo, and I'm going to tell you why. One of the reasons, and correct me, Madam
City Attorney, if I'm wrong, one of the reasons of Pottinger, one of the constraints of
Pottinger was that property that was -- that belonged to the homeless, that we were
throwing away or that a pathogen precluded us specifically from doing those things
as getting whatever they have and just keeping it, taking it from them and throwing it
away. We have to be very careful with this. And I think that we cannot provide the
reasons to go back to court and get another Pottinger ruling on our heads. You see, I
am very cautious on this because there is a certain -- we can go so far, and that's why
I want your participation, Madam City Attorney, on everything that is allowed and
what is not allowed, what becomes dangerous and what -- because, believe me,
believe me, we are going to go back to court with this.
Commissioner Carollo: Well, there's --
Commissioner Reyes: Okay, but, but, but --
Commissioner Carollo: There's no doubt in my mind and I will tell you how I feel
about it.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay, let's go.
Commissioner Carollo: I think we will have the support of the vast majority of our
residents.
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Commissioner Reyes: Yes sir, but the thing is --
Commissioner Carollo: Whenever we're challenged, that's why 1 agree that we need
to be on very firm ground.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: Whatever we're challenged, maybe this could go all the way
to the Supreme Court so this could be resolved once and for all. We cannot let
individuals that just want to be in the streets, just want to take over any sidewalk, any
street that they want to, where they're infringing on others' rights by passing by health
hazards et cetera, just do what they want. This is not allowed in any civilized country
in the world --
Vice Chair Russell: So I think can bring you together.
Commissioner Reyes: That's not what I'm saying.
Vice Chair Russell: I think can bring you together. Commissioner Reyes.
Commissioner Reyes: (INAUDIBLE).
Commissioner Carollo: 1 do understand what you're saying you're saying and I'm in
agreement with what you're saying and she's going to guide us.
Commissioner Reyes: She has to guide us.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, I think maybe you misunderstood. Part of what we have
voted upon in every one of these resolutions or ordinances speak to just what you're
asking for, where everybody works as one group.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: You have to, first of all, give notice before you have cleanups.
That has to be followed, and that will be followed. So what you're saying, I'm in full
agreement with, Commissioner, that we have to follow the rule of law, just like we're
going to expect others to.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Commissioner. Could the wording include the words
within the law and civil rights.
Commissioner Reyes: Within the law. What I don't want (INAUDIBLE) and some
people, and somebody, it is going to misunderstand it. I do agree that we have to take
strong action and we have to be firm. But there is a fine line of being firm and what
other people might consider abusive. And that's where we cannot fall, you see? I
agree, and I'm the first one that made the distinction that what it is for me not -- Ulm
not allowed to do something I don't think anybody, else should be doing it, you see?
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Commissioner Carollo, are you open to your motion
including the words within the law and in compliance with civil rights?
Commissioner Carollo: Yes.
Commissioner Reyes: Absolutely.
Commissioner Carollo: Yes.
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Vice Chair Russell: Thank you.
Commissioner Reyes: Now --
Vice Chair Russell: Alright.
Commissioner Carollo: And the City Attorney will guide us fully on the process, every
step of the way.
Vice Chair Russell: All right. We have a motion, we have a second. No need to
amend. It's been incorporated into the original notion. Is there anyone here who
would like to speak on P1.6? You're recognized, sir. You have two minutes. Please
state your name.
Caleb Freestone: My name is Caleb Freestone. I'm happy, once again, that
Commissioner Carollo has mentioned the civilized nation that we live in. I find it
extremely disturbing that your definition of the lack of civilization is blocked
sidewalks while at the same time advocating for the use of guns, cages, and large
mechanical machines to criminalize the homeless. I found everything that you have
said pretending towards empathy towards the homeless to be purely crocodile tears.
You are clearly not working for it on their behalf And instead doing everything in
your power to put them into cages. You openly admit you have no plan for what to do
with them once they go into shelters. You have no plan for what to do with this
bottleneck that Chairman Russell brought up. You openly admit that you are not
working with the mayor. Sir, what are you doing? Finally,l would absolutely like to
voice my opposition to your resolution to push for cooperation with the Police
Department among the city managers. Police are not, have never been, and never will
be a solution to homelessness. This is an economic problem, a public health problem,
and guns and cages do not solve it, sir.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else who'd like to
speak on PI6? See -- seeing none -- hello. Your name, please?
Mayra Joli: My name is Mayra Joli.
Vice Chair Russell: Welcome.
Ms. Joli: The problem with the homeless has been an eyesore in Miami. I have heard
all of the decisions and the plans that people have to resolve the homeless problem.
They don't want police. They don't want to take them off the streets. So I ask, what
about the residents who have worked hard just to live in the neighborhood where the
tent cities are growing? The police have to be involved. We don't know how many of
them are mental issues, alcoholic, drugs, or just because they like to be on the street.
But we cannot just go by whatever it is happening, throwing money to think that that's
going to resolve the problem without some sort of enforcement. If everything is
cleaned up and they come back next day, what are we going to do? Since they're
homeless, they're not going to follow the regulations. But we, the people who follow
the law, we are subject to be put in jail. We are subject to be disciplined. So either we
all going to be following the regulations, or nobody's going to do it. The people who
are saying since this morning that they have this bright idea that's going to be great
for the homeless, just they need a couple of million more dollars just to throw at it,
think of something. If there are no homeless, these people will not have been making
money. So we want to resolve the problem with the homeless, or we want to play with
the words because it's never going to end.
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Vice Chair Russell: Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else who would
like to speak on this item? Please. If there's anyone else, please line up at both
lecterns. This is our two -minute public comment for this single item.
Calla Hummel: Hello. My name is Dr. Calla Hummel. I'm a homeowner in 33127.
Thank you, Commissioner Watson. And I'm also a professor of political science at the
University of Miami. I'm pretty sure that the commissioners are aware of this
research, but we do have a lot of research on homelessness and a variety of
approaches towards homelessness in the social sciences. That research definitively
says, unsurprisingly, that the easiest and cheapest way to end homelessness is to give
people homes It costs a few million dollars to give the few thousand homeless people
we have in Miami homes. It costs about that much to continue to pay police officers to
clean up the streets several times a week. So I urge the Commission to reconsider
building more homes and other forms of shelter for people that are on the street.
Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you for your comments. Please, if anyone's going to speak,
go ahead and line up right now so that we don't have to wait for each person to come
up. Go ahead, sir.
Phillip Soares de Sa: Good evening. My name is Phillip Soares de Sa. I'm an alumni
from New World School of the Arts in an area very much affected by this situation. As
someone who maintained a studio practice within downtown, very near to homeless
encampments on Flagler, 1 noticed this problem and had a lot of thinking on it. And I
noticed a glaring effect of a revolving door for many of the mentally incapacitated
homeless that we have. There's currently two -week holds that are available for people
who are going through mental episodes, many of them homeless. There is no long-
term solution for these patients. I say patients because giving someone like this a
home is not a solution. This is something that requires a long-term care facility that
does not exist within Miami. There is no resource for these types ofpeople who end up
systematically being part of the homeless population. So I would say that this is not
something we can do with just a house. It must be something that is infrastructure for
long-term mental health care. Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you for your comments. I'll be closing public comment
now, seeing no other public comment for PI6. Is there any further discussion on the
dais? All in favor of the item say, "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Motion passes. Thank you very much.
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RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION
SCHEDULING A SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING ON
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 AT 10:00 A.M. FOR THE
PURPOSES OF A DISCUSSION REGARDING THE CITY OF
MIAMI'S CHIEF OF POLICE AND ADOPTION OF ANY PERTINENT
RESOLUTION(S).
ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-21-0380
MOTION TO: Adopt
RESULT: ADOPTED
MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner
SECONDER: Alex Diaz de Ia Portilla, Commissioner
AYES: Russell, Diaz de Ia Portilla, Carollo, Reyes, Watson
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Monday the 27th?
Vice Chair Russell: So it's the, yes, Monday is the 27th.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: That's fine.
Vice Chair Russell: That week goes right to Halloween.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: September. September 27th.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, September 27th.
Commissioner Carollo: It's two weeks from now.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I'm okay with that.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay, September 27th. Now, Mr. Manager. Mr. Manager.
Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): Does anyone know if it's a Jewish holiday on the
27th? That week?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: There's like five --
Ms. Mendez: Right, /believe October 1st is definitely a Jewish holiday, so I don't
know how close that is, and we passed an -- a resolution, and so --
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah.
Ms. Mendez: Just to clarify, please.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: This is 5 days before the lst.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Do we have any members of the Jewish --
Vice Chair Russell: Four days.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- faith in the audience that can tell us, is
September- 27th a Jewish holiday?
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Commissioner Watson: You can check, have them check, and just have the special
meeting. Do you have to vote on it?
Commissioner Carollo: We're heading towards, two weeks from now, Monday, the
27th of September.
Commissioner Reyes: Okay.
Commissioner Carollo: Now, Mr. Manager, before we vote upon this, I had asked you
a question, very respectfully, were you willing to make sure, since you're the manager,
we can't do that, and 1 want to be perfectly clear, were you willing -- are you willing,
to let the chief know that status quo is going to be applying, no more firings, all kinds
of this stuff that's been going on, it stops until we meet and we go from there.
Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Absolutely.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Commissioner. If you'd like to call your motion to set
a special meeting for September 27th.
Commissioner Carollo: 1 do.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I'll second it.
Commissioner Carollo: 1 move --
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I'll second it.
Commissioner Carollo: I will bring my motion to call a special meeting for Monday,
September 27th.
Vice Chair Russell: Moved by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner
Diaz de la Portilla.
Commissioner Carollo: Reference the same subjects that I had in DI4, which is
Police Chief Art Acevedo and police matters.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. And what I'll do is I'll commit -- I'll consider DI4 a
closed discussion item for today.
Commissioner Reyes: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: And the special meeting will have its own subject, which the
Commissioner has just called. Does that work for you, Mr. Clerk?
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: One more thing. Yeah, I just got a text. Jewish
holiday starts the night of the 27th at 6:00 p.m. So we have to do it -- you think we
need more?
Vice Chair Russell: 9:00 a.m.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: We'll do it early.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, we can start at 9:00. That's fine.
Vice Chair Russell: Alright. Mr. Clerk, is that captured?
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Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Commissioner Watson -- Commissioner Watson
wants 10.
Commissioner Watson: 10:00.
Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: 10 in the morning.
Vice Chair Russell: 10:00 a.m. 10:00 a.m. on Monday.
Commissioner Reyes: Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): So again, the special meeting will be called for
September 27th, which is a Monday at 10:00 a.m. here at Miami City Hall, and you
are going to bring a new item, a new discussion item --
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Mr. Hannon: -- for that particular special meeting.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Mr. Hannon: And so DI.4 will be showed as discussed for our purposes as of today.
Vice Chair Russell: Correct.
Mr. Hannon: Understood.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner, is that your will?
Commissioner Carollo: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Alright. We have a motion, we have a second.
Commissioner Reyes: You don't ask me. What's the matter?
Vice Chair Russell: He moved, he seconded. You've got to jump on this stuff.
(COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD)
Vice Chair Russell: Alright. Any further discussion on that special meeting, creation
of the special meeting? Need a vote on that? Do you need public comment opened for
the calling of a special meeting? You do not. It's a scheduling issue. All in favor say,
"aye.
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Vice Chair Russell: Any opposed? Motion passes on creation of a special meeting.
And that concludes our regular and planning zoning agenda. Thank you all for your
advocacy.
Commissioner Carollo: Can we just take a couple of quick minutes?
Vice Chair Russell: I do want to, yes we will. I do want to mention though, and I want
it captured in this before I adjourn, on the police issue, because a resolution was
passed by this body months ago regarding the sergeants -at- arms, the bifurcation of
the sergeants at arms, and the expansion of the commissioner sergeants -at -arms, but
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that is not reflected in this budget that we're about to take up. So !just wanted to
leave that in the record for this meeting before I adjourn it.
Commissioner Carollo: I'm sorry. Why was that placed in the bifurcation of the
sergeant at anns?
Vice Chair Russell: My understanding, the Manager has already left the dais. We
haven't adjourned yet, but Ijust wanted that in the record and we can take it up again
when we get into the budget. You'll get your answers.
Commissioner Carollo: Alright. Thank you.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you everyone for your advocacy. We are concluding the
9th hour of our fifth -- fourth meeting so far today. We ask for your indulgence as we
take a 10 minute break to reset for the budget meeting so we can be fresh for all of
you. Thank you for your patience and advocacy. We are adjourned on the regular
meeting. Well reconvene at 6:10, 6:15.
FL - FUTURE LEGISLATION
FL.1 ORDINANCE
9329
Department of
Resilience and
Public Works
FL.2
10621
Department of
Building
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING
CHAPTER 22.5/ARTICLE IV OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF
MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, TITLED "GREEN
INITIATIVES/WATER CONSERVATION," TO UPDATE THE CITY
OF MIAMI'S WATER CONSERVATION ORDINANCE TO
CONFORM WITH THE REVISED SOUTH FLORIDA WATER
MANAGEMENT DISTRICT'S MANDATORY YEAR-ROUND
LANDSCAPE IRRIGATION CONSERVATION MEASURES,
THEREBY UPDATING DEFINITIONS, PROVIDING FOR WATER
SHORTAGE EMERGENCIES AND YEAR-ROUND WATER
CONSERVATION; PROVIDING FOR VARIANCES; AND
PROVIDING ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES; CONTAINING A
SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
ORDINANCE
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION REPEALING
CHAPTER 62 ARTICLE X AND AMENDING CHAPTER 17 OF THE
CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("CITY
CODE"), ENTITLED "ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION".
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
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FL.3
10622
Department of
Building
ADJOURNMENT
ORDINANCE
AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING
CHAPTER 20 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA,
ENTITLED "FLOOD DAMAGE PREVENTION" TO UPDATE THE
LANGUAGE TO MATCH THE CURRENT REQUIREMENTS OF
FEDERAL, STATE AND COUNTY LAW; PROVIDING A
SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE
DATE.
RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN
END OF FUTURE LEGISLATION
The meeting adjourned at 6: 01 p.m.
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