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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 2024-09-26 MinutesCity of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com Meeting Minutes Thursday, September 26, 2024 5:05 PM Second Budget Hearing City Hall City Commission Francis X. Suarez, Mayor Christine King, Chair, District Five Joe Carollo, Vice Chair, District Three Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner, District One Damian Pardo, Commissioner, District Two Manolo Reyes, Commissioner, District Four Arthur Noriega, V, City Manager George K. Wysong III, City Attorney Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 5:05 PM INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Present: Chairwoman King, Vice Chair Carollo, Commissioner Gabela, Commissioner Pardo and Commissioner Reyes. On the 26th day of September 2024, the City Commission of the City of Miami, Florida, met at its regular meeting place in City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida, for its second budget hearing session. The Meeting was called to order by Chairwoman King at 5:20 p.m., recessed at 5:20 p.m., reconvened at 6:39 p.m., and adjourned at 7:49 p.m. ALSO PRESENT: Arthur Noriega, V, City Manager George K. Wysong III, City Attorney Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk Chair King: At this time, we are going to begin our City of Miami Commission budget hearing, our second budget hearing, September 26th, 2024. As with every meeting, we are going to open the meeting with prayer. Vice Chair Carollo: I think we need to deal with some of the CRAs (Community Redevelopment Agency) before passing the budget, or do we? Chair King: Oh, that's true. I forgot. We have the Omni CRA meeting. Do we want to go to the Omni CRA meeting? Commissioner Pardo: There is no Omni CRA. Vice Chair Carollo: No, that got approved last month. George Wysong (City Attorney): No, Omni was resolved. You just have Midtown. Vice Chair Carollo: Midtown. Chair King: I'm sorry, I mean the Midtown CRA. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Chair King: Okay. Todd B. Hannon (Citv Clerk): So, Chair, we did open up the second budget hearing. So, if you want to recess -- Chair King: Recess. At this time, I apologize, everyone, I forgot about the Midtown CRA meeting. We are going to recess the City of Miami Commission budget hearing until we complete the Midtown CRA meeting. [Later...] Vice Chair Carollo: Can we take jive? Mr. Hannon: Good to go, Chair. Chair King: At this time, we're going to begin the City of Miami Commission's second budget hearing for September 26th, 2024. And I'd like to begin this meeting with prayer. We always need it. We always need it. If my pastor left, I will do it for sure. City of Miami Page 1 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 Vice Chair Carollo: Chair, 1 have to step out for a couple of minutes to do something nobody else can do for me. Thank you. Chair King: Well, wait for the prayer. Can you wait for the prayer? At this time, Pastor Hall from the Mount Vernon Missionary Baptist Church will lead us in prayer. Thank you, Pastor. Cleophus Hall: Would you bow your heads, please? Invocation delivered. Chair King: Thank you so much, Pastor. Commissioner Reyes, would you like to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? Pledge of Allegiance delivered. ORDER OF THE DAY Chair King: At this time, I'm going to have the City Attorney read into the record the statement. George Wysong (City Attorney): Thank you, Madam Chair. This evening, the City of Miami is holding its second budget meeting and the related second budget public hearing for the purposes of fixing the final millage rate, adopting a final budget, and approving various agency budgets. This hearing was set pursuant to Resolution Number R-24-0284, adopted on July 25, 2024, and in compliance with Chapter 200 and Section 166.241 Florida Statute and all other applicable codes rules and regulations. Additionally, on Sunday, September 22nd, 2024, the City of Miami advertising newspaper general circulation within Miami -Dade County, and in compliance with Section 200.065(2)(d), it's intent to opt to find -- to adopt the final millage rate and final budget at today's second budget meeting. Detailed information about the processes, order of business, rules and procedure, and scheduling or rescheduling of City Commission meetings can be found in Chapter 2, Article 2 of the City Code, a copy of which is available online at www.municode.com. Any person who is lobbyist pursuant to Chapter 2, Article 6 of the City Code must register with the City Clerk and comply with related City requirements for lobbyists before appearing before the City Commission. A person may not lobby a City official, board member, or staff member until registering. A copy of Chapter 2, Article 6 of the City Code, entitled `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 this City Code section is available at the Office of the City Clerk or online. The City of Miami requires that anyone requesting approval, relief or other action from the City Commission must disclose before the public hearing any consideration provided or committed directly or on its behalf to anyone for an agreement to support or withhold objection to the requested approval, relief or other action pursuant to City Code Section 2-8. Any documents offered to the City Commission that have not been provided at least seven days before the meeting as part of the agenda materials will be entered into the record at the City Commission's discretion. In accordance with Section 2-33(f) and (g) of the City Code, the agenda and materials 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. The meeting of the Miami City Commission is a limited public forum. 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 chairperson. Public comment will begin at approximately 7:45 and remain open until public comment is closed by the chairperson. Any person making offensive remarks or who becomes unruly in the commission chambers will be barred from further attending City Commission meetings and may be subject to arrest. No clapping, applauding, heckling, or verbal outbursts in support or opposition to a speaker or his or her City of Miami Page 2 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 remarks shall he permitted. No signs or placards shall be allowed in the commission chambers. Persons exiting the commission chamber shall do so quietly. Members of the public wishing to address the body may also do so by submitting written comments via the City's online comment form. Please visit miamigov.com/meetinginstructions for detailed instructions on how to provide public comment during the online public comment form -- using the online public comment form. The comments submitted through the comment form have been and will be distributed to the elected officials and City administration throughout the day so that the elected officials may 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 and City administration up until the chairperson closes public comment. Public comments may also be provided here live at City Hall located at 3500 Pan American Drive, subject to any and all City rules as may be amended from time to time. If the proposition is being continued or rescheduled, the opportunity to be heard may be at such later date before the City Commission takes action on such proposition. When addressing the City Commission, the members of the public must first state their name, their address, and what item or items they are speaking on. Any person with a disability requiring assistance, auxiliary aids and services for this meeting may notify the City Clerk. The City has provided different public comment methods to indicate, among other things, that public support, opposition, or neutrality on the items and topics to be discussed at the City Commission meeting in compliance with Section 286.0114(4)(c) Florida Statutes. The public has been given the opportunity to provide public comment during the meeting and within reasonable proximity and time before the meeting. Please note, commissioners have generally been briefed by City staff and the City Attorney on items on this agenda. Anyone wishing a verbatim record of an item considered at this meeting may be requested at the Office of Communications, or view it online at www.miamigov.com/MiamiTV. Notwithstanding the foregoing, pursuant to Florida Statute Section 200.065(3), and 286.0105, and Florida Administrative Code Rule 12D- 17.005(2)(c)(22), no verbatim record is required for the appeal of any decision made during public hearings required by Chapter 200. This meeting can be viewed live on Miami TV, the City's Facebook page, the City's X,, formerly Twitter, page, the City's YouTube channel, Comcast Channel 77, and AT&T Channel 99. The broadcast will also have closed captioning. Thank you, Madam Chair. Chair King: Thank you, Mr. City Attorney. Mr. City Manager, do you have any items that are going to be withdrawn from this agenda? Arthur Noriega (City Manager): No, ma'am, I do not. Chair King: Do any of my colleagues want to pull any of the items for discussion? Are there any pocket items to be considered? City of Miami Page 3 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 PUBLIC COMMENTS FOR ALL BUDGET ITEM(S) 16735 DISCUSSION ITEM Office of the City PUBLIC COMMENTS SUBMITTED ONLINE BY MEMBERS OF THE Clerk PUBLIC FOR THE SEPTEMBER 26, 2024, SECOND BUDGET HEARING. RESULT: PRESENTED Chair King: And at this time, I would like to open the floor for public comment. Anyone who wishes to speak on behalf of any item that is before us for our budget, please step to the podium. Stanley Young: Well, good evening, Commissioners, Chair, and all of our staff. My name is Chaplain Stanley Young. I'm at 500 Northwest 2nd Avenue. I'm here to sound an alarm of a crisis that is going on in our county and in our city where your jail sits. There are 4, 790 people in custody since 9/9/2024. Out of that, 4,236 are there for felony murder. They're there for killing police officers, killing people in our community. They are there. for doing heinous things in our community. And I'm here to say that out of this population, there are some that want to change their life, but they have no help. They have no support from the community that specialize in this type of crime, in this type of thing that is going on in our community. I engage with this population on a weekly basis. They're crying, helping, needing the help from you. 1 had went to the County Commission. I had a little bit of people who wants to get involved. I have spoken with the director of the correction, Miami -Dade Correction, she's very favorable. There's no handofffrom the jail to -- Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Young: Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good evening. Albert Gomez: Good evening, Albert Gomez, District 2, 3566 Vista Court. I've cone several times, and I've also submitted online a request, as well as my colleagues, a request for an increased budget for Marine Patrol. I hope that that was accomplished. I believe it was, and I want to thank you for that. Number two, I requested retraining of all Code Compliance. I have seen Code Compliance flout their own permit guidelines, and it needs to stop and the only way to stop it is to retrain them. We don't need to call anybody out, we just need to retrain our staff. A lot of them are new. Two, I've requested that the pocket park, it got overflowed today with the storm surge, the D2 (District 2) park on Crystal Bluff, to see it already has been permitted, it already has -- or at least been stamped. It's been submitted to OCI (Office of Capital Improvements). I got an ordinance from this dais supporting it, but it still hasn't shown up in any kind of budget line item or work to do. So, I'd wish that that can be done. And then I'd like to talk about something that, through the Chair, Vice Chairman Carollo brought up. And funny that he used a water bottle to showcase the storm surge issue, I mean, the stormwater issue. We have trash in our storm drains. That is why they get clogged up. We can recycle the life of our storm drains and our stormwater system if we flush them out and regularly clean the streets. We can't only do that with street sweepers. We might want to start moving to vac sweeping, which is a vac type system. Why? Because when you street sweep, you shoot up disease into the air and people get sick like I am right now. And the other thing is that it enables -- is to implement permeable pavement. City of Miami Page 4 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Gomez: So, once our team knows how to do that, we can implement it. Chair King: Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Paelas. Christopher Paelas: Good evening, Madam Chair, Commissioners. It's a pleasure to be here tonight, not as a lawyer, but as a resident. I am a resident. I live at 151 Southeast 1st Street in the city of Miami. I live in the DDA area. I'm here to speak in support of item BH.2. 1 live in downtown, and 1 work at Brickell City Centre. It's an area that I go across the Brickell Bridge every morning. 1 can tell you that right now Downtown Miami faces a number of quality of life issues. As you all know, sanitation, vacant storefronts, homelessness, and safety are all amongst those issues that residents in downtown face. It is of paramount importance that the DDA is properly funded to address these issues so that it can continue their important work in improving the quality of lives for downtown residents. I understand that conversations regarding taxation can be difficult, butt urge you to consider the difficult problems that Downtown and Brickell are facing and the work that needs to be done to improve on those issues. Therefore, I urge you to join me in supporting the DDA and ensuring that they are properly funded to face the quality of life issues that downtown residents deal with on a daily basis. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good evening. Louis McMillian: Good evening. Louis McMillan. I'm here on behalf of the concerned citizens of Edgewater, 235 Northeast 25th Street. And we also are in support of the DDA. I've had the privilege of working in Edgewater for 18 years and seen it grow and add the thousands of units that it has and -- and you know, we feel that we could definitely use the support with police presence, you know help clean the streets and homeless assistance. So, we're in favor of the DDA getting the resources that they need. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good evening. Jorge Sanchez: I'm Jorge Sanchez, 133 Northeast 2nd Avenue, at the Loft 2 Condominium, Downtown Miami. Thank you, Commissioner Reyes and Commissioner Pardo, for your recent work and ongoing work with the DDA, and your efforts to rein in the costs in that organization. The organization started over many years ago with good intentions of helping the downtown, butt think the organization has gone off its rails. At this point, I think similar to earlier conversations of the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency), I would encourage the Commission to consider a complete defunding of the DDA and consider a restructuring of how we're handling the downtown needs. The DDA is not adequately addressing the issue of vagrancy in the downtown area, vandalism, all sorts of crime that's going on, the drainage. I see them misspending lots of money that should be spent perhaps in other areas. I have property out in the Flagami area. I have property over in the Allapattah area. I -- flooding in Flagami, unpaved streets. In Allapattah, the money would be much better spent than monies that are being misappropriated by this organization. The organization is unresponsive to downtown businesses and downtown residents. It's an organization that has millions of dollars and is unaccountable to its residents. It's currently -- monies that are being run pretty much by County Commission, but funded through the City of Miami. We should not have a County commissioner running -- being on the board of the DDA. It should be in control of this room, embodied here in this room, where the interest of the city of Miami is represented by the monies that are being spent. I encourage you to not limd the DDA any further and restructure how you're addressing their issues. Thank you. City of Miami Page 5 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 Chair King: Thank you. Good evening. Laverne Holliday: Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Laverne Holliday, Madam Chair. My name is Laverne Holliday, and I'm here on behalf of Curley's House. One of the things I would like to ask is that we get a recommendation from you, Commissioner King, for requesting CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funding, as well as some discretionary funds for our upcoming events. For those of you that don't know us, we have been in the bulk food distribution business for over two decades. Our passion is our seniors. Many of them only receive $15 -- $5 to $15 in food stamps. So, we provide them with bulkfood products, produce, personal hygiene products, baby diapers, and we serve over 5,000 people a month. I encourage you also to Give Miami -Dade, which is a project that we share with the Miami -- not share, but partner with the Miami -- Give Miami -Dade Foundation. So, I'd like to encourage you to also support us in that fashion. Thank you very much. Chair King: Thank you. Good evening. Rhianna Wadlow: Hi, good evening. Rhianna Wadlow. I'm a downtown resident at 1600 Northeast 1st Street. I'm asking you guys please to support the budget, the DDA and BH.2. I chose to live here. I work remote. I've lived in many cities across the U.S. I chose to make Miarni my home because 1 see the potential. But I'm also seeing a lot of things that definitely need to be improved. It should not flood every time it rains on Biscayne Boulevard. There's events. It sometimes takes, if you're taking Exit 2D to come home downtown, you can sit on the ramp for two hours. We're building all these wonderfid towers. Other cities across the globe are taking notes. They're taking note. People are from Dubai coming to look at our city. So, if we truly want to make this the best city in the country, we're going to have to increase the budget so we can take care of the flooding problems, the landscaping, and the homeless that we're seeing downtown. Thank you, guys. Chair King: Thank you. Good evening. Kristen Browde: Good evening. Kristen Browde, 888 Biscayne Boulevard. I am my building's representative to the Downtown Neighborhood Association. I want to thank Commissioners Pardo, Reyes, and Carollo for taking the time this weekend to meet with residents to talk about the DDA budget. And we are delighted with what the DDA does on many, many levels. But what the DDA has done here, even though they have acceded to our request to review their budget and reduce it, they did it in a way that we don't know what's in it. Now, I sit on nonprofit boards. I have done so for 40 years. I sit on three right now. We look at these as people who are responsible for managing money on a line -item basis, just as we heard earlier today. We don't know what those line items are that they've reduced. We don't know what they are putting their money towards. We saw things that we thought were problematic and we talked to the commissioners about them. I would urge this Commission to make sure that this isn't done on second reading at the last minute where we can't see what's going on. We love what the DDA does. We love what it's doing for Downtown. But we need to be prudent about the money. And everybody knows you can drop that millage rate, but we're still paying more in taxes because values are going up. And it's great that we're dropping the millage rate. But we've got to be mindful of where this money is coming from, and it's coming from the pockets of all of us. Thank you for your consideration and for keeping them honest. Chair King: Thank you for your advocacy. Good evening. James Torres: Good evening, Chairwoman. My name is James Torres, a proud member of the Downtown Miami community and president of the Downtown Neighbors Alliance, I come before you today with a message of gratitude and City of Miami Page 6 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 continued determination. For far too long, our neighborhoods have been forced to shoulder the unjust tax burdens and broken promises of those in power. But today, I'm pleased to say our voices have been heard. It wasn't easy, cis we know. The Downtown Development Authority proposed to reduce their millage and their budget by $1.2 million. We're thankful for that, and this shows that a clear testament of the power of civic engagement. We come together as a community and refuse to be silent. We can drive real change. The DDA's leadership and the City commissioners who responded to our pleas, we thank you. We wholeheartedly thank you for listening to the community. This is an important victory for downtown residents. I hope this experience has demonstrated the value of advocacy, not just by one voice, but as a community, and several communities in Brickell and Edgewater as well. As we move forward, 1 encourage you, that the DDA, the Omni CRA, and all community stakeholders to foster a deep sense of development and understanding of what these components do, and may be time to reorganize and/or look at the priorities of what they fund. On behalf of the community, I also would like to enter into the record, over 690 petitions showing that they want this new budget to move forward. Thank you for your time and your gratitude to the DDA, and its chairman for stepping up to the plate, and the commissioners that showed up and joined us and heard the community speak sound. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good evening, Rep. Roy Hardemon: Good evening. Good evening, Madam Commissioner, Madam Chair. I'm Roy Hardemon, 1292 Northwest 79th Street, Apartment 108. My heart keeps getting heavy when I come to this commission, when I go to the county commission. I'm almost like the old man used to come here every commission, he was the post office man. He cried and cried and cried, and nothing he cried about was ever accomplished. I feel the same way. I saw him here. I didn't wear glasses then. I could see everybody's name and everything. And I'm real angry because I hear about the CRAs and everybody taking advantage. My community fought for the Sawyer Walk, and we 've been fighting for housing. We got over 20 acres in Model City, Liberty City that can't get developed because the City can't get it right. We got land, we took houses from our community and not been replaced yet. Sawyer Walk, we fought over there for about 30 years. A house get burnt down, apartment complex, you take 50 families, drop them right there, boom. Well, you got a Publix, you got Target, you got Ross, you got all this good stuff that black folks are waiting on. Now they was taken over by others. And I'm angry because we can't get it together. I ain't going to blame my Commissioner. I blame the staff because the last thing she hear is from that staff and they're giving her misinformation. I want to straighten that out. I want it not be when October comes, we still ain't got no job base in our neighborhood. We still don't have proper housing, and we tore it down. The Liberty City Trust should be demolished because they ain't doing any development in our neighborhood. We go to the Homeowner's Association, we talk about stuff that has nothing to do with why Teele put this Liberty City Trust together. Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Hardemon: With that, I close. Chair King: Thank you. Good evening. Laverne Spicer: Good evening, everyone. I am Laverne Spicer, founder of Curley's House, Hope Relief Food Bank, 6025 Northwest 6th Court. Curley's House has been in business over two decades. We provide food to low to moderate income families, but we are also a citywide agency. When I. first started the organization over 20 years ago, our community was 100 percent African -American. Right now, our community is over 70 percent Hispanic, okay? So, we do our distribution twice a week in the middle City of Miami Page 7 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 of the street. We feed people with dignity. So, what 1 mean by that is that we allow them to choose whatever the food is that they would like to eat instead of giving them a hard, cold chicken, like that's the only kind of meat that low-income families choose to eat just because they can't afford to go into the grocery store. You know, so many of our seniors suffer in silence with empty refrigerators because they cannot afford to pay rent, light bill, medication, and a lot of them have chosen to adopt their grandkids and are starting all over in life. So, we give them, like Laverne Spice -- like Laverne Holliday said, clothing. We provide pampers for the kids, also baby milk. We also go to the senior buildings to take them food. And we spend time with these people. We talk to them because we want to keep them engaged in the mainstream of life. Let them know that somebody is there to care and love them. So, we also take them personal care items, clothing. We bring in doctors to educate them and talk to them about their medication. Let them know what mix and what does not mix with their medication. So, we are very involved in our community. Chair King: Thank you. Ms. Spicer: So, Chairman King, we are asking you to provide funding for our organisation because we really need it, and like I said, we are a citywide agency. Chair King.. Thank you. Ms. Spicer: Thank you. Chair King: Good evening. Ed Cooke: Good evening. I'm Ed Cooke. I live in Edgewater, and I come on the general idea of raising taxes for the homeowners. And I was hoping to give maybe a solution to the board and the city with a little bit of context about this raise in taxes. Am I right, rightly or wrongly, before the pandemic, the Florida tax was for commercial buildings here in Miami was 5.6 up there. And then during the pandemic, there was a crying two tears out of one eve and they dropped it down to 3 percent. The last legislature up there in Tallahassee at the behest of the local, everybody 's local, Board of Realtors and the lobbyists for them got it dropped down to 2.6. In the meantime, we have all these other good people to trying to get the richest tech agencies here at commercial property at 2.6. And what has happened? That means the local homeowner, including the renters, has now had all of that needed money dropped on them. Their taxes, by a truthful sleight of hand, are going -- the money that they pay is going up a bit, primarily because of this lobbying by the Board of Realtors. I offer to the Commission here, would you see with your city manager and your attorney whether or not, since the commercial, new commercial especially, people have benefited our town by their presence, would they also benefit by our taxes? Raise their taxes proportionally and take our tax -- and let us keep our taxes the way they were. Just a thought. Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Cooke: If it can be done. Chair King: Thank you. Valeray Francisco: Good afternoon, Madam Chair -- Chair King: Good evening. Mr. Francisco: -- Commissioners. My name is Valeray Francisco. I'm a director of Art and Folly Gallery. I'm a benefactor of the DDA 's (Downtown Development City of Miami Page 8 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 Authority) grants back in 2020. I used to have a gallery in Little River. Pandemic hit, so it needed some structure to get me footing. They offered me a grant, but what they offered me more so was synergy, connections. They attended every single event 1 did. They provided me with the structure to basically, move forward and were able to do projects from that one grant for the next two and a half years, which was amazing. Now I'm in Allapattah, which is a great neighborhood coming up. But I just want to speak for the DDA because it's not just DDA sending money to people to create programming, they're present. They're constantly there, they're constantly introducing, all about synergy with them. The team, Christina Crespi, and the entire DDA, so 1 hope you guys support them. Please. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Brenda Betancourt: I'm behaving most of the time. Chair King: Good evening. Ms. Betancourt: Most of the time, I behave. Brenda Betancourt, 1436 Southwest 6th Street. I just have actually a couple of questions for you guys to see if the budget has any. First of all, the street lighting. I don 't know if you noticed, but a lot of the streets, the lights are not working. 1 know that 1 heard that FPL (Florida Power & Light) is the one that is going to take care of the lights, but then in the end, we as citizens, we still have lights that are completely off for years and years. Tree trimming. We have the lights, then the tree cover the lights, you still have dark streets, and they're sort of with the stop signs. A lot of areas and residential areas, the trees are beautiful, but they cover the stop signs. So, I hope that you guys have that in your budget. And the trash, as we were saying, is not just about the trash, it's about teaching those to not throw the trash in the street. So, I don't know if the program of the trash is going to come back. I hope it does. The trashman. goes -- (INAUDIBLE) goes and can send the trashman to the schools and still teaching those kids not to throw the trash in the street, and you know, and that will make the parents as well to give them a little bit of incentive. And I just want to say, if any way in the budget are we going to give more money for police, fire. Crime is still high. We see a lot of different people moving to our neighborhood. I'm in Little Havana and I can see the changes. And I thank the police because 16 and 14 and 6, they are there all the time, but I don 't think that that's enough. I think we've got to give them more budget for them to actually provide us more security. So, and thank you to all the code enforcement, but yes, I think we all need to be trained in code enforcement and the new regulations. Chair King: Thank you. Good evening. Deidria Davis: Good evening, Madam Chair, Commissioners. My name's Deidria Davis. I'm a resident of Overtown. I've been there for 17 years. I work for Dade County Elections. I'm a clerk at Precinct 509. I'm here representing United Health Partnership, UHP, and I also work for Jesse Trice Community Health System, and I'm an intake specialist there. So, I'm here to ask you to consider, because I hear all the other items up, but I didn't hear anybody advocating for Overtown, which is my community. So basically, I'm asking for Overtown Park improvements, for funding, if you can find it in the budget, to fund a community liaison to work with the City of Miami Parks Department to collaborate with the CRA. I'm asking for Williams Park to get a canopy and shade for the fitness area. All the parks need ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) assessments and improvements. And it's also important to mention the positive effects that it has on the community and our seniors when we have fitness and workouts in Williams Park, and we really need that, and the funding got cut for that. So, if you can find a way to help us with various items. I have a whole list of items, but I know it's time constraint. But I can also -- I would love to meet with commissioners so that we could do a drive -by in the Overtown area where Villas of City of Miami Page 9 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 St. Agnes, the 80-unit development where I live, which the CRA helped us with the funding about 10 years ago with putting our gate up to make the community safer. So, I know that you guys have it in your heart to help when it's appropriate. So, I would really appreciate that. We need your help if you can find any way in the budget. Chair King: Thank you. Ms. Davis: Thank you. Chair King: Good evening. Francois Alexandre: Good evening, Madam Chair. Good evening, Commissioners. How are you all doing? First of all, thank you so much, Madam Chair, Jroyour assistance in helping us lay Michael Clarkson to rest. It went very smooth, and we didn't have any problem with some of the locations. So, thank you for your swift response and the resolution that you presented at his service. My name is Francois Alexandre, address is 5801 Northeast 2nd Avenue. I am the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Conscious Contractors, and I am an advisor of TIPARI, which stands for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Preparedness and Relief Institution. And I just would like to, you know, extend the conversation around the Clean Street, Clean Mind program. Conscious Contractors have a program called Clean Street, Clean Mind. And our focus is making sure that the streets of District 5, more important, Little Haiti, is beautified. And I'm also in the process of doing that for a couple of years. I've learned about Commissioner Reyes' cleanup program, the beautification program. And 1 also know that in Overtown, and also, at the Midtown, there's also cleanup crews, but there aren't any in Little Haiti. So, I would love to see that, you know, maybe his program or some of the programs that you already have going on to be extended our way. And also, thank you for your assistance in the food distribution, but I also would like to see more funding heading that way as we are having a rise of folks moving in our community, not just Latinos, but we also have an influx of Haitian migrants coming in from the Biden program. So, there's a lot more in the population that needs to be served. But overall, thank you all for what you all do. Peace and blessings. Chair King: Thank you. Is there anyone else here who would like to speak? Seeing none, the public comment period is now closed. Thank you all for your advocacy. BH - BUDGET HEARING City of Miami Page 10 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 BH.1 DISCUSSION ITEM 16625 Office of Management and Budget A DISCUSSION TO ALLOW DISCUSSION AND PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE FINAL FY 2024-25 MILLAGE RATE, FINAL BUDGET, AND ALL OTHER BUDGET ITEMS ON THE AGENDA. RESULT: DISCUSSED Chair King: At this time, I'm going to have the Budget Director read a statement for the record. Marie Gouin (Director, Office of Management and Budget): Good evening, Madam Chair, Commissioners. My name is Marie Gouin, I'm the Budget Director for the City. This is -- we're going through to do the final adoption for the City's budget for the fiscal year 24-25. The tentative general operating millage rate is 7.1364 mills for the City of Miami for the fiscal year beginning October lst, 2024, and ending in September 30th, 2025. That operating budget rate is 10.73 percent higher than the state defined rollback rate of 6.4447 mills. The -- last year -- the current fiscal year budget that we are in, the millage rate is 7.4599 FY 24-25, which is the tentative year budget that the Commission approved on September 7th, which are proposing for next fiscal year for 24-25, will be 7.3 -- 7.3900. And it's just an example of if your assessed property value, which is the average right now, homesteaded, at that 7.3900, you'll pay $3,350. If your home value, assessed value, is $500,000 after exemption, it will be $3,695. A million dollars, you'll be paying $7,390 to the City. What does that mean? Every dollar that a citizen or taxpayer in the city pays, every dollar that they pay, 25 cents -- hold on, I need my glasses, 20 -- 29 cents goes to Miami -Dade, 33 cents goes to the public schools, 37 cents goes to the City of Miami, and 1 cent goes to other taxing authorities within your tax bill. Out of the 37 cents, 3 cents goes to the debt service and 34 cents goes to the operating millage for the city. This proposed budget that we have, the tentative budget has been revised. There was a memo that was sent out to the commissioners and that's been distributed. The new operating budget will be 1. -- $1, 793, 053, 000. And this is how it's divvied up. It's between the general fund. The general fund is what's being reduced by $402, 000, and then your special revenue funds will be increased by $4 million, which makes the total of the $1.8 billion. Before I end, the memo that was sent, there was a scrivener's error under the positions. The position reduction says it was 15, it needs to be 17 reduction. And then also, the memo that was sent, plus this presentation, everything will be sent to the Clerk's Office, including the notices that was done to the paper on the budget. And if you have any questions, for me? Chair King: Do any of my colleagues have any questions for our Budget Director? Vice Chair Carollo: (INAUDIBLE). But it's even more the administration, on the 29 percent that the County gets. We need to verify how much of that is actually spent by them in the city of Miami. I believe that for too many years, cities, not just the city of Miami, other cities as well, have been spending or giving the County a lot of money through their property taxes that the County's using in keeping the taxes in Unincorporated Dade lower. And we're subsidizing that. For instance, our police department. We basically have hardly any need for Miami -Dade Police Department. Our. fire department is the same. So, you know, we need to -- excuse me, get some expertise out there and look to see how we can change that equation, because the most growth that's going to be coming to Miami -Dade in the next years is going to be through up and down the city of Miami and all the condominiums that are going up. And we need those funds more than ever. For instance, we talk about on many areas of our city, basically all through the areas that are closest to the water, that when it rains, they're flooding. Well, gee, those happen to be the areas where in the last 10 City of Miami Page 11 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 BH.2 16450 Downtown Development Authority years, particularly, we've built huge condominiums, one after another. Think about this. Let me give you an example without having my area flooded here. Let's say that this is the size of your drainage in all that area. And when you first put them in years back, only a quarter of it was full. When it rained, it raised, but didn't overflow. But now that you have all these condominiums there, you have millions of more gallons of water that are being flushed with all kinds of other stuff that are going through there. So, now it's pretty much high on a normal level. So, obviously when it rains, it can't expand anymore because it's only so big that you made it, it's going to overflow. And the only way that we're going to be able to solve that is by spending hundreds of millions of dollars digging in and putting new drainage that's going to have to be huge to absorb all that. And we can't afford to be giving our money away to Miami - Dade County to subsidize the unincorporated areas. Chair King: 1 didn't realize that Commissioner Carollo was going to ask such an in- depth question. I'd like to get to the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) Executive Director's statement so we can begin public comment and then we could discuss, if that's okay with you guys. Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Madam Chair, if I can just one second, he has asked this question as have others. We are diligently working on getting him the responses. I know it's not subject to the budget, he just wants a clearer picture of what the County is expending, and you know, is there a proper ratio between to that? Chair King: 1 appreciate that. If I had realized that, I would have had that after public comment. So, we can all speak on it, but we have the public here waiting to speak, so 1'd like to give them the opportunity. DISCUSSION ITEM A DISCUSSION OF FINAL MILLAGE RATE AND FINAL BUDGET FOR THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF MIAMI ("MIAMI DDA"). RESULT: DISCUSSED Chair King: Go ahead. Christina Crespi: Good evening, Chairwoman King, honorable members of the City Commission, Mr. City Manager, Mr. City Attorney, and Mr. City Clerk. My name is Christina Crespi, and I am the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and Executive Director of the Downtown Development Authority. After listening to the community's concerns raised over the last several weeks, the Miami DDA (Downtown Development Authority) is amending its proposed final millage rate to fund the operations of the Miami DDA for fiscal year 24-25 and is reducing it to 0.4312 mills. The Miami DDA's rollback rate is 0.4262. The amended proposed final millage rate is 1.17 percent greater than the rollback rate. As a result of this reduction in the millage, for the benefit of the DDA's property owners, the budget is also being amended and reduced by $1.2 million. No critical services will be impacted. The reductions in the Miami DDA budget include but are not limited to: reductions in the line items related to intergovernmental affairs, holiday banners and decor, deferring investments such as the Hardscape and Streetscape Plan, Avenue 3, the Downtown Miami Bike Network projects, to future fiscal years, and reductions in other Miami DDA programs and projects. We were also able to zero out certain line items since we were able to .finalize pending contracts in the last, few weeks in this fiscal year. These reductions will not negatively impact the Miami DDA's enhanced services provided to the community by our organization and hardworking staff. We will, however, have to City of Miami Page 12 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 make concessions on certain items the community asked for in the meetings over the last two weeks, since they are no longer feasible under this amended budget. On a procedural note, I'm submitting to the City Clerk to include amended items BH.4 and BH 5, two copies of the ads published in the newspaper for general circulation, and the affidavit from Miami Herald that demonstrates the Miami-Dade's compliance -- the Miami DDA's compliance with the requirements of Section 200.065(2) (d) of the Florida Statutes. I want to thank all the Commissioners that participated in the community meetings over the last several weeks. It was very informative. As you know, we have our public meetings and the community is always welcome to attend our meetings, but it was very informative, and I thank you all for attending them. Are there any questions? Vice Chair Carollo: Yes. What is the total amount that you'll be reducing the budget by? Ms. Crespi: So, the budget last year was total $21 million and now it's about $20 million. Vice Chair Carollo: But -- Commissioner Reyes: 1.2. Ms. Crespi: Yeah, $1.2 million from one year over year. Year over year. Thank you. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Alright. Chair King: Thank you. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Thank you. And, Chair, just for the record, there is a backup document for BH.2 that will be substituted. Its just clerical. Chair King: Thank you. City of Miami Page 13 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 BH.3 ORDINANCE 16470 Office of Management and Budget AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION RELATED TO TAXATION, DEFINING AND DESIGNATING THE TERRITORIAL LIMITS FOR THE CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY"); LEVYING AN AD VALOREM TAX ON ALL REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY IN THE CITY AT A TOTAL FINAL RATE OF 7.3900 MILLS ON THE DOLLAR OF THE TAXABLE VALUE OF SUCH PROPERTY, FOR THE PURPOSES OF FUNDING THE GENERAL OPERATING BUDGET AND PAYMENT OF DEBT SERVICE, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2024, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2025; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. ENACTMENT NUMBER: 14318 MOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: ADOPTED MOVER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Reyes Chair King: We're going to take each item up one by one. Are there any items that --? Well, let's just do it one by one. BH.3 is a four -fifths item. It's open for discussion. May I have a motion? George Wysong (City Attorney): It's an ordinance. Chair King: I'm sorry, wait. Mr. Wysong: It's an ordinance, yeah. Chair King: It's -- so the title must be read in the record. Mr. Wysong: Thank you, Madam Chair. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Chair King: At this time, would my colleagues like to have a discussion on BH.3? I have a motion and a second. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): I'm sorry, Chair. Can you state again who the mover and seconder were? Commissioner Reyes: I move it. Chair King: Commissioner Reyes is the mover and the second -- Commissioner Pardo: I'll second. Chair King: Commissioner Pardo. BH.3 requires a roll call vote so if we can go in order of districts. District 1? Commissioner Gabela: Yes. Chair King: District 2? City of Miami Page 14 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 Commissioner Pardo: Yes. Chair King: District 3? Vice Chair Carollo: Yes. Chair King: District 4? Commissioner Reyes: Yes. Chair King: District 5? That is myself, yes. Motion unanimous. [Later...] Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, I would. Okay, so I just wanted to ask, over there in the -- for the non -homesteaders, right, for the non -homesteaders, what percentage are their taxes? I know the deal between the rollback, and I don't want to get into that. I just want to know in dollar amount and percentage, what the non -homesteaders, okay, everybody else except the non -homesteaders, approximately how much are their taxes going -- how much are they going to pay this year more than what they paid last year? On average. Marie Gouin (Director, Management and Budget): On average? Commissioner Gabela: Yeah. Ms. Gouin: What was the school? You're talking about the county, right? Commissioner Gabela: In general. Ms. Gouin: In county, in general. Can you do whatever the average is? Commissioner Gabela: What I'm getting at is that, you know, sometimes -- Ms. Gouin: And I'll get you a number. Commissioner Gabela: -- there's a lot of confusion here between the rollback, and you know, the non -rollback and whatever. But at the end of the day, if I'm a citizen, right, the average guy, layman, and I'm looking at my tax roll, and this year I paid $500 more than what I did last year you know, I don't care really what's set up here. What I care about is that I paid $500 more, whatever animal we call it, it doesn't matter, you know, what hurts is the $500. Then what happens with the $500? That that $500, the landlord is going to try to pass it on if the market permits to the tenant. And therefore, then, affordable housing continues to be more unaffordable because it's passed on, you know, if the tenant can pay it. And so that's my only concern. I know I agreed, like all of you did, to pass the budget, but I just want to put that on the record. Commissioner Reyes: I do understand.. Commissioner Gabela: I have that concern. Commissioner Reyes: I do understand. By doing the rollback that we did, you see, they are going to be, I mean, it's going to be flat. The taxes are going to be flat according to last year. And that's where we develop the savings by keeping the taxes flat. You're not going to pay more now (UNINTELLIGIBLE). City of Miami Page 15 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 Commissioner Gabela: Is that the case, Larry? Is that the case? What Commissioner Reyes stated? Is that the case? Ms. Gouin: I was trying to get the number. I did not hear you, so I apologize. [Later...] Commissioner Gabela: No, in general, what I want to know, what I'm concerned about is the person that's the property owner that are non -homesteaders, not the homesteaders, okay. So, 1 have, you know, a couple of properties, one of then is my homestead, not that one, right? That's 2 percent out there we capped for the value. 1'ni talking about the other properties that are investment properties. This year, last year, we had that famous $25 million, you know, that we deducted. 1 think we were part of it. But at the end of the day, I paid $700 more for my property taxes at my duplex at 1780 Northwest 21st Terrace, okay. What I want to know this year, a guy like me, what am I going to pay? Am I going to pay more? Am I not going to pay more? Arthur Noriega (City Manager): You are going to pay more. Commissioner Gabela: Okay, and what is that average? That's all I want to know because again, I'm not going to vote against it, but I'm concerned that this will be passed on to the consumer; the tenant, if the market permits, right? And then the tenant will, you know, you hit us, but then the tenant bears the brunt of the -- Larry Spring: Through the Chair, Larry Spring, Chief Financial Officer, Commissioner Gabela, so the non -homesteaded taxpayers, if you will, are subject to an up to 10 percent increase based on their assessed value. The Save Our Homes legislation put in by the State some years ago focuses its protection only on homesteaded property owners. Commissioner Gabela: Got it. Mr. Spring: So, I think based on what we did, overall, it was a $5 million reduction. And I think when we did it at the last meeting, I think it went down $10 per homesteaded average property owner. On the commercial, it's going to be a little bit tougher because a couple of things. One, if you take your situation, they 're just doing it based on the assessed value. If I look at other commercial dwellers, like multifamily apartment buildings, they do the assessment based on their income methodology. So, it's kind of hard to say -- Commissioner Gabela: Okay. Mr. Spring: -- if that went up 10. And we really have not done like a commercial analysis to say on average commercial properties went up by X. Commissioner Gabela: But is it safe to say that it's likely to stay the same on average across the board? Mr. Spring: Yeah, no -- Chair King: For non -homesteaded -- Mr. Spring: -- it's not safe to say. Chair King: -- for non -homestead properties -- City of Miami Page 16 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 Mr. Spring: Yeah, it's not safe to say. Chair King: Because that is not within our wheelhouse. Mr. Spring: Right. Chair King: The City of Miami cannot determine that. We don 't have jurisdiction over that -- Mr. Spring: Right. Chair King: -- is what I believe the answer would be. Mr. Spring: Yes. Commissioner Reyes: Okay. Commissioner Gabela: Okay, thank you. City of Miami Page 17 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 BH.4 16451 Downtown Development Authority RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), PROPOSING AN ADDITIONAL FINAL MILLAGE RATE FOR AD VALOREM TAXATION PURSUANT TO SECTION 200.065, FLORIDA STATUTES; DEFINING AND DESIGNATING THE TERRITORIAL LIMITS OF THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT ("DISTRICT") OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA ("CITY"); LEVYING AN ADDITIONAL AD VALOREM TAX ON ALL REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY IN THE DISTRICT AT THE RATE OF 0.4505 MILLS ON THE DOLLAR OF TAXABLE VALUE OF SUCH PROPERTY IN SAID DISTRICT FOR THE PURPOSE OF FINANCING THE OPERATION OF THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA ("MIAMI DDA") FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2024, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2025; PROVIDING THAT SAID FINAL MILLAGE SHALL BE IN ADDITION TO THE MILLAGE ADOPTED BY THE CITY COMMISSION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE VII, SECTION 9 OF THE FLORIDA CONSTITUTION AND SECTION 166.211, FLORIDA STATUTES, AS WELL AS ANY SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS IMPOSED BY THE SAME; PROVIDING THAT THIS RESOLUTION SHALL NOT BE DEEMED AS REPEALING OR AMENDING ANY OTHER RESOLUTION OR ANY ORDINANCE FIXING MILLAGE OR LEVYING TAXES, BUT SHALL BE DEEMED SUPPLEMENTAL AND IN ADDITION THERETO; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-24-0385 MOTION TO: Adopt with Modification(s) RESULT: ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATION(S) MOVER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Reyes Chair King: BH.4, would any of my colleagues like to discuss BH.4? [Later...] Commissioner Reyes: What I'm saying is that we have kept the revenues flat. And that's what we did with the budget by eliminating certain things from the budget -- Ms. Gouin: Correct. Commissioner Reyes: -- $1.2 million, and there's not an increase in the amount. Commissioner Gabela: So, in my duplex, for example, last year I paid $700 more than what I did the year before. Ms. Gouin: Yeah, and that's based... Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Can I? Commissioner Gabela: I mean, for example -- Mr. Noriega: Wait, wait, Maggy, before you answer that question, just so I have clarity, I know we're on a DDA item, right? Are we making this reference in terms of City of Miami Page 18 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) item, right? Are we making this reference in terms of the DDA budget? Commissioner Gabela: No, no, no, in general. Mr. Noriega: General budget? Commissioner Reyes: No, in general, I'm sorry. Mr. Noriega: Because we're on a DDA item, so I just wanted to make sure I wasn't misrepresenting. Commissioner Gabela: So, all I -- Commissioner Reyes: I'm sorry, I thought you would referring -- Commissioner Gabela: No, no, no. Commissioner Reyes: Because it was explained. It was explained (INAUDIBLE). [Later...] Chair King: Alright, so do 1 have a motion for BH. 4 -- Commissioner Reyes: Move it. Chair King: -- as amended? Commissioner Pardo: Second. Chair King: I have a motion and a second. All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Motion carries. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): And Chair, just for the record, that is as amended pursuant to a memo from the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) dated September 25, 2024. Chair King.: Okay. Commissioner Reyes: Okay. City of Miami Page 19 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 BH.5 16452 Downtown Development Authority RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE FINAL ANNUAL BUDGET OF THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA ("MIAMI DDA"), ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED IN COMPOSITE EXHIBIT "A," IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $21,738,700.00, AND MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FROM THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT AD VALOREM TAX LEVY AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS INCOME FOR THE MIAMI DDA, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2024, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2025; AUTHORIZING THE MIAMI DDA TO MAKE TRANSFERS BETWEEN ACCOUNTS FOR NECESSARY AND PROPER PURPOSES; AUTHORIZING THE MIAMI DDA TO INVITE AND ADVERTISE REQUIRED BIDS; PROVIDING THAT THIS RESOLUTION BE DEEMED SUPPLEMENTAL AND IN ADDITION TO THE RESOLUTION MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2024, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2025, FOR THE OPERATIONS OF THE CITY OF MIAMI. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-24-0386 MOTION TO: Adopt with Modification(s) RESULT: ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATION(S) MOVER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner SECONDER: Christine King, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Reyes Chair King: BH.5, do I have a motion? Commissioner Pardo: I'll make the motion. Commissioner Reyes: Second. Chair King: I'll second. Open for discussion. Would anyone like to discuss BH.5? Vice Chair Carollo: Discussion. Chair King: Commissioner Carollo? Kidding. All in favor of BH.5 as amended? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Motion carries unanimously. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): And again, just for the record, the resolution will be amended,, and composite Exhibit A will be substituted pursuant to a memo from the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) dated September 25, 2024. Chair King: Thank you. City of Miami Page 20 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 BH.6 RESOLUTION 16520 Southeast Overtown/Park West CRA A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), ACCEPTING AND APPROVING THE 2025 ANNUAL BUDGET OF THE SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("SEOPW CRA"), ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED AS EXHIBIT "A," IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $100,466,278.00, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2024, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2025. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-24-0387 MOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: ADOPTED MOVER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner SECONDER: Christine King, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Reyes Chair King: BH.6, do I have a motion? Commissioner Reyes: Move it. Chair King: Second? I'm the seconder. All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Motion carries unanimously. BH.7 RESOLUTION 16519 Midtown Community Redevelopment Agency A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), ACCEPTING AND APPROVING THE FISCAL YEAR 2024-2025 PROPOSED BUDGET OF THE MIDTOWN COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("MIDTOWN CRA"), ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED AS EXHIBIT "A", IN THE AMOUNT OF $13,918,129.00 FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2024, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2025, AS APPROVED BY THE MIDTOWN CRA'S BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-24-0388 MOTION TO: Adopt with Modification(s) RESULT: ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATION(S) MOVER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Reyes Chair King: BH.7. Vice Chair Carollo: As amended. Chair King: As -- BH.7 is as amended. BH.6 was okay. Commissioner Reyes: Move it. City of Miami Page 21 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 Chair King: BH. 7, as amended. 1 have a motion. Commissioner Reyes: Move it. Chair King: Second? Commissioner Pardo is the second. All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Motion carries unanimously. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): And again, that will be as amended pursuant to Commissioner Carollo's amendment, as well as Exhibit A will be substituted. The date in the first whereas clause must be changed to September 26, 2024 and Resolution Number MCRA-R-24-0001 must be added to the first whereas clause. Chair King: Thank you. BH.8 RESOLUTION 16626 Office of Management and Budget A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), ADOPTING A FINAL BUDGET AND MAKING APPROPRIATIONS RELATING TO OPERATIONAL AND BUDGETARY REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2024, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2025; RATIFYING, APPROVING, AND CONFIRMING CERTAIN NECESSARY ACTIONS OF THE CITY MANAGER AND DESIGNATED CITY OFFICIALS IN ORDER TO UPDATE THE RELEVANT FINANCIAL CONTROLS, PROJECT CLOSE-OUTS, ACCOUNTING ENTRIES, AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH AND FOR GRANTS IN PROGRESS; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-24-0389 MOTION TO: Adopt with Modification(s) RESULT: ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATION(S) MOVER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Reyes Note for the Record: For additional minutes referencing Item Number BH.8, please see Item Number BH.1. Chair King: BH.8, may I have a motion? Commissioner Reyes: Move. Commissioner Pardo: Madam Chair, one thing. As it pertains to the capital budget, I want to swap the remaining parkland acquisition balance to our Kirk Monroe project. It should be incorporated in the change memo. Chair King: Okay. BH.8, I have a motion. Commissioner Pardo: Second. Commissioner Reyes: Yes, butt want to make a comment. City of Miami Page 22 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 Chair King: Okay, it's fine. So, 1 have a motion and a second for BH.8. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): I'm sorry, Chair. Who is the seconder again? 1 have Commissioner Pardo as the mover. Commissioner Reyes: I second, I second. Mr. Hannon: Commissioner Reyes seconded. Commissioner Reyes: Yes, but I want to once again reiterate that I'm not too happy with this budget because we need more police officers. And I didn't see any inclusion in the final for more officers. And what I'm requesting is that the end of year budget, you try to find a way of including more officers. And probably we need some more inspectors. So, that's my request. And that's why I'm voting for it. Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Duly noted, Commissioner, and I know that when we met with each individual office with regards to particularly police staffing -- Commissioner Reyes: Yes. Mr. Noriega: -- we talked about the future plan. Commissioner Reyes: Okay. Mr. Noriega: So, we'll continue to work on modifying that plan and improving it. Commissioner Reyes: Okay. Vice Chair Carollo: Mr. Manager -- Mr. Noriega: Yes, sir. Vice Chair Carollo: -- through the Chair, for the record, approximately how many police officers do we have vacancies for now? Mr. Noriega: I believe it's -- Chair King:: Chief? Mr. Noriega: If his pants fall down -- Manuel Morales (Chief of Police): Good evening. Mr. Noriega: -- we'll get somebody to cover. Mr. Morales: That was a shirt tucker, an old army remnant. Chair King: The question is, how many vacancies do you currently have? Mr. Morales: We currently have 52 vacancies right now. Chair King: Oh, I said 53. Mr. Morales: Without the budget being approved, I saw we added two new ones, so that would be 54, bringing the budgeted number to 1,390 from 1,388. Commissioner Gabela: But we're still not at a net gain, correct? City of Miami Page 23 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 Mr. Morales: Correct. We still have, as we discussed, the 65 that are going through the academy, that the bulk will come out at the end of this month, at the end of October, and some in the new year. Those guys will come out of the academy, and with those individuals, we 're counting those into the ones that we have. Those are not counting into the vacancies. Those are just in training, but they're not officers that are performing the jobs of a law enforcement professional on the streets yet so -- Commissioner Gabela: So, when those guys come on, we will have a net gain? Mr. Morales: When those --1'm sorry, Commissioner? Commissioner Gabela: When those officers that you just stated come on, we will have a net gain or not yet? Mr. Morales: So, we will have a net gain from where we were before. When we started the year; we had 72 officers less. This year we've hired 72 officers. So, we 're gaining. Commissioner Gabela: No -- Mr. Morales: We just haven't had in our budgeted amount a net gain. What we're having is a net gain of those two officers that were being given. Commissioner Gabela: So, we have a net gain. From replacing, we will have a net gain. Mr. Morales: Correct. Commissioner Gabela: Meaning that we replaced and we added. Mr. Morales: Correct. So, this year, when we're finished hiring everyone that we have, we'll have two more officers than we began with. Commissioner Reyes: What I was referring -- through the Chair -- is increasing the number of positions. I know that you have some officers in the academy, and we have some replacement that we have to do. But that's not what I'm referring to. What I'm referring to is the number of positions should be increased. So, we have a net increase, you see. Mr. Morales: Correct, so we gained two, so we did a net increase of two. Commissioner Reyes: Yeah, you got it. But new positions or --? Mr. Morales: Two positions. Commissioner Reyes: Two positions. Mr. Morales: Two officers, two bodies. Commissioner Reyes: Okay, I would like to have at least three or four more, you see, because, listen, and you live in Flagami now, okay? I'm going to use this example. Flagami, we have about how many police officers do we have, four? Mr. Morales: So, I can tell you the total number of them? City of Miami Page 24 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 Commissioner Reyes: In that sector? Not with the ones that you included, hut how many we have now? Mr. Morales: So, Flagami, with the staff and the support, I think we have 75. Commissioner Reyes: 75? Mr. Morales: Correct. Commissioner Reyes: 75, but that is total, not in each shift? Mr. Morales: No, no, no, that's total officers assigned to work the Flagami area, right? So, the number fluctuates. At any given time, 1 want to say the minimum staff is seven. Commissioner Reyes: When you talk Flagami, is that sector that comes from where to where? Mr. Morales: 27th Avenue all the way to the city from just about 836 looking down to Southwest 8th Street. Commissioner Reyes: From 8th Street, right? Mr. Morales: From 8th Street all the way to 836. From 27th Avenue -- Commissioner Reyes: 836. Mr. Morales: -- to just about the Palmetto. Commissioner Reyes: Okay. Mr. Morales: It's a huge area. Commissioner Reyes: Okay. In average, how many police officers do you have in that sector? And I'm talking about Flagami because it's the one that I know, but I know that all the neighborhoods, they have the same -- the same problem with it. You have a huge sector, and it needs to be properly manned because if there is an accident or there is any -- any emergency, I mean, you're going to occupy at least two police officers. And then if we have five, then there's only three police officers patrolling that neighborhood. Mr. Morales: So, Commissioner, one of the things that we did when I took over, I noticed that we were having a shortage, and we started with 72 less than what we currently have now, whether in training or not. But we went to a district -based dispatch system, right? So, I know that ideally what we want is to have all the officers assigned to Flagami handle every call that happens there. Commissioner Reyes: I'm not talking only Flagami. Mr. Morales: Or every -- any -- Commissioner Reyes: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Mr. Morales: Any of our 13 neighborhoods. Commissioner Reyes: I don't want my colleagues to think that I'm just talking -- City of Miami Page 25 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 Mr. Morales: 1 was just using that as a -- Commissioner Reyes: I'm talking for everybody, for every single district, you see. For every single district. Another question, sir. All those positions that you 're talking about, they are unformed police officers, or they are also office workers? Mr. Morales: So, those 65 officers, as soon as they come out in from their training phase -- Commissioner Reyes: They're going to be on the street. Okay. Mr. Morales: -- which is 13 months from the date of hire, they'll go to patrol. All right, and from those numbers, as we increase our patrol numbers, we'll take officers and put them in other areas. So, whether it be a beat officer, a problem -solving team officer, a neighborhood resource officer, later on, later in October, we do have some positions that we have to backfll. I know patrol is the backbone of the police department. Commissioner Reyes: Yes. Mr. Morales: They answer the calls, they're the face to the residents. However, we need to be mindful that investigations need to be conducted so we can have -- Commissioner Reyes: That's right. Mr. Morales: -- a good holistic approach to policing. Commissioner Reyes: We need detectives to solve crimes. Mr. Morales: Correct, motor officers. Commissioner Reyes: Because we don't have detectives and all that. That's why my request is, by all means, try to increase the number of positions that we get our city enough police officers that our people are safe. Okay, that is my request. I don't -- Commissioner Gabela: Through the Chair. I was just going to add one more thing. By the way, I know that we made strides because remember also that we included to be competitive with the county and we were offering lesser benefits -- Commissioner Reyes: That's right. Commissioner Gabela: -- and now we are competitive with the county at 62, I believe. Mr. Morales: And the county is at 58, so we're a lot more attractive. Commissioner Gabela: So, now we're attractive. But the other thing I was going to say, Manolo, when I got together with you guys, there was a number that I have in my head, it was 16.9 mil, and then we can kind of get up there. And I asked Larry to -- if we can get to that number, but we can 't get to it right now. But I'm hoping that maybe next year we can put in that extra to have more net gains. In other words, and what I define a net gain is, you know, obviously, you level with the replacements and then you start adding on more than what you had before. To make it clear. That 's a net gain for me, right? I think we're all talking the same language. Thank you. Mr. Morales: Alright, thank you, sir. Chair King: Thank you. City of Miami Page 26 Printed on 10/08/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2024 Commissioner Reyes: (INAUDIBLE). Chair King: No. Mr. City Attorney, would you please address any amendments that we need to have for the record on BH.8? Thank you, Chief Commissioner Reyes: Thank you, Chief. Xavier Alban (Assistant City Attorney, Supervisor): So, BH.8 will be amended pursuant to a memo titled, Information for the Second Budget Hearing, Fiscal Year 24-25 Tentative Budget, dated 9/25/2024. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): And my apologies, Commissioner Pardo made reference to an amendment. Was that an amendment or is it just a request? Commissioner Pardo: That was a request to the capital budget, just a request to swap the remaining parkland acquisition balance to our Kirk Monroe Park project. That was it. To be incorporated into the change memo. Larry Spring (Chief Financial Officer): If you will, Madam Chair, we will make that correction. The capital budget was approved at the last meeting, so we'll bring that amendment back to the Commission. Commissioner Pardo: Thank you. Mr. Hannon: So, then that's not an amendment. Just wanted to make sure that was clear for the record. Chair King: Okay. Mr. Hannon: Perfect. Chair King: So, I have a motion and a second. All in favor of BH.8? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Mr. Hannon: As amended. Chair King: Motion carries unanimously. This will conclude our budget hearing for September 26, 2024. I'd like to thank my student who attends my class at FIU (Florida International University), Miami Politics, for sitting through. She gets extra credit for corning. Commissioner Reyes: Oh, fantastic. Chair King: Thank you, everyone. Thank you for your advocacy. Commissioner Reyes: Hallelujah. Chair King: Good night. END OF SECOND BUDGET HEARING ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:49 p.m. City of Miami Page 27 Printed on 10/08/2024