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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 2025-06-26 MinutesCity of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com Meeting Minutes Thursday, June 26, 2025 9:00 AM City Commission Meeting 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 Ralph "Rafael" Rosado, Commissioner, District Four Arthur Noriega, V, City Manager George K. Wysong III, City Attorney Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 9:00 AM INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Present: Chairwoman King, Vice Chair Carollo, Commissioner Gabela, Commissioner Pardo and Commissioner Rosado On the 26th day of June, 2025, 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 Chairwoman King at 9:27 a.m., recessed at 12:38 p.m., reconvened at 3:13 p.m., recessed at 5:20 p.m., reconvened at 6:11 p.m., and adjourned at 6:11 p.m. Note for the Record: Commissioner Gabela entered the Commission chambers at 9:34 a.m., and Vice Chair Carollo entered the Commission chambers at 10:42 a.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 meeting with prayer, as we always do. We are honored to have Pastor Orr with us today who will pray for us and this meeting. Good morning. Invocation delivered. Chair King: At this time, we will recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of Allegiance delivered. Chair King: Please be seated. City of Miami Page 1 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 PR - PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS PR.1 17825 PROTOCOL ITEM Honoree Presenter Protocol Item Lucas Osuna Mayor and Commissioners Proclamation Johnny "Jack" Merrick Mayor and Commissioners Proclamation Rick Siclari Mayor and Commissioners Proclamation RESULT: PRESENTED Chair King: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the June 26, 2025 City of Miami Commission meeting. I am Christine King, chairwoman of the City of Miami Commission, and I am joined by our Mayor Francis Suarez, my colleague, Commissioner Damian Pardo, my newest colleague, Ralph `Rafael' Rosado. And we are going to begin this meeting with our proclamations where we honor Miami residents and those who have done exemplary work in our city. And I'm going to turn the mic over to our Mayor. Mayor Suarez: Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Presentations made. 1) Mayor Suarez and Commissioners presented a Proclamation to recognize, honor, and celebrate the life of Lucas Osuna. Lucas Osuna was a young man whose spirit, generosity, and dedication to those he loved left an indelible mark on the Miami community. Lucas was a cherished son, a loving brother, and a true man for others, known for his infectious smile and his ability to brighten the lives of everyone around him. Lucas was a constant source of support and encouragement to his family and friends, embodying the values of kindness, loyalty, and hard work, and his presence brought strength and warmth to his community. Elected Officials paused in their deliberations to honor the legacy of Lucas Osuna which lives on through the countless lives he touched, and his spirit of joy, love, and unity continues to inspire those who knew him, reminding us to live with purpose, compassion, and integrity. 2) Mayor Suarez and Commissioners presented a Proclamation to Johnny "Jack" Merrick, a high school student and dedicated community volunteer who has exemplified compassion, leadership, and civic spirit through a heartfelt initiative created in honor of his late friend, Lucas Osuna. Inspired by the desire to honor Lucas 's legacy in a meaningful way, Jack organized a student -led fundraiser that brought together students, families, and neighbors in an effort that turned loss into lasting opportunity. The funds raised from this initiative established a scholarship to support the education of deserving students, ensuring that Lucas 's legacy lives on through the advancement and empowerment of others. Jack's initiative and leadership serves as a shining example of how young people can create lasting change and build bridges within their communities through compassion, resilience, and action. Elected Officials paused in their deliberations of governance to City of Miami Page 2 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 ORDER OF THE DAY recognize and celebrate Jack Merrick's outstanding contributions and applaud the heroic efforts that through meaningful action in a time of sorrow make it a powerful testament to compassion, character, and commitment to making a difference. Johnny "Jack" Merrick's actions have inspired the City of Miami and brought hope and healing to those in grief 3) Mayor Suarez and Commissioners presented a Proclamation to Mr. Rick Siclari whose visionary leadership has guided Care Resource to unparalleled heights over his 30-year tenure, instilling a culture of excellence across every facet of the health center. Mr. Siclari has implemented programs to address the evolving needs of the City of Miami's community, ensuring equitable access to health services. Under Siclari 's guidance, Care Resource achieved the distinction of ranking among the top 10% of health centers nationally in 2023, and within the top 1% as a National Quality Leader in HIV Care & Prevention. Mr. Siclari has been a trailblazer in fostering understanding of Community Health Centers as a driving force in the community health movement, advocating for healthcare equity, notably within the LGBTQ community. He has also pioneered HIV/AIDS research improving patient care and shaping regional healthcare policies. Elected Officials paused in their deliberations of governance to recognize Mr. Rick Siclari 's leadership and the lasting impact on healthcare delivery and inclusivity. Through strategic partnerships and community engagement, he has positioned Care Resource as vital contributors to health equity, garnering widespread recognition for their role in fostering access and affordability in healthcare and has propelled Care Resource forward and has left an indelible mark on the City of Miami. Chair King: Mr. City Attorney, would you please read your statement for the record? George Wysong (City Attorney): Good morning. Thank you, Madam Chair. George Wysong, City Attorney, City of Miami. Detailed information about the processes, order of business, rules of 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 a 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 the code section about lobbyists is available in the City Clerk's Office or online at www.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 the City Code section is available at the Office of the City Clerk or online at www.municode.com. The City of Miami requires that anyone requesting action by the City Commission must disclose before the hearing any consideration provided or committed to anyone for agreement to support or withhold objection to the requested action pursuant to City Code Section 2-8. Any documents offered to the City Commission 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. In accordance with Section 2-33( and (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 www.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 Chair -- before the City commission, unless modified by the Chair. Public comment will begin at approximately 9:45 a.m. and remain open until public comment is closed by the Chairperson. Any person making offensive remarks City of Miami Page 3 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 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 remarks shall be permitted. No signs or placards shall be allowed in the Commission Chambers. Persons exiting the Commission Chambers shall do so quietly. Members of the public wishing to address the body may do so by submitting written comments via the online comment form. Please visit www.miamigov.com/meetinginstructions for detailed instructions on how to provide written public comment using the online public comment form. The comments submitted through the comment form have been and will be distributed to the elected officials, their staff 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 meetings to accept comments and distribute to the elected officials, their staff and the City Administration up until the Chairperson closes public comment. Public comment may also be provided here live at City Hall located at 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida, subject to any and all City rules as they may be amended. If the proposition is being continued or rescheduled, the opportunity to be heard may be at such a later date before the City Commission takes action on such a proposition. When addressing the City Commission, the member of the public must first state their name, their address, and what item will be spoken about. 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, the public's 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 City Attorney's Office on items on the agenda today. Anyone wishing a verbatim record of an item considered at this meeting may request it at the Office of Communications or view it online at www.miamigov.com. For Planning and Zoning items, PZ items, shall proceed according to Section 7.1.4 of the Miami 21 Zoning Ordinance. Parties for any PZ items, including any applicant, appellant, appellee, City staff and 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 applicant, appellant, or appellee, may be physically present at City Hall to be sworn in by oath or affirmation by the City Clerk. The members of the City Commission shall disclose any ex parte communications to remove the presumption of prejudice pursuant to Florida Statute Section 286.0115 and Section 7.1.4.5 of the Miami 21 Zoning Ordinance. The order of presentation for PZ items shall be as set forth in Miami 21 and in the City Code. Staff will briefly present each item to be heard. The applicant will present its application or request to the City Commission. If the applicant agrees with the staff recommendation, the City Commission may proceed to its deliberation and decision. The applicant may also waive the right to an evidentiary hearing on the record. 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 cell phones and other noise -making devices. This meeting can be viewed live on Miami TV, the City's Facebook page, the City's Twitter page, the City's YouTube channel, and Comcast Channel 77. The broadcast will also have closed captioning. Thank you, Madam Chair. Chair King: Thank you. Mr. City Clerk? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Thank you, Chair. The procedures for individuals who ill 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 any other individuals required to be sworn in who are City of Miami Page 4 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 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. Commissioners, are you comfortable with all the notice provisions set forth in these uniform rules and procedures we have established for this meeting? Chair King: Yes. Mr. Hannon: Chair, may I administer the oath for the Planning and Zoning items? Chair King: Please. Mr. Hannon: Thank you, Chair. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. If we will be speaking on any of today's Planning and Zoning items, those are the PZ items, may I please have you stand and raise your right hand? The City Clerk administered oath required under City Code Section 62-1 to those persons giving testimony on zoning items. Mr. Hannon: Thank you, Chair. Chair King: Thank you. At this time, Mr. City Manager, are there any items from this agenda that are going to be withdrawn or deferred? Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Good morning, Madam Chair, Commissioners, Mr. City Attorney, Mr. City Clerk. At this time, the Administration would like to defer and/or withdraw the following items: PH.3, to be deferred to July loth; RE. 7, to be deferred to July 10th; PZ.1, to be indefinitely deferred; and PZ.2, to be indefinitely deferred. That concludes the items. Chair King: I'm going to ask my colleagues if they have any items that they would like to -- Commissioner Gabela? Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, I'd like to defer RE.3. Also, I'd like to defer -- Chair King: Until when for RE.3? Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, the next meeting. Chair King: July 10th? Commissioner Gabela: That's fine. DI.3, DI.5, and that's it for me. Mr. Hannon: Chair, my apologies. Commissioner Gabela, for DI.3 and DI.5, is that to July loth? Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, DI (Discussion Item) -- I'm sorry. Todd? Chair King: DI.3, next meeting? Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, that's fine. Mr. Hannon: Yes, July 10th. Chair King: And DI.5? City of Miami Page 5 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Mr. Hannon: And Chair King, if may, there is a pocket item that is also going to be heard. Chair King: Yeah, I'm going to get to that. Mr. Hannon: Okay. Chair King: Commissioner Rosado, no items. Commissioner Rosado: No items. Chair King: Mr. City Clerk, are you going to read the title for the pocket item or will the Manager or the City Attorney? Mr. Wysong: I have it handy. I'll go ahead and read the title to the pocket item. The Resolution was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Chair King: Thank you. Gentlemen, may I have a motion to set the agenda? Commissioner Pardo: So moved. Commissioner Gabela: Second. Chair King: I have a motion and a second. All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Commissioner Rosado? (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Chair King: To set the agenda. Commissioner Rosado: Yes. Chair King: Unanimous consent. Go ahead. PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ALL ITEM(S) 17831 Office of the City Clerk DISCUSSION ITEM PUBLIC COMMENTS SUBMITTED ONLINE BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC FOR THE JUNE 26, 2025, CITY COMMISSION MEETING. RESULT: PRESENTED Chair King: At this time, we are going to open the floor for public comments. Those of you who would wish to speak on anything that is before us today, please step forward to the lectern, five at a time on each side. Good morning. Elvis Cruz: Good morning, Commissioners. Elvis Cruz, 631 Northeast 57th Street. Items PZ.6 and PZ.8 would allow supersized buildings as high as 24 stories all over City of Miami Page 6 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 the city by using the political camouflage of transit -oriented affordable and workforce housing. These proposals are horrific. They are a gift to the developers who make campaign contributions. Chairwoman King and Commissioner Pardo, you share the MiMo (Miami Modern) Historic District. I've been told those laws would not apply to neighborhood conservation districts and historic districts, but that wording is not in the legislation. Please amend the proposal so they are excluded and protected. What is in the legislation is this phrase, quote, in place of any conflicting provisions elsewhere in this code, parcels within the TSND (Transit Station Neighborhood District) areas of applicability may be developed to the T6-24 transect zone, unquote. So, a lot that currently allows only three stories could be built as high as 24 stories. Have you read the excellent analysis from Mel Meinhardt and the One Grove Alliance? You should. These laws are a monster. This is your opportunity to show that you care about the people who voted for you more than you care about the developers who give you campaign money and are constantly behind the scenes and on this stage trying to manipulate you and the City for their profit at the expense of our quality of life. We already have laws that give developers and landlords a tax break if they include affordable housing. That's the way to do it instead of harming our neighborhoods. This is just another money -motivated manipulation at Miami City Hall. Please vote no on those items. Also, please vote no on selling the Olympia Theater and listen to what Orlando -- Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Cruz: -- Alonzo has proposed instead. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Ladies and gentlemen, if you can line up five at a time, five at a time. John Dolson: Popular items. Chair King: Not as popular as last Commission meeting, but good morning. Good to see you. Mr. Dolson: John Dolson, 4205 Lenox Drive, Coconut Grove. I'm in agreement with Elvis Cruz on PZ.6 and PZ.8. I'd really like to instill -- I wish I could instill across this panel, across Planning and Zoning, across the HEP (Historic and Environmental Preservation) Board, across the City, a feel that preservation and preservation protection in neighborhoods is vitally important to both our economic growth and just our quality of life. It seems like it's not there. It's there with the people of Miami. We have one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But when it comes to governance, we sell out to the developers time after time. I show up here all the time pushing for these kinds of protections, and it honestly feels like a terrible uphill battle. So, let's stop this kind of upzoning, it's just not necessary. And the Olympia Theater, I actually support the idea to defer that. It's been brought out by Dade Heritage Trust. I guess they'll talk about that today. Still, we'll get more information on it. One other thing, SR.1, it's even year voting. I'm strongly in support of even year voting. However, I would like that to see that coupled with a charter amendment to expand more seats on this Commission. Having a hundred thousand -- 500,000 people in Miami represented by five commissioners makes no sense. Having people show out on even year elections at 60 percent with full representation with nine commissions would transform the city. Thank you very much. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Reynold Martin: Good morning. Reynold Martin, 6201 Southwest 61 st Street, speaking on behalf of Coconut Grove organizations Homeowners and Tenants City of Miami Page 7 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Association and Grove Rights and Community Equity. I too support what John Dolson and Elvis has said about supersizing a development in our community. It has not been very kind to communities of color, such as what is happening in Coconut Grove. We oppose PZ.6 and 8. We also support even year voting and term limits. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Deborah Dolson: Good morning. Debbie Dolson, 4205 Lenox Drive, Coconut Grove. I guess I'll start with PZ.6 and 8. I also concur with the speakers before me. This threatens our neighborhoods with out of scale and out of character development. We keep hearing these new -- these buzzwords, affordable housing, workforce housing, transit corridor. These are attached to every single new development that comes through which gives them approval. The result is fewer low- priced units, largely high-priced units, and many with ocean views towering over the single-family neighbors across the street. We do not need more density or higher buildings in our neighborhoods. So, please vote no. PH.1, I don't understand what's going on with our historic theaters here in Miami, but Coconut Grove Playhouse has been an issue for many years, and now we've got the Olympia being given away. I don 't understand why the HEP Board hasn 't reviewed this. I think that the details are sketchy, and I think it needs to be rethought, so please defer this item. SR.1, I also think that even year voting is necessary. I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid and get it done. I'm sure when you're out on the not even year voting schedule and you go to people's houses, they say to you, what election? What election? There's an election happening? I'm sure you run into that all the time. I know all of you also speak about saving money for the City. I know, Commissioner Gabela, you talk about that a lot. There's a way to save millions of dollars. I also think that it needs to be a charter amendment, and we need more commissioners, nine commissioners. Thank you. Chair King: Good morning. Oscar Alejandro: Morning, Madam Chair, morning, Commissioners. My name is Oscar Alejandro. I'm running for city commissioner of District 3, and I reside at 199 Southwest 12th Avenue. I'm here to speak in opposition to PH.1 and SR.1. Three years ago, the Tower Theater was wrongfully stripped from the control of Miami Dade College and transferred to Joe Carollo 's office before being delegated to a city department. Learn from your mistakes. Now, I'm in favor of term limits and moving elections to align with nationwide cycles, but I strongly oppose the stipulations that come with them. When a change that's been strongly demanded is finally addressed, we're sidelined by the small print which unilaterally extends the terms of those who didn 't earn it. Logically, there needs to be some sort of alteration to the terms for elections to be changed, but you don 't get to make that decision yourself Commissioner Pardo dismissed the alternative of reducing the next elected officials' term by one year to compensate, stating that this would invite litigation. Legal battles don't seem to be a concern when it's beneficial, though, since the Attorney General and Governor have both condemned this proposal and actually threatened action. This situation reflects a larger issue of growing distrust between elected officials and the people they represent. A significant number of Miami residents have lost faith in their government due to ongoing corruption and unethical behavior. PH.2 exemplifies how false choices are being offered to the community and supporting this extension shows a preference for personal interest over the needs of those who put you in office. Whether it be in 2025 or 2026, I advise everyone to remember those who voted to fight the State for an extension out of fear of a hypothetical scenario that prevents them from making a sacrifice on their behalf. Thank you. City of Miami Page 8 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Kristen Browde: Good morning. Kristen Browde, 888 Biscayne Boulevard. I'm here to tell you -- talk -- to urge you not to give away the Victoria [sic] Theater and to say that the Victoria [sic] Theater that it is out there to be given away shows how ineffective the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) has been. It shows how wrong giving the DDA a 19 percent increase in our taxes would be. These are taxes paid by Downtown residents. The Victoria [sic] is in the heart of downtown and has been vacant for years. It has been an eyesore for years, as has been the Hurricane Tower, as has been the building that is now being finally torn down. The DDA isn't doing a job for Downtown. If you want to make it a business improvement district, that's fine, but to tax Downtown residents for the ineffective work of this group is really a mistake, and for them to ask for 19 percent increase in our taxes is absurd. I also rise to support the proposal to move the elections to even years. Increasing participation can only improve the image of Miami, the effectiveness of Miami's government. Deals like the Victoria [sic] make us look bad. Getting everybody involved, getting ideas from everybody would be a great idea, and I hope you do it. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Danielle Villoch: Good morning, Commissioners. Danielle Villoch, 3044 Orange Street. I'm here this morning to voice my strong opposition to PZ.6. My grandparents came to Miami from Cuba in 1960 and moved to Coral Gate, NCD-1. They bought their first fridge on credit in the Sears on Coral Way in Douglas, now on the verge of redevelopment. My mother went to Assumption, which the nuns sold to developers, and I grew up going to UM (University of Miami) games at the Orange Bowl and rowing at MRC (Miami Rowing Club) and on Blue Lagoon. Only two of those still stand. I left Miami for college, law school, ten years of work, knowing I would return because this is home. But home is starting to look less and less like home these days, thanks to the myriad of zoning exceptions. After spending years crafting Miami 21, PZ.6 and the concept of the TSND overlay effectively rezones 70 percent of the City of Miami. You have been told time and time again not to worry, that this only applies to the currently approved node in Little River. This is incorrect. This is implementing an entirely new framework with a potential to impact the entire city so long as rail stations receive a TSND designation. My ask today is that this be deferred until several changes are made, including at a minimum, explicitly carving out NCDs and historic districts, excluding T4 and any parcels that abut T3, limit the program to properties up to half a mile from an approved rail station, not a mile. Half a mile is consistent with transit -oriented development across the United States. One mile is far more expansive. Explicitly prohibit the amalgamation and rezoning of T3 parcels for use in this program, which Planning staff specifically said could happen in their presentation to PZAB (Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board). Process all applications by exception instead of by warrant, and if the underpinning of this legislation is to improve affordable housing, actually require meaningful affordable housing requirements in excess of 10 percent. Chair King: Thank you. Ms. Villoch: Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Richard Sherman: Good morning. My name is Richard Sherman. I reside at 2501 Tigertail Avenue here in Coconut Grove, and I'm a lifelong resident of that. And welcome, Commissioner. I tried to say that last week, but it was a little bit busy here. I'm here because of the recent special election, which is deeply troubling for me. 10 City of Miami Page 9 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 percent of the voters showed up. That means that 90 percent, 90 percent of our neighbors stayed home, and they had no voice in choosing their representative. To me, this is not a true democracy. It's a warning sign, a true warning sign. It struck me personally. I'm a little bit older than a lot of people here, but I remember as a young child going to the Road voting booth with my dad, and it was the old- fashioned -- they weren't booths, they were machines. And if I was strong enough and lucky enough, my dad let me pull that lever, and those dirty curtains came behind me, and we voted. But what was amazing about voting is that after we voted, the camaraderie of the whole neighborhood came out to vote. Everybody was voting back then. And it was the thing for us to do as Americans is to vote. And to have 90 percent of people stay home for any election is clearly a warning sign. And we could do better. We can do much better. First, let's move the city elections along state and federal elections. It's a simple change that would boost over -- boost our turnout and give more people a voice and save approximately over a million dollars, if I'm not mistaken, per election cycle, not per year. Second, we need life -term limits for city officials. Right now, somebody could leave office and return again and again. This doesn't allow for space for new voices and new ideas. Term limits promote fresh thinking and fresh accountability. Miami is full of passionate, capable people who care about their neighborhood. Let's build a system that reflects this energy, one that encourages participation and trust from us all. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Cristina Palomo: Good morning, Commissioners. Cristina Palomo, I reside at 244 Biscayne, and I have a few issues on the agenda. Number one, PH.1, the Olympia Theater. I know that the residents of Miami were shocked to hear the news that broke just Tuesday that today's agenda contains this item to quitclaim deed the precious public asset known as the Olympia Theater to a charter school. A building of such historical and cultural significance cannot continue to be treated as an afterthought. With no community input, no purchase price, and no real plan as to how it will be restored and reactivated to its intended use as a vibrant cultural center. This historic gem should be the crowning jewel of the Flagler redevelopment efforts, and I implore this Commission please pump the brakes, defer and closely examine the best way to bring this property back to its glory days. SR.1, regarding election year reform, I understand that there are legal questions as to the best way to get there, but it is undeniable that holding local elections coinciding with election years boosts voter turnout and strengthens democracy. I encourage city leadership to find the right path to implement this long term. FR.2 on Bayfront Park, as a former board member of this trust, I encourage the Commission to allow the recent new leadership some time and a chance to work through challenges rather than force yet another transition that leaves many unanswered questions to the community about the future operations of this park. And lastly, but not least, DI.7. I am here today again to speak in support of the DDA and would like to express as a Downtown resident that their dedicated team -- there's a lot more work to be done by them and Downtown needs the vital services that they provide. Their efforts to continue to enhance our downtown footprint for both residents and local businesses are visible and tangible. And I think that it's important not to conflate Downtown issues and blame them all on the DDA. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Carolina Castillo: Good morning, Commissioners. Good morning, everyone. My name is Carolina Castillo, 3 Grove Isle Drive. I'm a voter and a resident in Coconut Grove. I am here in opposition of SR.1. Even though we might agree with even year voting, I reject the extending of your one-year terms without an election. The gentleman before me was talking about how when he was little how proud he was to vote. And I want you all to think about something. Imagine Governor Ron DeSantis City of Miami Page 10 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 right now extending his term one more year. I think -- I think you would all agree, you'd go insane. You'd probably, I don't know, maybe burn cars or something, or maybe there'll be protests and rioters. That's what's happening right now. I voted in 2023 for the lesser of two evils. It was Sabina Covo, who didn 't know the pledge of allegiance. How embarrassing is that? And we had Damian Pardo. We thought he would be a reformist. We thought that he was going to be the voice of the people. We thought you were going to listen to us. Instead, we feel that Commissioner Ralph Rosado, Christine King, and Damian Pardo are turning their backs on voters. You're not listening to us. You work for us, yet you're not listening to us, and that is a slap in the face and against democracy or against our republic. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Rammel Guzman: Good morning. My name is Rammel Guzman. I live at 1818 Southwest 1st Avenue. So, first and foremost, I don 't like to attack individuals, I like to attack ideas. I don 't like to talk about people, I like to talk about what they put on the table, which I think is better. So, I feel that this commission is doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, because both SR.1 and DI.7, correct, yeah, DI.7 and SR.1, are things that should be on the ballot. I think that people should vote on that. It has tax implications, it has political implications, it elongates the terms of those who actually decide on our everyday quality of life here in the city. And I've spoken to you personally, Commissioner, and I know we agree on several things, however, don't get caught doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. And the issue is that the voters have a system that works. And the gentleman that said that 90 percent didn 't have a voice, no, they did have a voice' they just chose not to use it. Because nobody is telling them, hey, you cannot go vote. So, lastly, I was born in Venezuela, and in 1999, the Constitution was reformed by Chavez, and even he put it to a vote. So, I guess we need to do a little bit better than that. So, thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Orlando Alonso: Good morning. My name is Orlando Alonso. I reside at 92nd Southwest 3rd Street, a few blocks from the Olympia Theater. I came here to talk about that. I was very surprised after I heard of the late developments about giving the Olympia Theater to a charter school. I know many of you have been fighting tirelessly for the past six years to save the Olympia. I have put together a stellar team of people, including architects, developers, artists, presenters, theater managers. I've spent thousands of hours and thousands of dollars putting this team together. I've had the opportunity to talk to Art Noriega, Commissioner Pardo, Mayor Suarez, about the plan to make the Olympia Theater a great place for the arts. And after the RFP (Request for Proposals) of 2022 failed, I stood here in front of this Commission to urge you to please issue another RFP that would incentivize the bidders, that would show the support of the City and the commitment of the City to the Olympia Theater. Now, I don't have anything against a charter school or educational institutions sharing the space with the Olympia Theater, but what I think is that we have put the horses before the cart here, or as we say in Spanish, (FOREIGN LANGUAGE). So, please think about what is artistically important for the Olympia Theater and think that a charter school or Miami Dade College, for that matter, is not the right steward of artistic excellence needed at the Olympia Theater. You need a great team of world -class leaders and world -class artists to lead this institution, not just turn it into a school auditorium, which is what it will become. It will fail. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. City of Miami Page 11 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Jake Morrow: Good morning, Chairwoman King and Commissioners. I'm Jake Morrow. I reside in the City of Miami at 625 Northeast 50th Terrace. I'm here this morning to speak in favor of SR.1, which is the initiative that would reschedule the city elections from odd years to even years so that they coincide with the midterm and general elections. I believe it would be significantly more convenient for Miami voters and also will serve to enhance voter participation, which is a great thing. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Jonathan Raiffe: Good morning, Commissioners, Mr. Manager. I'm Jonathan Raiffe. I live at 499 Northeast 55th Terrace. I'm here to speak in favor of SR.1. You know, democracy is challenging. Our politics are very difficult, but it needs help. And unfortunately, people don 't show up to vote. It's not well publicized. People work, they have lives, they have children and families. But when there's a national election, people get motivated, they show up, they turn out. I think to enhance our governance, to give people more of a voice to speak in favor of SR.1, having elections on even years, enhancing our participation, saving the City money on elections would be a great improvement in our city governance and overall in our democracy, and in the long run, give people a voice to voice their opinions because all we do really get in our system is a vote. Please support SR.1. Thank you very much. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Eleazar Melendez: Good morning. My name is Eleazar Melendez, address at 253 Northeast 2nd Street in the City of Miami. I'm here to speak on DI.7. And I have some slides, so if they can put them up on the screen, that'd be really helpful. Is the screen mirroring working? (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Mr. Melendez: You cannot play? (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Mr. Melendez: Okay. So, I'm going to let someone else go while they can fix the tech issue. Thank you. Chair King: Good morning. Arva Jain: Good morning, Chairwoman. Welcome, Commissioner Rosado. First, I want to -- my name is Avra Jain. I live at 720 Northeast 69th Street. I want to first say thank you all to the commissioners for your public service and for caring. I'm here to speak in favor of SR.1. I know for some people here that may not -- the timing of this may not feel convenient. It's one year. Having 10 percent of the voters show up versus 60 percent, I think that's kind of a big deal. I mean, obviously, there's the money savings. I've had the convenience and actually privilege of being in Commissioner King's district. And I know how hard she works, not just with her Constituent Tuesdays, but how hard she works to make sure voices are heard. She goes out of her way with community outreach over and over, not just one day you show up, she does it over and over until as many people as possible have had their voices heard and has had the participation that is reflective of this community. I think it's important, I think, that when people say, you know, take it to a vote, I understand, but really, the public has voted. 27 or 28 of the municipalities of the 34 municipalities have made this change. Please vote in favor of SR.1. Thank you. City of Miami Page 12 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Rob Piper: Yes, good morning, Madam Commissioner, Commissioners, everyone. My name is Rob Piper. I'm at 1401 Southwest 17 Terrace in Shenandoah. I'm here just to speak on PH.1, regarding the Olympia Theater. A lot of questions still need to be answered regarding this legislation, so I would just urge the Commission to at least hold off on that to give the opportunity for more public scrutiny and an input. Regarding SR.1, yes, moving elections to even years is a very good thing to improve turnout, but cancelling the election for this year is undemocratic. And as someone that is running in this year's election for District 3, I would be willing to shorten my term to three years in order to allow the change up for re-election in 2028 as opposed to 2029 so we can do that. And finally, regarding PZ.6 and PZ.8, again, a lot of questions, a lot of concerns regarding this legislation. I would just encourage at least holding off on it to give the -- more -- opportunity for more public input and to address a lot of the questions and a lot of the concerns instead of rushing into it. Thank you very much. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Jeff Dorfman: Good morning. My name is Dr. Jeff Dorfman. I live at 2020 North Bayshore Drive in Edgewater. And I'm on the board of Biscayne Neighborhoods Association. Speaking about SR.1, this I'm speaking for myself on this one, I support Commissioner Pardo 's effort to bring elections to even number years and get more support. However, I am against the concept of combining that with giving current Commissioners an extra year without putting it to a city vote because I think it sets a dangerous precedent of commissioners voting -- being able to continually vote themselves more years. So -- and then regarding FR.2, I look forward to being able to work and BNA (Biscayne Neighborhoods Association) working with a lot of the commissioners here, and welcome the new Commissioner Rosado. We look forward to being able to work with you. And we hope that, regarding FR.2, one maintains personal independence and allows Commissioner Gabela the opportunity to do what he needs to do at Bayfront Park, to clean it and provide it for the benefit of all residents in the city. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Marvel Bishop: Hi, how you doing? Chairwoman and Commissioners, appreciate your time. So, I'm in here to talk about -- in favor of the Miami DDA. So, I just have something to say. So, hello everyone. My name is Marvel J. Bishop. I am proud to stand before you today as a business owner, podcaster, and educational coach who has called Miami home for the past 16 years. My journey in this vibrant city, particularly in the hospitality and creative sectors, has been profoundly shaped by the support and resources by our Downtown Development Authority. The Miami DDA has been more than just an organization. It has been a steadfast partner in my growth and success. Their unwavering commitment to support small businesses has opened the doors for entrepreneurs like myself allowing us to thrive in a competitive landscape. The Miami DDA has orchestrated events and programs that has connected me with fellow business owners, fostering a sense of community that is invaluable in today's economy. One of the most transformational relationships that I have experienced has been with MJ Green, our Chief Economic Officer. From the moment we met, his dedication to greatly enrich our community and navigating strategic partnerships has been a true blessing. His vision and leadership has not only guided my business journey, but has also touched the lives of countless entrepreneurs throughout Miami. He embodies the spirit of the collaboration that is DDA Champions. As we look to the future of our incredible city, it is crucial that we continue to invest into the Miami DDA. The expertise and the resources they provide are indispensable to small businesses fueling innovation growth and resilience in a City of Miami Page 13 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 known in a City that is known for its dynamic evolution. The DDA ensures that small businesses remain at the forefront of our development, creating opportunities not just for ourselves but for the community at large. I urge you to recognize the pivotal role that Miami DDA plays in our collective success. Let's sustain and strengthen the invaluable resources that champion our growth, nurtures our ambitions -- Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Bishop: -- and empowers -- thank you so much. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Steve Smith: Good morning. My name is Steve Smith, 900 Biscayne Boulevard. I was before you last week to speak in support of the election reform, so I will be brief this morning. It's either a good idea or it isn't, and it doesn't matter if it's 2026 or 2076. Someone's very likely going to get an extra year of service. It's a consequence that comes with great benefit. As far as FR.2 and the Bayfront Park Trust, I'm here to speak in opposition to the abolishment of the Trust. I'm trying to understand truly what is the hurry and pace that within 14 days we will go from a reasonably functioning entity of managing large resources Downtown to the complete abolishment of a trust. I just simply don 't understand what the need for this type of pace and hurry is. And to use the City Manager's own words, the City hasn 't demonstrated a great record as being good stewards of City assets. And I appreciate your courage, City Manager, for those words. You cited many examples, the Marine Stadium, Olympia Theater, the City police headquarters. Are we really ready to provide one of the grandest assets in our community to a city whose own city manager doesn't believe that they're good stewards of managing these assets? Please reconsider and defer the item so that we can collaborate and work together to find the best solution for Bayfront Park Trust moving forward. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Nicholas Mayor: Good morning. My name is Nick Mayor, address is 2010 Southwest 4th Street. I'm here speaking in opposition to SR.1 just because we understand and we agree that elections need to be on even years, you know, to have higher turnout and to see an opportunity to, you know, practice our God-given right of voting in this democracy, in this republic. But we also believe that you should take the path of least resistance. We're seeing a ping gong battle between how the opinion on the State and this City Commission on doing this item, and it can be so simple. You can just put it to a vote to the voters, something that you all have done, something you all show pride and show, you know, strength in doing. So, why show fear in not having the voters decide this by a charter amendment? This is why we're standing in opposition to this item. This is why we're asking you to take the path of least resistance and simply just put it to a vote. It's such a good idea and has such good intentions, but as we all know, the path to hell is paved with good intentions. So, we're asking you to simply just take a simpler route. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. William Hector: Good morning. I'm William Hector, a lifelong Grove resident at 3621 Bayview Road. With all the complexities and demands of modern life, one of the great things about Election Day is that it provides a clear, distinct moment where citizens can devote their attention to the national, state, and local issues that shape our society. The City of Miami has an opportunity with SR.1 to unite its elections with the national cycle and empower citizens to become more involved with their community and governance, which should be one of the main goals of any representative government. Thank you. City of Miami Page 14 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Alyssa Crocker: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Alyssa Crocker, and I am here in opposition of SR.1. Let's call this what it is, a blatant overreach and a violation of public trust. You're proposing to cancel a scheduled election and extend your own terms by a full year without voter approval. That's not democracy, and that's not transparency, and it's certainly not what the people of Miami signed up for when they elected you to serve four-year terms. If you believe changing the election cycle is in the best interest of the City, then bring it to the ballot; let the voters decide. That's how change is supposed to happen, not through a vote by the very people who benefit from staying in power longer. This isn 't a question of efficiency or cost savings, it's a power play, plain and simple. And now the state attorney general and DeSantis have warned you that this move is likely illegal, a violation of the city and county charters. That's not just a red flag; it's a stop sign. By moving forward with this, you're undermining the very foundation of representative government. You're setting a dangerous precedent that elected officials can change the rules midterm without public input and you're sending a message to voters that their voices don't matter. That's not leadership, that's manipulation. I urge you, respect your oath, respect the law, and most importantly, respect the voters. Keep the 2025 election. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Carl Roberts: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Carl Roberts. I'm a Coconut Grove resident. I live in Commissioner Pardo's district. The proposal to move local elections from odd to even years is not just about scheduling, it's about expanding participation and giving more power back to the people. Will the transition result in a one-time extension of current terms? It may, but let's not lose sight of the bigger picture. The real question is not who benefits from one additional year, but whether our electoral system should continue to serve the few or finally reflect the many. The facts are undeniable. Odd year elections consistently yield low voter turnout, averaging just 10 to 15 percent. That means a small, often politically entrenched group holds disproportionate influence over decisions that affect all of us. However, when local races are moved to even years alongside the general contest, turnouts skyrocket to 65 or higher, evidenced in numerous Miami county cities. Most importantly, this change will allow new candidates with fresh ideas to compete in front of a broader, more representative, more informed and engaged voter who are concerned about the decisions that affect and shape their daily lives and are more likely to cast a ballot. It reflects a city that is evolving and no longer willing to let a few speak for the many. For all these reasons, I strongly support the transition to even year elections. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Rebecca Pelham: Good morning. Rebecca Pelham, 1011 Bay Drive. I am here because I am such a proponent of even year elections for all the reasons that you have been hearing, increasing democratic participation. My mission in life is to get more young people involved in local politics, local government, local elections, local budgets. I love that this conversation is happening. And I'm very, very concerned about canceling this year's elections only months out without taking this to a vote of the people. I think it's very hard to achieve democratic principles of increased participation without the principle of democratic participation and having, you know, the voters be able to say yes, this is what we want. So, this gives me faith that this is going to happen, and I don 't think that this rushed approach is opening up the right conversation about the why. But I truly believe that we can get this done via charter amendment, and I'm excited to work with folks to have that conversation, but I urge you to vote against SR.1. Thank you. City of Miami Page 15 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Jihad Rashid.• Good morning, Madam Chair. Congratulations, my Commissioner, Mr. Manager. My name is Jihad Rashid. I reside at 3629 Grand Avenue. I'm here to speak in favor of SR.1. There's a adage that says that if you see sausage made, you probably wouldn't want it. But democracy is a process, is evolutionary. Some paths that we have not passed, we have to make the necessary adjustments. But the end goal and the intent of what is accomplishment is to buttress democracy. So, the inconvenience of having some illustrious commissioners stay extra long, some cases, we can clap our hands, in some cases, we can hold our nose, but overall, the end game is what is more important. And so, we don 't have a situation as someone alluded to before if that particular elected official would be there. When I look at this august body, I can deal with it for the greater good. So, I urge you, please, let's support this SR.1. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Xiani Cox: Good morning, Commissioners and Chairwoman. My name is Xiani Cox, resident of District 3. I'm here in SR.1 and DI.7. I support Miami -- moving Miami's elections to even years. It's the right move to increase turnout and save money. But SR.1 isn't the way. You're exploiting a loophole in state law to override the City Charter and skip the voter referendum. Miami -Dade requires the City Charter that says elections happen in odd years, and the County Charter says charter changes must go to votes. Instead, you're pushing an ordinance that cancels the 2025 election and extends your own terms without voter approval. We cannot afford another year of a commissioner who has cost taxpayers millions of dollars and the City and has weaponized city government to go after political opponents. There is a better way, and it's already written, and it's called Stronger Miami Amendment, which brings real reform to the city. It moves elections to even years without extending terms. It expands the commissioners from five to nine seats, and it makes the redistricting -- reforms the redistricting process and makes it more fair. And it raises the supermajority threshold for big items. So -- and then what I wanted to speak on as well was the DDA. So, the DDA is robbing residents blind, taxing them twice while services decline. They don't want to fund corporate handouts and sky-high salaries. It's time to put the DDA in the ballot. Let voters decide if this agency should even exist. This isn't real reform. This is corruption, pure and simple, cancelling elections, exploiting loopholes and making backroom deals. That's how power grabs happen. Please vote no on SR.1 and put the DDA on the ballot. Thank you so much. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Carl Miller: Good morning. Carl Miller, 275 Fontainebleau Boulevard. And I'm here to speak out against the proposed change in the -- I'm here to speak out against the proposed change in the election year. I've worked professionally on many elections in the City of Miami, and I'm opposed to this project. The biggest concern that I have is that moving the elections to even -numbered years is going to inject a partisan element to the elections that is not necessary in a nonpartisan city election. The parties are going to dominate the elections, and it's going to -- the first thing that a candidate's going to have to ask, answer when he gets to a voter's door is, what party are you with? That's going to shut out a lot of independent candidates. Also, elections in an odd year, the voters get this. They get a simple ballot with possibly the mayor and your commissioner. In an even -numbered year, you get these multiple pages where the voter has to go through president, governor, federal senate, federal house, state senate, state house, state cabinet officers, county commissioners, school boards, judges, and it just, at the very end of that big, long ballot is when the city election is going to appear. This is what -- and the last thing that I would say is City of Miami Page 16 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 having knocked on hundreds of doors, talked to thousands of voters, the municipal voter is a very well-informed, very educated. He knows what the issues are. You don 't need to drag them out. They will vote. They're consistent voters, so you can count on them. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Arssen Gritsenko: Good morning, Commissioners. Arssen Gritsenko, Orange Street, Coconut Grove, here to speak on PZ.6. As presented, PZ.6 is not a small adjustment. It's laying the foundation for a complete reworking of our city from having a single dense urban core with a lower density expanding around it to a city with a polycentric urban core with high-rise development spanning the entire Metrorail corridor. PZAB members responded to the presentation last week with strong reactions, including this is such a massive, I want to say drastic, huge deal, essentially rezoning the city. This is a drastic program, and I am overwhelmed. If the professionals on the advisory board were overwhelmed by its scope, how can residents expect to weigh in meaningfully? I would reiterate that there are several inconsistencies between the ordinance as drafted and the Planning staff's presentation. Of most concern are Planning staff's confirmation during the PZAB meeting that some could put together a group of T3 parcels, have them rezoned, and build up to T6-12 if they follow the process. As well as T4 should be excluded as per their presentation, but it's not excluded in the ordinance as currently drafted. And thirdly, you could have T3 abutting T6-12 or T6-24 with how it's currently set up. Additionally, the ordinance circumvents public hearings for most projects, replacing public scrutiny with administrative review, which historically swings in the favor of developers, delivers minimal affordable housing benefits, 10 percent at most, and allows developers to assemble a group of single-family zone parcels and have them rezone, opt into this program, meaning developers could rapidly buy out and demolish stable neighborhoods, converting them into high -density high-rises. Please strongly consider deferring this incredibly impactful item, conducting serious community zoning and impact studies, and most importantly, amending the legislation to exclude NCDs and historical districts. Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Gritsenko: Thank you. Chair King: Good morning. Marlene Erven: Good morning. My name is Marlene Erven. I live at 3066 Washington Street, and I'm here to speak on SR.1, PZ.6, and PZ.8. Regarding SR.1, moving city elections to even -numbered years, I urge the Commission to adopt this common-sense change. Moving the elections to coincide with state and federal elections makes sense. We know it would dramatically increase the voter turnout, save a million dollars at least for the City of Miami. Having said that, I do support the Stronger Miami petition, which complements this ordinance. It's by locking in even year elections through the City Charter, which is a much better way to go so that future commissions cannot reverse it, by expanding the commission from five to nine single -member districts for better representation, and creating nonpartisan redistricting standards to end gerrymandering. So, I do support this amendment, but I think the Stronger Miami Amendment is stronger. PZ.6, Transit Station Neighborhood Development. This sweeping zoning amendment would allow 12 stories or taller buildings within a one -mile radius of all 23 metro stations. It overrides height transition safeguards in Miami 21 and -- that have protected lower scale neighborhoods for over a decade. It weakens city protection -- citywide protections. Even if NCDs are spared, the amendment still removes Miami 21 's gradual height transition across the rest of the city. While marketing to promote City of Miami Page 17 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 affordable housing, there are no guarantees of deeply affordable or family friendly units. Prior rezonings have often produced expensive, small units that strain traffic, infrastructure, and schools without serving the local residents. There's been very little public input. This process lacks transparency and risks reshaping entire communities without neighborhood -specific planning. Carve outs help, but they don 't solve the underlying -- Chair King: Thank you. Ms. Erven: -- problem. Chair King: Thank you. Ms. Erven: Thank you. Chair King: Good morning again. Mr. Melendez: Good morning. Eleazar Melendez, 253 Northeast 2nd Street. And thank you to the IT (Information Technology) team who got me fixed up. I'm here to make a brief presentation on a survey that was conducted by the Downtown Neighbors Alliance in May of this year. This was after the Downtown Development Authority gave a $100,000 grant to UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) for race events. Chair King: Sir, what item are you speaking of? Mr. Melendez: DI.7, thank you. So, this survey was conducted. 16,300 people were contacted in the DDA catchment area. It was conducted by email and 850 registered voters in Downtown, Brickell, and Edgewater responded. It focused on various areas of interest through the DDA, like taxation, spending, and impact of the agency. The first question was asked about taxation and whether people supported higher taxes this year for the mission of the DDA. Over 80 -- nearly 85 percent said no. The second question was about the decision of the DDA to grant $100,000 to the UFC for various events. That's something that was before several other grants to major event promoters were done. And again, here over 85 percent of people said they did not support that who were surveyed. There was a question on the DDA impact on the community, and a slightly lower number were negative, 52 -- 57.9, but a large number, 26.3, weren't unsure of the impact that the DDA had on their lives while being on the catchment area. And a similar number, when asked if the DDA should be dissolved and replaced with something else, 56 percent said yes, about 25 percent were unsure. So, what does this tell us in terms of findings of the surveys? Number one, people are not really seeing where the tax dollars are going. The DDA is mostly funded by residents, but they don 't see the impact, and they believe there's waste and lack of impact. Thank you for your time. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Sandra Smith-Moise: Good morning. My name is Sandy Moise, Northeast 6th Court, Morningside resident. I'm here today to speak in strong opposition to four agenda items, PH.1, PZ.6, SR.1, and DI.7. First, PH.1, please don't give away the iconic historic Olympia Theater. This theater is a cultural gem and a cornerstone of Miami's identity. Its stewardship should remain public, transparent, and rooted in community use, not handed over without safeguards. Second, PZ.6, as written, is reckless. This sweeping rezoning invites overdevelopment in historic, low -scale neighborhoods and undermines the character, affordability, and livability of our communities. A one -size -fits -all overlay imposed without robust public input is unacceptable. Please don 't rush to rubber stamp a developer friendly plan. DI.7, put City of Miami Page 18 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 it on the ballot. Put it on the ballot. I've seen the budget, and it's quite a slush fund. It was a DDA established in 1969 by Florida legislature to revitalize the Downtown area. We're revitalized. Let's do something different, put it on the ballot. And finally, SR.1, commissioners should not be voting to cancel elections and give themselves and the mayor an extra year in power. That's not a democracy, it's voter suppression. Even your elections may save money, but they will not eliminate corruption. Yesterday I received a text from the We Can Do Better PAC -- We Can Do Better Miami PAC, which according to a reporting form I saw, appears to be affiliated with Commissioner Pardo, but it featured an image of Commissioner Carollo and urging support, for SR.1. And ironically, the message read, say no to Joe Carollo voter suppression, but SR.1 is voter suppression. It blocks our democracy. I agree with Commissioner King who rightly said at the last Commission meeting that voters should be allowed to decide who represents them. I don 't know if it's unethical for a commissioner to be affiliated with a PAC campaigning support for his or her own sponsored item, but it doesn 't have a good look to it. Chair King: Thank you. Ms. Smith-Moise: Thank you. Chair King: Good morning. Linda Hausmann: Good morning. Good morning, Commissioners. Did you not hear the voices of the people the other day, the (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)? We need better representation of our voters. You've been elected by we the people to represent what we want, which is real democracy, not your special interests. Thank you. Chair King: Good morning. Cecilia Tavera: Good morning. Cecilia Tavera, 2 Grove Isle Drive, Coconut Grove 33133. I'm here in support of SR.1. I think we need more people voting. If we can have four or five times more people voting, it will change the kind of people we have in office. My only personal interest is for all the city of Miami residents to get better representation. If we can save money, millions of dollars over time, we can use this money for affordable housing. We need to join the other 28 cities in the county that already are on the same general cycle. We can't keep on working with this old model of government. And lastly, we can't keep coming up with reasons to delay making these changes. If we can do it, I say let's do it now. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Laurie Bowen: Good morning. Thank you. My name is Laurie Bowen. I'm a resident of 50 Biscayne. I'm going to comment on FR.2 and the DDA. First, FR.2. It was a real surprise to see this on the agenda for today's meeting. Dissolving the Bayfront Trust is a serious action with no clarity on what problem this is attempting to solve. It is also unclear how much time and money will be spent on such an initiative. There have been issues in the past, but were these issues due to the structure of the Trust? I don 't believe so. Please help us understand why in the midst of many ongoing improvements to the Trust at no cost to the taxpayers this is being put forward now. Most importantly what engagement have commissioners had on this subject with the people most impacted. Residents and businesses in this area use the park extensively. It's an iconic and essential part of the Downtown Miami experience. Please engage with our community and listen to their concerns and issues. If it would help, 50 Biscayne would be more than willing to host a meeting. Thank you. On the DDA, as we've heard, the DDA does some great work. You've heard about that from many DDA representatives. It's unfortunate that the DDA has made some bad decisions to give tax dollars to large-scale corporate entities when basic services are still City of Miami Page 19 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 lacking, like lighting or litter on Baywalk. I could go on. You seem to have two options in front of you. First, put this on the ballot and see what happens. The other option is to fix it. Give it oversight with representatives from those you are taxing, especially the residents of Downtown Miami. Give the executives a board that pushes back on decisions that harm the reputation of the DDA. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Andy Parrish: Good morning, Commissioners. Andy Parrish, 3940 Main Highway, veteran of eight years on your Planning and Zoning Board. Some of us here, maybe this gentleman over here, remember the phrase, don't drink the Kool-Aid. What is the Kool-Aid we're talking about? The Kool-Aid is something that you're told is good for you and that kills you. What is the Kool-Aid that we've been drinking in the City of Miami? It's this magic term, affordable housing. Anything goes in the name of affordable housing. The State came in and said, you need -- we need statewide affordable housing. Passed the Live Local Act. The County dusted off its 2016 ordinance and said you need rapid transit zoning. Development attorneys in this very hall came and got two of our commissioners and got them to pass PZ.8, which went from five stories to eight stories. And now we have this whole thing again with PZ.6, PZ.8 that's going to increase something that is going to kill our neighborhoods. Don 't make any mistake about it. High-rises belong downtown and that's the way our zoning code is set up. If you start allowing it to intrude in residential neighborhoods that are low-rise, usually two and three stories maximum, it will kill those neighborhoods. There will be no eyes on the street, no families with dogs, no people supporting the local schools. It will kill our city, so don 't let it happen. I will just finish by saying I'd like the city as a whole, and you commissioners in particular, to get a goddamn backbone and start fighting the County and even the State. Miami Beach is trying to do it with their -- with their historic hotels. Let them know that the premier city in the state of Florida will not stand by and have Kool-Aid rammed down our throats. Thank you very much. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Bruce Matheson: Good morning, Commissioners. Bruce Matheson, 2679 Tigertail. SR.1, moving it to even years will create better turnout, and if any of you want to run for re-election, that might help you. Good luck. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Denise Galvez Turros: Good morning. Denise Galvez, 2130 Southwest 20th Street. I'm coming here to speak on several items. I'll try to be brief. First and foremost, on the Olympia Theater, as someone who served on the Historic Preservation Board for the last eight years, we've been asking monthly for updates on the Olympia Theater. We had not heard about this item on the agenda, and the staff has not heard about this item on the agenda. I ask you to please defer this item so that we do have time to review this proposal and figure out whether it's better to put out a public RFP and figure out a better use for our historic asset that everybody treasures. For those of you who don't know, it was a theater opened in 1926. It's been designated historic since 1984, so I don't see why we're rushing now to do something when we could have other options on the table. When it comes to SR.1, I have the solution. Everybody agrees we want more voter turnout, but the answer to more voter turnout is not voter disenfranchisement this year in our elections. Put all these difficult items on the elections this November. The State has spoken. Avoid legal battles. This is going to go to court for sure. The DDA, put it on the ballot as well. All these difficult items should not be left to the decision of five commissioners. It should be put to the voters. The answer to more democracy is more democracy and more elections. Thank you. City of Miami Page 20 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Samuel Dorr: Good morning. Samuel Dorr, 1900 North Bayshore Drive, Commissioner Pardo's district, native of Dade County. I will begin by saying -- by reiterating what I said last week. To not move elections to even -numbered years is -- it would be a no-brainer to move it to even -numbered years. To not do so would be to live in an alternate reality in which everybody who's eligible to vote is registered to vote, everybody votes in every election, and all is copacetic. That's not the world that we live in. In Florida, we have to re -enroll and vote by mail every general election cycle. This is voter suppression. Our voter turnout is horrendous. In the recent District 4 election, 5,330 people turned out to vote. That is pitiful. I hope we can all agree on that. I know that was a special election, but that's what happens in odd -numbered years. In even -numbered years, turnout would soar. You don 't have to believe me. Last week, former Mayor Mike Davey of Key Biscayne was here. He said that in Key Biscayne voter turnout soared. Why not do the -- I think it's 28 municipalities in Dade County do this, vote in even -numbered years. Are we so married to our horrendous turnout that we can 't do what's right? Open our elections to more constituents in the City of Miami. Whenever I vote early in city elections tumbleweeds are blowing through at Government Center. Let's do the right thing. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Samir Azor: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Samir Azor. I am a happy resident of 150 Southeast 3rd Street in the Central Business District. I say happy because I really enjoy living there. But I'm also unique because my work is there as well. In the last three years, I believe that I've brought -- recruited and brought the most amount of retail leases to Downtown Miami. Now Downtown Miami is not a perfect downtown, but it is our downtown, and I come from a place of gratefulness, of gratefulness that I can travel the country or the world and everyone's excited to hear about Miami and everything that's going on. And I hope that you share in that gratefulness as well. And I'll tell you what, where we are today and where we were three years ago, ten years ago, and 15 years ago, it's much different. We have great momentum, and just like we trust you, I hope that you also trust the people that you hire and put in place. We are in a great place, and we have great momentum. Let's not go backwards. Let's continue and let's focus, and thank you for all you do. Thank you so much. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Brandon Jones: Good morning, Madam Chairwoman and to everyone who's here today. My name is Brandon Jones. The address on the record, 5120 Northwest 24th Avenue. I want to first start off by saying the true wisdom lies in choosing what makes sense rather than succumbing to the illusion of others' ignorance. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on SR.1 as I am in support of as this change will hold significant and potential -- a significant change and enhance our civic engagement. So, there's seven reasons that I've noted after listening to everyone who 's here today of the significant change that SR.1 will have should we choose to go with it. First, it will boost voters turnout. Secondly, it would enhance the representation of all communities by having everyone engage. It promotes civic engagement, reduces election costs, increase voter awareness, strengthen local democracy, and support community stability. I hope you all stand with me in supporting SR.1. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Terrell Fritz: Good morning, Madam Chair, Mr. Co -Chair, City Commissioners. Welcome, Commissioner Rosado. My name is Terrell Fritz, 111 East Flagler Street, City of Miami Page 21 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 executive director of the Flagler BID (Business Improvement District), to speak on PH.1. The Olympia Theater, designed by John Eberson and opened in 1926, has hosted generations of cultural events, community gatherings, and celebrations on Flagler Street for 100 years next February. The Flagler BID has long supported the theater's historic restoration and cultural activation, and we've run the numbers. Attaining our stated objective of the highest and best cultural use would require that the City fund very significant restoration expenses. If the City is not going to do that, and you really should try, then a proposal like the one outlined in PH.1 may very well be the best we're going to get. The BID 's top priority is that the theater component of the building is open to the public cultural programming, concerts, film series, comedy, even immersive theater, programming that benefits our residents and drives economic viability of the Flagler Street businesses. And the BID is prepared to work with the City Manager to help define realistic terms for that programming. The Olympia Theater must not become just a school auditorium. Our resolution this week requested two conditions. One, defer for community input. Two, that the City Commission vote on any final approval. We must have the second one. For the City to agree to sell the Olympia Theater without a final vote of this body is unthinkable. However, if there is some time -sensitive component to this proposal, move it forward, dig into the details, share them with the community, and bring it back to this Commission. Ultimately, the decision is yours. Either find the funding necessary to bring the building back to its glory, or explore private sector opportunities to restore and activate this architectural treasure. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Kenneth Gordon: Good morning, Madam Chair and distinguished Commissioners. I'm here in full support of SR.1. If you look at the election cycles and the participation in the last few elections, the numbers are staggeringly low. The last special election was 11.4 percent participation. The last commission election was 12.6 percent participation of registered voters. That's compared to the 2024 election in the county, of which 72.4 percent of the voters voted. This is not representational elections. This is just a small, small minority of the people of Miami actually turning out to vote. To not move this election to the even number years literally suppresses the voters themselves. I strongly urge you to move forward with SR.1. And as far as the Downtown Development, no taxation without representation. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Hannon: I'm sorry, Chair, if I could have the speaker's name for the record. Chair King: Sir? May we have your name? Mr. Gordon: Ken Gordon, Venetian Drive, Miami. Chair King: Good morning. June Savage: Good morning. June Savage, 3063 Oak Avenue. I'm here to speak on almost every single item, unfortunately, two minutes. So, first I would ask the City Attorney to please explain and help me when I'm selling an item that on the tax roll it says miscellaneous tax. How am I supposed to explain to someone purchasing what miscellaneous means? I asked you two times ago maybe you could exemplify that when I'm done, but in order for me to rent and sell and say this is a miscellaneous tax is a complete umbrella tax and does not define what someone is actually paying for. Secondly, the Olympia Theater. I was the first graduating class of payback in Miami -Dade. I studied dance. I think we're lacking in our arts throughout the city since COVID. So, I'd like for the Commission to pick up the pace on that. Now, regarding voters and extending the one year, I think that the people City of Miami Page 22 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 that really care get up and vote, okay? And it's the responsibility of our elected officials to ignite the voters. It's not the responsibility of them to vote for us. So, no gaslighting on that, put it back in the voters' hands. And regarding height and density in Coconut Grove. I was riding my bike yesterday, and I could not get around Coconut Grove. Tigertail, every street had objections to cars, and there was no right-of-way for cyclists. Also, we have no PSAs, public service announcements, for our pedestrian community. And thank you all and I hope that you get to work today. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Kim Hogan: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Kim Hogan. I live at 3187 Lamb Court, and I urge you to oppose PZ.6 as written. While TOD (Transit Oriented Development) is a smart planning tool, this blanket rezoning invites overdevelopment in historic low -scale neighborhoods, threatening community character, affordability, and livability. High density should be focused within a half mile of transit, similar to other large cities around the country with medium -rise mixed -use buildings. Beyond that, we should allow for gentle density to create gradual transitions. We also risk losing vital tree canopy and permeable ground, increasing urban heat and flooding. A special thank you to Commissioner Carollo for his -- who appointed Paul Mann on the Zoning Board who stood up for the community and opposed the lot split on Poinciana the other week. Additionally, there was supposed to be adjustments to the language for the last Planning and Zoning meeting to PZ.6, and the community has not yet seen this language as of yet. While PZ.6 affects all of Miami, speaking on behalf of many residents in Coconut Grove and District 2 where I live, none of the residence being developed -- the current residences, such as at The Well and other locations, being developed are or will be taking public transport. All we have seen to date is an incredible increase in traffic, street closures for construction and safety hazards on sidewalks that are not meeting ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements. Why has nothing been done about Terra's Well development? I've seen a number of near deaths from the pedestrians just trying to cross the street this week. We have sent numbers of -- like a bunch of mails from a variety of people have been sent asking like why has the sidewalk not been put up again? They don 't have their permits in place. And where are the cops controlling traffic in Center Grove or on Bayshore, like I see in Key Biscayne and North Grove? And school isn't even in session right now. It's only going to get worse in the fall and the winter. How can all of these Miami neighborhoods possibly support PZ.6? A rezoning of this scale deserves significant community input for all districts. Please vote no to PZ.6 -- Chair King: Thank you. Ms. Hogan: -- and rewrite a more balanced community driven plan. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Senen Garcia: Good morning, Chairwoman. Good morning, Commission. My name is Senen Garcia, address 3240 Mary Street. I'm here to speak on a few matters. I'd like to start first with PZ.6 and PZ.8. I was here a couple of months ago speaking against or to actually close a loophole that was then PZ.8 as far as the bonus height. The reason why is it was a gift that was given, and it was improper. And this Commission gladly, and I'm happy to report did the right thing in closing that loophole. But now we have another issue. And Mr. Parrish spoke about this, the Kool-Aid. The Kool-Aid that the City has been drinking. Now it's not just limited to affordable housing. It's the Kool-Aid of development, overdevelopment, and constant development at the expense of residents and communities. And this PZ.6 and PZ. 7 -- PZ.8, excuse me, legislation goes to that very heart of the issue. I am not against City of Miami Page 23 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 development, but I am for responsible development, concerted development that focuses on communities and our areas and not simply destroying our communities at the full expense of just simply lining the coffers of the city. I'm aware of the finances of the city in the past, but that doesn't change the fact that we need to be responsible in that approach, and we should not simply go to overdevelopment just for the simple fact of lining the coffers of the city. We should represent our residents and our communities. Finally, SR.1, I do support the movement of the voting. I support lifetime limits, primarily because I like to see new blood. I like to see different people. Nothing against our commissioners, nothing against the work that they have done and the help, and I just mentioned, they did help in one aspect as far as closing that loophole, but it's just to be able to have an opportunity to see new blood. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Brenda Betancourt: Good morning. Brenda Betancourt, 1436 Southwest 6th Street. And about just coming about the PZ.6, sometimes residents don't understand or lack information about what we need for transit. We don't qualify for our federal tax dollars because we don 't have enough people that need to move. And sometimes you might think that it's just overtaking neighborhood. It is not. It's about us qualifying for federal tax dollars. If you don 't know, read on it. So, when you speak about why they're trying to do rezone some areas, it's for a reason. It's not just because developments want to take over. So, please read, that will help you to understand. For SR.1, I just confused, and I hope that all of you, the five commissioners can explain. So, we're going to have term limits for this November election, right? So, that's what the proposal is, it's for people to vote on it. But then you're going to change the election for next year, which it doesn 't make sense for what we read. We know that the government from the state are going to sue the City, and maybe even remove some of you for these actions. That we happy sometimes with the lack of control that some of you have? That we happy about the way that you guys address each other or how you attack each other? We are not. And I used to be offended when I used to go to Washington, D.C. when they say the City of Miami is a banana republic and we are third -world country city. Well, you guys kind of show me that they are right. If we are actually commissioners who are representing every single one of us, it is embarrassing. Chair King: Thank you. Ms. Betancourt: So, thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Miguel Solirnan: Good morning, Chairwoman. Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Miguel Soliman. I reside at 1436 Southwest 6th Street. I'm here just -- please put the DDA on the ballot. Let the residents decide. I'm also against SR.1. Moving our elections from -- this year to next year, it's not only unconstitutional, it's going to bring problems from the State. But to those people, and most everybody I've heard come up here, use the excuse that we don 't have enough turnout in `25. Let's move it to `26, that we will have more turnout. Well, the primaries are going to be in November, but the actual election is going to be at the middle -- in the beginning of December. When have you seen anybody go out to vote in December? It doesn 't happen. People are buying toys for their kids. They're planning Christmas dinner. They just finished Thanksgiving. We're not going to have -- you think we have a low turnout in `25 in November, just think of December in `26. Who's going to turn out? Nobody. And last, I'd like to show my support for RE.5, adding 300 officers. Commissioner Carollo, I think that's a great idea. And to the Chief of Police, I don 't know what's going on. I live in Little Havana on 15th Avenue and 6th Street, and I City of Miami Page 24 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 walk out of my house and I see prostitutes walking the street. My offices are in Allapattah, Commissioner Gabela. I see prostitutes walking in front of my office. I never used to see that. There's more increased drug activities in both Little Havana and Allapattah. What's going on here? Have we laxed off on enforcing our --? Chair King: Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Solirnan: Thank you very much. Chair King: Good morning. Alejandro Martinez: Good morning, Commissioners. I'm here to speak, Alejandro Martinez, 2525 Southwest 3rd Avenue. I'm here representing Brickell Homeowners Association. About D1.7 [sic], about the DDA, we just want to say stop doing the double taxation and also put, it on the ballot. And about SR.1, about extending the elections until next year, we oppose this. And we, as the voters, to -- need to vote for this item. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Damian Jane: Hi, good morning. My name is Damien Jane, resident of District 2. I'm here to speak against SR.1. Commissioner Pardo, I like you, I've seen your policies before, they're good, this isn't a good idea. In 2023, there was a state statute passed by the Florida Legislature that says a government body can 't change the electorate boundaries no less than 270 days before an election. In principle, this should be the same thing here as applied to moving an election. You shouldn't move an election 120 days out before the election date. I hope you see the relevance. It's unfair to those who already filed to run, disenfranchising many, and it's no different than what Portilla attempted to do to remove a political opponent who sits to your right, which here claims to be attempting the blockage of Carollo family. So, one deed is not above the other, and I say that as a friend. And then the last issue is DI.7. I think these residents have spoken out pretty loud. They just want to feel heard. Just give them a chance to feel heard. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Federico Barioglo: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Federico Barioglo. I live on 465 Brickell Avenue. I'm here to have some remarks on the DDA. Brickell residents are taxed on the DDA activity, and we don 't see a lot of services back to our neighborhood. So, please, to find out what the voters would like to speak about, just put it on the ballot next time. Thank you very much. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. James Torres: Good morning, Chairwoman. James Torres, president of the DNA (Downtown Neighbors Alliance). Want to get straight to the point on a couple of issues. First, the DDA. We've been raising the alarm for months. The DDA stacks a second tax to Downtown and Brickell. A double taxation is not what we've asked for. This agency has existed for 58 years. This was created here at City Hall without any voter representation or out to a vote. What we're kindly asking is that you place the DDA on the ballot and allow the residents to decide if they want to continue paying a double tax. I can guarantee you they're going to tell you probably not. The other issue that we'd like to talk about and address is very simple, is the election grab. To push and to cancel an election and extend terms with a public vote is an attack on democracy. The keyword here, Chairwoman King, is democracy, and that's what you stand for because you've talked about it several times before. I'm not singling you out, I'm just raising something because of the way you believe on certain things. So, City of Miami Page 25 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 we're kindly asking you, if this election thing is going to move forward, allow the voters to decide, not the Commission here today. The other issue is the Olympic [sic] Theater. This is a disgrace as to why this was even brought before without an RFP process, without anyone having the opportunity to talk about this, and especially in District 2. It should be addressed because this is a gem. Since 1927, this has been there. This is not for SLAM (Sports Leadership and Management) to take it over. This is not for anybody else. This is a gem that should be addressed and taken care of as best as possible. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Henrietta Schwarz: Good morning. My name is Henrietta Schwarz. I live at 2627 South Bayshore Drive. I oppose SR.1 as written. I agree with the sentiment, but disagree with the process. Run your campaigns and ask the voters if they want you to spend three years in office before the next even year election. If you are so sure your work for our community is valued, then put the question to a vote. If you get elected, serve three years. Commissioner King, you have the ability to make this happen. You are already the only commissioner with (FOREIGN LANGUAGE), sadly, since you are the only woman sitting on the Commission. As for PZ.6 and 8, the obfuscation of the reality on the ground is stunning. Brickell was destroyed by the City of Miami with overdevelopment. With the City's participation in rounding up immigrants in our community, we will not have the need for more development. Developers are the only ones getting what they asked for. What would it take for the City to -- okay, sorry. Developers are the only ones getting their way in this community. And I ask, what would it take for the City to amend current closures of sidewalks near construction sites? We can 't move around the Grove. We can 't even walk safely to get here. What are you doing about this? Is my time up? No? Great. You want us to walk to all these metro stations, but we can 't do it safely without enforcement or streets designed to promote pedestrian and biker safety. Why have you all sold out to the developers? Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Luis Herrera: Good morning. My name is Luis Herrera, president of Vizcaya Homeowners Association. I live in 1181 Southwest 22nd Terrace. I'm here to SR.1 and P6, 7, and 8 [sic]. Number one that I want to ask you, you people, when you go in an election, what you need? People, they vote for you. Now, in this particular thing, the move the election with the president, that is against the charter of the City of Miami. You're supposed to be put it in the agenda and letting the people vote for it. That's the constitution of these people. The people have the right to do and vote. And you people, the three commissioners, tried to do something for the people. That's wrong. And six and seven and eight, I said, like it happened in my neighborhood, the high -rising, that's not in Miami 21. When we went to support Miami 21 to survive the neighborhood and get away from the high -rising, and you people are still changing the zoning and changing the way high -rising is, that's wrong. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you, good morning. Ana Wenger: Good morning. Good morning. My name is Ana Wenger, 3553 Palmetto Avenue in the Grove. First I want to say I support SR.1. I think it's better voter participation. I don 't know about what the gentleman said about December elections. I thought they were November, but I just want to say I support it. And number two, PZ.6, I oppose it as it's written. From somebody living in the Grove, it's a small and charming village. I'm sure there are other small and charming villages in Miami that feel the same way. Let's keep it small and charming. That's why I'm opposed to PZ.6 as it's written. The other thing I wanted to -- this is a question. I City of Miami Page 26 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 don 't know if you can answer it now or later. But we -- a group of neighbors were getting together to try to send the commissioners some input about another topic that's not on the agenda, the Poinciana, and somebody said to me, don 't copy and paste this message on the public input form because they won't read it. It has to be unique, it has to be different from all the other ones, and I thought you were just counting who's for and against issues. Is that true that we're supposed to write something different, or it can be copy and paste? And then the other thing I was going to suggest, Key Biscayne is now arguing about or deciding about their bridges and what's going to be done there, and they sent around a Survey Monkey asking people, do you want it this way or that way? And I thought that was very useful for input from the people. So, I don't know if that's a tool that you guys want to use, but anyway, just a suggestion. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Ivonne Berrios: Good morning, Chairwoman and City of Miami Commissioners. My name is Ivonne Berrios, and I'm very proud to serve the community as the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Board Treasurer of the Miami Downtown Development Authority. I'm here to speak on DI.7 and set the record straight about the Miami DDA and the work we do. First, the Miami DDA board is made up of residents and businessowners and leaders. Every board member either owns or is associated with a property that pays taxes into the Miami DDA. That said, we believe in expanding residential representation, and we will be opening a seat for nomination soon. Second, we are not proposing a tax increase. Property values have risen from last year, but we're reviewing how we can reduce our millage without impacting services. Join us on July 9th. We will be having a budget workshop open to everybody. Third, transparency matters. All of our meetings are public, in person, via Zoom, and recorded. Everyone is welcome. During recent meetings, three or four individuals have provided feedback about the ad valorem tax revenue that the Miami DDA receives. We have acknowledged concerns by responding to public record requests, meeting with interested parties, participating in community events, having fact sheets on our website, and using our social media channels as educational resources. We listen and we act. Fourth, our priorities align with the tax revenue where it comes from. The biggest share of our budget is quality of life and enhanced services. Efforts like security, safety, cleanliness, homelessness, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) benefit residents, visitors, and businesses alike. Fifth, every grant that we award must show an economic and community impact. We check. No funding is dispersed with requirements are not met. Accountability is non-negotiable. Evidence of all this has been sent to each of you, but also to the City Clerk to put in the record. The Miami DDA benefits residents and businesses alike. Chair King: Thank you. Ms. Berrios: Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Ms. Berrios: Thank you for having me. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Michael A. Hepburn: Good morning. My name is Michael A. Hepburn. I reside at 1445 Northwest 14th Terrace. And let me just say I love my city. I do. Born and raised here. I love Miami. Let me just put that on the record. But it is unfortunate time and time again my city does not stand for me. Let me level set a little bit. I'm actually a sports executive, right? But I moonlight as a political scientist. Here in the City of Miami, earlier this month, almost 40,000 residents have now been shifted to City of Miami Page 27 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 inactive status. As in we only have 177, 000 people in this city registered to vote, in a city that almost has 500,000 people. Okay, but we talk about voter turnout. We like to use these buzzwords, but do people actually understand what they're voting for? We do not have a voter turnout problem in the City of Miami. Actually, we have something called a civic empowerment gap here in the City of Miami. We actually are one of the highest in the United States of America. As in, people do not know what they're voting for. People cannot tell you what a judge does. If you ask someone what is the difference between the mayor of the City of Miami and the mayor of Miami -Dade County, I bet you're going to have a whole lot of different questions and answers. Most folks cannot even tell you who's their elected officials based upon their address, let alone what a CRA is and all these other acronyms that we use. We have a Civics 101 problem in the City of Miami, but we use voter turnout or we saving money for changing elections as buzzwords. Go talk to the 161 black men that was a part of the charter that received voter rights for a day to create this city, but that wasn 't voter participation, but we don 't talk about that. Let's go talk to none of the majority -- let me rephrase this. We've had two public hearings in this city so far for the budget. Less than five total residents have attended both, but we don 't talk about that as voter participation. For everyone that has came up here and talked about changing this election but do not understand the value of my 15th amendment, how dare you? But then again, you have not marched for it, you did not die for it -- Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Hepburn: -- and you damn sure didn 't protest for it. Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Hepburn: So, I understand why you did that. I'm going to get kicked out on this one. And then lastly, for the 6,000 people, the (INAUDIBLE) recall -- Chair King: Good morning. Good morning. Nicole Desiderio: Good morning. Nicole Desiderio, 900 Biscayne. I didn't write anything today, but I'm just going to speak on SR.1. I support changing the elections. I think, like the last gentleman said, we do have a lot of problems in Miami, but we but I'm just going to speak on SR.1. I support changing the elections. I think, like the last gentleman said, we do have a lot of problems in Miami, but we can only solve one at a time. Let's take it step by step and start with this one. It helps solve a lot. FR.2, abolishing the Bayfront Park Management Trust. Commissioner Rosado, I hope you are just blindly following the wishes of another commissioner up here. I hope you really think about this and come to your senses on what's going on and why you actually sponsored this item. I know you just got here, welcome, but you may not know a lot of the history that's been going on with the Bayfront Park Management Trust. I think Commissioner Gabela is doing an amazing job in his position there. There's no need to abolish the Trust now. Someone didn't support abolishing the Trust when he was the chair, so I don't know why that would need to happen now. Touching on the Olympia Theater, I don 't know too much about this one, but I wanted to share that my little that I mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters, she actually goes to SLAM I think it's a great school. She has a lot of opportunities there. But I also think that Pitbull, who sponsors this school, it's his school, I think he can afford to find another solution. I think it's a very well funded school. She tells me all the time of all the perks they have there. I mean, they have a 3D printer in their school. These things are expensive. I mean, they weren 't a thing when I was going to school, but we definitely didn 't have one. So, I'm all for keeping the Olympia Theater a historic venue, and I think they can find a school elsewhere. Thank you. City of Miami Page 28 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Mel Meinhardt: Good morning, Madam Chair. My name is Mel Meinhardt, 3075 Virginia Street. You know already how passionate I am about several of the issues I've already spoken. But I would like today to focus our attention on the easiest thing that I'm asking the commissioners to do today, and that is to defer PZ.6. I went to the PZAB meeting last week and saw how radically different the presentation that was made to the PZAB is from the package of material that you and the other commissioners received just a few hours later. I know how pressed for time you and your staffs are to understand the complex regulation, and it is really significant. May I, through the Chair, address Commissioner Rosado and point out that the PZ.6, as described to PZAB, would turn Coral Way into a complete canyon, exactly what he was fighting against at Coral Gate. May I address please Commissioner Gabela? As described by the representative of the City, it would allow the properties immediately across from Sewell Park to be aggregated into T4 by process, and with exception, go up to 24 stories across from (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Madam, to yourself please, it would allow, as described at the PZAB, Lemon City -- or Lemon Park, the one right there, right that gem in Little Haiti, to be completely surrounded by buildings that went up to 24 -- 20 -- I'm sorry, 12, and with exception, 24 stories. Defer PZ.6, give your staffs the time to really understand this thing. It's big, it's bad, and it could really hurt us. Do yourself a favor. Thank you, Madam Chair. Chair King: Thank you. Good morning. Hilton Napoleon: Good morning. My name is Hilton Napoleon. I'm a lobbyist for the Bayfront Park Management Trust. My professional address is 2525 Ponce de Leon, Coral Gables, Florida, 331334 [sic]. I think we can all agree that Bayfront Park is not really just a park. Bayfront Park is an internationally known revenue generated venue. It hosts large festivals, the fireworks show, and major tourist events come to Miami to come to Bayfront Park. Live Nation, Ultra Music Festival, the Super Bowl host committee, FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association), there is a extremely large high -traffic turnout. This is not a park. This is a venue. It is more than just a park. It needs specialized governance. It needs specialized management. And it is self-sustaining. It generates over $10 million in revenue annually. There's a surplus that's transferred to the general fund, and it needs clear governance. The Trust exists simply because the City understands the uniqueness of the park. Other cities, like New York City and Central Park, Chicago, Houston, they have similar entities that control the revenue -generating parks in their community. Conversely, the Parks Department is not the same as the Bayfront Trust. Generally, parks are not intended to generate revenue the same way that the Trust is or that Bayfront Park is. Parks are primarily for basketball courts, tennis courts, soccer fields, pools, things of that nature. None of that exists at Bayfront Park. And additionally, in addition, there's minimal revenue that's generated from the Parks Department. Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Napoleon: For the 164 -- Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Napoleon: Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to speak? Seeing none, public comment period is now closed. Thank you for your advocacy, as always. City of Miami Page 29 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 MV -MAYORAL VETO(ES) There were no mayoral vetoes associated with legislation that is subject to veto by the Mayor. END OF MAYORAL VETO(ES) City of Miami Page 30 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 CA - CONSENT AGENDA The following item(s) was Adopted on the Consent Agenda rMOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: ADOPTED MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner SECONDER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado CA.1 RESOLUTION 17660 A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH De artment of ATTACHMENT(S), ESTABLISHING A NEW SPECIAL REVENUE p PROJECT TITLED, "PLANNING, EVALUATION, AND Police TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT"; ACCEPTING AND APPROPRIATING A GRANT AWARD FROM THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $72,743.00, WITH NO MATCHING FUNDS REQUIRED, FOR THE PROVISION OF TWENTY-SIX (26) LAPTOP COMPUTERS AND UPDATED SOFTWARE; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE AN AWARD AGREEMENT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO DESIGNATE THE CHIEF OF POLICE TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE ANY AND ALL OTHER NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, ALL IN FORMS ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, TO IMPLEMENT THE ACCEPTANCE AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE FUNDS AND COMPLIANCE WITH REQUIREMENTS OF THE AWARD AGREEMENT. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-25-0233 This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda. CA.2 RESOLUTION 17636 A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH De artment of ATTACHMENT(S), ACCEPTING FIVE (5) RIGHT-OF-WAY DEEDS p AND ONE (1) QUIT CLAIM RIGHT-OF-WAY DEED OF Resilience and DEDICATION AS DESCRIBED IN EXHIBIT "A," ATTACHED AND Public Works INCORPORATED ("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 A COPY OF THE DEEDS. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-25-0234 This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda. City of Miami Page 31 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 CA.3 17681 Office of the City Attorney RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO PAY GRISEL ORTEGA PEREZ, WITHOUT ADMISSION OF LIABILITY, THE TOTAL SUM OF $100,000.00 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 GRISEL ORTEGA PEREZ VS. CITY OF MIAMI, PENDING IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE ELEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, CASE NO.: 2023-6943-CA-01 (11), 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. 50001.301001.545011.0000.00000. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-25-0235 This matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda. END OF CONSENT AGENDA Chair King: Gentlemen, are there any items from the CA (Consent Agenda) items that you would like to pull for discussion? CA.1, 2, or 3? Vice Chair Carollo: Move. Commissioner Gabela: Second. Chair King: All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Motion carries unanimously. City of Miami Page 32 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 PH - PUBLIC HEARINGS PH.1 RESOLUTION 17745 A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH De artment of Real ATTACHMENT(S), BY A FOUR -FIFTHS (4/5THS) AFFIRMATIVE p VOTE, AFTER AN ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARING, RATIFYING, Estate and Asset APPROVING, AND CONFIRMING THE CITY MANAGER'S Management FINDINGS PURSUANT TO SECTION 18-182(C) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, AND WAIVING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR SAID PROCEDURES; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER, PURSUANT TO SECTION 29-B(C) OF THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE A PURCHASE AND SALE AGREEMENT ("AGREEMENT") BETWEEN THE CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY") AND SPORTS LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT, INC., A FLORIDA NOT -FOR -PROFIT CORPORATION ("SLAM ACADEMY") TOGETHER WITH A QUITCLAIM DEED ("DEED"), IN FORMS ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, CONVEYING, WITH RESTORATION REQUIREMENTS, USE RESTRICTIONS, AND REVERTER PROVISIONS, THE CITY -OWNED PROPERTY KNOWN AS THE OLYMPIA THEATER, LOCATED AT 174 EAST FLAGLER STREET, MIAMI, FLORIDA, AND LEGALLY DESCRIBED IN EXHIBIT "A," ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, (THE "PROPERTY") TO SLAM ACADEMY FOR THE REHABILITATION AND UTILIZATION OF THE PROPERTY EXCLUSIVELY FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION PURPOSES, WITH TERMS AND CONDITIONS TO BE MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN THE AGREEMENT; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE ANY AND ALL DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING AMENDMENTS, EXTENSIONS, AND MODIFICATIONS TO THE AGREEMENT AND DEED, ALL IN FORMS ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, AS DEEMED NECESSARY TO CONSUMMATE THE CONVEYANCE FOR SAID PURPOSE. MOTION TO: Defer RESULT: DEFERRED MOVER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Note for the Record: Item PH.1 was deferred to the July 24, 2025, City Commission Meeting. Note for the Record: For additional minutes referencing Item PH.1, please see "Public Comments for All Item(s)." Chair King: Would we like to discuss PH.1 now or move further along the agenda? Vice Chair Carollo: We could, if you like. Chair King: Okay, quickly. Vice Chair Carollo: Whatever is the will of the Chair. City of Miami Page 33 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Madam Chair, Commission, so this item has, you know, I think in terms of public perception, moved rather quickly, and it kind of has more from a timeliness perspective. I think the need, yet the intent was to activate the space for the upcoming school year. After, you know, consideration, conversation, obviously with the district commissioner, as well as some of the constituencies, both in Downtown, those that have a long history with the theater, I certainly have over 30 years of relationship in a number of different capacities with the theater, and you know, I certainly feel that the City -- and you know, there was a reference to the issue of whether we are good stewards of our city assets, and in a lot of ways, this is probably a prime example of where we've, as a city, never really been able to commit significant resources to a building that's almost 100 years old, is historic, does have a historic designation, and is in desperate need of a considerable, considerable amount of work, upwards of 35 to $40 million worth of work. This particular opportunity was presented, and although at -- or on the surface and at face value feels to some, because -- you know, there's a lot of detail that still has to be sort of processed and worked through, feels kind of like an odd marriage in terms of an educational institution with a building and a theater, and in a lot of ways, you know, being hypersensitive to the fact that this building has been a venue that has hosted some tremendous musical acts in the past. It's not a -- it's not really a working theater per se. It doesn 't operate like the Arsht Center. It doesn 't have a back -of -house that accommodates that. Has an incredible acoustics to it. But it was built as a movie house. That's inherently what it was built for originally, much like the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Coconut Grove, because they were built in the same era. But it is an incredible venue, and the intent is to maintain that same level of utilization, but to incorporate a significant educational component into that. So, we think the partnership really has an incredible amount of merit. What we're willing to proffer, and I think it'll add a little comfort to the community in terms of just the conversation around what's going to happen and some additional public input is to modify the resolution to remove the portion that allowed me the opportunity to enter into the PSA (Purchase and Sale Agreement) subsequent to this reso and have that purchase and sale agreement come back to the Commission for approval. So, that the resolution as it'll read and as amended would just authorize me to start to begin to finalize and formalize that PSA, but it would have to come back to the Commission for approval. Commissioner Pardo: And City Manager, I just want to make clear, so there would be about 30 days for community engagement for details to be put out in the community so people can review this, people can discuss this, and so that by the time this comes back for a vote, we will have all that information, and you know our office works in tandem to make sure that we're getting out to everyone and the interested parties here. Mr. Noriega: Yeah, the intent is to -- the goal would be to bring it back second meeting in July, so we will immediately begin to garner that public input. I've also encouraged some of the constituencies to get a little more engaged in that process of identifying -- look, the operational scope and the requirements, you know, that was always intended to have some very specific guide rails and restrictions as it relates to how it's used, when the capital repairs are done, and the timeliness of that, and some outside participation. And one of the key elements and some of the feedback we've gotten has been, you know, how much time are we going to allocate, right, for that theater to be used as it has been in the past, which is a concert venue for shows and whatnot. So, those are all the parameters that we'll incorporate into it. And so, the deed, although it's a conveyance, the deed will have a number of restrictions to it that if they are not met, that property will be reconveyed back to the City. City of Miami Page 34 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Pardo: And just to be clear for the people that were asking for a deferral, this is essentially a deferral coming back 30 days. I mean, it's not a deferral. Mr. Noriega: Yeah, it's just -- it's not an absolute resolution that empowers me to then enter into a PCA -- PSA. It has to come back to the Commission for approval. Commissioner Pardo: And then they will have opportunity to give public comment again. Mr. Noriega: Correct. Commissioner Pardo: We'll have to vote on that, and I think that was their primary concern. Mr. Noriega: Yes. Commissioner Pardo: Thank you. Commissioner Rosado: Madam Chair. Chair King: Commissioner. Commissioner Rosado: I think for the sake of the public, because there's a lot of information that we've received in the last few days about how this proposal came about and why this particular entity is interested, et cetera. But I think there's a lot of information -- and this is really directed to the Manager. I think there's a lot of information that the public is not aware of and we essentially have just the one proposal we're looking at, but could you provide some history on how this came about, why this particular party has an interest in it, what's going on with the building? There are lots of questions about that. Just, you know, so folks understand procedurally. One of the things that I learned as part of the briefing for this item the other day, because it was new to me as well, is that we really have some issues with our procurement code that I'd love to work with the administration on and sponsor something for a future meeting that's not too far into the future, but we hamstring ourselves in terms of our own processes, and I think it's important for the public to understand that. So, there's been questions about why wasn't this put out competitively, and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Could you address the kinds of things that we've seen, both in the newspapers and just comments that folks are interested in? Mr. Noriega: Certainly. So, there has been a solicitation in the past. There have been a number of solicitations. My early history with the building, quite frankly, is as the project manager on the redevelopment of the tower as an affordable housing project. I was the PM (Project Manager) for the company that did that project. So, that was my very first introduction. That was part of a solicitation. It was done as a tax credit deal. That affordability period expired, which is inherently why the City got back the tower portion. You know, I also managed that asset for 20 years as -- or almost 20 years as head of the Miami Parking Authority. And so, over the years, there have been a lot of levels, different levels of interest. I mean, at some point it was transferred to a nonprofit under Commissioner -- or sorry, Mayor Regalado 's tenure as mayor to a non-profit that was headed by Herman Echeverria, who unfortunately passed away within a year of taking stewardship of it. And that entire, I think, strategy sort of fell apart. And so, it's had a lot of failed stops and starts in terms of how to manage this thing long-term. Unfortunately, the City's never had the resources to maintain this building. It will never have the resources, and it needs a good steward. And ultimately, I think, you know, the totality of this opportunity will City of Miami Page 35 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 be an incredible public benefit, I think, just in general, when we really get to the finish line on this. And I think, you know, once we get additional public input, we incorporate a lot of that input into what is, in essence, the final deal, I think it'll make a lot of sense. Speaking to Commissioner Rosado's, you know, comment about the code and the procurement process, we really are hamstrung, because the code really doesn 't provide a lot of flexibility. If you don 't get multiple proposals, you know, you're really limited in terms of how you move forward. One of the things as a result, we've had this issue in Commissioner Carollo's district with the disposition of property. We get one proposal, but we can 't move forward, right? And so, you know, one of the things we're already working -- we will be working on is some charter language and modifications with all of your guidance to allow a little more flexibility to that, empower the Commission a little more to make some of these decisions in case we do not have a robust level of interest in a particular transaction or disposition. So, we're going to move in that direction anyway, and I think, you know, history has been a pretty good reflection of that change and what's required of that change. This particular opportunity, I think, is one that we haven 't seen yet. Most of the other opportunities that have been presented, and like I've talked to in the last, even just my tenure here as manager, probably at least four or five organizations, but in the end, you know, the one impediment is the resources required to do the renovation. And, you know, a lot of people want the opportunity, they'd love to have the opportunity to reactivate the space the way it should be activated, but nobody has really had the resources to do that. I think now we have an opportunity to accomplish that and continue to do some of the things we really want to do as a community, and bring other partnerships involved down the road into this as well. So, I think once we bring back this agreement as a purchase and sale agreement as modified and having gotten some additional public input, I think and I'm hopeful that the Commission will see this opportunity is a good one. Chair King: I have a con -- I have a concern this -- their proposed partnerships, one is with Miami Dade College, but that that hasn't been established. That's a problem. I don 't want, for example, this proposal to look pretty because you add in partners, but then they're really not partners. I would like a little more information on that. I'd like those kinds of details to be solidified. Miami Dade College would be interested in being a partner, but we don 't want -- I don 't want to see where to make this proposal enticing that we use a storied institution like Miami Dade College, but then once everything is completed, that's not really the case. So, that is my concern, and I do need to feel like the community has had some input, as well as where's the family on this position? Because I know there was some issues between the City and the family over this property. Mr. Noriega: Yeah, so one of the -- there's two critical parts, both of those you just highlighted. The Miami Dade College participation, I absolutely committed this because this really was central to the to the Mayor's concern with this as well, is that they needed -- their role needed to be defined and codified. So, this transaction will not occur unless there is an absolute involvement for Miami Dade College, but also in the form of an agreement that both parties agree to. That's number one. Number two, this entire transaction is contingent upon a settlement of the litigation with the Gusrnan family. Those conversations have already begun. There are assurances that we have a path forward on that, but that's also contingent on the transfer. That settlement needs to be reached, and the litigation needs to be released as well. So, those are all contingent issues that will happen prior to that. Chair King: Commissioner Rosado? Commissioner Rosado: I do. Thank you for that question. I was going to ask the same thing because I -- you know, Miami Dade College is obviously a very important partner, but it is a little bit murky as to what their role is, and it should be an City of Miami Page 36 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 important one given their location and their prominence in the community. I'd like to make some additional requests. I think we need clarity around the minimum number of days during which there will be public programming. And when I say public, like truly open to the public beyond the schoolchildren. I mean, I think that's an important component. But this is obviously a gem, you know, it's something that's very important for historical reasons and cultural reasons. There needs to be greater clarity around how many days are there going to be events open to the public, whether it's the film festival or a variety of other things. I was going to request a minimum of 20 days around this. I don't know if that actually made shortchanges, so I don 't know what the appropriate number is, but I think there needs to be greater clarity and make it as public as possible. I think it can work as a shared facility. I was also going to request that there be at least three widely publicized public meetings before the item comes back. I don't think this needs to be, as an item, delayed for a long time, but I do think that there needs to be a lot more clarity and transparency so the general public is involved. Meetings that are done where you have an option of in person and Zoom as well. I think a lot of the folks that are interested in historic preservation and Downtown issues, et cetera, would participate one way or the other. And so, I think before it comes back, there should be three public meetings to give stakeholders the opportunity to provide their input on this deal. Vice Chair Carollo: Madam Chair? Chair King: Mr. Vice Chair. Vice Chair Carollo: Let me begin by addressing one of the statements that the Manager made on the City not having the funds to do the upkeep. Any city in America would love to have a jewel like the Olympia Theater. And the condition it's in is not because of a lack of funding of the City. It's because of a lack of will to provide the funding that we have had. And what am I talking about? You 've been here, Mr. Manager, for approximately five and a half years. During that time, I've seen more money be blown away because there was surplus. We had a grab bag. Everybody stuck their hands and gave money here, gave money there. No mention ever, hey, we got to start putting money aside each fiscal year because if you would have made sure that we would have put money aside since the moment you got here, we would have had more than enough today to take care of anything that we needed to in the Olympia Theater. I'm just thinking right now, this fiscal year, $5 million that we gave to the Underline, which is great. But it's money that I think if we were to choose, we would have said, put it in the Olympia Theater. And why do we give that money away? Because it was surplus. We had surplus money, I was told. And I could go on and on and on. So, that's the first problem that I have, but here we are today. Now, these are some of the questions that I have before I could go forward. And the people involved in this, I know all the individuals, they're fine, outstanding individuals. Everything that they've touched, they have made a success. So, that's a very good sign to me. And they have the financial pockets to accomplish it. But nevertheless, I'm surprised that no one from that group ever gave me a call to speak to me. I found out about everything that we were doing just a couple of days ago when you met with me, I think on Tuesday. And these are some of the questions out of many that I have. An appraisal on the property. I don 't know if we have one, what the appraisal comes to, and based on what was the appraisal done, because you could do appraisals in many ways to either increase the value of a property or decrease the value of a property. Two, the 30 plus, $40 million or more that you told me that was needed to refurbish the Olympia Theater, are they going to put a bond down to make sure that no matter what happens, they walk away the next day, we're going to have the money to refurbish whatever needs to be refurbished? So, it doesn 't happen like when with Mayor Regalado, who gave it away the last time. Remember all the promises that were made to us, what they were going to do, what City of Miami Page 37 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 they were going to accomplish? The world would come to an end if we didn 't give it away. And look where we're at today. And it's the same story that I hear every time that we're giving properties away. Three, this is in part something that Commissioner Rosado spoke about. I want guarantees that the theater will be operating for the benefit of the general public with specific dates. And where I disagree is that we have 365 days a year, 20 days, it's nowhere near enough for the guarantee. Four, any and all decisions, changes, come back to the City Commission, whoever sits here, because I don't know who will be sitting a year from now, six months from now, several years from now as a city manager, and those decisions should be made open to the public, not with a manager. This reminds me of when I became the manager in the City of Doral. And the last year before I got there, the deals that were passed and approved, and I suspect without elected officials reading what they were approving, that in one of the biggest projects in the city, all the authority was given to the manager to sign off. And immediately, that particular developer came to me in a very huge extensive project that they were responsible, and that's in part why they got so many rezoning, up rezoning, that they were responsible for all the streetlights for the life of the project. They wanted me to sign off that the city would be responsible. I said, no way. That's something the Commission should do. But Mr. Manager, they said, here, this is the approval of the Commission. You have the right. I was amazed that that was there, but I said to them, yes, I might have the right, but I want the public to be aware of it, and the Commission to decide it in front of the public. So, that's another one of the reasons that I would want to defer this. Now, last but not least, I heard you say this is all contingent on resolving the suit with the family. Well, then this contradicts the reasoning why we're rushing this for the school year. I cannot believe that they can come to an agreement in time with the Gusman family before the school year. And the school year, it's their deadline, it's not ours. Again, I think these are people that have shown that every project that they take, they make a success out of it, they got the pockets to accomplish all this. But this needs a lot more working on than what I see here. Miami Dade, just because they're Miami Dade, it's not another untouchable. But Miami Dade College also has a record of accomplishing things. And in this case, unlike a past history with the City, that we were putting the money, if they come in, I'm sure they would do a fine job, but we have to have the guarantees, unlike one of our last deals with them, that they're actually going to be putting the monies to refurbish, keep the upkeep along with whatever other partners they would have, to make sure that this will succeed. Lastly, I want to know why at this point in time does the City of Miami have to give the Olympia Theater away? Why can't we come with any other idea to maintain it if we've been talking about so many bond issues? Well, the amounts of dollars that I've been hearing on bond issues, 30 to $40 million, wouldn 't even be 10 percent of the amounts of bond issue that I've been hearing about. I don 't know why we have to give it away. Now, one of the faults that we have as a city, and this goes not just for you as manager, but prior managers, things like the Olympia Theater, it takes too much time, it's not on the radar, so they just let it go. They don't worry about bringing real professionals to run it, for it to be run in a professional manner with people that have the expertise. So, you get individuals, like in the Building Department, Mr. Manager, that don 't even have the experience of having a certificate to build Legos. And you get individuals in the same area of managing our key facilities like this that it's on automatic pilot. They don 't have the experience, they don 't care, and the facilities that we do have that more or less are successful, it's because they would have been successful no matter whom you would have had there. And if the price is low enough in a lot of these facilities and each year we have less in Miami, in greater Miami, you'll have people lining up for it. So, these are my points. I think the key statement that Commissioner Rosado made, having at least three public hearings on this, it's important. And this doesn 't have to take months and months and months or years, like many things that happen in the city, but we need to give it a small fair amount of City of Miami Page 38 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 time because, otherwise, the stink that it's going to have, no matter how good it is, it's going to overcome anything that we do. That's my opinion. Commissioner Gabela: Madam Chair? Chair King: Commissioner Gabela? Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, I am also concerned, as Commissioner Rosado. I have been briefed on the issue, however. There is nothing happening there. But I also agree there's a lot of questions that need to be asked. And maybe I think I'm going to ask to be briefed again on the subject. I did speak to these people that came in my office. They told me what they were going to do. You should note that there also is a reversal clause in the contract, for the contract, I understand. Is that right, Art, that there's a reversal clause? Mr. Noriega: Yeah, the contract hasn't been finalized, but the intent is for it to have a reverter, correct. Commissioner Gabela: But at the end of the day, I think what we're saying is that I think we need to defer this and have further clarification. Chair King: No one came to brief me on this except administration. The individuals, I didn't get a briefing on it. But if it's the will of the body, do I have a motion? Commissioner Rosado: For what? Chair King: Deferral. Commissioner Gabela: Motion. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. Commissioner Pardo: Second. Chair King: All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Motion carries. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): And that is to what meeting? Chair King: To -- Vice Chair Carollo: Can I bring a second friendly motion, Madam Chair? Mr. Hannon: My apologies, Commissioner Carollo. I'm sorry. There's a motion on the floor right now to defer -- Chair King: Right. Mr. Hannon: -- PH.1. Chair King: To when? Commissioner Gabela: So, I was the motion -maker. I suggest maybe not next meeting, but the meeting after that -- City of Miami Page 39 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Pardo: Yeah. Commissioner Gabela: -- so we all are briefed. Chair King: Second meeting in July? Commissioner Pardo: Yes. Mr. Hannon: July 24th Vice Chair Carollo: If I may, Chair, what I'd like to do is to be able to have the three public hearings that Commissioner Rosado alluded to. I think that would be important. I just don't know if you'll be able to properly do them in time. You have about a month and, I don 't know, a few days left. If you think that you can do three public meetings during that time? Mr. Noriega: I think if we set the deferral to come back for the second meeting in July, we'll make every effort to have those three meetings. If for some reason we can't, we'll report that back, and if you feel like we need more time, we'll give more time. Commissioner Pardo: And we're happy to help. Vice Chair Carollo: I think that's fair enough. Chair King: All right. So, it -- Vice Chair Carollo: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Chair King: -- did pass though to July 24. Commissioner Rosado: Madam Chair, can I ask a point of clarification? So, when it comes back at the second meeting in July, at that point, would it also include the PSA, or we're still breaking it up in two additional meetings? Mr. Noriega: That would be the goal. That will be the goal, to bring everything back in July. Mr. Hannon: And thank you, Chair. It passed unanimously to defer PH.1 to July 24. Thank you. Chair King: Correct. City of Miami Page 40 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 PH.2 RESOLUTION 17665 A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Department of ATTACHMENT(S), ACCEPTING THE PLAT TITLED "MCID 2," A p REPLAT IN THE CITY OF MIAMI OF THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED Resilience and IN ATTACHMENT "1," SUBJECT TO SATISFACTION OF ALL Public Works 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-25-0236 MOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: ADOPTED MOVER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Chair King: Of our public hearing items, PH.3 has been deferred to July loth. Are there any of the remaining items, PH.1 or PH (Public Hearing) -- Commissioner Pardo: PH.1. Chair King: PH.1, pulled for discussion. PH.2? Does anybody want to pull PH.2 for discussion? May I have a motion for PH.2? Commissioner Pardo: So moved. Vice Chair Carollo: Second. Commissioner Gabela: Second. Chair King: I have a motion and a second. All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Motion carries. City of Miami Page 41 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 PH.3 RESOLUTION 17246 A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH De artment of Real ATTACHMENT(S), BY A FOUR -FIFTHS (4/5THS) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE, p PURSUANT TO SECTION 29-C OF THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF Estate and Asset MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, WAIVING COMPETITIVE BIDDING Management AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE A PURCHASE AND SALE AGREEMENT WITH ECORESILIENCY MIAMI, LLC ("DEVELOPER") FOR THE SALE, UPON SATISFACTION OF CERTAIN CLOSING CONDITIONS, OF ±5.4 ACRE` OF THAT CERTAIN PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1111 PARROT JUNGLE TRAIL ("PROPERTY") FOR RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL USES, IN EXCHANGE FOR CANCELLATION OF THE EXISTING LEASE AND CONSIDERATION EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN FAIR MARKET VALUE OF ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS ($135,000,000.00), INCLUDING DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW ±13.3- ACRE PUBLIC WATERFRONT PARK ON THE REMAINDER OF PROPERTY AT A COST TO DEVELOPER OF THIRTY SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS ($37,000,000.00), PAYMENTS TO CITY OF TEN MILLION DOLLARS ($10,000,000.00) AT CLOSING AND ONE MILLION DOLLAR ($1,000,000) PER YEAR PER PHASE WITH ANNUAL ESCALATIONS OF THREE PERCENT (3%) AND A PRESENT VALUE OF ONE HUNDRED TEN MILLION EIGHT HUNDRED SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND AND TWENTY-FOUR DOLLARS ($110,875,024) OVER NINETY-NINE YEARS), AND CERTAIN COMMUNITY BENEFITS VALUED AT THIRTY-FOUR MILLION SIX -HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($34,600,000), INCLUDING PAYMENT TO THE CITY OF FIFTEEN MILLION DOLLARS ($15,000,000.00) FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE A PARTIAL RELEASE AND MODIFICATION OF THE DEED RESTRICTIONS SET FORTH IN DEED NO. 19447 BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE STATE OF FLORIDA INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND ("STATE"); AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A QUIT -CLAIM DEED TO DEVELOPER, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY; PROVIDING, THAT SUCH SALE AND CONVEYANCE BE SUBJECT TO APPROVAL AND EXECUTION OF AN AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE THROUGH THE STATE OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE OTHER ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS AND AMENDMENTS REQUIRED TO EFFECTUATE THE SALE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROPERTY AS SET FORTH IN THE PURCHASE AND SALE AGREEMENT, ALL IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY. MOTION TO: Defer RESULT: DEFERRED MOVER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner SECONDER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner AYES: King, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado ABSENT: Carollo Note for the Record: Item PH.3 was deferred to the July 10, 2025, City Commission Meeting. City of Miami Page 42 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item PH.3, please see "Order of the Day." END OF PUBLIC HEARINGS City of Miami Page 43 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 RE - RESOLUTIONS RE.1 RESOLUTION 17483 A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Office of ATTACHMENT(S), RELATING TO THE PROVISION OF SOLID WASTE SERVICES, FACILITIES AND PROGRAMS IN THE CITY Management and OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING Budget OCTOBER 1, 2025, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2026; DESCRIBING THE METHOD OF ASSESSING SOLID WASTE COSTS AGAINST PROPERTY LOCATED WITHIN THE CITY OF MIAMI; DIRECTING THE PREPARATION OF AN ASSESSMENT ROLL; AUTHORIZING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR SEPTEMBER 13, 2025, WHICH IS (A) SET BY THE CITY COMMISSION AND (B) PUBLICLY NOTICED, AND DIRECTING THE PROVISION OF NOTICE THEREOF; FURTHER AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO DETERMINE THE APPLICABLE NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS FOR THE ASSESSMENT ROLL ON OR BEFORE THE LATEST POSSIBLE DATE BEFORE SUBMISSION OF SUCH REQUIRED INFORMATION TO THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PROPERTY APPRAISER FOR THE ESTIMATED SOLID WASTE ASSESSMENT RATE SCHEDULE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-25-0238 MOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: ADOPTED MOVER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Chair King: Now, gentlemen, are there any items, RE (Resolution) items that you would like to pull for discussion? RE.3, having been deferred to the July loth meeting; RE. 7, having been deferred to the July loth meeting. Are there any items that you would like to pull, any other items that you would like to pull for discussion? RE.1? Vice Chair Carollo: I'd like to pull, which is my item, but I think we need to discuss it, not just pass it like this, RE.5. Chair King: RE -- Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): And just briefly, and just for the record, Commissioner Rosado will be co -sponsoring RE.5 and RE. 6, for the record. Chair King: Commissioner, you want to pull RE. 5? Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, and RE. 6 so we could -- Chair King: Okay. Vice Chair Carollo: -- get some questions answered, hopefully. City of Miami Page 44 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Chair King: Any other items you would like to pull from the REs? Commissioner Gabela: Not me. Chair King: Commissioner Pardo? Commissioner Rosado? Commissioner Rosado: I do. I would like to pull RE.4. Chair King: RE.4, okay. All right, so may I have a /notion for RE.1 and RE.2? Commissioner Gabela: Motion. Commissioner Pardo: Second. Chair King: I have a motion and a second. All in favor for RE.1 and RE.2? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Okay. RE.2 RESOLUTION 17661 A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Department of ATTACHMENT(S), RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO. R-23-0347, p ADOPTED ON JULY 27, 2023, IN ITS ENTIRETY AND ENACTING Police A NEW RESOLUTION TO CLARIFY CONTRACT TERM PROVISIONS; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE FORM ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED AS EXHIBIT "A," FOR THE PROVISION OF ENHANCED POLICE SERVICES WITHIN THE SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST REDEVELOPMENT AREA AND OTHER SAFETY MEASURES; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO CONTINUE ALLOCATING FUNDS IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $955,252.43 UNTIL FUNDS ARE DEPLETED; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO DESIGNATE THE CHIEF OF POLICE OR OTHER DESIGNEE TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE ANY AND ALL OTHER NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, ALL IN FORMS ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR SAID PURPOSE. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-25-0239 MOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: ADOPTED MOVER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item RE.2, please see Item RE.1. City of Miami Page 45 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 RE.3 RESOLUTION 17688 A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, PURSUANT Commissioners TO SECTION 14 OF THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, TO ISSUE A SUBPOENA TO WILLIAM and Mayor ORTIZ, CHIEF OF STAFF FOR COMMISSIONER JOE CAROLLO, TO APPEAR BEFORE THE CITY COMMISSION ON JUNE 12, 2025, FOR THE PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATING OFFICIAL ACTS AND CONDUCT OF A CITY OFFICIAL. MOTION TO: Defer RESULT: DEFERRED MOVER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner SECONDER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner AYES: King, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado ABSENT: Carollo Note for the Record: Item RE.3 was deferred to the July 10, 2025, City Commission Meeting. Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item RE.3, please see "Order of the Day." RE.4 RESOLUTION 17645 A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Commissioners ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE AMENDED BUDGET OF THE BAYFRONT PARK MANAGEMENT TRUST, and Mayor ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED AS EXHIBIT "A", IN THE AMOUNT OF THIRTY MILLION, ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE THOUSAND, SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-TWO DOLLARS ($30,123,752.00) FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2024, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2025. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-25-0240 MOTION TO: Adopt with Modification(s) RESULT: ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATION(S) MOVER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado NAYS: Carollo Vice Chair Carollo: Chair, we're past noon right now, and I think we have some CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) items that need to be taken care of Can we break now, do the CRA items, and then come back in the afternoon for the remaining agenda? Chair King: Will of the body? Commissioner Pardo: I mean, I'd rather move as much as we can of the agenda. Chair King: Until what -- what time, until what time? City of Miami Page 46 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Pardo: 12: 30. Chair King: Go until 12: 30, and then take the CRAs? Commissioner Pardo: And then take the CRAs. I'd like to at least get through the second readings. Chair King: Okay. We have -- Commissioner Pardo: A lot of people are here. Chair King: We have discuss -- pulled for discussion RE.4, 5, and 6. Commissioner Rosado? Commissioner Rosado: I'll support that. Chair King: Support what? No, I'm talking about your item that you pulled for the discussion. Commissioner Rosado: Oh, I'm sorry. Got you. Yes, so I pulled the item not because of the overall budget, but rather because of the contingency line item, which is substantial. It's a little bit over $1.86 million. And I wonder if we can have more specificity to what that would be. Like, it makes me a little bit uncomfortable that we have a lobbyist here being paid for by city dollars to lobby the City Commission. So, could we define the contingency line item in such a way that there's a lot more specificity to it, if we can do that in a way that's acceptable? Commissioner Gabela: Commissioner Rosado. Commissioner Rosado: Yes. Chair King: Hold on, hold on, Commissioner. Let him finish and then through me. Okay, go ahead, Commissioner. Commissioner Rosado: That was essentially it. It just seems like that's a very large contingency. It needs to be much more specific in terms of what those dollars can and will be used for. Chair King: Commissioner Gabela. Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, if you're referring to the lobbyists on the acting on behalf of Bayfront Trust, you should know that that was paid for by the Bayfront Trust funds and not the City of Miami. Just want to put that on the record. Vice Chair Carollo: Chair? Chair King: Vice Chair. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, the problem is that those funds are the City of Miami funds. And never in my life since I've been here have I seen that the Bayfront Park Trust has to hire a lobbyist. In fact, in the special Bayfront Park Trust meeting that it seems that every week now there is one, and it's all basically for the same thing, how to weaponize, truly weaponize, not just a word, Bayfront Park Trust to come at me. One might have cost $2 million or more. And why do they have that money? Because a fool like me worked his heart out to make sure the contracts would be written, that I would find all kinds of new revenue. I worked my heart out in making those parks something for this city, South Florida, the world to be proud of to the point that it City of Miami Page 47 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 became, in the number one app that we have, the number one part that was shown. Well, Mr. Ortiz, do we have the video that I wanted to show? And while I speak, I do want to show one video, Chair, at some point in here, the minute they put it in, that it's not me speaking. It's former Commissioner Manolo Reyes that's speaking. And I think it's important that we all hear this video that hasn't been put out before. Why, I don 't know, but it should have been. But the amounts of monies that are being put out to be blown away with no consideration whatsoever in this trust in every special meeting is ridiculous. One was $25,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of anybody that could provide proof to have someone arrested or convicted of any wrongdoing. Well, I guess it must be a wrongdoing now to have brought the Trust millions of dollars a year in recurring revenue and other amounts that were one-time dollars. The gentleman that was the attorney that came before us as the lobbyist for the Trust, on March 13th of this year, he sued the City of Miami and six of our police officers, three named by name and three John Does. There is a real conflict of interest in having hired this individual for the Trust who's suing the City of Miami. Not to mention that, on June 20th, 2025, he sent a letter to the City Manager, the City Attorney, and yours truly, threatening to sue the City of Miami on behalf of Mr. Gabela, as his personal attorney. Don't know who's paying him for that, but I'm sure Mr. Gabela is not paying for it. And it's like this, we've had 30 plus thousands of dollars of damage to the new fountain because nobody was supervising where they needed to have been supervising for a major event. And what was the outcome of it at the time? When the budget lady working for Bayfront Park wanted to bill those that did the damage, along with some other buildings, she was fired immediately. Whip, the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) that the Trust had, and another budget assistant, individuals that were there before I ever even became chairman. Now, Fourth of July, just a small example, but is a view of how monies are going to be blown away, your money -- your monies that the guy that they're trying to hang by the highest tree and noose brought to Bayfront Park Trust that should all be coming to the general fund in the future. Fourth of July, we always did that internally. The cost to us was approximately $75, 000 per year. And we brought huge entertainment. We brought it to the point that 50, 60,000 or more people were coming for the Fourth of July celebrations, when we didn 't have anywhere near that amount in the past. Well, now it's going to cost us 433 percent more to hold the Fourth of July with so much less entertainment and other activities. They have three groups, one we brought in from last year, and prior to that, we had them at Fridays in Little Havana, in District 3, the navy band. You know how much they charge us? Nothing. They're for free. The other entertainer that they have is a fine young man that I recently met a few months ago in a TV program. He's a Cuban -American from Hialeah, but he sings country music. There's no doubt in my mind that he could have been brought in for two, $3,000 max for the Fourth of July. And then you have another group that I never heard from, but even if you pay him a whole lot for the Fourth of July, maybe $10,000 -- Chair King: Commissioner? Vice Chair Carollo: -- this doesn't come to the amount of monies that they're spending for the Fourth. Commissioner Gabela: Madam Chair, can I respond? Vice Chair Carollo: Now, can you put -- Chair King: We're going to hear the video, and then you can respond. Vice Chair Carollo: -- this on so that we can hear --? Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, but -- no, listen, he says so many things that I got to -- City of Miami Page 48 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Vice Chair Carollo: Well, yeah, you'll have your time, okay. Chair King: Guys, please, please, please, please. Commissioner Gabela: No, no, no. Chair King: Let us see the video, and then Commissioner Gabela -- Vice Chair Carollo: Thank you. Chair King: -- you will be able to respond. You will be able to respond. At this time, an audiovisual presentation was made. Chair King: Thank you. Commissioner Gabela? Commissioner Gabela: Yes, ma'am, thank you. Okay, so the whole reason we're here, ladies and gentlemen, and why we're talking about this is because Commissioner Carollo was there for seven, eight years as chairman, okay, and he just showed this video of Manolo Reyes back then. But Manolo Reyes, at some point, had lost faith in him because Manolo Reyes voted for me to be chairman back in January, February, and so did you, Commissioner Pardo. So, while everything might have been good back then, apparently, at some point, he lost faith in what was going on there with Commissioner Carollo. Pertaining to the personal attorney item that he's talking about, what he's talking about is that I expressed that he was putting my family in jeopardy by mentioning those famous videos of his where nobody has put his family in jeopardy. And what we did is we sent a letter asking him to stop showing my addresses on the TV and talking about the radio, especially in the light of the atmosphere that's going on in this country with the immigration debate, where this gentleman has been accustomed to talking about me, where I live, putting, again, my family at risk, and particularly the last Commission meeting where it was a very heated debate on the immigration. You were here, we were all here, and he has the audacity to put my house again. Okay, and I told him, and that's what part of the conversation was, you're putting my life and my family's life, you know, in jeopardy knowing that this is going on right before your eyes. That's what the attorney was hired, separate from the Bayfront Trust. The gentleman in question was hired to make a presentation to you of why, and he just said it, why the Bayfront Trust should not be dissolved. Everybody knows full well that's been following the subject that the whole reasoning for this to become now is because he is not comfortable that I have taken Bayfront Trust. I had been there for four months. We have done a lot of positive things, okay. Whenever we need anything, we go to the board. I don't take a unilateral position. I heard the residents, what they say, especially in your district, Commissioner Pardo. And let me go even one further step, okay? And I'll tell you this, okay? In December is the review of the park. And I vow right now that if in December, okay, we all think that the park should be abolished, let it be so. I am not attached to the park in the sense that I think it's mine, you know, and I've told that to my executive director. The park is the people's park, okay? If I -- if I'm not there any longer, then so be it. I got to abide by the rules. That's fine by me. But what we're trying to do is we're trying to bring accountability. In 2019, there was an audit done and that audit revealed that there were a lot of recommendations to be put on, and Commissioner Carollo was told that, and he never put those -- he never implemented those safety guards in place up until this day, and that's why we're in the mess that we're in. Apart from that, the late Manolo Reyes, speaking of Manolo Reyes, may he rest in peace, the late Manolo Reyes asked for a forensic audit here about, I don 't know, I think it was March or April of last year or a year ago. We learned about two weeks ago or three that that forensic audit had never been done. So, then we asked City of Miami Page 49 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 for a forensic audit to make things right. And we were told by the City that they were going to do it, that we didn 't have to do it. We were willing to pay out of our funds, and they said, no, no, no. We're going to get it done. Now, Art, can I ask you a question as city manager? Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Yes, sir. Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, hypothetical, who do you -- who do you work for? I mean, if I can ask you that. Mr. Noriega: Who do I work for? Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, who do you work --? Mr. Noriega: I work for this body here. Commissioner Gabela: Okay, and that's the five commissioners and the mayor, correct? Mr. Noriega: Correct. Commissioner Gabela: Okay. About a year ago -- or a year and two months, we gave you a directive -- I think it takes three commissioners to give you a directive. Am I correct on this? Mr. Noriega: Correct. Commissioner Gabela: Okay. And I believe that we gave you a directive, including the -- and this is Manolo Reyes idea. Not my idea, not Pardo -- Commissioner Pardo 's idea. This was -- and you weren 't here, Commissioner Rosado, with all due respect, and I can 't remember if you were here that day or not. But at any rate, we gave you that day a directive to have the audit done and that audit for a whole year never got done, you know, and now you're asking me again -- you're asking me again, and now I'm the chairman. Let us do it one more time when it's already been failed. My point is -- my point is that this is all being done because you guys didn't act. That's not on me. I came into the scene four months ago and I want to right the ship. I want to make things done [sic]. And the other thing is, why we needed to report also on everything that was done there in the last seven or eight years because we were not going to be saddled with everything that was not corrected. Including the recommendations that were made by the audit in 2019 to put guardrails in place, if you will, and Commissioner Carollo never bothered to do that. That's why we're in the mess that we're in now. We are just simply trying to right this ship. I ask you to let us do our job until December and if you think in December that we should dissolve the audit, by the way, do it. And if you think that I shouldn 't be there and you, Commissioner Rosado, want to take it over, or you want to take it over, or you, Chairwoman, that's fine by me. I don't have a problem, okay? I'm not -- you know, I'm not like this that you guys are going to have to pry my hands. You know, I don't do -- you know, I don't make money there. That's not my thing, people. Okay, and pertaining to the 4th of July. Let me just set the record straight. We're doing the 4th of July as something nice because it's a hundred year anniversary of the park. He failed to mention that, okay? That's why we're doing it. And by the way, when we do it, we do it with vendors, not people that I know or he knows or any -- no, no, no, we do it, we go out and we do it to whoever can -- we think can do the best show, put on the entertainment. This includes two barges of fireworks, entertainment, food trucks, you know, a lot of stuff for the kids. We got a whole array of stuff going on, so I just want to clear the record, you know. And the other thing is, if you abolish the park right now with everything that's going on, it's going to look like funny business on City of Miami Page 50 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 the City's part, let me tell you, because I repeat, you guys, okay, I have been put into this position, I was nominated, I'm doing the best I can. I'm not responsible for what went on there, the disarray and the disorder that went on there for eight years past. Whether good or bad, intentionally for malfeasance or not, that was not me. I just came into this four months ago, okay? Four months ago, and I'm trying to right the ship. So don't make it look like I'm the guy now that I'm spending money and I'm doing this and I'm doing that. No, no, no, no, no. I'm asking for the stuff that should have happened a year ago, asked for by the late Commissioner Manolo Reyes in this body. We gave you a directive, Art. Can you tell me, Art, by the way, why that audit never happened? I'm just curious. Mr. Noriega: Well, there are a number of factors, and Larry can certainly go into more detail, but one was procuring the auditor, two was the modification to the scope. I think there were a couple of scope changes. So, by the time we were able to onboard the auditor and then begin, that's kind of where we're at. That ultimately resulted in a delay. Commissioner Gabela: Okay, ladies and gentlemen, if you guys -- members, if you guys want to go ahead and dissolve, do what you got to do. It's on your conscience. I am clear that I have -- I'm trying to do the right thing. People, I have no interest in this. I'm trying to do the right thing for the people of Miami who elected me, okay, and the taxpayer, okay? I mean no ill will and if that's the decision of this, I will abide by it. I will not go crying like he did two months ago that he did all this hoopla. No, no, I will go. If that's the will of this body, whatever you guys want and you think it's fair, go ahead and do it. But I ask you at the end of the day, let me finish my work, what I'm doing. Let's revisit this thing in December. And by the way, the other thing is we don't have a plan. If you should dissolve it today, there is no plan. Art, I spoke to you, I think, two months ago, three months ago. And the question was, should we abolish the Bayfront Trust? And you said to me, and quote me if I'm wrong, that at that point you don 't think it should have been brought into the City of Miami. Am I correct in that or not? Mr. Noriega: What we talked about was what that transition would look like. Obviously, the park is unique. It's very unique, it's not like a regular park and at that point we hadn't even done any analysis or review of what that transition would look like. Ultimately this item came up now and if in the end there is support for it, I think what would be prudent, we'd have to come back to you with a plan for what we do with the park. We don't -- I mean, it's got staff. Commissioner Gabela: But that's -- Mr. Noriega: It has unique revenue streams that are associated with it. So , there's some things that's -- Commissioner Gabela: But that's my point. That's my point. We don't have a plan right now. And I think if we're going to do it, and I said again, if we're going to do it and this is the will of this body, let it be so. But then let's do it in an orderly fashion. Let's go to December, but let's finish and then you guys decide, okay, this is what we're going to do. We'll study it, we'll do it. I end it. I end my case, people, thank you very much. Chair King: Commissioner Pardo? Commissioner Pardo: Yeah, I just want to add the residents of Downtown and the neighborhoods, the vertical neighborhoods there, have been through hell with this park. I mean our office calls, e-mails, people coming in constantly, I mean we had a lot of feedback for change. That change finally happened and it was getting City of Miami Page 51 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Gabela to chair the park. Since then, we've only heard like we heard today, people come in and say, hey, we're being listened to. This is great. Hey, they're actually contemplating doing a master plan, which is something that a lot of these people had wanted for a very long time. Makes perfect sense for a really beautiful master class park in the middle of our city. And the last thing, and I completely agree, was that the money that is there at Bayfront Park Trust should not go to the general fund. That money was earned kind of off the backs of the people in downtown. There are digital billboards there generating that number that they deal with. There's Ultra, there's all the events. So, you know, from the downtown perspective, it's, hey, this has been -- we've kind of earned this, we've worked hard for this, this is the park that we want to be able to have feedback in. I mean, that's really the bottom line. They just want to have a say and participate. This is the first time they feel like they're having one. And I think we really need to consider the residents, what they've been through and what they want. Chair King: Thank you. Vice Chair Carollo: Chairwoman? Chair King: Hold on one second. I think that we are putting two items together. Commissioner Pardo: Yeah, we are. Chair King: What is before us right now is merely adopting an amendment to the budget, not other items. And we've pulled all of that in. I didn't say anything because I don 't want to interrupt anyone from speaking. I don 't want to be accused of not allowing you to speak. But what is before us right now is RE.4 amendment to -- a request to adopt an amended FYI [sic] 25 budget for Bayfront Park Trust. May I have a motion? Commissioner Gabela: Motion. Commissioner Pardo: Second. Vice Chair Carollo: If I may, Chair? This item should be addressed after we address the other one on the park. Chair King: I disagree. Commissioner Gabela: Motion. Vice Chair Carollo: And -- Chair King: I disagree. Uh-huh? Vice Chair Carollo: -- if I can respectfully request that, look, every time that I speak, he tries to intervene, interrupt, and then my time gets cut down because you don't want him to blow up again. Then he comes bringing all kinds of stuff that are just not truthful. Chair King: Okay. Vice Chair Carollo: And I need -- Commissioner Gabela: Call the question. Chair King: Okay, hold -- hold on -- City of Miami Page 52 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Vice Chair Carollo: -- the time to rebuttal -- Chair King: Hold on, hold on. Vice Chair Carollo: I need the time to rebuttal some -- Chair King: I agree with you. Vice Chair Carollo: -- of the statements that he made. Chair King: I -- I agree with you, both of you. I let both of you speak for as long as you want. Right now, you can rebut what he just said for three minutes and if you want to rebut what he said -- Commissioner Gabela: No rebuttal, just call the question. No rebuttal. Chair King: Okay, so I will allow the commissioner -- and I see Commissioner Rosado would like to say something too, I will allow you to respond to what he said, three minutes. Go ahead. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay, thank you. Number one, he keeps saying that Commissioner Reyes asked for a forensic audit in Bayfront Park, period. Commissioner Reyes spoke because the minute that Mr. Gabela came in, he was asking for a forensic audit in Bayfront Park. Commissioner Reyes talked about forensic audits for all our different organizations, including CRAs (Community Redevelopment Agency), Southeast Overtown, and all the other organizations that the City had. There was no reason to have picked out Bayfront Park alone for a forensic audit. So, that is strictly not so. When Commissioner Reyes came at the last meeting that he came here, he came with a high fever. He was shaking like a leaf here and he tells me, Joe, this place is like a freezer. It wasn't cold here. He had a fever. He was brought in by his chief of staff strictly to get him to vote to get me out of Bayfront Park. And then when he voted for this, he was so sick, they brought him through Zoom with his chief of staff right there telling him to vote to get me out of Bayfront Park. He was sick when he did this. What you saw up there was a Manolo Reyes that was not sick telling you the truth. So, the other statements that have been brought up about the neighbors and so on, you're talking about the same 10 people that are supporters of Commissioner Pardo, that he's used and weaponized against me time and time again. This park, all the monies that are being spent, all that they're looking at is seeing how they can hurt me. You have an executive -- interim executive director, that works in his office directly, and his sole experience in managing, if you think that's experience, is that he owned a spa in Sunny Isle. Well, maybe he's a good masseuse, I don't know, but he certainly doesn't qualify to be a director there. When they were trying to take my house away, that same executive director, with another one of his staffers, was there every court hearing with the people that were trying to take my house away, but they failed with three different judges. And this is why he's taking these actions, because he's getting directions to come at me, to try to hurt me and my wife. He talks about that I did this, I did that. I have a board that runs this. He knows that for over a year he had a member of that board that he appointed that's sitting out there. And if there would have been any wrongdoings, he would have been the first guy that would have told him, this is being done. That never happened whatsoever. Chair King: Commissioner, three minutes. Commissioner Gabela: Okay. City of Miami Page 53 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Chair King: I'm going to allow -- Commissioner Gabela: With the Chair's permission. Chair King: -- and then Commissioner Rosado will -- Commissioner Gabela: With the Chair's permission, quick rebuttal. Number one, okay, I get to choose, as chairman, who the executive board is, okay? And that's what I did, an interim executive board, by the way. Because we didn 't have time to get through the whole application system. Number two, when you, Commissioner Carollo, wanted Jose Suarez, I went ahead and voted for it because you're the chairman, okay? I've got no problems against you in that. Look, I fight with you today, and tomorrow, I'm not thinking of you, just so you know, okay? I'm doing my thing. At the spur of the moment, I do my thing, and I move on. I'm not vindictive, man. That's why a lot of the times you see me that I'll second your -- if it's right for the people, I'm going to second you. I'm not into your, you know, your pettiness that you do with all due respect. But look, I voted for Jose Suarez, okay? You wanted him, I voted for him, okay? You know, and he was your chief of staff before. Then in December, you yourself have a blow up with Jose Suarez, which now he's suing you. Okay, so who's the problem here? Okay, you know, Jose Suarez himself, you know, you and him had a, whatever you had, you know, I wasn 't there, I don 't know, but the gentleman now, somebody else is suing you, okay? Now, you tell me who's suing me right now. You went through I don 't know how many executive directors, you know, because everybody lost track, okay? And people want stability. They don 't want the craziness that you had, with all due respect, Commissioner, you know what I mean? And if you're on a board and I got to vote and you present, I'm going to vote for who you think should be your executive director. That's what that entity requires. So, you're just about -- you know -- I'll end it there. That's it, I'm done. Chair King: Commissioner Rosado? Commissioner Rosado: I just wanted to remind everybody that the reason I pulled this off was specifically because I found the contingency item so large. And was wondering if we could be much more specific about how that approximately $1.86 million would be used. That's -- it wasn't to get into a more protracted discussion than that. I know we can have that later, but could we have some more clarity, because right now I'm not comfortable voting on it. Commissioner Gabela: I think we should bring in the executive director or the -- up here and let him explain the -- there he is. Could you explain, sir? Raul Miro (Interim Executive Director, Bayfront Park Trust): Is this on? Good afternoon. Raul Miro, interim executive director for Bayfront Park Trust. What was the question? Commissioner Rosado: The -- so we're being asked to approve the budget, Mr. Miro. And my concern in reviewing the budget is that the contingency line item is really large. It's almost $2 million. Mr. Miro: That was done in conjunction with the director of budgets, Donovan. So, we moved -- he wanted that line item in there with that amount. Commissioner Rosado: I mean, could we have clarity as to what could potentially be considered a contingency? My concern is that it's -- there's potentially -- City of Miami Page 54 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Mr. Miro: The contingency could be if we go over payroll, we go over certain capital improvements, equipment that needs to be purchased in the park, so on. That's what that 's for. Vice Chair Carollo: Nothing that would require that much. Mr. Miro: Has nothing to do with professional fees or anything like that. Commissioner Rosado: So, payroll, equipment, capital purchases? Mr. Miro: Equipment, if I need to buy extra trees, you know, stuff like that. Improvement stuff to improve the park. That's what it's for. Commissioner Pardo: And what is the -- I'm sorry, I'm out of turn. Chair King: Yes. Commissioner Rosado: Go for it. Chair King: Go ahead, Commissioner Pardo. Commissioner Pardo: I was just curious, what's the total revenue? Mr. Miro: I don 't have it in front of me. Does anybody have the -- I don 't have that, I don 't have that paper in front of me. Chair King: While he looks for the total budget, I did speak to the city attorney and he did, George, about the conflict, please, for the record. George Wysong (City Attorney): Yes. So, when we spoke with Mr. Napoleon prior to his presentation and we were just curious how there is not a conflict of interest because he -- you may recall at a previous meeting we settled a case involving Mr. Hilton Napoleon where he sued us for civil rights violations and he has a current case pending where he is litigating against the City of Miami and six of its officers. And so, we -- ultimately, the conflict needs to be resolved by Mr. Napoleon with the Florida Bar. I can't prevent him from speaking, but I think it's important that the Commission knows that you're paying for somebody who's suing us, essentially. Commissioner Gabela: Can I speak to that? You know what? News to me, by the way. News to me. And we will deal with it. If that's the problem we will go ahead and deal with it like we have with many attorneys here that represent both sides of the aisle and I have protested, I've been guilty of that. So, we will go ahead and view it. If that is the case, then we'll do whatever it takes to make it right, not a problem. Chair King: Thank you. Mr. Miro: Commissioner, total revenue is, if I'm reading this correctly, over $29 million? Commissioner Pardo: $29 million. Okay, that kind of makes sense. I mean, contingency could be 5 percent. Just -- if they directed you to do that, that might be a standard that they use -- Vice Chair Carollo: Chair, that's not accurate. The amounts that they're talking about are amounts that we have in reserves, a big chunk of it, is the money that can only be spent at Maurice Ferre, that we would get $2 million a year from the Omni CRA deal that was done many years ago before any of us were here. The total City of Miami Page 55 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 overall budget is very, very minute. The reason that this inflated amount was given because the former executive director, Mr. Jose Suarez, said that we had to put all this in a new budget to show that monies were being spent because he said that Mr. Pardo wanted to raid all the money and do different things and this is what he brought to the board and the board approved. But those monies and this budget, there's no way that we're going to spend because we don't have that expenditure of 29, $30 million in one year. Chair King: So, you're -- Commissioner Gabela: Madam Chair, can I call the question? Chair King: May -- may I? You're not saying that you have an annual budget of $29 million. Mr. Miro: No, that's what's budgeted. That's the budget. Chair King: That's what you have. Mr. Miro: Yes. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, but he did say that. He did say that. Chair King: Okay, but that's -- Mr. Miro: Well, that's what's budgeted on this paper. Chair King: Okay. That's what you have. So -- Commissioner Gabela: From your previous guy. You just said it, from your previous guy. Chair King: Okay. Vice Chair Carollo: Well -- Chair King: Okay, okay. Commissioner Gabela: That's what you said. It came out of your mouth. Chair King: We have enough information, I believe. Commissioner Gabela: All right. Call the -- Chair King: May I have a motion. Vice Chair Carollo: What happens -- Commissioner Gabela: Motion. Mr. Hannon: There's already a motion on the floor. Vice Chair Carollo: -- when you have a spa owner -- Commissioner Gabela: Motion to approve. Chair King: Hold on, hold on. City of Miami Page 56 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Vice Chair Carollo: -- be a director of Bayfront Park. Commissioner Rosado: Madam? Vice Chair Carollo: What? I'm sorry, the City Clerk is trying to say something. Mr. Hannon: Chair, there was already a motion on the floor by Commissioner Gabela, seconded by Commissioner Pardo at 12: 24 p.m. Chair King: I see Commissioner Rosado has something to say. Commissioner Rosado: I'd like to offer a friendly amendment because I can see approving this with a couple of conditions. Number one, that we restrict the contingency to payroll costs and capital improvement costs and that the funds not be used to lobby us or to pay for any sort of bounties to find anything irregular. Commissioner Pardo: That's fine. Commissioner Gabela: That's fine with me. That's fine. Chair King: So, that's been accepted. Commissioner Gabela: Yes, ma'am. Chair King: Do I have a motion and a second -- Mr. Hannon: Good to go. Commissioner Gabela: Aye. Chair King: All in favor? Commissioner Gabela: Aye. Commissioner Pardo: Aye. Chair King: Aye. Commissioner Rosado: Aye. Vice Chair Carollo: Nay. Mr. Hannon: 4-1, Commissioner Carollo voting no. City of Miami Page 57 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 RE.5 RESOLUTION 17795 A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO FUND, RECRUIT, AND HIRE THREE Commissioners HUNDRED (300) ADDITIONAL POLICE OFFICERS IN THE NEXT and Mayor THREE (3) FISCAL YEARS COMMENCING IN FISCAL YEAR 2025- 2026 AND AS FURTHER DESCRIBED HEREIN; FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO IDENTIFY FUNDING SOURCES, GRANTS, AND ANY OTHER OPTIONS TO FUND THESE ADDITIONAL POSITIONS AND TO PRESENT THE PLAN TO FUND THE ADDITIONAL POSITIONS TO THE CITY COMMISSION AT ITS JULY 24, 2025 REGULAR CITY COMMISSION MEETING; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-25-0241 MOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: ADOPTED MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner SECONDER: Ralph "Rafael" Rosado, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Note for the Record: For additional minutes referencing Item RE.5, please see "Public Comments for All Item(s)." Chair King: Go back to RE.5 and 6. I see the police chief here. Vice Chair Carollo: Chief I placed this item on the agenda to ascertain from the administration, areas of funding that we're going to need into next year's budget and several budgets after. As I was going over with you, the numbers we're coming up with is that we're around 300 police officers short, right now, that's not including some that we've lost for different reasons that we have to hire those replacements. As we discussed in the fourth year, since we're not going to hire everyone out of 100 that I'm proposing each year, in the first year, we won 't hire all 300 until the fourth budget cycle year. By that time, including increases that we would have had, we're probably looking at maybe 33 to $35 million a year. Initially, each year that we hire the first 100 is more, it's $16 million versus around 10, $11 million afterwards because we're buying the initial car and all the initial equipment for the officers. I just want to have you on the record to see if I'm correct in what I am proposing to the administration and to this body as to additional officers that we need for the Miami Police Department to provide the security that we're obligated to for the protection of lives and properties in our city. Manny Morales (Chief of Police): So, good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the Commission, Manny Morales, Chief of Police. Just to -- Commissioner, just to give you a little bit of context to it, right? Right now, we're sitting -- with last year's amendment, we're sitting at 1,390. Right now, we have about 42 officers in the field training program that will come online sometime before the end of this year, 28 of them coming at the end of this month. In the academy, we have another 40. So, once you take those away, we have about 40 vacancies that we expect to fully fill before the end of this fiscal year and put them in the academy at some point either before October or right after October. Looking at our ability to be able to put them through the academy, I think somewhere between 75 and 100 is the sweet spot where we're able to put them in the academy. Taking a look at an average of the last four or five years, we lose not only to the DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan), resignations and terminations, about 45 officers per year. So, kind of keep track. As City of Miami Page 58 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 a matter of fact, last year I know Commissioner Gabela brought up an item. He wanted to bring us up to staffing. I had the discussion in front of the Commission that I didn 't feel it was fiscally responsible for me to accept those bodies when I had about 80 vacancies yet to fill. So, it would have been nice to have them in the table of organization and in our budgeted spots, but I wouldn't have been able in good faith to fill them. I think now we're in a position to do that. Kind of moving forward we'll be able to get those. And if you kind of look at the city, just to let you know, we're in a fantastic spot. So, it's not that there is a need for now, but there's a need to prepare for what Miami is to become, right? So, we're sitting at a 17 percent reduction in Part 1 crimes. That's 40 percent less stolen cars. That's 20 percent less robberies from a number that was already a historic low last year. We're about to be 38 percent down in homicides come the 1st of July. So, our officers are doing well, but I'm looking at the city, how we're growing. Just a conservative estimate, probably about 7,000 dwelling units are coming into line sometime within the next couple of budget years. We need to prepare for that. And if you look at Miami 21, an estimate is that Miami has the potential to grow ten times what it is now. Five million folks. I don't think we'll get there, not in our lifetime anyways or my lifetime, but I think that this is the beginning step to get us ready for what's to come. Commissioner Gabela: I got a question of -- Chief So -- alright, so what we're doing is, with these numbers, we're just making up, we're not having a net gain. We haven 't had a net gain yet, right? Mr. Morales: Correct. I still got 40 vacancies as of right now. Vice Chair Carollo: But by the end of this fiscal year, those will be in the academy. Mr. Morales: Correct. Vice Chair Carollo: My question now would be, what percent on a yearly basis of the new officers that you are hiring come certified already, meaning you don 't have to send them through the academy, you could put them right into the field? Mr. Morales: Yeah. Commissioner, a very small percentage of the officers we ended up hiring are certified officers that have already been -- Vice Chair Carollo: 10, 15, 20 percent? Mr. Morales: I couldn 't give you an exact number. I can get that -- I can get that from [sic] you. I'll have my staff in the back begin to look at that. But I can tell you the overwhelming majority of the officers that we hire are brand new recruits that we're putting through our own academy. And I'll be honest with you, that's the way we prefer. I know that the time to ready or the time that these officers are willing to make a contribution to our staffing numbers on the street, it's a lot shorter when we hire certified officers. So, it's 5 months if you hire certified officers versus 13 months if you hire a brand-new recruit, but the teachings and the training that we give them in the academy turns a far superior police officer, in my humble opinion. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Commissioner Gabela: Can I just ask, at the end of that year, so what's that net going to be in terms of officers? What is that net number again, the net gain? Mr. Morales: So, by the end of this year -- Commissioner Gabela: Yeah. City of Miami Page 59 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Mr. Morales: -- we'll be at 1,390. By the end of this fiscal year, we should be able to have conditional letters of employment. Commissioner Gabela: No, I know, but what's the net gain? In percentage terms or in numbers? What is the net gain? In other words, we replace the guys that, you know, that retired or quit or whatever have you, replace those and then we add in a few numbers. What is that number? Mr. Morales: So, we've already reached the officers that are going to leave force in the DROP. It's unforeseen how many folks, so we've had about 17 or 18 individuals that have been -- that have left the department this year. If the statistics hold and the averages hold, which is 44, we have another 30-something that are coming out that would be on top of the 40. Commissioner Gabela: Okay, got it. Thank you. Vice Chair Carollo: Is the number -- Chair King: I was going to ask if we had a motion. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, before, I think we need to get more answers to that. Chair King: Go ahead. Go ahead. Vice Chair Carollo: Is the numbers that I'm using, Chief to budget 100 more officers, and by that I mean that to include within that budget, once they come out, the extra sergeants, the additional higher rank officers that you need for those officers that will be within your 300. But if we budgeted for 100 officers in this next fiscal budget beginning on February 1st, and for the next several budgets, 100 more per year, until in the fourth year we have sufficient officers that will be the 300 that we need. Is that a fair number to propose? Mr. Morales: That -- it's a doable number, and I think it's a number that's right around the sweet spot of what we're going to need based on the growth that we're seeing, right? And the 7,000 dwelling units that we mentioned does not account for any business developments. So, the nightlife that we continue to experience, not only in the popularity of Brickell, the Grove, or in Wynwood, just the areas that we're seeing and the visitors coming to Downtown, this will give us an accurate or an effective number of officers to be able to maintain the gains that we have now and continue to get even better. Vice Chair Carollo: All right, Chairwoman, I will be making a motion now to approve RE.5. Commissioner Gabela: Before the motion, can I ask a question, please? So, the 100 officers that we're talking about in dollar terms, what does that equal? Mr. Morales: Roughly $21.6 million. Commissioner Gabela: 21.6. Mr. Morales: So, it costs, for year one, for a police officer, $216,000. That is $135,000 in salary and fringe benefits, plus $79,000 in change, I believe, is for equipment. So, every 100 officers, you're looking at 21.6. Vice Chair Carollo: Initially. City of Miami Page 60 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Mr. Morales: Initially, first year. Vice Chair Carollo: But year -- Mr. Morales: Then it drops to the $135,000 because we took all the equipment. Now, it can fluctuate because, remember, we're counting in there a $55, 000 police car with the air card for the laptop and everything else. So, you can kind of account for or take into consideration that the first year they'll be in the academy and in training. We're not required contractually to give them a take home vehicle until the 18 months, until they take in the department, until they reach the end of their probationary period. So, we can kind of shift those costs a little bit, so it will kind of fluctuate. But once you're into year two, you would have to account for the second one. Vice Chair Carollo: Let's break down those numbers, Chief In equipment, car and other equipment, what are we talking about per officer that's a one-time expense? Mr. Morales: So, let me bring up those numbers real quick. Vice Chair Carollo: We had talked around $60, 000 per officer before. It's obviously more if you look into it a little further. Mr. Morales: Okay. Sorry about that. Here we go. So, the cost analysis or the cost breakdown. You want me to go down the list real quick? Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, please, if you would. Mr. Morales: So, just looking at the -- onboarding them. So, the pre -employment polygraph exams, about $115; pre -employment psychological about $210, pre- employment physical about $582; the annual physical that would be mandatory right after the hire year and there on is $707; the air card for the computer is $528; yearly fuel cost calculated at current rates is about $5, 700 bucks; uniforms and accessories, $2,074; the bulletproof vest, $800; equipment and safety supplies, flex cuff gloves, blanket, fire extinguisher, $3,300; the gun is $440; taser is $1, 700; body worn camera, $500; radio is $6,000; mobile digital computer $3,500; the patrol vehicle is $55,000. So, the total hiring costs will be 16, 13, 15. Total equipment costs $79,656. And the first year officer -- Vice Chair Carollo: How much is the total equipment? Mr. Morales: I'm sorry? Vice Chair Carollo: The total equipment? Mr. Morales: $79, 656. And the first year police officer salary and benefits, it's $135,307. So, as you saw in there, obviously the gun, the taser, the body worn camera, even though they have contractual amounts every year, it's not as much as - Vice Chair Carollo: What is the first year salary for a police officer? Mr. Morales: So, the first year salary with the -- Vice Chair Carollo: Just the first year salary. Mr. Morales: Okay, so the first year salary is $67,066. City of Miami Page 61 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Mr. Morales: Crime prevention is $2, 700. Workers' compen -- you want the fringe benefit or just the cost? Vice Chair Carollo: No, no, no, it's just the salary. Mr. Morales: Okay, $67,066 is the cost for a police officer in the academy until he reaches probation of 18 months. Vice Chair Carollo: And we're paying, let's see, 120. We're paying -- Commissioner Gabela: The rest is benefits, right? Mr. Morales: The rest is benefits. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, we're paying with the fringe benefits, it's 100 percent of the 67? Mr. Morales: Basically. So, the bulk of the cost is the retirement, which is $47,302. Vice Chair Carollo: A year? Mr. Morales: A year. $11,000 as an allocation to the Health Trust and another $1, 000 to Medicare. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Well, that's a lot more than what we had discussed before. Mr. Morales: Yes, sir. Vice Chair Carollo: But if those are the costs, they are the costs. My motion stands. If there are no further questions of the police chief Commissioner Pardo: Yeah, I did. I had just a couple of quick questions. Has there been, and maybe this isn 't for the moment or today, but has there been any analysis for using things where we don 't need the level of training and expertise involved in a police officer, like sometimes they use with block -by -block security, you know, other contracts that can supplement the police department so that we're helping to lower our cost as well? Mr. Morales: So, we -- for a very long time we've had the public service aide program, which allows men and women that are not necessarily comfortable with carrying a firearm, but they're interested in serving their community. They perform tasks such as composing investigative reports, doing traffic crashes, issuing citations. Right now, we have 65. They are a great force multiplier. They help us out. We also have a proposed that we're looking at to bring some folks as part-time employees, right? So, mainly retired folks that still have a desire to serve, finding out a flat fee, bring them in as a 29 hour a week employee to do some of those jobs to alleviate some of the duties that a regular police officer would do. For example, in the front desk of all our police stations, we have a full uniformed individual. Sometimes for the transporting of prisoners when the detention officers, which we have 12 budgeted spots, only 9 are occupied at this time, they can help us transport. So, we're also looking at other ways to kind of bring in some sort of enhancement to our current manpower. City of Miami Page 62 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Pardo: And my last question was, do you do any kind of comparative analysis between cities our size and other cities our size, our crime rate and our police force numbers? Mr. Morales: So, policing models kind of vary. Commissioner Pardo: Yeah. Mr. Morales: If you take a look at New York City, I think there are about 4.2 officers for every 1,000 residents. We're right now just below three, which is about what the southern model is, but it kind of varies. If you look at Chicago, I think they're comparable to New York. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, but what -- Mr. Morales: Other cities our side [sic], like Tampa, they're closer to us, they're probably at 2.8, 2.7 per thousand. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, but Chief If I could interrupt for a second, that 3.0 is the national average. That doesn 't include all the people that come into our city on a daily basis that grows our population way high to work here. It doesn 't include all the tourists that we get and visitors that we get. That's a prime hub for tourists and visitors that come to conventions, business gatherings, et cetera. So, that number is strictly for residents. That's why we need a higher number, not just planning to the future, for the additional 20, maybe 5,000 additional people that we definitely will get in the next three years. But that's also for the much higher numbers that our population goes up during the day by at least 100,000 and probably more of people that come to work in the city of Miami. And I don 't think that even includes the sizeable amount of visitors like we discussed that we have in tourists staying all over the city in so many of the hotels we have and other places. Mr. Morales: Absolutely. That is just a commonly used best practice number. That is what, you know -- it's our best guide -- Commissioner Pardo: Thank you. Mr. Morales: -- to kind of saying, even though I would go to add that every city is kind of different, right? Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. Mr. Morales: So, you have different needs based on the cities. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, that's why I mentioned that, because we are different than most other cities in that respect. Commissioner Rosado: Chairwoman, I have a comment and a request. First of all, I want to say I wholeheartedly support the motion that's being put forth. You have my full support on that. As part of the budget process, and so I don 't think this needs to be an amendment on my part per se, but I'd also love to have a better understanding of how we can better employ technology in order to supplement our police force. And what I mean by that is that we know that technology has caught up in so many ways, and I'm sure we're using it more and better than we did 5, 10, 20, 30 years ago. So, as part of the budget process, I'd love to hear if there are investments in technology that we can make that also are great for crime deterrence, right? I was able to take a tour of the headquarters downtown and I saw what we have at our disposal, and I wonder if there are additional investments that we can make that would be tactical City of Miami Page 63 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 towards bringing down crime even further. You all are doing a wonderful job, but I'd love to support you in whatever way that I can. Mr. Morales: Thank you, sir. And listen, just kind of as a matter of discussion, just to give you an example, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, they're about similar size to Miami, obviously different issues. But they're in the midst -- a while back, the state put in a mandate. They implemented a 2 percent sales tax. I'm not advocating for any type of increase here. However, it came attached to being -- bringing the manpower from, I want to say, 1,500 to around 1,750, right? So, you're looking at a similar size city who probably doesn 't have the specific challenges of Miami, even though they have their own, and I hope Chief Jeffrey Norman is not watching. I'm not throwing you under the bus by any means, but that's just to kind of give you an idea of what a city our size is kind of playing around with the numbers that they're kind of looking at and contemplating. Chair King: Thank you, Chief Commissioner Gabela: So, here's my question. Usually, we do this when budget time comes around, right? So, my question is where are we getting the money? Because I was told last time that we didn 't have the money to do this now. I guess, all of a sudden, the money has been found. But my question is where are we -- Vice Chair Carollo: It's part of the motion for the manager to find the money and bring it back to us. Commissioner Gabela: No, and I'm all for it. I mean, I'm pro police, you know, I'm all for it. But my question is, you know, last year I asked you. I didn 't know I could make a motion, and the city manager was going to follow through. I was told that we didn 't have the money for this. Now all of a sudden we found the money? Can you enlighten us, City Manager, where we're getting the money from? Because last year I was told that we couldn 't do it. It wasn 't in the budget. Vice Chair Carollo: I heard the police chief state why he could not accept the additional officers. There's no way that he could've brought them on board. Commissioner Gabela: No, I heard that part, but I asked about the money part last year and it was told to me that we didn 't have the money for it. Apart from what the Chief said. Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Yeah, so the nature of the item before you is for us to figure out how we would fund this. We certainly didn 't have the availability in the budget last year. I can't give you a guarantee we have it this year. But we will certainly do as requested, as given instruction to do. We are evaluating a number of options just in general with the budget as -- with regards to obviously not only on the expense side, but on the revenue side as well, understanding the sensitivity of the millage, right? We don 't want to impact the residents directly. But we are looking at other alternatives as it relates to revenue. And obviously, all of that will get put into a cooker, and we'll figure out what we can and what we can 't afford. Ultimately, we don 't have the ability to outspend our revenue stream. So, we'll keep in line with that. It's good fiscal policy. Commissioner Gabela: So, what we're voting on is for you to explore. Mr. Noriega: Correct. Commissioner Gabela: To give you the directive. We're not voting on anything. We're voting on you to explore the -- City of Miami Page 64 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 RE.6 17796 Commissioners and Mayor Mr. Noriega: No, no, it's -- the resolution -- Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, no, no, I just want to know. Mr. Noriega: -- is very specific, that there's very specific parameters, right? 100 officers a year. And then what that would take in terms of being able to budget for it and fund it. Commissioner Gabela: We're giving you a directive on where to find that funding possible. Mr. Noriega: Correct. Commissioner Gabela: Correct? That's what we're doing this for. Okay, thank you. Chair King: I have a motion and a second. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair? I'm sorry, I don't have a second. Chair King: Commissioner Rosado. Vice Chair Carollo: Rosado. Commissioner Rosado: Second. Mr. Hannon: Okay. Chair King: I have a motion and a second. All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Motion carries unanimously. Mr. Morales: Thank you. RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION TO ESTABLISH A TAX RELIEF PROGRAM FOR THE CITY OF MIAMI'S RESIDENTS WHO ARE SIXTY-FIVE (65) OR OLDER TO REFUND AD VALOREM TAXES PAID BY THESE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE HOMESTEADED PROPERTY OWNERS ("SENIOR TAX RELIEF PROGRAM"); FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO ANALYZE THE FINANCIAL IMPACT THE SENIOR CITIZEN TAX RELIEF PROGRAM ON THE CITY'S REVENUES BASED ON A 100% REFUND, A 50% REFUND, AND A 25% REFUND OF THE AD VALOREM TAXES PAID BY THESE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE HOMESTEADED PROPERTY OWNERS AND TO REPORT HIS FINDINGS AT THE JULY 10, 2025 REGULAR CITY COMMISSION MEETING; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-25-0242 City of Miami Page 65 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 MOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: ADOPTED MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner SECONDER: Ralph "Rafael" Rosado, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Chair King: Now, RE.5 and RE. 6 was pulled for discussion. Commissioner Gabela: Are we going to take a lunch break at 12:30 or are we going to continue? Chair King: We -- we are going to take -- Commissioner Pardo: And can we do SR.1, because a lot of folks -- Chair King: I'm -- I'm trying -- Commissioner Pardo: I know. Chair King: -- I'm trying to get through -- Vice Chair Carollo: Madam -- Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Madam -- Madam Chair, I might be able to make something a little easier on you. The Chief had to step out, so could we do RE.5 after the break when we know he'll be back because I know Commissioner Carollo would probably want him here. Vice Chair Carollo: Yes, I think he should be here. But Chair, we said 12:30, it's 12: 36, so can we go to the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) items and then come back after lunch for the rest of the agenda? Chair King: What is the will of the body? Commissioner Gabela: I agree. Commissioner Rosado: Yes. Commissioner Pardo: I mean, I personally would like to see SR.1, only because I know -- Chair King: You got -- Commissioner Pardo: Okay, all right. Chair King: -- an agree here, you got an agree there -- Commissioner Gabela: You want to do SR.1? Okay, I mean, whatever you guys want to do. Chair King: -- but you got -- everybody -- it's the will of the body. Commissioner Gabela: Whatever you guys want to do. Chair King: We had also pulled RE.6. Do we want to table that as well? Who pulled RE.6? City of Miami Page 66 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Vice Chair Carollo: I -- I did, also, RE.5 and RE.6. RE.6 is an item that should be dear to all of us to have discussed, and certainly, Commissioner Rosado championed this during his campaign. So, this is one that we on the record need to get some answers from the manager and make sure that he understands what this body wants. Chair King: Okay. Well, we'll leave that for after lunch. Do we want to take up SR.1 ? Vice Chair Carollo: No. Commissioner Pardo: I would. Vice Chair Carollo: That's -- well, I'm sure you would, but that's going to take probably 45 minutes or an hour. Chair King: Are you pulling it for discussion? Vice Chair Carollo: Well, SR.1 is the one that's going to -- Chair King: Okay, I see Commissioner Rosado said he's going to pull it for -- Commissioner Gabela: I'll support it. Whatever you guys want to do. Commissioner Rosado: I suspect that folks do want us to discuss it, absolutely. Chair King: So -- okay, so we'll leave it for after lunch because if it's a discussion item, it can go on for -- and it will go on for -- Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. Commissioner Gabela: So, what are we doing, after lunch then? Chair King: Yes. We're going to recess for lunch, and we'll take the Southeast Overtown/Park West CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) meeting and the Omni CRA meeting -- Vice Chair Carollo: Yes. Chair King: -- right now and then we'll break for lunch. So, for everyone, after the Southeast Overtown/Park West CRA meeting and the Omni CRA meeting, we'll break for lunch for two hours. So, whatever that is, the two hours after those two meetings are over. What time is it now? So, it's -- I believe we'll be finished by 1: 00, so we'll be -- we'll resume at 3 o'clock. 3 o'clock. Thank you, everyone. Thank you for your advocacy. [Later...] Vice Chair Carollo: The next one is RE.6. Mr. Manager, this is yours. It's a resolution to establish a relief program for the city of Miami residents who are 65 and older to refund ad valorum taxes paid by them and those that have homestead properties in the city of Miami. Chair King: It's sponsored by Commissioner Rosado. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, he is. City of Miami Page 67 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Rosado: Yeah, I co -sponsored this one. This is something that I was asked for on the campaign trail, door after door after door. Commissioner Pardo: I'd be happy to co-sponsor it as well. Vice Chair Carollo: It's one that I think we all are in favor of It's directing the city manager to analyze the financial impact of the senior citizens tax relief program on the City of Miami revenues based on 100 percent refund, based on 50 percent refund and based on 25 percent refund. Once he has those numbers of how many senior citizens it will affect that have homestead, he will come to us and break it down to us. Uwe choose 100, if we choose 50 percent or 25 percent, what numbers we're going to be dealing with? Mr. Noriega: We will have those numbers available to you before the end of July. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. When is the first budget hearing that we're going to have? Mr. Noriega: September 13th. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. So, the end of July will be a good time to have it. Chair King: Do I have a motion? Vice Chair Carollo: Move. Commissioner Rosado: So moved. Chair King: I have a motion and a second. All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Motion carries unanimously. RE.7 RESOLUTION 17800 A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Commissioners COMMISSIONER RALPH "RAFAEL" ROSADO AS CHAIRPERSON and m: May OF THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY. MOTION TO: Defer RESULT: DEFERRED MOVER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner SECONDER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner AYES: King, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado ABSENT: Carollo Note for the Record: Item RE.7 was deferred to the July 10, 2025, City Commission Meeting. Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item RE.7, please see "Order of the Day" and "Public Comments for All Item(s)." END OF RESOLUTIONS City of Miami Page 68 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 SR - SECOND READING ORDINANCE SR.1 ORDINANCE Second Reading 17723 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, PURSUANT Commissioners TO SECTIONS 100.3605(2), 101.75(3), AND 166.021(4), FLORIDA STATUTES, AMENDING CHAPTER 16 OF THE CODE OF THE and Mayor CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("CITY CODE"), TITLED "ELECTIONS," MORE PARTICULARLY BY AMENDING SECTION 16-2 OF THE CITY CODE, TITLED "SAME -HOLDING OF CITY ELECTIONS; STRAW BALLOT," TO CHANGE THE DATE OF THE GENERAL ELECTION FROM NOVEMBER 4, 2025 TO NOVEMBER 3, 2026 AND TO CHANGE THE DATE OF ALL SUBSEQUENT ELECTIONS; PROVIDING FOR THE EXTENSION OF EXISTING TERMS OF OFFICE; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE. ENACTMENT NUMBER: 14376 MOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: ADOPTED MOVER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner SECONDER: Ralph "Rafael" Rosado, Commissioner AYES: King, Pardo, Rosado NAYS: Carollo, Gabela Note for the Record: For additional minutes referencing Item SR.1, please see "Public Comments for All Item(s)." Chair King: Welcome back to the City of Miami Commission meeting for June 26, 2025. I am joined by my colleagues, Vice Chair Commissioner Joe Carollo, District 1 Commissioner Miguel Gabela, District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo, and our newest commissioner, Ralph `Rafael' Rosado, District 3 [sic]. I'm not going to call you new at our next commission meeting. You'll be old then. We've gotten over our new shiny toy with you. So, thank you all for coming again and let's get going. Where did we leave off? Commissioner Pardo: I think with SR1. Vice Chair Carollo: SR.1. Chair King: Are we on SR.1? Commissioner Pardo: I'm going to try to expedite it. Chair King: Mr. City Attorney, would you please read the title into the record for SR.1? George Wysong (City Attorney): Yes, Madam Chair. SR.1, second reading ordinance. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Chair King: Do I have a motion? City of Miami Page 69 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Pardo: I'll make the motion. Chair King: I have a motion. Do I have a second? Vice Chair Carollo: For what? Chair King: For discussion. I have a motion and a second for discussion. I would think that you guys might want to pull this for discussion. Commissioner Pardo: Yes. Vice Chair Carollo: I'm sorry. It's a motion and a second for discussion. I thought it was in the agenda for discussion. Chair King: What? SR.1? Vice Chair Carollo: Huh? Chair King: No, well, I don 't -- I don 't think we're ready to vote on it. I think you guys would want to have some moments of discussion. So, I have a motion and a second. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): For discussion only. So -- Chair King: Then I would need another motion? Mr. Hannon: Yes. Chair King: I understand. So, I have a motion and a second for discussion only. Commissioner Pardo: Can Igo ahead and open? Chair King: I need to approve. Mr. Hannon: It's not necessary to have a motion and a second. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. We don 't need that. Chair King: Okay, just discussion. Commissioner Pardo? Commissioner Pardo: Yeah. So, just going back to what this actually does, it moves elections from odd years to even years. Voter participation goes from an estimated 10 to 15 percent to a 60 to 65 percent, and that is huge. We know we save millions of dollars over time. We know 28 of the 34 municipalities in Miami -Dade County are already on the general election cycle. We know that there is voter support for this. On the campaign, people were constantly asking me about this. The polling indicates that there is broad support even with the additional year issue. We have thousands of petitions we've received in the City of Miami asking us to make this change. I wanted to take a couple of seconds just to discuss some of the objections that came up during public comment. A few folks were saying that we were canceling an election. We are not canceling an election. There is a 2025 election that is happening. That will contain ballot initiatives, but the elected officials move to 2026. There was also a discussion about how there's a runoff how this might help in the primary, but it's going to like not be effective at all in a runoff. Well, first of all, in our office of mayor, it's been 16 years since we've ever even had a runoff. So, these are only the elections that actually go to a runoff, and even when they do go to a runoff, it's City of Miami Page 70 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 intuitive, and some people have cited a two to three times greater participation versus four to five when you're in the general, in the primary, not the runoff. I wanted to mention -- I wanted George, if you could, you and your staff address two of the big issues that are also out there, which is one, that it's illegal, that we have this battle of legal opinions. And go ahead with that first, and then if you could address the additional year and why we have to do an additional year. It doesn 't matter if we do this now or if we do this five years from now. We're always going to have to have an additional year. Mr. Wysong: Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. First, let me just say that this is -- from our perspective, this is not a duel or a battle with the Florida Attorney General. This is not us proving who's smarter than the other. We're just seeking to get this commission the correct answer and to the right answer. And so, the question was initially posed, can the city change the date of its election? And the answer is yes. Then the second question, how would we do it? Well, obviously, there's the provision for changing the charter via a referendum. You could do that. We all know how that's done. But unique to, I think, the situation is there's actually three Florida statutes that authorize the City Commission to change the date of election by ordinance and provide for the proper qualifications and adjusting people's tenures or terms. So, the three statutes we're talking about are 166.021 Florida Statutes that basically says, "However nothing in this act shall be construed to permit any changes in a special law or municipal charter which affect the terms of elected officers in the manner of their election except for the selection of election dates and qualifying periods for candidates and for changes in terms of office necessitated by such changes in election date. " And I'll speak generally, and I'll have Division Chief Eric Eves comment on the specific matters. But it's important to note that when we talk about general law. So, the next statute that's relevant is 166.021(4) and then the next section is part of the election code, 100.3605 Florida Statutes, which addresses the conduct of municipal elections. That provision says, "The governing body of a municipality may, by ordinance, change the dates for qualifying and for the election of members of the governing body of the municipality and provide for orderly transition of office resulting from such changes." So, there's three statutes that authorize us to do this. And then there's over 25 years, I think, of attorney general opinions that say it's appropriate to do it this way. After this item reached the agenda, the day before, I think it was June 11 th of this year, the day before the 12th meeting, which was supposed to happen, we got a letter from the Florida Attorney General who indicated that those statutes are inapplicable to the City of Miami because the City of Miami is located in Miami -Dade County and Miami -Dade County has a home rule charter and that the rules are different for municipalities that exist under such circumstances. And the opinion, I think, did a pretty decent job of explaining how the home rule charter works and what the provisions of the home rule charter are. However, there was one sort of glaring omission in the attorney general's opinion, which was Article 8, Section 6 of the Florida Constitution, which provides that -- Article 8, Section 11, (1) (g), Florida Constitution of 1885, says, "However, Article 8, Section 11, (6) of the 1886 [sic] -- 1885 Constitution provides that general law supersedes the Miami -Dade County Charter, notwithstanding anything said previously." It goes on to say, "Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or restrict the power of the legislature to enact laws." It goes further to say, "All such general laws shall apply to Dade County and to all municipalities therein to the same extent as if this section had not been adopted, and such general laws shall supersede any part or portion of the home rule charter provided for herein in conflict therewith. " So, it's pretty clear that that section of the charter applies to the City of Miami and to the movement of the election dates. And so, we responded, and those who wish to read it in detail, we provide a legal opinion 25-001 that sets out our provision. We also took note of the fact that we're not the first municipality in the state of Florida to change the elections via these statutes. We're not even the first municipality in Miami -Dade County to use these statutes to City of Miami Page 71 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 change the date of our election. One local municipality did it, I believe, in 2023, and there was no consternation, no pushback. One just recently did it. Same thing, no consternation, no pushback. Our position is, Florida law allows you to do it via this method. And so let me have Eric fill in any blanks that I left, if any. Eric Eves (Assistant City Attorney, Supervisor): Happy to do so. Good afternoon. I don 't have much to fill in other than to just briefly explain the Attorney General's position and what he does not dispute. Our interpretation of these statutes is not in dispute. The fact that these statutes would authorize us to take this action is clear under the plain language of the statute. The Attorney General's opinion is that these statutes are trumped by the Miami -Dade County Charter via the 1885 Florida Constitution. And so, as we all know, the Constitution trumps statutes, and generally, statutes trump local law. The problem with the Attorney General's opinion, in our view, is that the 1885 Constitution makes it clear that the general laws of the state of Florida trump the Miami -Dade County Charter. There are different kinds of laws that the legislature passes. General laws, to put it simply, means they apply throughout the state. There are special or local laws that the legislature can pass which are more targeted to specific areas or regions within the state. Our interpretation of the 1885 Constitution, which I should add the Florida Supreme Court agrees with, given several decisions we've cited, has made it clear that while special or local laws cannot trump the Miami -Dade County Charter, general laws, which are laws that apply throughout the state, apply to Miami -Dade County. They wouldn 't be general laws if there was always -- Miami -Dade County was always excluded. It wouldn 't really meet the definition of general laws. General laws apply to everyone, that includes the county. So, our position is simply these statutes, and again, our interpretation of these statutes has not been disputed by the Attorney General. He simply believes that they're trumped by other laws, and our position is that the Florida Constitution clearly says that the general laws of this state apply to Miami -Dade County like they do to everyone else. Mr. Wysong: And I would add to that, the general law, 100.3605, which I've read from before says, "The governing body of a municipality may, by ordinance, change the dates for qualifying and for the election of members of the governing body of the municipality and provide for the orderly transition of office resulting from such date changes." In other general law, 101.75 says, (3), nothing -- "Notwithstanding any provision of local law or municipal charter, the governing body of a municipality may, by ordinance, move the date of any municipal election to a date concurrent with any statewide or countywide elections." So, we're not -- we're not using this ordinance to sort of pick another date. The only way we can use 101.75 in conjunction with 100.3605 is to move your elections to the general cycle, which is when the state and federal elections periods are. And then another general law, which applies to every municipality in the state of Florida, is 166.021, which I read earlier basically has a provision that says you can 't change anything except for the selection of election dates and qualifying periods for candidates and for changes in terms of office necessitated by such changes in election dates. Now, as I indicated, another municipality had done this in Miami -Dade County, and some folks said they didn't think it was an appropriate thing to do, similar to what we've seen here. And those folks actually went to court, and they filed an action against that city. And the court in that case said, for example, "Sections 166.0214 and 100.3605(2) Florida Statutes, governing statutes, expressly and unambiguously authorized the city to enact the challenged ordinances." And they further said, "Contrary to plaintiff's argument, the court concludes that two statutes expressly and unambiguously authorized the city to pass the challenged ordinances, Sections 166.0214 and 100.3605(2) Florida Statutes, (A), the statutory text is clear and unambiguous, requiring no extrinsic evidence to construe the governing statutes." That court essentially found that the other municipality was correct in changing the dates of the election via those ordinances. That decision was appealed. It went to the 3rd District City of Miami Page 72 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Court of Appeals. And the 3rd District Court of Appeals affirmed the decision. However, unfortunately, they didn't issue an opinion. But even though there's no opinion, we believe that that's more persuasive than, say, an attorney general opinion. So, we believe we're in good standing with Florida Constitution, Florida Statute, the case law, and 25 years of attorney general opinions except for one written on June 11 th of this year. But that's why we believe it's legal and consistent with Florida law. Chair King: Thank you, Mr. City Attorney. Commissioner Pardo, do you have anything else? Commissioner Pardo: I did actually. Could you address the additional year? Because that came up quite a bit. Mr. Wysong: Right. Commissioner Pardo: And also, I mean, I think ideally it would be great to have it voted on, et cetera, but we know that we have support for this measure in this moment. And if we wait for another cycle, another election, other people to show up, we may never have this chance again. It's been hard to get to where we are even in this moment. So, I think if you explain the additional year, that'll address everything that I heard in public comment. Mr. Wysong: Yeah, and so as I've been saying, no matter how you slice it, if you move the dates of the election, somebody's going to get an extra year. You could, I mean, you could conceivably, if you were a mathematician, which I am not, figure out a way to do it so that a commissioner would lose a term. But the reason we chose, or we think this method is more appropriate and better, is because you all were elected to a term of four years. For us, a gentleman stood up here earlier and said, "I'd gladly give away my year," but he didn 't win four-year terms. He hasn 't won anything yet. You each have won an election for a term. And so, to try and take away a year from you would require you to lose a year for which the people have already given you that year. And the other -- so like by moving the election it affects -- there's three positions, the mayor, District 5, and District 3 that are up this term. And then you have the other three spots, which would be up in 2027, generally. And so, it's difficult to make these moves. And like I was saying, if you do move the date of the election to the even year cycle, since we are on an odd year cycle with four- year terms, somebody's going to get that extra year, whether you do it now, you do it next year, you do it two years from now. So, that's essentially -- you know, it's just sort of the way it is right now, and this is -- it doesn 't necessarily benefit anybody. You know, there's a notion that it benefits the people sitting in office now, but if you were to do it next year, you would benefit those sitting in office then. And so, it's probably a terrible explanation, but in order to do this, every action has consequences. And so, by moving the election, it extends the term, and you know, that would be the same, as I said, for any other movement. Chair King: Thank you. Commissioner Gabela? Commissioner Gabela: No, I'm going to -- look, I've already made my decision. I've been clear in the past, that that's my position. I respect all of you. I know there's good intentions here, why to do it, I'm just not comfortable with the fact that the voter -- Chair King: They can 't hear you, Commissioner. Commissioner Gabela: Sorry. So, yeah, you guys know my position. I've made my position clear, and I'm not going to reiterate, but briefly, I just feel that the vote -- City of Miami Page 73 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 and I understand that there's good intentions here, but I just can 't, you know, I can 't do it, and I respect your -- what you guys -- my colleagues are doing, so I'll leave it at that. You guys know full well where -- where my position is at, and I'll just leave it at that. I think the voter should participate and that's what I think. Chair King: Commissioner Rosado? Commissioner Rosado: Yeah. I began canvassing last year because I did not necessarily know that there would be a special election, but I had an expectation that the person that I was ultimately running to replace would likely be a mayoral candidate. So, when I began walking in December last year, this was already a hot topic because Coral Gables was discussing it, and folks asked me a number of times and a number of folks approached me to support, ultimately, whether it was now or at some point in the future, some sort of a move to even your elections for all the reasons that have been discussed, it's pro -turnout, it gets more folks out there, it gets people excited and interested in the democratic process, and it also saves taxpayer dollars. We've got another item on this agenda, RE.6, which the vice chair has sponsored, and I've co -sponsored that looks at ways to provide tax relief for senior citizens, right? So, on the campaign trail over the span of six months a number of folks said are you in favor of being more democratic in terms of resident turnout and also not necessarily those same people, but many, many people said, is there a way to provide tax relief? And I especially heard that from seniors. So, I think it would be inconsistent for me to say we've got to look for ways to save money, but here's one way that I don't think we should actually save money. I've been in favor of this for a number of months. I've been on the record on this, and I'll be supporting this again. Chair King: Thank you. Vice Chair? Vice Chair Carollo: Thank you, Chairwoman. I heard Commissioner Pardo say that we weren 't changing the election. Well, I'm sorry, but I didn 't drink the Kool-Aid. How can you say we're not changing an election when we are not having an election this November? It's going to be held in November of `26, the primaries, and then you claim that, oh, we're not going to have run-offs. You know well that with all the people that are running for mayor, all the people that are running for District 3, there are going to be run-offs in those two races, and we don 't know if there will be a runoff in District 5 or not. I hope not. But we don 't know. But we certainly know that right now there will be runoffs in two out of the three. And those will be the times that people are going to elect, really elect, whom is going to represent them in the runoff. A runoff in December 8, that if your position is that you're doing this to have more representation, we're going to have the lowest amount of turnout that we've ever had in our history, to elect a mayor and at least one commissioner. I also heard you say that you've got to do this now because you know you've got support for it now, but you don't know if you'll have it in the future. Well, if this is such a slam bang that everybody wants it, why are you afraid to wait until the future and if Miami is just running to City Hall because they want this, people will go and get a petition and sign up and make sure that they get this. You won 't even have to have the commission do it. But the truth of the matter is that you're not doing this for the reasons that you claim, because it's clear that in December the 8th, when we're going to be deciding the majority, if not all of our elected officials in run-offs, it's going to be a much lower turnout than at any other time that we have had elections. You 're doing this, Commissioner Pardo, because you don 't want certain people that you feel would win if they run or are running now to be able to win. You 've stated that. You certainly have. Now, the attorney general expressed his opinion that I am in agreement with. The city attorney has expressed his that I respect and respectfully disagree with. We've discussed this for I don't know how long at the last commission meeting. It is not my intention to keep talking and talking on this. I'd like to finish this meeting today as quickly as possible because I think most of what we have, we City of Miami Page 74 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 either discussed it at the last meeting or discussed it in the morning session, so we could go quite quickly. We all know that if this passes today, it will end up in the courts, and I will predict all the way to the Supreme Court of the state of Florida, and so be it. Let's vote. Let's not waste more time in today's meeting. And I've said what I needed to say. Thank you. Chair King: Thank you. May I have a motion for SR.1? Commissioner Pardo: So moved. Chair King: Second? Commissioner Rosado: Second. Chair King: All in favor? Commissioner Pardo: Aye. Commissioner Rosado: Aye. Commissioner Gabela: No. Vice Chair Carollo: No. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): The motion passes 3-2 with Commissioner Carollo and Commissioner Gabela voting no. Chair King: Okay. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Next. END OF SECOND READING ORDINANCE City of Miami Page 75 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 FR - FIRST READING ORDINANCES FR.1 ORDINANCE First Reading 17556 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING Commissioners CHAPTER 35/ARTICLE I OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("CITY CODE"), TITLED "MOTORIZED and Mayor VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC/IN GENERAL," SPECIFICALLY BY AMENDING SECTION 35-1 OF THE CITY CODE, TITLED "DEFINITIONS," TO PROVIDE A DEFINITION FOR A HOMESTEAD PROPERTY, AND BY ESTABLISHING A NEW SECTION 35-11 OF THE CITY CODE, TITLED "PARKING FOR HOMESTEAD EXEMPT PROPERTY," PROVIDING FOR CERTAIN ALLOWABLE PARKING ON A HOMESTEAD; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. MOTION TO: Defer RESULT: DEFERRED MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Note for the Record: Item FR.1 was deferred to the July 10, 2025, City Commission Meeting. Chair King: FR -- the first reading items. George Wysong (City Attorney): Yes, Madam Chair. FR.1, first reading. (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Vice Chair Carollo: Didn 't we vote on this already? Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Yeah. On FR -- on FR -- Chair King: What? Vice Chair Carollo: FR.1, did we vote -- Mr. Noriega: No, we didn 't -- we haven 't voted on it yet. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Mr. Noriega: FR.1, I think there was a request for a deferral, after the fact, Madam Chair. Chair King: May I have a motion to defer -- Vice Chair Carollo: Move. Chair King: -- FR.1? Commissioner Pardo: Second. City of Miami Page 76 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Gabela: Motion. Second. Commissioner Rosado: So moved. Chair King: I have a motion and a second. All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: To the July 10 meeting? Mr. Noriega: Yeah. Chair King: To the July 10th meeting. FR.2 ORDINANCE First Reading 17797 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION REPEALING Commissioners CHAPTER 38/ARTICLE III OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("CITY CODE"), TITLED "PARKS AND and Mayor RECREATION/BAYFRONT PARK MANAGEMENT TRUST" IN ITS ENTIRETY TO ABOLISH THE BAYFRONT PARK MANAGEMENT TRUST ("TRUST"); FURTHER AMENDING CHAPTER 2/ARTICLE XI/DIVISION 2 TITLED "ADMINISTRATION/BOARDS, COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS/STANDARDS FOR CREATION AND REVIEW OF BOARDS GENERALLY" TO REMOVE REFERENCES TO THE TRUST; FURTHER AMENDING CHAPTER 18/ARTICLE III/SECTION 18-72 TITLED "FINANCE/CITY OF MIAMI PROCUREMENT ORDINANCE/APPLICATION AND EXCLUSIONS" TO REMOVE REFERENCES TO THE TRUST; FURTHER AMENDING CHAPTER 54/ARTICLE I/SECTION 54-9 TITLED "STREETS AND SIDEWALKS/IN GENERAL/ PLACING SIGNS, ADVERTISEMENT, OR DISPLAYS ON ANY PORTION OF PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY, STREET OR SIDEWALK SURFACE" TO REMOVE REFERENCES TO THE TRUST; FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO TAKE ANY AND ALL ACTIONS NECESSARY TO EFFECTUATE THE CITY'S OPERATION OF THE BAYFRONT PARK AND MAURICE FERRE PARK IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS ORDINANCE; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE. MOTION TO: Pass on First Reading RESULT: PASSED ON FIRST READING MOVER: Ralph "Rafael" Rosado, Commissioner SECONDER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Rosado NAYS: Pardo ABSENT: Gabela Note for the Record: For additional minutes referencing Item FR.2, please see "Public Comments for All Item(s)" and Item RE.4. George Wysong (City Attorney): All right. FR.2, first reading ordinance. City of Miami Page 77 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Mr. Wysong: FR.3. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Mr. Wysong: That is the end of the FR (First Reading). Chair King: Thank you. Gentlemen, would you like to pull any of the FR items for discussion? Vice Chair Carollo: Well, I think we -- well, you're saying for discussion. Chair King: Right. Vice Chair Carollo: I don't need to discuss anything more. [Later...] Chair King: FR.2? Commissioner Pardo: No. Chair King: We're on FR.2. Commissioner Pardo: Yeah -- no, I'm sorry. FR.3. Chair King: No. Commissioner Pardo: I thought you were still -- Chair King: No. FR.2. Anybody have any comments on FR.2? Commissioner Rosado: Is -- so it's going to be discussed? Chair King: Yes. Commissioner Rosado: I do have remarks and if the clerk could distribute some items that I provided to him. I have some things for each of my colleagues. So, this is -- what he's distributing is essentially historical research on the Bayfront Trust going back, essentially, to its inception. And I want to preface my remarks by saying what one of the public speakers very eloquently explained, which is I'm here to discuss -- not to discuss people, but to discuss ideas. And that's very important to the discussion I think we're going to have. I want to make sure that we decouple the discussion around what I'm proposing with any particular individuals. But as you'll see by looking at some of the documents, and this is just a drop in the bucket in terms of articles that have been written about the Bayfront Park Trust over time, you're going to see that this is, for a variety of reasons, the most politically volatile entity that is affiliated with the city historically. It just is. You know, it's been around almost since I was a child, and that's been an issue that's been going on since then. There was a phrase I used at last week's commission meeting when I first proposed this idea, and it was interesting to see that in one of the articles that's there from 1987, you had former City Commissioner Rosario Kennedy using the exact same phrase, which is that this entity in particular is a political football. So, all these years later, almost 40 years later, and I would still consider it very much a political football. So, apparently that's just not changed over time. This is an agency that's often used to divide us when we need to be united and working together for the City of Miami Page 78 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 benefit of the residents of the city. There 's even an article that I distributed and it's one of many, many that I could distribute where a previous executive director got into some major, major trouble, which obviously was problematic not just for him, but for the image of the city as a whole. We know that Bayfront Trust has gone through a variety of executive directors, I mean dozens upon dozens of executive directors during its history, and I think there's a reason for that. Again, this is not specific to any one elected official, it's the history of the agency, and it is I think related very closely to the way that it's structured. It's historically been unstable. Today we even had somebody lobbying the city commission to support a certain course of action regarding this city affiliated entity. I've also distributed an ordinance from some years back that was showing how the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority was dissolved. So, it's an entity that existed for many years. The city had -- commission had determined that it had run its course. It had determined that a number of city staff members were already involved in its operations in the same way that we see this being the case with this particular entity at this moment in time. And so, they transferred -- they dissolved the entity, and they transferred the duties to the city commission and its staff when it was clear that the agency was no longer necessary to function in the way that it had functioned. In addition, there is an article from 2013 that we distributed written by the National Recreation and Parks Association. Now that is the industry association for parks and rec professionals in the United States. This is not a political organization. It is the trade group that oversees parks and recreation professionals and accreditation and standards and all of that. And the article is about alternative structures for overseeing very large, complex urban parks that generate a lot of revenue, right? And it talks about the conservancy model, which is a slightly different model, where you have a non-profit and it's a board of directors, et cetera. That's the way that you see Central Park being operated and a number of major parks in large urban centers throughout the country. Who is the featured park that leads the article? Like, what is the actual introduction of the article? It is Bayfront Trust. This is an article from 2013. So, this has a complex, nationally recognized history of being a problematic amenity to oversee. This is the introduction to this article about how to run parks, and it is talking about in 2013, quoting folks that are sometimes in the audience and have been around for a long time, saying what a challenge this has been. And so, it recommends an alternative structure that is not the structure that we have in place. For all of these reasons, I am proposing that we dissolve this entity, and we put it under the auspices of the city manager and task him with coming back with a defined structure that actually does work better, that is much more stable, whether it is as a division, not within Parks and Recreation specifically, but a division of the city or a conservancy. But I think this has, over the span of the last 40 years, generated more than its fair share of controversy, and it has -- it's run its course. It is not being run optimally, and again, I'm not talking about specific people, and I don 't want to associate this with any elected officials in particular. This is the history of this entity, and I think this is the best course of action to address something that has been kicked down the road, not for months or years, but decades. Chair King: Commissioner Pardo? Commissioner Pardo: I think that when we talk about not just Bayfront Park Trust, but we talk about all of the entities, whether it's Omni CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency), whether it's DDA (Downtown Development Authority), whether it's -- I mean, we can look at, they've all been and still are political footballs. I think that's a problem because we're not serving our residents where there's a strategy, you know, happening about, like you said, it's personal, it's not about a specific action. I think, especially in this case, where we're looking at the Olympia and talking about the Olympia transaction, acknowledging the City is not really good at managing assets and handling businesses that are more complex than maybe just standard municipal transactions. I think that's the case with Bayfront City of Miami Page 79 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Park Trust. It's complex. It is outside of the scope of a municipality. I think if we want to look at something like a conservancy, I'm all in favor of looking at alternative structures along with residents. I think this is a joint decision. I don't think it should be us who makes this determination in these cases. And I think if jointly with residents we determine there's a better route where we can do the master plan, we can segregate those funds and be able to move forward with that, that's great. In the meantime, though, I have to say stability has been provided to the Trust. The residents who weren 't happy are happy. There is work on the master plan. They're thrilled about that. They feel heard. They feel acted upon. I would not like to see that stability jeopardized, and I think we can do both. I think we can provide the stability while still go ahead and plan for the future with the residents and look at different options. Chair King: Commissioner Gabela? Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, I agree. You're just moving it from one entity to the other is what you're doing. And if that were the case that all entities are bad and have problems, which they do, not all are bad, but they have a problem, right now, I'm in the middle of creating the Allapattah CRA that I worked for, since I got here in January, and you, Commissioner Pardo, and you, Chairwoman King, helped me on it, and, you know, if this was the case and we lose faith in all of our, you know, institutions, then -- I mean, yes, it's difficult. However, I have to respond, Commissioner Rosado, during my tenure, there's been no problems thus far, only like -- I've been at it like three or four months. The last seven or eight years have been the problem. Without having a plan of action, and like I said, I'm open in December to having a discussion. And because by then we should have a more clear picture of what can be done with this. And if the will of my colleagues is to dissolve the park into something else, I have no problem with that. But to do it now in the middle of you know, that we're trying to right the ship, we're putting accounting standards and things that should have been put into place, mechanisms. So, the kind of things that you're talking about, you know, keeping to a minimum, we're doing it right now. We've installed actually positive things for the park, guardrails if you will, so this doesn't happen. So, you know, this on the fly, and you know, look, you're not the first one that tried to dissolve the park. Commissioner Carollo tried to do this four months ago and it failed, you know. I know where this is coming from, you know, but I'm not going to get into the antics, you know, of the negative stuff. At the end of the day, right now, there is no plan. Right now, what you're saying is let's take it away from the entity and let's put it in the hands of the city manager when there is no plan in place. Because this is done on the fly. But I understand your concern. That's why I say, let me finish my job, okay, what I'm trying to do. In December, we can revisit it, okay? You know, and then if we decide then and there to do it, go ahead by all means, but then we would have a plan. What exactly -- let's identify the problems in the structure, okay? And then let's come up with a solution, but not like this, you know. It seems to me that, you know, some here have a, you know, under the guise that we're going to, you know -- and what you're doing is in the middle of trying to right the ship, if you will, you're throwing another monkey wrench at it, you know what I mean? You know, so all the work that I've done for four months trying to right this thing will be, I don 't know, down into nowhere. And like I said, in, you know, the Allapattah CRA, which I am now waiting for the County to move on, because we've done all our work here that we could do, it's been presented. If I were to feel like that, you know, about every institution, then we'd have no institutions, really because everybody's got problems. So that's my two cents, but at the end of the day, I leave it to my colleagues, what should be done. And I will go along with it peacefully. Chair King: For me, I don 't think that any of the chairs of the Trust did a bad job. And I think I've said that. I don't think Commissioner Carollo has done a bad job City of Miami Page 80 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 and I don 't think Commissioner Gabela is doing a bad job. But what's happening between us and this park is distracting and it takes away from the work that we do. The exercise equipment in the park took 18 months plus. That exercise equipment is used every day, and I believe that it was an issue because of the person that was chairing it. And I believe now there is another issue because the person that is the chair of it. I would support this only, only to find some resolutions, because neither of my colleagues have done a bad job and are doing a bad job. It is personality based, that's how I feel. So, I would support this on first reading only to find some amicable resolution so that we are not screaming at it or screaming over my head, scaring my mother to death because she believes that in one second somebody's going to hit me. And that's the only reason. The Bayfront Park is a beautiful space. It is a beautiful space. And from where -- from where it has come from, like, there was a lot of criticism about the dog and cat park. It's beautiful. And people have said it's beautiful. But it got a bad rap because of the person that initiated it. The plantings, the flowers, and what Commissioner Gabela is trying to do is also right. And to make the record straight, Commissioner Reyes asked for a forensic audit of every entity in the city, all of the CRAs, the trusts and everything. And after that he would make his decision. Staff advised that a forensic audit during the time that it was requested would almost be impossible to do because of the work and an audit was already going on. I'm not -- I'm not doing that blame game. I just want us to move beyond this moment in the city. However that is, that will be best for the residents of this city as well as this commission. So, I'm going to entertain this on first reading, but something -- somebody has to convince me otherwise second reading. Commissioner Gabela: I'll tell you what, one step further, because I'm a risk taker all my life. I resign. You guys go ahead and handle it. That's the way you want it? I'm not going to play these games. I've been trying to do a good job with all due respect, Madam Chairwoman. You know, even the dog park, I haven 't even talked once about taking off the dog park. The gym equipment, if you remember when I was not the chairman, I tried to help him out to install the gym equipment because 80 percent of the voters came through, and I said that, and I stated that here. Okay, that's what I did. But this fantasy that somehow this is being done for the correctness of -- you know, because there's a lot of things going on. First of all, I've been there for four months. Second of all, okay, the whole thing, it's been going on for seven, eight years. To say, and you're right, the personalities are involved. However, nobody can accuse me, okay, of diverting fund, of this or that, because I've only been here for four months. But if that's the case you want, let me save you some trouble and some time, because I am not Mr. Carollo. If you guys don't want me there, I will not be there. Furthermore, I will have more time to dedicate to my district, which I have, okay? And by the way, the answer to you with the -- I am always talking to Officer Rodriguez, to you, sir, in our thing and I have moved a lot since I've been here, a year and a half, with the police department. So, I try to do my job, you know what I mean? And they're always giving me, --the staff the police department, that everything is good. You've heard them that the crime is down. So, I don't know where -- but I believe you, but if that's being doing, I'm going to go ahead and speak to the chief of police to see what furthermore, but I don't want anybody to get the impression that I'm not on the job. But I say it again, if the problem is this, okay, I offer, I tend to my resignation right now, and that's it, we're done. No problem. Thank you. Chair King: Do I -- Vice Chair Carollo: Call the -- go ahead. Chair King: Do I -- (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) City of Miami Page 81 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Chair King: Do I have a motion for FR.2? Commissioner Rosado: So moved. Vice Chair Carollo: Second. Chair King: All in favor? Vice Chair Carollo: Aye. Chair King: Aye. Commissioner Pardo: No. Nay. Chair King: And -- Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. Nicole Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): Motion passes. And Chair, is this coming back to the July 10th meeting? Vice Chair Carollo: Yes. Ms. Ewan: Thank you. Commissioner Rosado: Chair, could I add something, respectfully? I want to make sure that Commissioner Gabela understands. I have a challenge with this particular structure for this entity, and it is independent of my feelings for anybody sitting to my left. I just want to make that very, very clear. Commissioner Gabela: I'm not taking it personally, but I'm resigning. I'm telling you, I don't need this. I don't need to take this. This little dog and pony show that we're playing here, I don't need to do it. When he wanted the -- whoever he wanted on that thing, I voted for him. Like I said, I'm not into petty politics. That's what I don 't play. I've never had, I'm not going to continue to do it now, just because of some other of us are, but I do take offense that I've been working at that for four months, okay? The executive director, he's spending in there -- he's putting in -- he's burning the midnight oil. Okay, last weekend, the weekend before we planned the 4th of July, we have a 31 st, you know, New Year's Eve for this year, planning for that. And that's all on the air now because of what you guys are doing. But I'm not going to be part of the shenanigan. I think this is a shenanigan really because for seven, eight years, Mr. Carollo or nobody said, hey, let's dissolve this. This came to be after I got in, because there's a personal problem with me here. I said, fine, I take it, I embrace it, and if you guys don 't want me there, I won 't be there. But what I do take personal is that he was there for seven, eight years. He said -- he said to us in 2024, last year, I'm stepping down in January. And we all took his word, remember that? And I took his word. And when January came, he didn't want to step down. He wanted to confuse and play a little game. And this is the game that we're playing. So, he won. Congratulations, sir. Vice Chair Carollo: That wasn 't true, Chair? Commissioner Gabela: You won. Not a problem. No, not a problem. Vice Chair Carollo: Can I answer this, please? That's totally untrue. City of Miami Page 82 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Gabela: That's the truth. Vice Chair Carollo: What I stated in December was that I would happily step down in January so that I could help a new incoming chairman moving the trust forward. They didn 't want help. They wanted to spend hundreds of thousands more dollars in doing things their way because they didn't know what they were doing. For instance, something that I'm not even going to blame him because I've seen that many of the things that were going on, he didn't even know about it. He found out after the fact. Like -- Commissioner Gabela: What are you talking about? Vice Chair Carollo: Well, like the meeting that I went to that you wanted and the main reason you had a special meeting was that you wanted to bring an auditing firm that was going to end up costing, based on the amounts of dollars, up to $700 plus dollars an hour for 8 and a half years auditing, it was probably going to cost a million plus or over $2 million. And he wanted to vote. And all of a sudden, his interim executive director tells him, oh, that item has been withdrawn. He turns around and says, what do you mean? He didn't even know. So, they had to whisper into his ear why. And you know why it was withdrawn that they didn't want to say? They needed to have put a bid out for that, which they didn 't. The same way as the pet mobile that the last resolution from the Trust was to have it activated and the last executive director ignored that, didn 't activate it, it was sent, and here are the e- mails, by his interim executive director to GSA (General Services Administration) in the city without any resolution whatsoever from the Trust. And you've got a member here, Mr. Martel, bottom line, let him speak up. The mics are here for him. This pet mobile that could be out there helping many, many families in our city and their pets was sent to GSA to be sold. Commissioner Gabela: You -- you didn't -- Vice Chair Carollo: Except the board never approved it. And then when the manager told him that where's the board approval, you can 't sell it without board approval. Then he sent another email to cancel it using another excuse why he was doing it, asking if it hasn't been sold yet, then let's stop to sell it. For instance, the dogs and cats that were mentioned, 57 statues. Well, those statues along with two very valuable pieces of art pieces, the Jimenez Heredia art piece in front of the slip next to the arena, it could be worth maybe as much as a million plus, $2 million, along with the Valdez one that we have on loan to the entrance of the museum. The contract that were part of the donation that we had to keep the upkeep, the contract for the upkeep was cancelled. It was a very inexpensive contract that we have to do certain things to it every several months. The upkeep to the statues that were all painted by local artists, 57 statues of dogs and cats that have to be waxed so that the paint would be protected from the sun and the elements so they could last for years and years, it was cancelled. Why? Because the interim director wants them to fall apart as quickly as he can see them. The fountain. The fountain, my God, that we were on top of it to make sure that it would not be damaged when we had a major event there, to make sure that their staging was not going to be placed right on top of it like what happened. It's unconscionable. But that's exactly what happened, and we had over $30,000 in damages. And I ask, did that invoice ever get sent so whoever did the damage would paid for it? And if it was sent, was it paid? Commissioner Gabela: Can I respond to the allegations that you're making? First of all, the fountain was rushed, okay? It was rushed to the point that you guys did a roofing thing without a permit, okay? And the guy wanted to get paid, and the city didn 't want to pay him. They owed him $400, 000 because it was rushed. City of Miami Page 83 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Vice Chair Carollo: Sir, that's not so. Commissioner Gabela: Let me respond. Let me respond with what the gentleman said. And then the fountain, the water needed to take out again because it was rushed, because there was something peeling off. That's exactly why, because of what you're doing here, is exactly why I had to give the report, okay, of that special meeting I had and what we had found, because this is what you do. What happened in your tenure, now you're trying to make it my responsibility. When I've been there for four months, you were there for seven, eight years, Carollo. You know, I've been there, for four months, my, friend. You can 't pin everything on me. And this is exactly why with people like you, we have to put it on the record. Because I wasn 't going to be saddled, okay, with the stuff that's been going on there for seven, eight years. I'm not the guy that the city came with a regular audit and said, you've got to implement these things, these guardrails in place so the accounting is done correctly and everything else. You didn't do that. That's not me. We're trying to right, you know, the stuff that you didn 't do. We've been making implements that you didn 't do. The dockage, it's in bad condition. You never had an engineer report done. You know, the leaks in the bunker that are happening now, you didn 't -- in the seven or eight years that you've been there, you never took care of it. We're the ones that are trying to take care of it. I mean, this is the truth, folks, I've been there for four months. We've done a lot, let me tell you, in four months, I think. And I've had no controversy other than you, you know what I mean. But at the end of the day, if this is the will of this body, so be it. I accept it. Vice Chair Carollo: Chair, I'm sorry -- Chair King: Wait, wait, wait. Vice Chair Carollo: -- this is a lot of hogwash that he keeps lying -- Chair King: Sir -- Commissioner Gabela: No, you're the hog -- you see? Vice Chair Carollo: -- and lying -- Chair King: Every -- Commissioner Gabela: You see? You see how he starts? I didn't start with hogwash. Chair King: We've already discussed and passed this item -- Vice Chair Carollo: The fountain was done appropriate, with permits. Commissioner Gabela: Okay, we're done. Let's take a vote. We should take a vote -- Chair King: We've already passed -- Commissioner Gabela: You voted on it. That's it. Chair King: We're on FR.3 now. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, but quit lying. Commissioner Gabela: No, you quit lying. You're lying. Chair King: Commissioner? City of Miami Page 84 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Gabela: You're lying, sir. You quit lying. Chair King: Stop, stop, stop. [Later...] Chair King: Gentlemen, at this time we have a -- an attorney -client session. I will recess the meeting. Vice Chair Carollo: Can we just finish? I think we have very little left. Chair King: We don 't have very little left. We have -- Commissioner Gabela: Can I just say something for the record real quick before we -- in case I'm not here after the meeting. So, I said earlier that I would resign as Bayfront Trust, but -- Chair King: Change your mind? Commissioner Gabela: Bayfront Trust, yes, as chairman. But I think I owe it to the employees there an explanation of what's happening. I have a responsibility. So, at the spur of the moment, that is my intention. Chair King: Right, but it doesn 't, until you put it in writing, it's not real, so. Commissioner Gabela: Well, I won't put it in writing until the second reading when you guys finally have your say. Chair King: Yeah. Makes sense. Commissioner Gabela: But I think I owe it to the employees to give them an explanation of what might occur and what is occurring. That's my responsibilities. So, I just wanted to put that on the record, please. Thank you. Chair King: Okay. FR.3 ORDINANCE First Reading 17798 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING Commissioners CHAPTER 2/ARTICLE II OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, TITLED "ADMINISTRATION/MAYOR and Mayor AND CITY COMMISSION," TO PROHIBIT OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT OF THE MAYOR; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. MOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: MOTION DIES FOR LACK OF SECOND Note for the Record: A motion was made by Vice Chair Carollo to adopt agenda item FR.3. The motion did not receive a second; therefore, Vice Chair Carollo's motion died for lack of a second. Note for the Record: For additional minutes referencing Item FR.3, please see Item FR.2. City of Miami Page 85 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Vice Chair Carollo: FR.3, let me just state on the record clearly because it was not read in the headliner by the city attorney. This would only apply to the position of mayor, effective November loth, 2025, of this year, and the reason I made it effective November loth is because the four years that was approved by the voters for the position of mayor ends on approximately November loth of this year. The extra year is one that we are giving to the mayor like to the rest of the commission, and I just feel like if this is a year that was not approved by the voters, we should demand that our office of mayor would be a full-time position where there is no outside employment. And this would include a sizeable raise to the mayor that would be equal to that of a member of Congress that each represent an area approximately the size of the city, actually, a little bigger than the city of Miami, in population. However, if that's not suffice, I will be willing to open it up for additional compensation for the office of mayor. Chair King: Does anybody else have any comments for FR -- Commissioner Gabela: Can we separate and do FR.2? Chair King: We can separate. Commissioner Gabela: Yeah because I've got a couple of questions on FR.3. Vice Chair Carollo: Oh, yeah, these are two -- both separated. Chair King: Right. Two -- two separate -- Commissioner Gabela: Oh, okay. All right. Chair King: Yes, yes. Commissioner Pardo: Yeah. This is something that originally was within charter review because it's incredibly complicated -- [Later...] Chair King: FR.3. FR.3. Commissioner Gabela: FR.3. We're on to FR.3, right? Chair King: Do I have a motion? Vice Chair Carollo: Is the police chief here, please? Commissioner Pardo: Motion for discussion, Madam Chair. Vice Chair Carollo: FR.3, I'm sorry -- Chair King: I don't need a motion for discussion -- Vice Chair Carollo: -- no, no, no, no -- Chair King: -- if you just want to discuss -- Vice Chair Carollo: -- this is a different one. Yeah. Chair King: FR.3, do I have a motion to -- City of Miami Page 86 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Pardo: Motion made. Chair King: -- to pass? I mean, just a motion. A motion -- Commissioner Pardo: To discuss. Chair King: No. If you want to discuss it, let's just discuss it. We don't -- we don't need a motion to discuss. The clerk just said -- Commissioner Pardo: Okay. Chair King: -- if -- would you guys like to discuss FR.3? Commissioner Pardo: Yeah, I mean, I think we need to. Chair King: Okay, it's Vice Chair's item. Let's -- let's put a timer on this -- Vice Chair Carollo: Look, it's -- Chair King: -- for five minutes. Vice Chair Carollo: -- I don't have a lot to say on this except that beginning in November of this year, going forward, it's a year that the people did not vote for. Therefore, I think we have a responsibility to make sure that this mayor, for that matter, any other mayor that would be sitting there, would be a full-time mayor and that there are no outside employment for the office of mayor. I included raising the mayor's salary to the level of a congressional member of Congress that have an area of population slightly over the City of Miami. But if that's not suffice, I'll be willing to consider a higher salary even than a congressional member. Simple as that, I believe that whoever the mayor is, it should not only be a full-time job, but that that should be their sole employment, no outside employment. The possibilities are too great for too many conflicts, too many additional problems to the city. Commissioner Gabela: Madam Chair, can I weigh in? Chair King: Yes, please. Commissioner Gabela: Well, here we go again. He's doing this in retaliation because he's upset at the two years thing, you know, the passing of the one-year extra because my question, here we go again. Vice Chair Carollo: It's got nothing to do -- Commissioner Gabela: Carollo, why didn 't you do this seven or eight years ago when you were here? If you knew this was bad, how come you waited till now is my question. All this stuff you see, folks, is a pattern here. Okay, there's a pattern here. He's not doing it because, no, no, no, he's doing it because now he wants to punish the mayor, okay, you know what I mean? And maybe this is good, by the way, maybe it's a good thing. I don't know if it is or not. I'd have to study it. I'm not ready to vote on this yet. But my point is, you're not doing it because this and that. You're doing it because you want to get back at the mayor because you're upset, okay, that the two year thing, you know, happened, you know, and this is what -- and folks, this is how we continue. This is how we continue in this little dog and pony show that we -- you know what I mean, this is what goes on. This is the truth of the matter. Chair King: Commissioner Pardo. City of Miami Page 87 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Pardo: Madam Chair, this is one of the items that was actually being looked at through charter review, but it's very, very complicated because it's not a question of just outside employment or having full-time employment. I believe all of us have outside employment, or most of us have outside employment. Some staff has outside employment that you get special approval for. So, its impact is very broad - ranging. We need to look at other cities of similar size. This isn't something that someone should just decide and put on an agenda and it all of a sudden pops up. It needs to be studied, and I think it should be done under charter review. So, I'm against it. Chair King: Commissioner Rosado? Commissioner Rosado: I can support that position as being appropriate, that we do it as part of larger charter reform efforts. Vice Chair Carollo: The problem that I have is, you talk about charter review, then what happened to the charter review and everything else that we just voted upon here? That was not part of the charter review? I don 't know. I mean, what's convenient is part of the charter review, what's not is not part of the charter review. And by the way, I've taken this position for a long time on this. I had in the past that the city attorneys could confirm this, looked at bringing it up, but I was told that I could not bring it up at any time because it was not part of what voters voted upon for the position of mayor, that that was not included. Otherwise, it would have been brought up. But I will tell you what is truly getting back. This individual was chasing all over me for a year and a half to get him to endorse him, help him in his campaign, and I'm talking about Mr. Gabela. When I ran in '17, I had forgotten until somebody pointed it out to me. There were two $500 contributions to my campaign for -- from one Miguel Gabela. Then he spent a year and a half chasing after me -- Commissioner Gabela: Steve Miro -- Steve Miro asked me to contribute to your campaign. Vice Chair Carollo: -- to get -- to get his support and I did not support him because - Commissioner Gabela: And that's why I gave it to you. Chair King: Okay, okay. Vice Chair Carollo: -- I saw that this is what was going to come to the city commission. Commissioner Gabela: Oh, yeah, yeah, you didn't -- Vice Chair Carollo: I supported -- Commissioner Gabela: -- that's why you were -- is that why you were at my house? Vice Chair Carollo: -- his opponent. Chair King: Okay, okay. Commissioner Gabela: Is that why you were in my house in 2019? Chair King: The -- we're -- we're -- City of Miami Page 88 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Vice Chair Carollo: Can -- can you -- Commissioner Gabela: You went to my house in 2019; I've got video. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, I was there because you invited me, sir. Chair King: That -- that doesn't have -- Commissioner Gabela: So -- and you came. Chair King: -- that doesn't have anything to do with FR.3. Commissioner Gabela: And you came, sir. And you came. Chair King: You visiting his house and you giving him campaign contributions -- Vice Chair Carollo: But I didn't invite you to mine, did I? Chair King: -- that doesn't have -- that doesn't have anything to do -- Commissioner Gabela: I don't know what you do, man, because you lie so much and who the hell knows what you do. Chair King: -- with what we are discussing, FR.3. Vice Chair Carollo: Well -- Chair King: FR.3. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, but -- Chair King: FR.3. Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, let's move onto FR.3. Vice Chair Carollo: But Chairman, why do I always get stopped because this guy wants to act like a thug and interrupt, and interrupt, and interrupt? Commissioner Gabela: Keep talking, man, go ahead. Keep talking. Here, I'm done. Chair King: We're not -- because we're not talking about FR.3, we have saddled off into other stuff. If we could keep -- I will not interrupt anyone if we can stay on topic with what is before us. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, on topic is that we discussed this, I'll make a motion that I know I will not get a second, but I want to have it in the record that at least someone tried to do what was right in this. And I respect everyone else's opinion, but there's a motion for FR.3. Commissioner Pardo: Madam Chair, I did want to add something just on charter review so people would understand. We had this at the beginning when we came in about a year and a half ago. We started a lot of work on charter review. And the mayor had included that in his State of the City address. And so, we went back and looked at previous charter reviews, and we found that the last time we did this was about ten years ago. There were about 17 recommendations. We adopted or we sent three or four to the voters, the rest weren 't. But when we analyzed the ones that City of Miami Page 89 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Charter Review didn 't allow to go to the voters that didn 't make it, they were really important. Like we wouldn 't be in this position if we adopted that stuff way, way long time ago. So, what we're trying to do is create a mechanism that had teeth where, okay, if this committee gets together and they pick ten items, all of them go to the voters. It's like, well, there's not support for a mechanism like that to make that happen. Then we were working on, well, maybe with a four -fifths, we can navigate it so that the commission can still hold -- set aside a few, and then other bigger ones go to the voters. I'm just giving this in the way of background because I'm not sure if you remember, but we even sent through procurement to see how other cities do charter review. And we came back, we found that Broward actually had one that went directly to voters. We looked -- we analyzed some other cities. So, the reason we're doing these reforms on a one-off is because this is what we can do, and we think we can do in this moment, and they're important enough to try to start changing our structure. So, that's -- I just wanted to give that explanation. Chair King: My concern with this, and it's why I'm not voting for it, is because for something like that, I believe we would need a strong mayor. And the voters voted down a strong mayor form of government some years ago. So, if we can move forward, if there's no more discussion for this. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, I will tell you what will be coming next, Madam Chairman. If not later on this year, you'll see it beginning of next year. This overwhelming petition drive that has under 2 percent of signatures of voters, if they're all even valid, which I doubt it very much, and they've been going at it for close to three months and have under 2 percent of the signatures of our voters, someone's going to come up that this is what we need and we have the votes now. And how many more districts do you want? Nine? Thirteen? Twenty-one? Twenty- seven? But as long as you include a strong mayor in it, and then it's going to come to a referendum sometime next year if this that you all passed today stands the test of the courts. And this is what this is really all about. And I respect each person 's position. I'm aware of the realities. I'm also thanking God for giving me the patience to take one step at a time for now. But I'm not blind as to what's happening here. This whole charter amendment stuff is all a ruse. I'm tired of seeing people laughing at our residents, thinking that they can use them like a rag, and that they're fools, and they can do whatever they want, and they're cute. One thing that I know is that when I was mayor of this city, I didn't have any outside employment. I lived on what I made. I don 't have any outside employment today. And I chose that. I didn 't have to do it. Believe you me, I was smart enough that if I wanted to have outside employment as mayor, I would have made plenty of money. I did. Back when I was in my early 30s and was out of office, out of -- after two terms as commissioner. I made a lot of money the first year and a half, two years that I was out of office. But I chose to serve the city, and I strongly believe in what I stated. Uwe need to pay a mayor a sufficient salary so that there's no question that they can live on the salary of a mayor, but assure that there's no outside employment, that they're going to be working full-time, strictly for us, I'm willing to do it. If we pay Mr. Noriega, as we pay others, $300, 000 plus a year, and benefits, if we got employees from the city of Miami that we're paying private firms for their service, five and a half, actually I think it's $571,000 a year. Maybe we don't want to overdo it and pay that to a mayor, but we can certainly pay a mayor a fair amount of dollars to be our full-time mayor. And I'm looking way into the future. I'm not looking, you know, for the end of the year, next year. This is something that has to be looked at for the long term, not just the very short term. Anyway, can we move on? Commissioner Gabela: Maybe we should look at curtailing the outside counsel that we're spending for you in the tune of excess of $10 million and the lawsuits that you have going on that you're probably going to cost the City when everything is -- City of Miami Page 90 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Vice Chair Carollo: Well, sir, it's your friends that have been suing. Commissioner Gabela: Well, did I interrupt you? Vice Chair Carollo: It's all your friends that have been suing. Chair King: Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Commissioner Gabela: But I didn't interrupt you. Chair King: Here we go. Commissioner Gabela: But you see, I didn't interrupt him. Chair King: There's a motion -- Vice Chair Carollo: The people that give you orders on what to do and say -- Chari King: There's a motion -- there's a motion -- Commissioner Gabela: I didn 't interrupt him. Chair King: Do I have a second? There's a motion for FR.3 -- Commissioner Gabela: Didn 't interrupt him. Chair King: -- do I have a second? Seeing no second. Mr. Hannon: Motion dies for lack of second. Chair King: Motion dies for a lack of second. Commissioner Pardo: Madam Chair, I'd like to make a motion to deny FR.3. (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Commissioner Gabela: Second. Chair King: It died. Vice Chair Carollo: It dies. Commissioner Pardo: Oh, it just dies? Oh, okay. Chair King: It died. END OF FIRST READING ORDINANCES City of Miami Page 91 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 AC.1 17799 Office of the City Attorney AC - ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION UNDER THE PARAMETERS OF SECTION 286.011(8), FLORIDA STATUTES, A PRIVATE ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION WILL BE CONDUCTED AT THE JUNE 26, 2025, MIAMI CITY COMMISSION MEETING. THE PERSON CHAIRING THE CITY COMMISSION MEETING WILL ANNOUNCE THE COMMENCEMENT OF AN ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION, CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC, FOR PURPOSES OF DISCUSSING THE PENDING LITIGATION IN THE MATTER OF WILLIAM O. FULLER, MARTIN PINILLA, II, THE BARLINGTON GROUP, LLC, CALLE OCHO MARKETPLACE, LLC, YO AMO CALLE SIETE, LLC, LITTLE HAVANA ARTS BUILDING, LLC, LITTLE HAVANA ARTS BUILDING TOO, LLC, TOWER HOTEL, LLC, BRICKELL STATION, LLC, PIEDRA VILLAS, LLC, FUTURAMA, LLC, EL SHOPPING, LLC, BEATSTIK, LLC, VIERNES CULTURALES/CULTURAL FRIDAYS, INC., LITTLE HAVANA BUNGALOWS, LLC, AND LHAB TREST, LLC V. CITY OF MIAMI, JOE CAROLLO, IN HIS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, ARTHUR NORIEGA, IN HIS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND VICTORIA MENDEZ, IN HER INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, CASE NO. 23-CV-24251- RAR, PENDING IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA, TO WHICH THE CITY IS PRESENTLY A PARTY. THE SUBJECT OF THE MEETING WILL BE CONFINED TO SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS OR STRATEGY SESSIONS RELATED TO LITIGATION EXPENDITURES. THIS PRIVATE MEETING WILL BEGIN AT APPROXIMATELY 10:00 A.M. (OR AS SOON THEREAFTER AS THE COMMISSIONERS' SCHEDULES PERMIT) AND CONCLUDE APPROXIMATELY ONE HOUR LATER. THE SESSION WILL BE ATTENDED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE CITY COMMISSION, WHICH INCLUDE CHAIRWOMAN CHRISTINE KING, COMMISSIONERS MIGUEL ANGEL GABELA, DAMIAN PARDO, AND RALPH "RAFAEL" ROSADO; THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, LARRY M. SPRING, JR.; CITY ATTORNEY GEORGE K. WYSONG III; DEPUTY CITY ATTORNEY KEVIN R. JONES; ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY SUPERVISOR ERIC J. EVES; ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY MARGUERITE SNYDER; AND OUTSIDE COUNSEL RAQUEL A. RODRIGUEZ ESQ., ANGEL CORTINAS, ESQ., AND JONATHAN KASKEL, ESQ. A CERTIFIED COURT REPORTER WILL BE PRESENT TO ENSURE THAT THIS SESSION IS FULLY TRANSCRIBED AND THE TRANSCRIPT WILL BE MADE PUBLIC UPON THE CONCLUSION OF THE LITIGATION. AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION, THE REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING WILL BE REOPENED AND THE PERSON CHAIRING THE COMMISSION MEETING WILL ANNOUNCE THE TERMINATION OF THE ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION. RESULT: DISCUSSED Vice Chair Carollo: Chair? Chair King: So, at this time, the meeting is in recess so that we can go to the -- City of Miami Page 92 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Vice Chair Carollo: The recess -- isn 't it -- Chair King: -- it's a recess. No. Because I have to come -- Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): There needs to be a statement read into the record -- George Wysong (City Attorney): Yeah, let me -- Mr. Hannon: -- before you recess. Chair King: Go ahead. Mr. Wysong: All right, thank you. Chair King: And then I have to come back to close the meeting after the attorney - client. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay, but we're -- we're actually done? Chair King: Sort of yes. I have to come back to close the meeting -- Commissioner Rosado: To close the meeting. Chair King: -- after the attorney -client session. Vice Chair Carollo: Can I go? Chair King: Yes. Yes. Okay. The Attorney -Client Session was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Mr. Hannon: And for the record, the meeting is in recess. [Later...] Chair King: The City of Miami Commission meeting is now resumed. Mr. City Attorney. George Wysong (City Attorney): Thank you, Madam Chair. The shade session, the attorney -client session in William O. Fuller et al. versus City of Miami et al. has concluded at approximately 6:05 this evening, and so we're back to the regular session of the City Commission meeting. Chair King: Thank you, Mr. City Commission [sic] -- thank you, Mr. City Attorney. At this time, our meeting is now over. Thank you. END OF ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION City of Miami Page 93 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 DI.1 17686 City Manager's Office DI - DISCUSSION ITEMS DISCUSSION ITEM A DISCUSSION REGARDING THE ANNUAL REPORTS OF BOARDS/COMMITTEES. MOTION TO: Defer RESULT: DEFERRED MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Note for the Record: Item DI.1 was deferred to the July 10, 2025, City Commission Meeting. Chair King: Okay. So, we will recess now for the attorney -client session. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair? Vice Chair Carollo: What do we have left? Chair King: Someone -- George Wysong (City Attorney): Yeah, yeah, I'll read the statement. Chair King: Oh, wait. He has to read -- we have DI.1, DI.7 and 8. Vice Chair Carollo: DIs (Discussion Item) is all we have left? Chair King: 1, 7 and 8. Vice Chair Carollo: So -- Mr. Hannon: And you can probably defer DI.1 now since that person is not here. Chair King: Okay. May I have a motion to defer DI.1? Vice Chair Carollo: Move. Chair King: I've got a motion. Commissioner Pardo: Second. Chair King: Second. All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Mr. Hannon: And that'll be to July loth. Vice Chair Carollo: Which is the next one? Mr. Hannon: July 10th. City of Miami Page 94 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 DI.2 17587 Department of Finance DISCUSSION ITEM A DISCUSSION ITEM FOR A PRESENTATION BY THE CITY'S EXTERNAL AUDITORS, RSM US LLP, TO THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY'S 2024 ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL REPORT, SINGLE AUDIT, AND MANAGEMENT LETTER. RESULT: DISCUSSED Vice Chair Carollo: I don't know how much more you have left, if you think -- Arthur Noriega (City Manage): Madam Chair? Chair King: Two big ones. Mr. Noriega: Madam Chair? Chair King: Yes? Mr. Noriega: We do have the auditors here for a presentation. It'll take literally two minutes and then they can just go. Chair King: Come on. I mean -- well, I'm sorry -- Mr. Noriega: It's up to you. Chair King: No, no, I'm sorry. I thought we can just accept their report from our briefings, no? Or they have to do it -- where are they? Where are they? We can go to the attorney -client session. (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Chair King: Are you sure? I don 't see anybody walking. (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Chair King: If you want them to -- before you ask, they should be here. (COMMENTS MADE OFF THE RECORD) Chair King: Hello, guys. Anil Harris: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Chair King: If you were sitting here this morning, I would've taken you this morning. Mr. Harris: Oh. Chair King: I didn 't see you. Mr. Harris: Oh, okay. Chair King: All right. City of Miami Page 95 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioners and Mayor Mr. Harris. Well, thank you for taking us now. We'll be presenting the results of the 9/30/2024 audit. We issued an opinion on financial statements of the City, as well as the audit of the City's grant programs and a management letter required by the State of Florida. In all instances, those reports were unmodified or clean opinions, so nothing to bring to your attention. We had access to all books and recs of the city. There were no audit adjustments to the process, and we had no disagreements with management through the audit process. And with that, we'll take any questions you have. Chair King: Thank you. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, I'm sorry, if I can get the speaker's name? Chair King: Your name, sir? Mr. Hannon: Your name for the record. Mr. Harris: Oh, Anil Harris with RSM. Chair King: Do we have any questions? Commissioner Gabela: I got my briefing with him. Commissioner Pardo: So did I. Chair King: Right, so -- Brad Friedman: Oh, and Brad Friedman with RSM as well. Sorry. Chair King: May I -- do I need to accept their -- no? Mr. Hannon: Good to go. Chair King: Thank you, gentlemen. Mr. Harris: Thank you. DI.3 DISCUSSION ITEM 17641 A DISCUSSION ITEM REGARDING THE USE OF CITY FUNDS OUTSIDE OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICTS. MOTION TO: Defer RESULT: DEFERRED MOVER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner SECONDER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner AYES: King, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado ABSENT: Carollo Note for the Record: Item DI.3 was deferred to the July 10, 2025, City Commission Meeting. Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item DL3, please see "Order of the Day." City of Miami Page 96 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioners and Mayor DI.4 DISCUSSION ITEM 17691 A DISCUSSION ITEM REGARDING THE BUILDING COLLAPSE AT 3129 NW 7 AVE. MOTION TO: Defer RESULT: DEFERRED MOVER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Note for the Record: Item DI.4 was deferred to the July 10, 2025, City Commission Meeting. Chair King: Gentlemen, at this time we have a -- an attorney -client session. I will recess the meeting. Vice Chair Carollo: Can we just finish? I think we have very little left. Chair King: We don 't have very little left. We have -- Commissioner Gabela: Can I just say something for the record real quick before we -- in case I'm not here after the meeting. So, I said earlier that I would resign as Bayfront Trust, but -- Chair King: Change your mind? Commissioner Gabela: Bayfront Trust, yes, as chairman. But I think I owe it to the employees there an explanation of what's happening. I have a responsibility. So, at the spur of the moment, that is my intention. Chair King: Right, but it doesn 't, until you put it in writing, it's not real, so. Commissioner Gabela: Well, I won't put it in writing until the second reading when you guys finally have your say. Chair King: Yeah. Makes sense. Commissioner Gabela: But I think I owe it to the employees to give them an explanation of what might occur and what is occurring. That's my responsibilities. So, I just wanted to put that on the record, please. Thank you. Chair King: Okay. City of Miami Page 97 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioners and Mayor DI.5 17692 Commissioners and Mayor DISCUSSION ITEM A DISCUSSION ITEM REGARDING ELECTRIC VEHICLES. MOTION TO: Defer RESULT: DEFERRED MOVER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner SECONDER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner AYES: King, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado ABSENT: Carollo Note for the Record: Item DI.5 was deferred to the July 10, 2025, City Commission Meeting. Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item DI.5, please see "Order of the Day." DI.6 DISCUSSION ITEM 16942 A DISCUSSION ITEM REGARDING LOST INCOME TO THE CITY WITH VOTE FOR SOLUTION. MOTION TO: Defer RESULT: DEFERRED MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Note for the Record: Item DI.6 was deferred to the September 13, 2025, First Budget Hearing. Chair King: Commissioner Carollo, you -- Vice Chair Carollo: DI.6 defer it to the -- Arthur Noriega (City Manager): September 13. Vice Chair Carollo: -- first budget hearing in September. Chair King: September 13th? Vice Chair Carollo: Yes. Chair King: Do I have a motion? Commissioner Pardo: Motion. Vice Chair Carollo: Move. Chair King: Second? Vice Chair Carollo: Second. City of Miami Page 98 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioners and Mayor Commissioner Rosado: Second. Chair King: All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Okay. DI.7 DISCUSSION ITEM 17642 A DISCUSSION AND PRESENTATION REGARDING DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY. MOTION TO: Defer RESULT: DEFERRED MOVER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Note for the Record: Item DI.7 was deferred to the July 10, 2025, City Commission Meeting. Note for the Record: For additional minutes referencing Item DI.7, please see "Public Comments for All Item(s)." Vice Chair Carollo: And 7 will be real quick. It's real quick, I don 't need to get into it. I just want simply, it's an up and down, bring up the fact that I'd like for this body to instruct the administration to have a vote of the property owners in the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) district and of the commercial property owners also, residential and commercial, if they want to pay taxes, extra taxes or not. I'm not taking sides here on whether they should vote one way or another. All that I'm saying is this is established in '67. It's been around now for 58 years. Just give the people an opportunity to vote if they want to pay the extra taxes or not and break it up residential versus commercial, because they're two distinct areas. That's all. Commissioner Pardo: I don't think this is real quick. The DDA, like many of the other entities, has just been a target in some ways. Omni CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) went through that. We just saw Bayfront Park Trust. In our office that represents that region, we do not hear people angry and upset. Some of them pay $100 a year, they pay more for streaming services than they do with their DDA. Some people believe that there are bloated line items. DDA has a process for that. Does it need reform? They're open to it. I can see that, yes, sure, reform is probably something that is needed. And I just don't think that this is the way to do it. When I've talked to Commissioner Higgins, she says her office doesn 't have, you know, any of these issues as well. So, this isn 't something that's bubbling from residents. This is something that is largely brought by a target. And I don 't think we should be doing that with our residents. I think they have an avenue where they can give their feedback and changes can be made. And if that doesn 't work, then I think we should entertain something else. Vice Chair Carollo: Then I think you're in agreement with me. Let the residents vote on it. What's the big problem? They're paying extra taxes that nobody in the city pays. And the downtown, last I heard, belongs to the whole city. It belongs to Little Havana, Allapattah, Liberty City, Overtown, Little Haiti, Flagami, it belongs to all City of Miami Page 99 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 of Miami. Why should only one portion of Miami pay taxes for a downtown authority to spend it? Let the people decide. Chair King: Commissioners? Vice Chair Carollo: Now, if you're right, then they'll vote for it. Chair King: Commissioners, I'm -- this is not quick -- Commissioner Pardo: It's not. It's not going to be. Chair King: -- because I'm sure my other colleagues would want to weigh in. So, let's go to the attorney -client session -- Commissioner Gabela: So, let's defer this to the -- defer it. Chair King: -- and -- Commissioner Pardo: Let's defer it. Commissioner Rosado: Yes. Could we defer it? Chair King: If there's a motion to defer it. Commissioner Gabela: Motion to defer. Commissioner Pardo: Yes. Second. Chair King: All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): To what date? Vice Chair Carollo: Can it -- next meeting -- Chair King: July 10th? Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, can it be brought up -- well, it can be brought up at July 1Oth, you choose the time. Commissioner Pardo: Yeah, and Madam Chair, just for the record, I wanted to say that assessments are everywhere when you're receiving special services. I lived in an area where we have an assessment because we have guardhouse security, certain things, so I also think there needs to be an understanding of what people are getting and what people are paying, and that's why I think this needs a bigger conversation. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, I don't think I've seen any guardhouses in Downtown Miami or Brickell -- Chair King: So -- Commissioner Pardo: I've seen a lot of security. Chair King: So, I had a motion and a second and everybody voted to defer. City of Miami Page 100 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Gabela: So -- wait a minute -- hang on, hang on, I just want to say, so if we're going to -- if you need more time then shouldn 't we do it, instead of the July 10th meeting, the next meeting? Commissioner Pardo: Sure. Commissioner Gabela: So, you have time to -- I'm just saying. Vice Chair Carollo: July loth meeting. Commissioner Gabela: No, not the 10th meeting, the other one. Commissioner Pardo: 26th. Commissioner Gabela: July -- Chair King: 24. Commissioner Pardo: 24. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, July 24th might be busier because it's our last meeting. I think July 10th will be lighter, so July 10th -- Commissioner Pardo: 24 is better. More time. Vice Chair Carollo: -- should be the meeting. Chair King: Okay, we already voted for it to be July 10th, so we're going to leave it - Commissioner Gabela: No, no, no, no, no, no. We voted and then he said July 10th. I voted for July 20 -- Commissioner Pardo: 24. Chair King: I cannot. Vice Chair Carollo: 24 was never stated at the time. We said July loth. Commissioner Gabela: Okay, well I'm stating it now. It's my motion, I'm stating it now. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, then you have to bring it back to vote down the other motion -- Commissioner Gabela: All right, let's bring it back. Vice Chair Carollo: -- and put a new motion. Chair King: Hold -- hold on. Hold on, hold on. We're fighting over a date here. Todd, what was passed? Mr. Hannon: So, for me, the clarification was for July loth. Chair King: So, we voted for July loth -- Commissioner Gabela: Okay, that -- City of Miami Page 101 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 DI.8 16950 Office of the City Clerk Chair King: -- according to the clerk. Commissioner Gabela: -- that's fine with you, Commissioner? Chair King: Okay. DISCUSSION ITEM A DISCUSSION REGARDING THE ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE TERMS OF ELECTED OFFICIALS AS MEMBERS OF VARIOUS TRUSTS, AUTHORITIES, BOARDS, COMMITTEES, AND AGENCIES PURSUANT TO CITY OF MIAMI CODE SECTION 2-35. MOTION TO: Defer RESULT: DEFERRED MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Note for the Record: Item DI.8 was deferred to the July 24, 2025, City Commission Meeting. Chair King: 7 and 8. Vice Chair Carollo: DI.2 we just did, right? George Wysong (City Attorney): Yep. Vice Chair Carollo: What else do we have? Chair King: 7 and 8. Vice Chair Carollo: 7 and 8. If you'd like to defer 8? Chair King: Defer 8? Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. Chair King: Do I have a motion? Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. It's a motion. It's a second. Chair King: All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: To the -- Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): July loth -- Chair King: -- last meeting in July. Mr. Hannon: Last meeting in July? Understood. City of Miami Page 102 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Chair King: Because you 're just piling up July I Oth. Mr. Hannon: July 24. Chair King: Okay. END OF DISCUSSION ITEMS City of Miami Page 103 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 PZ.1 15113 Department of Planning PART B: PZ -PLANNING AND ZONING ITEM(S) RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DENYING THE APPEAL FILED BY ARTHUR NORIEGA V, CITY OF MIAMI CITY MANAGER, AND MIGUEL FERRO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF BAYFRONT PARK, ("APPELLANT") OF THE DECISION OF THE PLANNING, ZONING, AND APPEALS BOARD THEREBY REVERSING THE CITY OF MIAMI PLANNING DEPARTMENT'S ISSUANCE OF WARRANT NO. PZ-23-16544 ISSUED PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 4, TABLE 12, AND ARTICLE 7, SECTIONS 7.1.1.2 AND 7.1.2.4 OF ORDINANCE NO. 13114, THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, ("MIAMI 21 CODE") TO ALLOW FOR THE RECREATIONAL FACILITY USE ON A PARCEL ZONED "CS," CIVIC SPACE TRANSECT ZONE, LOCATED AT 1095 BISCAYNE BOULEVARD, MIAMI, FLORIDA; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. MOTION TO: Indefinitely Defer RESULT: INDEFINITELY DEFERRED MOVER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner SECONDER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner AYES: King, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado ABSENT: Carollo Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item PZ.1, please see "Order of the Day." City of Miami Page 104 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 PZ.2 16562 Department of Planning RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION TO RECONSIDER RESOLUTION NO. R-24-0212, WHICH DENIED THE APPEAL FILED BY ARTHUR NORIEGA V, CITY OF MIAMI CITY MANAGER, AND MIGUEL FERRO, THE THEN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF BAYFRONT PARK, ("APPELLANT") OF THE DECISION OF THE PLANNING, ZONING, AND APPEALS BOARD THEREBY REVERSING THE CITY OF MIAMI PLANNING DEPARTMENT'S ISSUANCE OF WARRANT NO. PZ-23-16544 ISSUED PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 4, TABLE 12, AND ARTICLE 7, SECTIONS 7.1.1.2 AND 7.1.2.4 OF ORDINANCE NO. 13114, THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("MIAMI 21 CODE"), TO ALLOW FOR THE RECREATIONAL FACILITY USE ON A PARCEL ZONED "CS," CIVIC SPACE TRANSECT ZONE, LOCATED AT 1095 BISCAYNE BOULEVARD, MIAMI, FLORIDA; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. MOTION TO: Indefinitely Defer RESULT: INDEFINITELY DEFERRED MOVER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner SECONDER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner AYES: King, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado ABSENT: Carollo Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item PZ.2, please see "Order of the Day." City of Miami Page 105 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 PZ.3 ORDINANCE First Reading 17652 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH De artment of ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 10544, AS p AMENDED, THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP OF THE MIAMI Planning COMPREHENSIVE NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN, PURSUANT TO SMALL SCALE AMENDMENT PROCEDURES SUBJECT TO §163.3187, FLORIDA STATUTES, BY CHANGING THE FUTURE LAND USE DESIGNATION FROM "RESTRICTED COMMERCIAL" TO "GENERAL COMMERCIAL" OF THE ACREAGE DESCRIBED HEREIN OF REAL PROPERTY AT 1930, 2000, AND 2060 NORTHEAST 2 AVENUE; 64, 97, 106, 120, 146, AND 160 NORTHEAST 20 STREET; AND 135 NORTHEAST 19 TERRACE, MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN THE ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED EXHIBIT "A"; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. MOTION TO: Pass on First Reading RESULT: PASSED ON FIRST READING MOVER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Chair King: Let's go to the PZ (Planning and Zoning) items. Mr. City Attorney, would you please read the titles for the PZ items into the record? PZ.1 and 2 have been indefinitely deferred. George Wysong (City Attorney): Yes, Madam Chair. PZ.3 is a first reading ordinance. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Mr. Wysong: PZ.4, first reading ordinance. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Mr. Wysong: PZ.5 is a first reading ordinance. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Mr. Wysong: PZ.6. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Mr. Wysong: And that one will be amended with the PZ -- PZAB (Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board) information. PZ. 7, first reading ordinance. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Mr. Wysong: And finally, PZ.8, first reading ordinance. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Mr. Wysong: That concludes the PZ items. City of Miami Page 106 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Chair King: Gentlemen, of the PZ items are there any items that you want to pull for discussion? Vice Chair Carollo: PZ.6, I'd like to pull it. I need a lot more information, so I'd like to defer it for the -- Commissioner Pardo: And PZ.8 as well. Vice Chair Carollo: PZ.6. Chair King: You want to pull PZ.6 -- Commissioner Pardo: PZ.8. Chair King: -- as well? PZ.8. Any others? Okay. May I have a motion to pass PZ.3, 4, 5 and 7? Commissioner Gabela: Motion. Commissioner Pardo: Second. Chair King: All in -- Vice Chair Carollo: Before we vote, I'd like to make a disclosure and if anybody else has any, they should. I met with PZ.3, 4 and 5, with Mr. Shack representing the business entity here and their attorney. Commissioner Pardo: I did as well. Thank you. Chair King: Those would be Jennings disclosures. Commissioner Pardo: Jennings -- Mr. Wysong: Those are Jennings disclosures? Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. Mr. Wysong: Anyone else care to make a Jennings disclosure for PZ.3, 4 and 5? Chair King: I'll make one, but I -- they didn 't -- I met with Mr. Shack, but not about this. But just to err on the side of caution -- Mr. Wysong: Okay. Chair King: -- I'll just say that. Okay, so I -- Commissioner Gabela: Sorry, what are we discussing? Chair King: We're -- Mr. Wysong: Commissioner Gabela, did you meet with anybody on PZ.3 -- Chair King: PZ -- Mr. Wysong: -- PZ.4 -- City of Miami Page 107 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, I met -- yes, I met with them. Mr. Wysong: Okay, yeah so -- Chair King: So, you have a Jennings disclosure -- Mr. Wysong: -- we're just making a Jennings disclosure. Commissioner Gabela: I thought this was standard operating -- Chair King: No, you have to disclose. Commissioner Gabela: Okay, yeah. Yes. They came into my office, they presented the project, and I'm okay with it. Chair King: Nobody presented the project to me. Mr. Wysong: All right. Thank you, sir. Commissioner Rosado: Me either. Chair King: Okay, so I have a motion for PZ.3, 4 and -- 3, 4, 5 and 7. All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Motion passes. City of Miami Page 108 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 PZ.4 ORDINANCE First Reading 17653 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), PURSUANT TO ARTICLES 3 AND 7 OF Department of ORDINANCE NO. 13114, THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY Planning OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("MIAMI 21 CODE"), AMENDING THE MIAMI 21 CODE TO ADD APPENDIX Q, TITLED "BRAMAN MIAMI CAMPUS SPECIAL AREA PLAN" ("BRAMAN SAP"); AMENDING THE ZONING ATLAS OF THE MIAMI 21 CODE TO REZONE APPROXIMATELY 12.9 ACRES OF PROPERTY CURRENTLY ZONED T6-36A-O, T6-36B-O, T6-12-0, AND T6-8-O TO INCLUDE A "BRAMAN SAP" ZONING OVERLAY DESIGNATION FOR THE PROPERTIES LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY 2020 AND 2060 BISCAYNE BOULEVARD; 2001, 2010, AND 2060 NORTHEAST 2ND AVENUE; 94, 106, 114, AND 246 NORTHEAST 20TH TERRACE; AND 111,120, AND 137 NORTHEAST 20 STREET, AS MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN THE ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED EXHIBIT "A"; AND AMENDING THE MIAMI 21 CODE TO INCORPORATE THE "BRAMAN SAP" REGULATING PLAN, ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED AS EXHIBIT "B," AND THE "BRAMAN SAP" CONCEPT BOOK, ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED AS EXHIBIT "C," INTO APPENDIX Q, WHICH PROPOSES NEW DEVELOPMENT AND ADDS AN AUTO -RELATED COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENT TO THE "BRAMAN SAP"; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. MOTION TO: Pass on First Reading RESULT: PASSED ON FIRST READING MOVER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item PZ.4, please see Item PZ.3. City of Miami Page 109 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 PZ.5 ORDINANCE First Reading 17658 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH De artment of ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT, p PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 163, FLORIDA STATUTES, AND Planning AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE SAID DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, A DRAFT OF WHICH IS ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED AS EXHIBIT "B," BETWEEN 120 NE 20TH STREET, LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ("120 STREET"); 2020 BISCAYNE BLVD, LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ("2020 BISCAYNE"); 2060 BISCAYNE BLVD, LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ("2060 BISCAYNE"); 2060 NE 2ND AVE., LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ("2060 NE"); 246 NE 20TH TERRACE, LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ("246 NE"); BRAMAN HYUNDAI, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION ("BRAMAN HYUNDAI"); BRAMAN LEIBOWITZ GAS STATION, LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ("BRAMAN GAS"); BRAMAN LEIBOWITZ SERVICE AND PARTS, LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ("BRAMAN SERVICE"); BRAMAN LEIBOWITZ TEMPLE LOTS, LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ("BRAMAN TEMPLE"); BRAMAN-LEIBOWITZ MIAMI DOWTOWN PROPERTIES I, LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ("BRAMAN PROPERTIES I"); BRAMAN-LEIBOWTIZ MIAMI DOWNTOWN PROPERTIES II, LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ("BRAMAN PROPERTIES II"); BRAMAN-LEIBOWITZ PARKING GARAGE, LLC, A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ("BRAMAN PARKING"); AND N.B. LEASING, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION ("N.B. LEASING") (COLLECTIVELY, "APPLICANT") AND THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA ("CITY"), GOVERNING THE PROPERTIES GENERALLY LOCATED AT 2020 AND 2060 BISCAYNE BOULEVARD; 2001, 2010, AND 2060 NORTHEAST 2ND AVENUE; 94, 106, 114, AND 246 NORTHEAST 20TH TERRACE; AND 111,120, AND 137 NORTHEAST 20 STREET, MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN THE ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED EXHIBIT "A", SUCH DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT WOULD ALLOW DEVELOPMENT, AS DESCRIBED IN THE FOLLOWING PHASES: PHASE 1A INCLUDES AN 11-STORY AUTO -SERVICE BUILDING WITH 339 SERVICE BAYS, 620 PARKING SPACES, CONSISTING OF 1,176,000 SQUARE FEET; PHASE 1 B, DEVELOPMENT OF A WOONERF OF 29,160 SQUARE FEET ALONG NORTHEAST 20TH TERRACE BETWEEN NORTHEAST 2ND AVENUE AND BISCAYNE BOULEVARD; PHASE 2, A 60-STORY MIXED -USE BUILDING OF 1,300,000 SQUARE FEET AND 624 DWELLING UNITS; PHASE 3, A 60-STORY MIXED -USE BUILDING OF 825,000 SQUARE FEET AND 550 DWELLING UNITS; AND PHASE 4 IS THE RENOVATION OF A GAS STATION OF 4,000 SQUARE FEET; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABI LITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. MOTION TO: Pass on First Reading RESULT: PASSED ON FIRST READING MOVER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado City of Miami Page 110 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item PZ.5, please see Item PZ.3. PZ.6 ORDINANCE First Reading 17599 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING De artment of ORDINANCE NO. 13114, THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY p OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, BY AMENDING ARTICLE 3, Planning TITLED "GENERAL TO ZONES," SPECIFICALLY BY ADDING SECTION 3.19, TITLED "TRANSIT STATION NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT," TO ESTABLISH CRITERIA FOR TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT WITH DESIGN FLEXIBILITY AND PUBLIC BENEFITS; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. MOTION TO: Pass on First Reading with Modification(s) RESULT: PASSED ON FIRST READING WITH MODIFICATION(S) MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Note for the Record: For additional minutes referencing Item PZ.6, please see "Public Comments for All Item(s)" and Item PZ.3. Chair King: PZ.6 was pulled for -- Vice Chair Carollo: I'd like to defer PZ.6. Chair King: I would rather not. This is my district, and I would ask, if you can have your questions, because it's first reading. Vice Chair Carollo: I thought it was citywide. Chair King: No, no, no, this is specific. There's a lot of misinformation that is going around about this particular project. It is the raising of a public -- public housing development, and it is going to provide two -to -one affordable housing units. State -- because it's Section 8, they have to give back two -for -one. So, for every one unit that is there, they have to give back two units. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay, well, this would be in first reading, but chairman? Chair King: Yes? Vice Chair Carollo: Chairwoman, please make sure the staff puts down when it's affecting a district. Nowhere here does it say District 5. David Snow (Director, Planning): So, if I could, Madam Chair, if I could clarify. Chair King: Okay. Mr. Snow: So, Commissioner Carollo, you are correct. This is a citywide ordinance that sets the framework for TOD (Transit -Oriented Development) district program. The chairwoman was referring to the first program which will be the Little River district, which we approved at the last commission meeting. That establishes the FL UM (Future Land Use Map) for that housing that she was just referring to. If City of Miami Page 111 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 other TODs are to be unlocked, they would have to go through that process, establish the FLUM amendment, to establish the node and so forth. Vice Chair Carollo: Can -- Mr. Snow: Yes? Vice Chair Carollo: Can we limit it to the area involving District 5 without having to open up Pandora's box into other areas? Mr. Snow: So, right now it is limited. It's only that district that's been established with the FLUM amendment, and that's -- actually has to be reviewed by the state, which is currently in their review now. Vice Chair Carollo: Well, then can we, when it comes back on second reading, clearly specific that it's only to this area because I think it's going to save us a lot of problems here. Mr. Snow: So, the other part of the conversation is that, you know, this is creating a program that is competitive with some of the pressures that we're receiving with RTZ (Rapid Transit Zone) and with Live Local to incentivize development around our transit stations within our city. So, this gives development the alternative within Miami 21 to work with. Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah, but I -- look, I'm not asking that. You're dancing around my question. Can you limit it to accomplish what Chairwoman King needs in her district to that area of where she's doing this and not open it up to other areas like I'm beginning to think that's what you want to accomplish with this? Mr. Snow: So, it is -- today, it is limited to that area. No other area can take advantage of this program unless they were to come back to this commission with a FLUM amendment. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay, can you spell that out in plain English -- Mr. Snow: Yes. Vice Chair Carollo: -- in the second reading ordinance, please? Mr. Snow: Sure. Chair King: And also, there will be -- there will be an amendment to exclude historic districts because this -- this area is not a historic district, correct? Mr. Snow: That's correct. Chair King: And that is proposed for second reading that the language is clear that it doesn't affect historic districts. Commissioner Pardo? Commissioner Pardo: And it won 't include NCDs (Neighborhood Conservation District) any of the NCDs, correct? Mr. Snow: Correct. So, what we will be -- so there's a couple revisions that have been requested. One is to include PZAB's changes, which -- Commissioner Pardo: Can you say what those changes are? City of Miami Page 112 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Mr. Snow: Yes. I'll share what those changes are right now. To change the warrant process to T6-12 to an exception, so it has to go to PZAB for a review and approval. Properties located within a mile to a half -mile shall not exceed T6-8. So, right now it's proposed to be T6-12. That would come down to T6-8. And then the additional amendments are to exclude NCDs 1, 2 and 3, to require the exception approval by commission for any locally, nationally, and individually designated historic properties. So, if they were to come in with a proposal, it would have to be -- come before this commission for their approval. And then to incorporate the new workforce housing tiered AMI (Area Median Income) percentage requirements that we've discussed in PZ.8, to also include in that -- this legislation as well. Commissioner Pardo: And I have one clarification. Could you just, for the benefit of the public -- Mr. Snow: Yes. Commissioner Pardo: -- I've heard a lot in our office and in public comment, just about the difference between the historic districts like MiMo (Miami Modern) and RTZ and Live Local, and how they do or do not apply in historic districts? Mr. Snow: Yes. So, you know today in our code, in Chapter 23, we establish the historic districts, the various districts, Palm Grove is a historic district, MiMo is a historic district -- Chair King: Spring Garden. Mr. Snow: Spring Garden, Overtown -- Chair King: All my district. Mr. Snow: Yeah, right. Correct. We have many historic districts. Those districts are protected in our ordinances today, right? So, MiMo is a good example because you have T5 and T6, but there's a height cap there of 35 feet, right? Commissioner Pardo: Which we want to keep. Mr. Snow: Which you want to keep. You know, Miami 21 doesn 't make specific reference of MiMo within it for each zoning district, right? It's all within Chapter 23. This works the same way, right? So, all of those districts are still protected under this ordinance. As it relates to RTZ, you know, that is a county ordinance, and those protections are not as certain as they would be under our ordinance. And also, for Live Local, Live Local just recently amended its -- its bill through House Bill -- give me one second, this is actually important -- through Senate Bill 1730 -- Vice Chair Carollo: Chair, can we move on? Mr. Snow: -- that specifies that nationally designated areas are exempt from Live Local. Well, MiMo happens to be locally designated, okay? So, you could still do a Live Local project potentially in MiMo. And as it relates to Live Local, just so that everyone has this information, right now we're at 55 projects that we've received citywide that are Live Local projects. And those projects are only providing 140 percent AMI. So, again, one of the things behind this is to try to create a program that development -- development community can work under -- under, you know, the Miami 21 standards. Commissioner Pardo: And if I heard you correctly, the county -- it's not clear whether RTZ applies in historic districts? It's not in the language per se or? City of Miami Page 113 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Mr. Snow: I've not read it to be explicitly exempting historic districts specifically. Commissioner Pardo: Thank you very much. Vice Chair Carollo: Chair, I will make the motion based upon what I was told on first reading. Commissioner Rosado: Actually, I -- Chair King: Commissioner Rosado? Commissioner Rosado: -- I do have a -- I do have a couple of requests. I know we talked about the NCDs being excluded, but what about parcels immediately adjacent to NCDs right? So, I happen to live in one of the NCDs but the concern from my neighbors are the adjacent properties located along Coral Way because those technically would be eligible but those are of concern to my neighbors who front those properties. So, I'd like to proffer that friendly amendment to that -- to the motion. And the -- the other thing is, there's a lot of confusion on this particular item. I've been approached, and I imagine we all have, by a number of people. And so, if we could have, ideally by tomorrow morning, a layperson 's explanation as to what this actually entails, that would be tremendously helpful. I've been approached by a number of neighborhood associations throughout the city and especially folks in my district and I need an easy way to explain this to them. Mr. Snow: We can provide that. And -- and just, you know, I think it's also important to understand the layer of processes that are required to even come through this program. It's not just the simple, you know, once this is approved, developers can come in with a T6-12 or T6-24 tomorrow, right? Like you have to have the land use. You have to go through the exception process. So -- with a master plan. So there -- there's layers of this that's important to understand. We can provide that information. Chair King: I have a motion. May I have a second? Commissioner Gabela: Okay, sorry. I -- I stepped out for a minute, and I was kind of -- okay, so what are we voting on, PZ -- Chair King: PZ.6. Commissioner Gabela: PZ.6, okay. Okay, I'm ready. Chair King: I have a motion -- second. All in favor? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): And Chair? Commissioner Rosado: Aye. Commissioner Gabela: Aye. Mr. Hannon: Chair? I just want to make sure the mover is okay with all the amendments that are being proposed? The seconder, all the amendments being proposed? Good to go? Understood. Chair King: I have a motion and a second. All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. City of Miami Page 114 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Mr. Hannon: As amended. Chair King: As amended. PZ.7 ORDINANCE First Reading 17651 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING De artment of ORDINANCE NO. 13114, THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY p OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("MIAMI 21 CODE"), BY Planning AMENDING ARTICLE 4, TABLE 4, TITLED "DENSITY, INTENSITY AND PARKING," TO MODIFY FOOD SERVICE ESTABLISHMENTS PATRON LIMITATION; FURTHER AMENDING ARTICLE 5, SECTION 5.4, TITLED "GENERAL URBAN TRANSECT ZONES (T4)," TO INTRODUCE A FLEXIBLE LOT COVERAGE PROGRAM, TO ADJUST THE MAXIMUM LOT AREA, TO UPDATE ROOF ELEMENTS STANDARDS, AND TO MODIFY SIDE AND REAR SETBACKS; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. MOTION TO: Pass on First Reading RESULT: PASSED ON FIRST READING MOVER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item PZ.7, please see "Public Comments for All Item(s)" and Item PZ.3. PZ.8 ORDINANCE First Reading 17323 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING De artment of ORDINANCE NO. 13114, THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY p OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("MIAMI 21 CODE"), Planning SPECIFICALLY BY AMENDING ARTICLE 3, SECTION 3.16 OF THE MIAMI 21 CODE, TITLED "WORKFORCE HOUSING SPECIAL BENEFIT PROGRAM SUPPLEMENTAL REGULATIONS," TO INTRODUCE A NEW WORKFORCE HOUSING PROGRAM WITHIN THE CITY OF MIAMI; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. MOTION TO: Defer RESULT: DEFERRED MOVER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner SECONDER: Ralph "Rafael" Rosado, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Note for the Record: Item PZ.8 was deferred to the July 10, 2025, City Commission Meeting. Note for the Record: For additional minutes referencing Item PZ.8, please see "Public Comments for All Item(s)" and Item PZ.3. City of Miami Page 115 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Vice Chair Carollo: As amended. And Chair, can we go to the RE (Resolutions) items that are left? Chair King: We have one more left in -- PZ.8 was pulled. Vice Chair Carollo: Oh, okay. I -- Chair King: PZ.8. Who pulled PZ.8? Commissioner Pardo: I did. I did. I was just wondering if you could explain the percentages and the AMIs (Area Median Income) and how the workforce housing -- and again, talk about the pressure of RTZ (Rapid Transit Zone) and Live Local and how this tries to actually keep development within our code so that we can control it as opposed to losing the control and getting a much worse result in our city. I think that's very important, and I think our residents don 't -- don 't understand how that can happen. David Snow (Director, Planning): Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, we -- so today we have a attainable mixed income program in Miami 21 that helps promote affordable housing. It provides several different flexibilities as it relates to setbacks, heights, and other -- and other items that Miami 21 is required because we know the impact of cost, both to land value and construction cost, right, to a project, just in general, let alone in affordable projects that are dealing with very thin margins. So, this program is specific to the workforce housing aspect, right? And with what we've seen with Live Local, what we've seen with RTZ, is that they're pushing their version of workforce, but it's at a much higher AMI level, at 140 percent AMI. So, what this has done is we've looked at, you know, we've actually been working very closely with the District 5 office on a tiered approach to our workforce requirements because we know that workforce incomes are not just at 140 and they're not just below 60. So, this -- what this does is allow for a range of AMI levels starting at 60 percent and less, 15 percent of the units of the development would be required. From 100 percent AMI and less, 25 percent of the units would be required. And then the last tier would be from 120 percent AMI the last 10 percent, which amounts to 50 percent of the development's units would have to be in that tier. And then you would be available to get these various flexibilities, the setbacks, lot coverage, those things, which again are similar to what we have in our affordable, attainable mixed income program. But we're just allowing it now more specific for the workforce program as well to compete with RTZ and Live Local. Commissioner Gabela: I've got -- through the Chair, I've got questions on this. I'd like to defer this because there's a couple of questions I want to ask. But if you go ahead to vote, I'm going to go vote no, unless you guys defer. That's where I'm at. I was briefed on it, but I got a couple more questions that I wasn 't clear on. I apologize. Chair King: There's a request to defer PZ.8. So, I have a motion to defer PZ.8. I have a second. All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, to what date? I apologize. Chair King: Which date? Commissioner Gabela: To July the -- Chair King: loth? City of Miami Page 116 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 Commissioner Gabela: July the 10th is fine. Chair King: To the first meeting in July. Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, that okay with you guys? Commissioner Rosado: Yeah, there seems to be a lot of confusion around this one as well. And folks are coupling them. They've -- they've -- I've received a number of e- mails coupling PZ. 6 and PZ.8, and they're not that closely related. Chair King: Yeah, they're not at all. Commissioner Rosado: So, I think we just need to clarify that for the public. Chair King: Okay, so I have a motion and a second. All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: PZ.8 has been deferred. END OF PLANNING AND ZONING ITEM(S) City of Miami Page 117 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 FL.1 17780 City Manager's Office FL - FUTURE LEGISLATION ORDINANCE AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER 55/SECTION 55-10 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, AS AMENDED ("CITY CODE"), TITLED "BUILDING PERMITS; ISSUANCE; RESTRICTIONS; EXCEPTIONS," TO ALLOW FOR TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION AND TEMPORARY ACTIVATIONS ON UNPLATTED OR PLATTED LAND THAT HAS NOT BEEN SUBDIVIDED PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 55 OF THE CITY CODE; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE. RESULT: NO ACTION TAKEN END OF FUTURE LEGISLATION City of Miami Page 118 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 NA.1 17826 City Commission NA - NON -AGENDA ITEM(S) RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION MODIFYING THE REQUIREMENTS AND GUIDELINES OF THE EXPANDED FIRST TIME HOMEBUYER PROGRAM DESCRIBED IN RESOLUTION NO. R-22-0211 ("EXPANDED PROGRAM") BY CREATING AN EXCEPTION TO THE EXPANDED PROGRAM'S RESIDENCY ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE TRANSITIONING OUT OF HOMELESSNESS OR ARE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, EXCEPT FOR THE EXCEPTIONS STATED HEREIN; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-25-0237 MOTION TO: Adopt RESULT: ADOPTED MOVER: Miguel Angel Gabela, Commissioner SECONDER: Damian Pardo, Commissioner AYES: King, Carollo, Gabela, Pardo, Rosado Note for the Record: For additional minutes referencing Item PH.3, please see "Order of the Day." Chair King: At this time, I am going to ask my colleagues if I can have a motion to support pocket item D1 [sic]. Vice Chair Carollo: Chair? Chair King: It's an amendment to the first-time homebuyers initiative to allow for homeless individuals to qualify for the first-time homebuyer program. It's an amendment to the initiative. Vice Chair Carollo: I have no problems with that. The only concern that I have, I don 't want to see people that all of a sudden come yesterday, tomorrow, the next week from another state and they're going to qualify it over people that have been -- are true homeless. How can we work that into this proposal? Chair King: Well, they're transitioning out of homelessness, so they would have to -- and we can do a friendly amendment, that they would have to be coming from the Homeless Trust, or the Camillus House, or any similar organization that assists homeless persons. And they would be transitioning from homeless, so I would think that they would have -- they are not going from homelessness to first-time home ownership because they would have to transition to -- Vice Chair Carollo: Yeah. Chair King: -- like an apartment. Vice Chair Carollo: Can you maybe think of a way that we could put a safeguard here to the effect that they would have had to have been individuals that have been homeless in Miami for a certain amount of time or so. I'm just trying to protect our City of Miami Page 119 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 people and all of a sudden not get different cities across the country sending us their homeless -- Chair King: Right. Vice Chair Carollo: -- so we can take care of them. Chair King: I agree that they should be -- they should be persons who reside in the City of Miami, and this is for homeless as well as victims of domestic violence that we're including. Vice Chair Carollo: I understand, I have no problem. Chair King: Okay. Commissioner Pardo: Madam Chair, I think also we don't want to create all of a sudden restrictions that are limiting the very scope of the population we're trying to help Chair King: Right. I mean, both are fair. I see our Community Development director stepping forward. Commissioner Gabela: Madam Chair. Victor Turner: Good morning. Victor Turner, Housing and Community Development director. Chair King: So -- and it's -- you still have to qualify. You still have to qualify to be a first-time home -- first-time home -- you have to have a job. You have to qualify with the bank, so all of those criteria are the same. I don 't -- I don 't have an issue amending it to say Miami residents and that they have been Miami residents. Vice Chair Carollo: Okay. I will be satisfied with that. Chair King: So, Mr. City Attorney, can we --? George Wysong (City Attorney): Modify the resolution to indicate that they must be residents of the City of Miami or programs within the City of Miami. Chair King: Yes. Mr. Wysong: Yeah, we can. Chair King: Wait. Commissioner Gabela wanted to say something. Commissioner Gabela: Yeah, what I wanted to say was I am particularly troubled by this also because I, months ago, I had asked whether we were identifying the people that were coming in and were they residents of the City of Miami, because I was concerned also like the commissioner is that, in fact, that is happening. That, for example, Miami Beach or others send their problem, export their problem to us, and especially me, let me tell you, I've got, you know, the 7th Avenue Corridor where Camillus House is, you know, located. So, I think we should put -- I agree, I think we should put something in here. Chair King: And it is an -- Commissioner Gabela: Absolutely. City of Miami Page 120 Printed on 08/29/2025 City Commission Meeting Minutes June 26, 2025 ADJOURNMENT Chair King: -- the initiative, the legislation is for Miami residents. This is my initiative to bring homeownership opportunities to folks who would not otherwise qualify in the City of Miami to be a homeowner. Commissioner Gabela: And it's better than nothing. Chair King: It's deep subsidy. It's -- I put together a grant of $3 million to help. The program holds a second mortgage of up to $200,000. This is real affordable housing, but it is intended for Miami residents, so I don't have -- I don't have an issue with that. Mr. Turner: Yeah, may I speak? Yes, we still are requiring they are Miami residents. I think some of the issues that may come up, folks fleeing or maybe homeless, they may not have been here a whole year. And so, we're still saying Miami residents, but they may have been here a shorter period of time. And they would still meet all the other criteria, underwriting, and everything to become a homeowner. Commissioner Gabela: Motion to move. Commissioner Pardo: Second. Chair King: All in favor? The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair King: Thank you. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): As amended? Chair King: As amended. The meeting adjourned at 6:11 p.m. City of Miami Page 121 Printed on 08/29/2025