City Commission - Regular Meeting

All good things must come to an end, that it is time for a little rebirth of the Miami Police Department.

How you doing? Well, hello everybody. Welcome to the City of Miami Commission meeting, our first meeting in July. This particular pass has been a pretty important one for the City of Miami, particularly with the efforts of City of Miami Police Department and Miami Fire Rescue. We have two amazing, I think, I don't know if milestones is the right word, but endeavors that went off extremely successfully and as residents can make all of us very, very proud. And so we have some folks we need to recognize today. and give special thanks to. And I'm going to start off with something that I guess is t

All right, shall I turn it over to you, Chief and Chief and Chief? I guess it's hard to say before I turn it over to my colleagues.

So I had the opportunity, the good fortune to participate at FanFest on five different occasions and everything went so incredibly beautifully. There was one evening when we were at capacity as we were on many many days at 30,000 capacity people all over the world and Chief Evia took me on a tour and the level of complexity and coordination that was involved was so impressive and the reality is you all have made us proud not only on a local level but given the range of folks that were there and the kudos that we received from so many participants you made us proud on a global level so I mean h

I'd like to say a big warm thank you to the host committee and to Chairman Gabela. The park was amazing. The experience was over the top. Miami had the best Fan Fest in the US, in the US, to capacity. I had so much fun and now I am forever a football fan. Forever a football fan. I started off knowing Zilch and now I know this much. But I can't imagine what went into that for 24 days. The preparation, the heat, like everyone. It was seamless. It was seamless. And I'm proud to say that the last Fan Fest experience that we will have in Miami will be in District 5 at the Little Haiti Soccer Park f

I also want to thank all of you very much. I think, you know, when they say it takes a village, it really does. Commissioner Gabela, fantastic, the entire host committee. fantastic as the district to commissioner it's in our district and so we hear directly from residents about all the events that happen but so many of our residents were proud of FanFest and they really got it they understood like yeah we're making some sacrifices here but wow we're making these sacrifices for great things for our city on a global level everything from sustainability climate issues to the professional manageme

I just want to say thank you, especially to our men and women in uniform, the firefighters, the police. They did a great job. For me, the most important thing is the security issue in the park. had been worked out, and I sat through meetings, and thank you for the host committee, because I know you were at it for a year or two. You know, FIFA and me, we had our ups and downs, but we finally got a result. But thank you very much for what you did, Ray and Rodney, and it turned out to be a great event, and grateful for the D2 commissioner that it turned out that he's happy that the way it turned

And David, do you want to, before you leave the stage, want to talk a little bit about the economic impact quickly?

Thank you, everyone. So now while we're changing up, if I could invite our urban search and rescue team from Florida Task Force 2 that was in Venezuela up here with us, that would be great. Well, good morning everyone. We have a second presentation of importance to our city today, and that is to thank the team from Florida Task Force Two, particularly the members from the City of Miami's Fire Rescue Department that went to Venezuela and labored there under very hot, very trying, and very dangerous situations. I'm sure many of you saw their incredible rescue of Mr. Hernan Gil. That was national

Ladies and gentlemen of the fire family, I want to thank you for your compassion. I want to thank you for your courage. And I think most importantly, I want to thank you for reflecting the best of the best of who we are as the city of Miami.

I prayed for these guys every night. The chief and I spoke before they were deployed. I shared my concerns. And I am just so happy that you all came back safe. The incredible work that you did, it is an honor to serve with you. It always has been. I have a special place in my heart for firefighters. Everyone knows that. And I could not be more proud to be a City of Miami resident than I am today. God bless you all.

I think my colleagues have said it very well. We're all very, very proud of you. I know I was incredibly worried, Chief. You know, we had conversations. And I can also tell you that our residents were too. And I think sometimes that goes by unperceived. But residents like you, Madam Mayor, came up to me and said, wow, it's incredible what City of Miami is doing. It's incredible. You know, it was during the July 4th celebration. So just the concept of freedom and that we're so blessed in our country that we have the type of freedom where we can do this and we can extend it throughout the world

Yes, thank you very much for your sacrifices and the sacrifices that your families make also. One more thank you for many thank yous that you deserve. So God bless and thank you very much again for your service and what you do every day. Thank you.

Good morning, everyone. Good morning. That was a pretty inspiring way to start the day with people who serve us every day, sometimes when it's hard and sometimes when it's dangerous. This morning, I am very grateful that Pastor David Dorisgar from Lively Stone Church of Miami is here to share a prayer with us to open our meeting. Thank you, Pastor.

Commissioner Rosado, would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? All right, good morning, everyone.

Madam Mayor? Yes, ma'am. If I may? Today, I am intentionally wearing pink in support of my colleagues. It's Commissioner Rosado's birthday. If you guys would join me. Happy birthday. And look at him in his pink.

All right, good morning. Mr. Attorney, would you please state the procedures for this meeting?

Mr. City Clerk, please state the swearing in procedures. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. All right, Mr. Manager, are there any items you need to withdraw or be deferred or any other changes?

Colleagues, do you have any things you also would like to withdraw or defer? Does that cover everything?

I'd like to defer PZ10 to the next meeting.

What do we do? Defer PZ10? PZ10. Okay. All right.

I'd like to defer PZ7. Okay. My apologies, Chair. Indefinitely deferred.

No, what I have is that I had placed on the agenda, the last agenda which I was not here, a discussion item under security, and somebody took it off because I was not here. I'd like to reserve the right to talk about that as a pocket item later on if need be.

Absolutely, that's not a problem. All right, so with that, we'll set the agenda.

Yep. Can I have a motion for all of the deferrals and withdrawals? Second. All in favor say aye. So the agenda is set. Thank you. All right, we should open for reasonable opportunity to be heard in public hearing items. If folks could line up at both podiums. Not too many, but maybe five in a row. Get this underway, thank you.

Folks, when you hear the buzzer, it's two minutes, so thank you means thank you. All right, please, go ahead.

Thank you. Mitch, we need your address for the record.

We don't generally do that, so you're welcome to speak for two minutes, and then, of course, Mr. Corbin is welcome to speak for two minutes. Thank you.

Thank you, sorry, two minutes is up. Amen.

Thank you. Say no until you get a design that is fitting for the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, we also need your name and address for the record. I see Todd.

You can give it to the clerk and he'll pass it around.

All right, I see no more speakers, so the public hearing and comment period is closed. Colleagues, what would you like to do? Would you like to power through till one o'clock and get a few items done? I'm seeing heads yes. No. I have three yes. OK. Great. We will do that. So we have the consent agenda. There's two items there. Anybody want to bifurcate any of those? I'll take a motion.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Show those passed. We have a lot of people here on, one, the bond, and two, So I think we'll take those items up early so perhaps we can get folks on their way before we break for lunch. So let's start with RE5. I think over the past couple of weeks, including the two deferrals, as you all know, I've now visited every facility in our city multiple times. sometimes even into the back of the electrical closets and the generator rooms in a way that probably had never previously been done. I know that, particularly for the three of you that have been on the commission fo

No, no, you. Okay, so we all right, so let's get get down to the degree here What happened was and she's right? Okay, prior administrations have kicked this can down the road and it landed up now and we're talking about it now Right this morning. I was threatened Okay there was a mass text going around by my former campaign manager because since I took the the press away from him I walked back and he's not making money with me anymore and You know, he's doing this kind of thing. Some of these people here know them. His name is Emiliano. But he thinks I'm going to be swayed by this. And here's

Commissioner, and I'm happy to let the city manager weigh in. When the AACOM has been doing the analysis on the public safety building, right? Let's be very clear. It's not just police headquarters. We also have to have our 911 call center, and we'll be co-locating the emergency operations center and fire headquarters. Fire headquarters, as you all know, fires all over the city, so they don't have very much. It's more their office space, so that's not a huge amount of space. The current analysis, correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Manager, is coming in at about $320 million. Our new police chief, ou

I do support what Gabela said. I support everything you said.

Yeah, I have. I think I could have some amendments I could propose, but I would need a motion first and a second to have it.

So then let's clear something else up. Let's clear up. So we're proposing a $450 million bond, and we're going to float that bond in tranches. We're not going to float it at the same time. When you do float that bond, that bond is my understanding that you have a three-year window to use it, right? And we're not going to do anything with it if we're not actually using it to service the debt. But here's the thing, the $130 million that you're also going to bring over from the $400 million to add to the $450 million, can we educate on what exactly we're doing with those $130 million? So there's

The Miami Forever bond, there was a $400 million bond. Okay, 272 was issued at the time. Actually, out of the 272, 100 and something was never actually spent. Okay, it's still there, but it is committed is what I understand. Okay, and then out of that 400, we never issued actually 125 to 130, but now you're going to bring it full circle and add it to the 450. Do I have my math right or not?

I know that, but I want her to say it so the public can understand exactly what's going on here.

Okay, so to be clear. That money is not to be used to join the 450, and that's what I wanted to clear up. That money has already been committed for something else. I don't know why that money was never used and it took so long to use it, because that's part of the problem here, that people don't understand fully what we've done here. And moving forward with the 450, we've got to be extremely clear exactly what we're going to do with the money, and that's why I want to clear it up. Those are my points. I want to help the police station. I want to help the policemen or men and women in uniform.

Thank you. Commissioner, I still need a motion and a second before I can make amendments, but why don't I say back to you what I think I heard? which would make an amendment and that would give you a little time to legalize it. So as I see it, there are three potential sources of revenue that could help offset the need to issue the full $450 million. One is, once the new public safety building is built, we can move folks in there and we could sell the police headquarters. So we could allocate the proceeds from the sale of that police headquarters building to pay the debt off or not issue face

We might not even need the money because if it's going to take time, that $100 million might just come in and we don't even have to use the bond. We might not even have to issue the debt.

So we could either pay off the, you know, you and the finance people, we either pay down the debt or we do not have to issue the debt. So I would say the police headquarters Also, grants, I think, obviously, that is very important as they come in. It's easier to get, generally, capital grants for fire than for lease, but we probably will get some almost every year, so we should have any capital grants that, or for the projects that are in this bond, should have the same conditions. They would pay off the debt, or... or avoid the issuance of debt.

Well, I'm sorry, Madam Mayor. I would see a key word. You said capital, you know, grant. No, any grant that comes in pertaining that has to do with this issue here and the fire stations and the police stations, any grant at all will be used to pay down the debt, the principal. It will be used to pay down the principal on the bond.

If it's a capital grant, meaning if we get the grant from the state or the federal government, it's allowed for construction, we can do that. If we get a grant, for example, for police cars, That's not capital. So we do have to use the word, I think, capital improvements or physical improvements or something like that.

Thank you very much, because that was the last one I was going to put. The monies cannot be used to buy police cars, equipment, fire equipment, none of that stuff. This is purely for what we said it's going to be.

We're not allowed to bond those things out anyway, but this is a project-based bond. If it's not listed in the projects on the website, we're not doing it. But I also have a third suggestion, which I think is in line with your thinking. Over the next three or four years, we may have developers that might want to proffer some community benefits that would be contributions to police and fire capital. And so we could perhaps, Javi, you could help with this. Any future community benefit agreements that are negotiated that are directed to these projects would also offset the debt. Because I think w

Maybe I want to clarify that. I don't think we want all community benefit agreements to go to this, right? Because sometimes we're going to want affordable housing or sometimes we're going to want neighborhood participation. But should there be in a community benefits agreement agreement, which are generally negotiated by and with the commissioner of the district, that is most effective, should there be the choice made that part of that community benefits agreement be for police and fire capital for one of the projects in this bond, that that also would be used. So you're right, that's the mos

Ready? All right. So the first thing is, I know that there's $10 million listed as repairs and modernization projects, and that includes about 12 fire stations or so, maybe more. And it seems like that's the really, really critical piece with fire. And why don't we just take that right from reserves? I mean, I don't even think we should wait for a bond or include in the bond if we have it in reserves and we can deal with them immediately. The other piece is the building of fire stations. And that's where I think we could successfully find public private partnerships that use a design build fin

I'll go next. I have several issues with this. One, again, as my colleagues have stated, this is not a question of whether we support police and fire. And it's unfair to make it so, because we all support police and fire. Full stop. There's no question about that. Here are my concerns. The misinformation that has been given, let's just start with just what just happened. We're trying to bake a cake here on the dais. We're trying to negotiate what this should look like on the dais. Madam Mayor has said that she did polling. Polls cannot replace going to our communities having town hall meetings

So as long as when we apply for grants, we apply for grants for a specific purpose, and then it's to match funds for a specific purpose. Now, The grants that we get in, all of them cannot be applied to that. So it would be for a specific purpose. And you can't... We can't promise that you'll get a grant for a new fire station, and if it is, it's to match what's happening with the fire station. You can't then put a stipulation that that grant will be used to pay down the debt service. That's why residents don't trust us, because you say stuff like that, and then in its application, that's not w

So here's the deal. That's a rhetorical question. It's a rhetorical question. Again.

All right. Commissioner King, you still have the floor.

So I haven't been able to do that, save for Constituent Tuesday. And in Constituent Tuesday, I am not getting 60%, 70% overwhelmingly supporting this bond. I'm not. We had several persons come and speak today that is not in favor of the bond. The last time we had this on, all but one person was against the bond in its format today. I will support, and let me say this clearly, I will and I do support some form of this for our fire and police department. But be clear, there are too many unknowns, debt service, the property taxes, also being able to utilize public private partnerships, which by t

City Attorney, is there a way to add to this resolution P3, consideration of P3?

Okay, I would like to make a motion with that and with Commissioner Gabela's amendments.

And I have one quick question. Is there a way to just move those $10 million and get that going? The 10 million that's being included here, can we just take that 10 from reserve and address repairs and modernization?

Our reserves are complicated in the city.

Not necessarily reserves, but if there's available funding The range of 10 million that can be used and prioritized For this so that it doesn't have to wait for a bond issuance or some later date when we know that these repairs are really necessary and critical Absolutely Commissioner, but if we had the 10 million available we would be using it for exactly that so we can take that out of the bond Perfect.

No, I don't believe that I'm sorry to Right now, we do not have $10 million allocated anywhere in the budget to do these repairs, right? And this budget has been voted on for years and years and years. So unless you all, I guess, will roll out the budget, but my preference is we put in front of the voters what we need to deal with the situation that's been growing. And this is another one. you as a commission decide to take money out of the general fund to pay for these items, again, we would not have to issue the full amount of debt. And I think that is at the core of this discussion today, i

At the end of the day, we're getting off subject here. At the end of the day, the voter will decide. And if the voter doesn't want to do it, then let them do it. Billy, you don't want to vote no, you vote no. I want to vote no, I vote no. Whatever, but put it up to the voter. And then meanwhile, while we're putting it up to the voter, let's work on making it better. If we can make it better, is what I'm saying, because we've been at this, we've been beating this horse now for three months.

Commissioner Pardo, you still have the floor, and then we'll go way over there.

So my question really is to the city manager. I mean, we reallocate all the time. We have mid-year budgets all the time. $10 million is a very small percent of our overall budgets. We can find this money and take care of this and not have to wait while this process goes on.

Okay, we'll go over to you since it's your birthday first.

Thank you. I have two images that I wanted to show. So I've gotten a lot of questions about how we got to this place. And essentially, there are three different reasons why we are in the state that we're in. So the first one is, you know, equipment changes over time. And so buildings become obsolete. That's nobody's fault. if a fire station was built in the right capacity 60 or 70 years ago, but now it doesn't make sense. There you go. But now it doesn't make sense. That's something that we just have to deal with. The second item is population growth. I think we all understand what that means.

Are we discussing this item? All right, so are we calling the question? I motion to call the question. Second.

All right, so I need a motion then. I got a motion. Motion on the table, second the motion. Have we finished with discussion? I don't know. I mean, I'm confused. We haven't. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, through the chair. That would be me today. Okay, so Commissioner Gabella, you have a motion on the table.

Seconded by Commissioner Gabella. I'm sorry, I've got you. We will include, as Javi said, the sale of the police headquarters. Any grants? that are specifically applied for to offset this, as the words use, comply with the law and the conditions, and should any commissioner negotiate any future community benefit contributions. And we will put in the recitals that when possible or practical, P3s can be considered. And so those, I think, are the four amendments. Do you accept all those, Commissioner Gabella?

I accept all those in the order that it came. And at the end of the day, if this money is not used for a police department headquarters, or for the repairing or betterment of fire stations, it will not be used and we will return it to the taxpayer. Is that clear? Am I clear on that? Yep. I mean, I can't be any more clear than that.

Sorry, one more thing. And if for any reason, okay, if for any reason the project does not go through because things change here... Okay, then that money will be given back to the taxpayer in the city of Miami. Period. End of story. That money will not be, will not use that money for anything other than that stated purpose. This will not be like the $400 million.

This has no correlation to a bond for all money. This is a project-based bond. If it's not these projects, we can't.

Okay, it sounds like we're ready for a vote. I'm sorry.

Madam Chair, today, I think Commissioner Gabella and Commissioner Pardo and I have.

You may have one more bite at the apple.

Well, I'm just trying to figure out what does that ballot language look like?

The ballot language has to be 75 words, as you well know.

So how does the voter know that they have other options or that they could?

This will be added to the resume. Just one second. Let's finish with, let's go back for it, then we'll come back.

Okay, there is a controlling document. Correct. The controlling document is what this gentleman, the good lawyer, is now doing, right? And granted, you're not going to be able to get all your legal jargon in there, right, because it's 75 words, but that is the controlling document.

Document what's stipulated what we're saying so so if I make No, no I just want to so the ballot language of the 75 words would still lead the voter to believe that They have this choice either between safety police and fire or increasing their taxes There's no nothing outside of that that doesn't change regardless of the amendments that we're adding right now That's correct, right now it's not. And there's no discussion with the community, and there's no outreach, and there's no engagement, and there's no, we're just putting this on for 450 million. That's what we're voting on? We're just goi

Why are they forced? Wait, wait, wait. I'm an adult. I'm an adult. And when I go vote, you know, I read what's going on. And if you don't read well, and by the way, put on the 75 words that, by the way, this is going to cost you this. Because that's why I never wanted an election. That's not there. Wait a minute. Let me finish. I never wanted an election in August because it wasn't a true reading because everybody wasn't coming. Come on. I didn't want to jam this through. I always said that I wanted the election in November because I want, when everybody comes out, I want a true reading of wha

Okay, Commissioner Gabella, we're going to give Commissioner King one more set of comments, and then we'll move to vote.

I have a question for the city attorney. When you bond money, you can give it back? So, because that's, I believe that's what has been said here. Bond the money, but if we don't use it, we give it back.

But we can give it back in another way that you then have, if you have $450 million that you didn't have before, then you got a plus against your liabilities. So if you want to give it back in that way, you can give it back in that way. I don't know the rules, but.

But you would have the money, you would have the money because we just stated that the money cannot be used for anything other than fire stations or a police. So if it's not used that, you are going to have the money. If it's not used on that, you know, it defeats...

It's going to be done in crunches, is what I understand. It's going to be done in crunches, because we don't want money that we're not using yet and service the debt on that money that we're not actually using.

Just one second. We've got three people going in... Commissioner King has the floor, folks. One more question. Go ahead.

I don't have another question. I might have another comment after you. Because here's the thing, what you just said. We haven't gone through the bond process. We don't know how it's going to be issued. What's our rating? How much money do we owe? I asked it. How much money do we owe on the other bonds? When is that money due? Miami, the Marlins Stadium, the Miami Forever Bond. When is that debt service due? I understand that it's due now. How much is that? How much on top of what that is, is this going to be?

Can I ask you guys a question, both of you? Let me ask you guys a question. You have Southeast Overtown Park West. Oh, sure. And he has the Amiciuri. You just issued a bond for $150 million. Tell me, before you issued the bond, did you take a poll out there? Did you go out? Absolutely. We totally did. Absolutely. Because I was part of the community.

We have several communities. Colleagues. We have three people talking at once. And this is a professional meeting.

We answer professionally. I'm not sure. Commissioner. Listen.

Commissioner King. One, don't point your finger at me. I'm not pointing.

Because I'm not your child. Don't point your finger at me. Two, he asked us a question and Commissioner Pardo and I answered because we absolutely did take our bond. It took us over a year.

It took you over a year because the county held it up and other things happened. It didn't take over a year because you guys were doing county meetings, guys.

And I want to answer his question. It took us that long because we had to take the information to our community. We have a community meeting. We get feedback. We have to go back, take in their feedback, go back. We met with bond council. We went over. This is not a process.

I got an idea. Let's do that. Let's do that. What are we now, in July? We're now in July. How many months? June, July, August, September, October, and then we get to November. We got three months to do it, ladies and gentlemen. Three months to do it. How about that? Can we call the question, please? Call the question.

All right, the question has been called. All right. No, no, no. Yes, no, go ahead. Todd, if you need to clarify anything, please, Mr. Clerk.

All opposed? No. Passes three to two. Thank you very much. As amended. Thank you. Okay, colleagues, it's a little after 1. Do we want to do another item or two or take a break? Okay, so let's take lunch. It's just after 1. How long would you like, an hour and a half, hour and 15? What are your thoughts? One hour. Okay, well, it's 5 after 1, so why don't we come back at 2.15.

to those families in the long run. And so we were able to introduce a program called SAVE. So storm proof assistance and value enhancements. And thankfully it was approved by the commission unanimously as well. And the idea is that if you come in in the year 2026 and you are making potential home renovations that either increase your home's ability to stand up to a hurricane or make your home more energy efficient, you will get half off on your permit fees throughout the entire 2026. So if you go to the building department and you say, I'm going to replace my roof, I'm going to put impact wind

We've been very supportive of increasing the number of police officers. So as our city's population grows, the number of police officers should keep up with that. And it's not so easy to ensure that that happens because police officers retire in large groups. And so we've got to make sure we're getting more young police officers into the police academy. But in terms of District 4 very specifically, that's a citywide initiative that we are very supportive of and help to lead the way on that. But in terms of District 4 specifically, we also have created a program called HUGS, which stands for, w

Living in Miami anywhere, whether it's our district or anywhere at all, is expensive. I mean, people do want to be here. And so what we're seeing is the cost of living going up. And we know that many folks work at relatively modest income jobs that have salaries that aren't going to be shooting up from today to tomorrow. right so we've got to figure out ways to make the living in the city more affordable for those folks so i've been very supportive of helping to get affordable and workforce housing projects underway across miami-dade county for many years with regard to my district specificall

Absolutely. So we've got a couple of things on the horizon that I'm particularly excited about. So we had a press conference recently and we announced the creation, the upcoming groundbreaking for Superhero Park. And it is the city's, well, the district's, the city's and even the county's first 100 percent ADA accessible park program. I had a niece who passed away a few years back and she lived her life in a wheelchair. And so I got to see firsthand what it was like to have to try to navigate Miami and South Florida within a wheelchair. And the reality is a lot of our recreational amenities ju

It's a phenomenal place to hang out for sure. Come to downtown and come to District 4.

Absolutely. They should call us at 305-250-5420. 305-250-5420. We'd love to hear from you.

Lightful. All right. So we have another item that we still continue to have a lot of people in the audience interested in, and that's PZ9. Commissioner Pardo, if you prefer, we could skip and take that one up, and then we could get our friends from around the county and the city on their way. So let's take up PZ9. Mr. Attorney, do we need to read anything on that?

And hello, Commissioner Regalado. Hello, how are you? Mr. Winkler, just stay seated for a second. Thanks.

Thank you. That's at your discretion, Commissioner Pardo, if you feel like you need, I think you saw it.

I think the summary of the concessions would be the best thing, kind of like where we heard the community and what changed.

While we wait, Mr. City Attorney, I know that this request had also happened at PSAB. And they were denied intervener status. A request for intervener status. And I know they have the option to request it again.

So has anything changed from the legal aspect that was given in that PSAB hearing to now?

Mr. City Attorney, there seems to be a difference of opinion. Commissioner Cabela, do you have any problem if we give Mr. Winker four minutes or so to present? no matter whether he's an intervener or not. Okay, great.

Mr. Winker, just please make your presentation. I presume it wasn't any longer than four minutes to begin with, so we're happy to hear you. Thank you.

George, don't we have to determine if they meet the intervener status? I don't know. Does the body have to or do you?

Wait, the chair said that they didn't meet intervener status?

You advised us that they did not meet the standard of intervener. I think Mr. Winkler should be able to provide his presentation because it's always good to have alternative points of view and sometimes you get new ideas from them.

I agree. I just didn't, I wasn't aware that we decided that they didn't mean an intervener status or I didn't know if you said it. I'm just trying to put it on the record to preserve the record that the body, because they're presenting to us, correct? Did the body... say that they met it or they didn't meet it. Is that, that's how it's, I don't, George?

I just didn't hear it is why I'm asking. Okay.

So we're at four minutes. I think we could go a little longer. Do you agree, Mr. Pardo? Yeah, that would be wonderful. Thank you.

Commissioner Pardo, I'll let you take the lead on this one.

Yeah, I do have some comments. I have a quick question for the city attorney. When it failed at PZAB, it failed because it was a supermajority, correct?

So five in favor, four against. So it's the supermajority. But the Miami 21 code requires a supermajority. Requires a supermajority. That's why it failed. So this obviously has been an incredibly contentious and emotional issue in Coconut Grove, decades long contentious emotional issue. And from the days when I first started knocking on doors and listening to residents, it became very clear that people just wanted something positive done. People wanted to stop the arguing, the bickering, the fighting. And how do we get to a place where we reach an understanding and we do something that is resp

I just want to thank Commissioner Pardo for his advocacy around this project and around Miami Marine Stadium, both of which are historical, architectural, cultural assets that the city has had closed, or city and or county has had closed for half of my lifetime. And I know you've been working really hard to get this reopened, restored, and renovated for the public. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner.

Go ahead, Commissioner Gravella. I want to disclose real quick that I do know the gentleman that's representing The residents, I asked George if I have a conflict, and he says as long as I don't have a bias against which I do that, I can vote. So I just wanted to put that on the record.

Okay, and Commissioner Pardo, I just want to compliment you on having another community meeting with Commissioner Regalado, and from what I heard, a lot of people understood the project as it exists today, kind of post-lawsuits, and were able to come to terms with it. And I just kind of want to put on, you know, they're They're asking for exceptions, but the exceptions are still so much better than what we have today. Right now, we have about 2,000 square feet of green space. So we are literally going to have eight times the amount of green space when we're done, and we will have more than dou

We have a motion to grant the appeal. We have a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Carries unanimously. As amended. Thank you. Thank you very much for your patience with us all day.

Thank you, Commissioner Regalado. Thank you, Ashley Thomas. Appreciate all your hard work.

Okay. Well, let's see. How about we march through?

Commissioner Escalona, are you okay with that? Yep. I believe it's your item.

Okay, Commissioner Escalon, I'll turn it over to you as here's your item.

Yes. So I hear our residents today and obviously I understand how they feel, how passionate they are about this issue. The goal is not to arrest anybody. So because of the concerns they may have, I have two amendments. City Attorney, can you read those amendments?

Can you read those amendments into the record, please?

So if I understand this right, how it's going to work is, let's say you have somebody sleeping on the sidewalk. The police officer would approach. And James, I don't know if you want the police chief to explain how the process will work in the future, or do you want to do it yourself?

So question number one, if there are no beds, if you offer a bed to an individual doing any of these activities, you offer a bed. They refuse. They either have to move or they go to jail. Is that right?

So if you don't have any beds, you cannot make the arrest. Is that accurate? Correct. Okay. That's what I wanted to get out there because it looked like we just wanted to arrest everybody. And that's not the goal. That's not what we want to do. So I just wanted to get that clear. Yes, sir.

Thank you. My concern would be, for example, there's someone near my home that is outside a lot with an umbrella, cardboard box, sitting in a chair with their stuff. You know, if somebody complains about that situation... what would the police do in that sense? Is that an encampment, having an umbrella and creating a small area?

I think I definitely am concerned about us being perceived in any manner or opening a door for criminalization of homeless people. I think that's what we're all trying to prevent. And from a policy perspective, when I hear something like a reasonable time, a warning and a reasonable... What's a reasonable time? I mean... Yeah, the last thing... So, in a way, I'm also trying to protect our force, our police force, so that somebody doesn't make a an error in judgment and it ends up being just a really bad situation, a human situation.

Can I, Madam Chair, can I, okay, because I've had some problems that apparently you're having and I guess all of us are having. I think we all, yes. Yeah, when I came in, I asked this question and I had an idea, right? My idea was since Miami Beach was exporting part of their problem to us, I don't know if you're aware of that, and because TGK, everybody lands up and they give them a ride over here, And then they land up in the Seventh Avenue Quarter, my district, and come in this house. My idea was, why don't we do like an ID system of the guys that are ours, per se, that are not shuffled fro

You're right. Absolutely. Yeah, we can definitely explore different options, sir, to see how we can continue addressing... Well, what I'm saying is that we need to get money to have these Camilo's houses and others have beds, so then you can do your job, because if we don't have that, you can't do your job, kind of what you want to do, right?

I'd like to ask our director of the heat team, because in Overtown, when I got elected... There were a lot of encampments. I'd like to know what the difference is. I'm concerned about the term reasonable. What is reasonable notice for someone that is houseless? Is that 24 hours? Is that 72 hours? Is that a week? In Overtown, when I got elected, we had a huge problem with encampment right underneath the expressway. We don't have that anymore, do we, David? Could you step up and share what we have done? Because I agree with you. I'm completely sympathetic to our houseless situation. I do not wan

Let me ask you, David, what resources do we offer right now homeless?

We also bought beds, right? Yes. By the way, how is that bed buying business that we seem to have had a problem last year with Camila's house? Remember that when they changed the contract on us? Whatever did happen with that? Because I call you guys, we used to call you guys quite often, remember that? I mean, whatever did happen with it? Did we acquire the same amount of beds? Did we not?

So let me ask you this. Are we up to the same capacity that we were? Prior to the little crisis that we had with Camilla's house? We will be by the end of the month. Did we have a net gain of more beds or less? It will be equaled out by the end of the year. It will be what? A net gain? The same? The same. The same.

but it's not right now not right now and we also are looking at extra beds in d5 right that is correct and that's going to be like approximately 120 beds yes yes 120 beds we identified another space and the point i'm trying to make is i don't know that we need to create additional legislation and it will result in arrest i believe i i think i think what we have now is sufficient particularly because I've seen it in Overtown. It was bad, bad and scary. And our former mayor, one, two, three times back, Mayor Suarez, but dad Suarez, not son Suarez, he called me and said, what are you doing? Becau

That is correct. I was going to say right now, just so you guys know, right now, the Bayfront Trust, we're going to vote on giving the The Hermanos de la Calle, you know, I think I said $300,000 is what I said. I might give a little bit more, but I also want to take care of your situation. We did something with the Salvation Army last year for my office, and we gave them money. Now, I haven't kept track of that all the time because I got a lot of stuff on my plate, but do you know where we're at on that?

Commissioner Pardo, you've been waiting patiently.

Thank you. Thank you. I have a quick question. So when a person doesn't accept housing, what happens to them? I mean, if you're offering them a bed and they say, I'm not interested in that. I want to just stay with the shopping cart, my umbrella.

So they're not going to jail? No. Because my understanding of this whole thing is that it eliminates a bureaucratic need to issue a written warning, which is cumbersome and actually delays being able to get them into assistance. Is that your read on this?

Mr. Manager, you've been waiting patiently to say something as well.

David, I have one question for you. In the county, do you know which city does the most for homeless? offer more resources, et cetera. Do you happen to have an idea?

Are you working with Manos de la Calle? Yes, we are. Madam Chair, can you call the question, please?

All right. I presume you'd like to make a motion as amended. Is there a second?

Second. Actually, I didn't get the opportunity to speak. I wanted to... No, it's okay, it's okay.

Is that okay with you, Commissioner Escalona? Yeah, yeah. Okay.

I wanted to thank Chairwoman King. I had not heard about that before, about the notices when you're doing sidewalk pressure cleaning. That is really a very smart tactic. At the DDA, we started about a week ago pressure cleaning sidewalks, but I don't think that's part of the process that we undertake. So my guess is that we're just avoiding certain spots. So I'm going to make sure to talk to the staff about that because I think that could be helpful. On this one, I want to support What I know is Commissioner Escalona's goal. This is one where I need a little more time to kind of wrap my brain

You can vote against it, that's okay. I don't want to vote against it. This is one where I just like a little more time for it, if that's okay.

There's a motion on the floor, so the only way to do that is to make a motion to defer, so that's... Yeah, but there's already a motion to approve it.

He's a motion on the second. Yeah. So we have a motion and a second.

Yep, and Commissioner Gabella, you accept the amendment, correct?

Commissioner Scalona, you wouldn't consider a little more time on this one just to bring it back to September?

This is very clear. We also, I understand what it is being homeless. I get that. But we also need to be honest and we also need to understand that we have residents. I invite you all to stop by Flagrant 12 and see Flagrant 12. It's a disaster. I am not going to have a district like that. With all due respect, I understand that people go through situations in life, but we are providing the resources that are needed for them to go to shelter. Nobody here is saying, we're going to go and arrest you. No. We're providing resources, not only beds. We're providing way more than that. So I genuinely d

Mr. Gilbert, are you comfortable with the revised version of this? I mean, you're much more of an expert on this matter than I am and and and chief Lopez What are your thoughts?

What are your thoughts on this then on the revised version?

We have a motion. We have a second. As amended, Mr. Clerk, all in favor say aye. Any opposed? I'm a no vote. One no vote. Show Commissioner King as a no vote. All right. Thank you very much. I guess we'll go back to our regular order. So public hearing items. Does anyone want to bifurcate any of the public hearing items? Okay, none. Mr. Clerk, I know you have to amend them to add some resolution numbers. Do you want to read that?

All right, so I will take a motion on all the public hearing items as amended. So moved. All right, second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, so show all of those passed. All right, now on the remaining resolutions, does anyone want to bifurcate anything? We've already passed RE5. Anybody want to separate anything from RE1 to RE14?

I'd like to pull RE11 and RE10. I guess RE9 and 10 go together.

9, 10, and 11. Anybody have anything else?

City Attorney, for RE3, we cannot discuss publicly what we were told. I was told, right?

I just want to know for the public to understand what can be discussed. Yes. of the conversation that we had with you.

approval by the City Commission I mean there are a lot of things that we can say but look at the Commission I remember when I was running the fight I'm sorry sorry Gabriela the fights in Gabriela we have we cut all you and the disagreements are part of a week at all you as well I don't believe So you have to see all the facts to understand why we're moving forward the way we are. And they can see that later on, right? Because this becomes public after, what, three months or something like that? Senator?

So when you see the facts, you're going to understand a lot of things. That's all.

Okay, so before we go there, what I'm going to say.

It seems like we're bifurcating RE3. All right, so let's go back to where we were. Stay there. I think they're going to ask you another question, unless you need the steps. All right, so we have bifurcated RE3, RE9, RE10, RE11. Anything else? All right, I'll entertain a motion on RE1, RE2, RE4, RE6, 7, 8, 12, 13, and 14. Mr. Clerk? RE8 was withdrawn. Oh, RE8 was withdrawn. Yes. Sorry about that.

Yes. Okay. I have a motion on all of that. Second. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. All right, now we will return to RE3. Commissioner Gabella, I think you were the one with the next question. Is that correct?

Yeah, I'm going to watch my words here so I don't get... Let's be careful. So I don't get... Okay, so the only thing that... And I'm going to go along because at the same meetings you guys decided to go, you know, the consensus was we do this. But, you know, what bothers me about this, you know... Since I've gotten here, I've been dealing, you have too, and Madam Chair, you guys haven't because you just got here a long while back. But anyway, since we've been here, we've been dealing with the Carollo matter, okay? And when I went into those meetings, every single time, it's been like 10 meetin

No, no, no, don't, this is an opinion. This is not anything that's going to have an effect on your case one way or the other.

Well, then if it doesn't go into the case, you don't have to worry about anything. I'm just talking to talk, right?

Will we do that? That's probably something that's shade me.

No, but this needs to be said so the public can understand part of what he's talking about, okay? So my natural thing to this would be to vote against it. I've stated that on the record, okay? I'm not going to say anything else to that. However, what upsets me is that in the past, regarding the other cases with Carolla, where Carolla was the defendant, let's say that, and the owners of the plane, we were told that continue to the end, continue to the end, and no matter what money it causes, don't ever settle, and let's go to court. But then all of a sudden, Carollo comes over here, he's asking

All right, so despite our total dismay about this item, no offense to your legal services, do I have a motion?

I know, I would never, I'm not looking at anyone except you. And it's Commissioner Rosado's birthday, so we can't ask him.

I'm going to go along kicking and screaming.

Maybe because it's your birthday, you could just do a favor. We can all hold our noses while we vote on this if we need to.

Look at me. He dies for lack of a second.

This will die for lack of a second and we would go to court. Which I think we all know costs more. So that is.

That's why I wanted to discuss all the issues that we have in this case.

Yeah, but it's hard to do that. All right, so no one is willing to second. I'll second. All right. I'll second. And then we'll owe you a second on another thing you don't want to do in the future. All right, so everyone please hold your nose as we vote on this item. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right, show that item passed begrudgingly by our commission.

Thank you. We're sorry you have this case. All right. RE3. Now we're on to RE9 and 10, which are connected, I think. Who would like, I know Commissioner King, you pulled.

I would just like some information on this item. I'm not, I don't understand why we would be taking away the option to fill a vacancy by appointment. To take that away, for example, I wanna use the example when Commissioner Reyes got sick and he really worked until almost the very end. But what if we have a situation where there's a vacancy 30 days or less before an election, then we don't have the option to fill that vacancy through appointment. And I also think that with respect to vacancies, there should be some consideration for what the district commissioner would want. I remember when I

May I? I don't believe we should be able to determine what they want. I believe it's the will, as you say, the will of the people. So they should elect whoever they want, not who we believe could be good for that seat. I strongly oppose appointments. To me, it's always, always election. Let them decide what they want, who they want to be represented with. That's my point.

So I agree with you. Again, that has been my position. But if you said, because you know what your district wants, and you said, I would like to appoint X, I'm saying, I don't think we need to remove the choice. Because when the body comes here and they make it clear, I go with what the community says. But now if the community says a point, we can't do it. They can do it on the ballot. No, you can't. Well, again, I don't think, me, I just don't think we should take that away from this body, the choice. And I've always gone, since I've been elected, I've gone with special elections versus appoi

I agree with you. And furthermore, I remember when Rosado was elected, we chose We could have said, hey, we're going to appoint somebody, and none of us did. We said, no, no, let's go for election. So I understand both sides, but I'm with you.

Commissioner Pardo, again, you're the patient one.

I think there's a very important point here that makes City of Miami different than all the others, and that's that the way our vacancies work, if somebody makes an appointment for a vacancy, it counts as a full term. So if they choose to appoint somebody just for six months or for one month or for a day, it counts for four years. So it was done that way to provide a disincentive to ever accept an appointment, especially if you have political plans. There have been times in our past, like when we appointed Mrs. Thelma Gibson to sit in this chair, that was an appointment and it was perfect. It

As somebody who was elected via special election, I'm very, very supportive of the process. And I agree with letting the people decide. For me, the one sort of nuance to this is how much time is left in the term. Because if there's very little time, logistically, the elections department doesn't have time to pull together an election. And then if they're able to do it, the person may just serve for one or two months. Doesn't quite make sense given the expense. My election costs almost $230,000, just to give you an idea. And so for me, I want to vote for this, but I'd like to propose a friendly

So here's the thing. What I'm going to say is this. The thing is that if you do, for example, what we did in your election, you had that special election, Commissioner Rosado. What happened was in that election that it was a fast election. You know, I kind of like, you know, this is the problem, right? My point is, to your point, when you have a fast election, the candidates can't go out and meet the constituents. And what it is that, you know what I mean? And sometimes what Commissioner Padro is necessary to do to give the candidates time to go out, meet their constituents, have a real campai

And I do think, because typically the body is aligned, we hear the public comments, and we listen. We listen. taking the choice away though. Also, special elections or appointments, it's not necessarily favorable. Appointments have been the kiss of death. You don't enjoy, you don't get an advantage. You don't enjoy incumbency like we have. And even with special elections, because what Commissioner Gabela said, the community decides so quickly, but then the person that's elected, they're in the seat, and then now the community has time to, and that doesn't work out either lately. Miami-Dade Cou

I think that's a big mistake. I personally believe.

They do a lot. They do a lot, right. Miami-Dade County appoints.

They did, pardon the interruption. It used to be they could appoint for a very long time, even as long as, you know, three and a half, you know, let's say, God forbid, something happens on day one of a term, you could appoint someone for four years. But we put a charter amendment on that you could appoint, but that appointment was only good until the next countywide election. So for example, Commissioner Lopez was appointed less than a year ago, and she's already on the ballot. So there was this idea that they didn't want to, in countywide elections, or the county has sometimes more, can be mo

Also, one more thing. I'm talking about Rosado's election, my election. when my predecessor was taken out, okay, you guys, and we weren't here, you weren't here, I wasn't here, you were here, you guys chose to not appoint. It was a month. No, it was more than that. I think it was like two months, but you guys might, you could have appointed somebody, but you could have appointed somebody, and you guys made the choice, the constant choice, not to appoint anybody. So, you know what?

Yeah. Listen, to me, this is about letting them decide what they want to do, but I understand your points.

Tom, do you, I'm sorry, do you have a recommendation then based on the election dates, the qualifying dates?

We still can decide when we want. So let's say that I leave. The commission will decide when we have the election, right? If this passes right now, they cannot appoint anybody. And I leave tomorrow.

Exactly. So that could be three months from now, four, five, six, seven, eight, right?

But we're also taking away a reasonable solution to that issue that the voters and the residents may really be supportive of. They may be supporting it.

Do you believe the residents will support an appointment?

I believe, absolutely. I strongly disagree with you. I know the residents totally supported Ms. Thelma Gibson being appointed in my seat. That was a different time. Well, no, not really. There are people who are stewards, and it makes sense. And by the way, back then, we didn't have that disincentive for appointments. That exists now. That's new with our term limits. So no, I actually think we would weaken the situation for our voters and our residents by taking away the option completely. I think it's extreme for being able to solve the problems that come before us because we're going to hear

Yeah, then the problem becomes that we might have to, because of what he said, we might have a vacancy that we cannot fill because of what you said. Is that correct or not?

So it's possible to have a scenario where we'd have a vacancy. We'd have a district without a commissioner for a couple of months.

This is one of those times where it's very complicated because obviously we should always elect a representative, right? That is an obvious feature of our democracy, our country, and certainly our community. But then you run into, every now and then, you have a six or nine month or one year gap where you've got to fill things in. And when the supervisor of election used to report to the county you at least had a municipal government that had control over the supervisor elections. And we have a pretty good relationship with the county. I realize today we had a little tit and tat with them. But

Right now, what do we need? A three vote? Simple majority vote. So maybe we do the four-fifths or unanimous? I mean, I don't know.

I don't know what you guys... We are having a lot of good suggestions here, I think.

If you want, we can defer this item and then we can revisit.

Yeah. Okay, so we'll defer 9 and 10 indefinitely. I think there's a lot of meat in this discussion, right, because we can end up with vacancies right now that we don't have the ability to fill properly, quickly, and efficiently within our charter and whether that ends up being a charter amendment the next time there's an election grade and if there's something we can do. Okay. All right, so we have a motion to defer 9 and 10. Do I second? All right, all in favor?

Yes, that will give Commissioner Escalona time to say.

Thank you, Todd, for reminding us of that. Okay. RE11. Mr. King, I think you pulled that, correct?

Yes. So I have an issue with RE11 because this seems like billboard shopping. This issue was first brought to my attention in District 5. It's a billboard, not a billboard. And then when I realized that, nope, this isn't a billboard. It was never actually a billboard. And now you're trying to move it over here and put it over there. And I disagree with the statement that this will not create a chain effect for other billboard companies to come back and want an amendment to their their contracts that they have to pay us for billboards, et cetera, et cetera. I don't think that you should be able

And I'd just like, for the record, to confirm that this billboard issue originated in District 5?

Okay. And I just want to let my colleagues know that if something like that happened in your district, and you said no, and they came shopping it in my district, that would be a no for me, because... We are talking about billboards, right? Right. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, right? So, and we know how sensitive the community is about these billboards, and again, I don't believe that you should be shopping, you know, you get a no from one district, and then you go find another district that it's palatable for, in addition to the legal ramifications that we will be walking into, which is what I said, and then they went someplace else. So, I'm a no.

Okay, so, through the chair? Yes. Okay, so then on the flip side of that, I imagine that, might there be a component here that the big guys don't want this, you know, they don't want competition?

Madam Chair, I know that we have the attorneys involved with this item, the outside attorneys, and I wonder if we could hear from them because there seems to be a discrepancy between the two sets of attorneys.

Yes, but Mr. Avignon, not for very long.

It's not approved. Because if it was approved, it would have come forward.

It wasn't approved. That was a draft. If it was approved. It was reviewed and it was not accepted.

Commissioner Rosado has the floor. So we can get to you after Commissioner Rosado finishes.

I was just answering him because he spoke to me directly.

Okay, thank you. To our city attorney, you want to explain that to all of us?

Commissioner Gabela, you have a question? Yeah.

Can I? Okay. So you're telling me, so for example, let's say I have a, Let's say it was in my area, and I said, no, I don't want to do it, right? Then they moved to somewhere else. How was it in that game when the one in my area, I just said, no, you're not going to do it, right? Explain to me how, because I'm seeing as you're moving over here, you've got 300, and you're moving all over the place. But explain to me. So the three companies, Carter. How does it, well, you're not letting them in your area, right? Period. Period.

No, no, I couldn't. First of all, there's some history that's being left out. It's not even a billboard, and there's some state issues. Attorney Dooley could speak to that. It's not even a billboard. So it's not that. If it was a billboard, I would have... place the billboard in D5 when they wanted to do it. There are several issues that go along with this that they are not talking about, because I'm not unreasonable. You know, they were going to give me community benefits from this billboard if, in fact, we could have made it work. But there were several issues going along, one of which they

They don't have a billboard, what are they?

I would defer to our city attorneys to speak to that.

All right, colleagues, any more discussion or thoughts on this? Commissioner Rosado, how would you like to proceed? I have control of the meeting, thank you very much. Commissioner Rosado, how would you like to proceed?

Madam Chair, I do want to give them the opportunity to clear the record. Okay, that's fine.

Okay, there's a motion to approve. Is there a second?

Okay, we have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. Motion passes three to two with Commissioner King and Commissioner Pardo being no votes. Thank you. All right, where are we? First readings, I believe, will we read those titles into the record?

Colleagues, do we want to bifurcate either of those?

Just on FR1, I think we have a substitution, George.

All right, so do I have a motion on FR1 as amended in FR3? Second. All right, all those in favor say aye. Any opposed? I'll show both of those passed unanimously. I think maybe now we have boards and committees. Do we have any appointments, Todd?

All right. Now we move into the PZ items. I think we have four, five, and eight. Does anyone want to bifurcate any of those? All right, I'll entertain a motion for the- Wait, wait, wait, let me read the titles, I'm sorry. Oh yes, I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of you, George.

All right. Now, does anyone want to bifurcate anything? Commissioner Gabela. Oh, you're ready for a motion. Okay. So, moved by Commissioner Gabela, seconded by... Second. by Commissioner Escalona. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All righty, show those items fast to unanimous. Mr., I think Commissioner Gabela, it's probably time for your pocket.

Yes, ma'am. Thank you. All right, so I just want to address something quickly, and I called it. Commissioner Cardona, this has to do with you. Your office invited me to attend the 11th of July event that you're having for Free Cuba, and you and I and a bunch of people here share the same sentiment that we are passionate about the freedom, the cause for freedom for Cuba. However, I have a problem attending, and I think you know why. Ernesto Martin, that you're going to have there, also known as . This gentleman has had problems, like you know, in the past few days. If he's there, I am not going

Commissioner, I heard about what happened yesterday night. Let me do my research, and I will let you know. Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Okay, that concludes the business. You all have a shade session. Do you need to read something before we leave?

All right. Thank you Commissioner Escalona before we recess will you gavel us out when you guys have to come back down here?

All right, this should conclude the City of Wyoming Commission meeting for July 9. Thank you. Thank you.