Housing Committee - Regular Meeting

Welcome to the Housing Committee meeting. Madam Clerk, or Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.

Thank you. I'd like everyone to please rise for a moment of silence in prayer, thinking about the people of Venezuela as they deal with the aftermath of the earthquake. A moment of silence. Thank you. Now the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you so much. Now I'd like to open the opportunity for the public to be heard. I don't have, do I have cards? I don't see any cards. Is there anyone in the public wishing to speak on any of the items on this agenda? Seeing no one approaching, reasonable opportunity is now closed. Madam Attorney, or Mr. Attorney.

All right, so do we have someone moving the rest of the?

I'm pulling 3A. Yes, I have it there. Anyone else?

3A, okay. All right. So do I have a motion?

All right. All in favor? Aye. All right. Mr. Attorney?

All right. All in favor? Aye. All right. So now we take the 3A. Let's start with Commissioner Regalado.

Anyone from the administration, yes, we have director Miller director you all recognized.

Commissioner, are you? Okay, thank you. Commissioner Bermudez, you recognized.

Yes, yes. I'm kind of coming at it from the same perspective, but a little bit different. I spoke to the mayor of Hialeah. He's indicated to me, and he's a new mayor, by the way, and I just think that it's good.

Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. I spoke to the Mayor Hialeah, who is one of the cities that I represent, and he is not aware. Nobody spoke to him from the county on this issue, and I just think the proper policy should be for the administration or the administration's representatives to talk to the mayor of that municipality. This may have started. With a prior mayor, Hialeah was once on his days, but at this point there is a new mayor and he correctly. Or he indicated to me, and I agree that the courtesy should be to speak to him. This is something that does impact the Highline and that for Hialeah may

The prior mayor. Yes. The former commissioner, Mayor Bovo, as you're talking about.

I know, but his name is Brian Calvo. Mayor Calvo is the new mayor. Yes, sir. I got it. I grew up in Hialeah. I understand how things work, but there's a new mayor and the new mayor needs to be talked to. I know that it's, you know, what he needs to look and, you know, it doesn't mean that we'll agree on everything with, you know, any particular city's mayor. But the importance is that the courtesy should be given to that new mayor. Even if this began during the time period of Mayor Bovo, it may be a good idea, maybe anything else, that we still need to talk to the new mayor. So I, in good cons

Thank you. Do you have an answer, Director?

Thank you. That's all, you know, Madam Chair, for me, it's a matter of courtesy. There's a new administration. Let's talk to them. And that's where I'm coming from. And I was very surprised when he told me they had not spoken to him.

Then you did indicate that you spoke to the mayor? Prior administration. I spoke to the prior mayor. All right. Are you willing to speak to the new administration? Yes. And from my understanding, the 36 units are workforce housing, right?

Affordable, well, workforce. When we talk about workforce, we're talking about people making at least $70,000 to $100,000 a year, right? How many residents in Hialeah can afford to pay that amount? Because I see 36 units at 120% AMI. It's a senior housing. There is a discrepancy here, Director Miller. How do you justify that?

So 120% AMI, specifically how much would the resident be making to qualify for the so-called affordable housing?

How many residents in Aelia can afford that? Because when we talk about affordable, my question is, has always been affordable for whom? And if it's not affordable for the residents, Who live in Hialeah? Who is it affordable for?

Madam Commissioner Regalado, would you like to be recognized?

So thank you. Is that it Commissioner Regalado? Thank you so much. Would you like to say? Okay. So I do have the plan in front of me, Director Miller. So at a 120% AMI for a family of four, one person, you have to be making $114,480 a year to qualify. Two people have to make at least $130,000 a year, and so on and so forth. And for a family of four, they have to be making $163,440 a year to qualify. So the maker of the... The sponsor of the, of the item is not here, so I'm not, I don't feel comfortable. I'd like to hear, uh, the position of my colleagues. Uh, I'd like to. Okay. So I have, uh,

Do we have a second second? I do have a comment, a Madam chair, when appropriate.

Thank you so much. So I think the discussion that we're having always begs the question about these AMI charts that we just got. And for me, as we've said in this committee before, our seniors are not 30% AMI, 20% AMI. Our working class is at 50 and 60 percent AMI. So the county has somehow in its inevitable way said that workforce is between 60 and 140, which does not encompass the true picture of Miami-Dade County. And either we start talking about that, because that is why everyone thinks that it's not affordable, even though we say it is. We all know it's not. And the people that we repres

Thank you, Vice Chair, and we are all in agreement, and that's why, as you know, I sponsored legislation to reassess this AMI because there is a disconnect. There is clearly a disconnect. We cannot continue to pretend that we are building affordable housing and then we call it affordable when most of the residents... In my district, in his district, in Commissioner Agada's district, are not able to afford it. In Commissioner Lopez's district. So there is a disconnect. So I have an item that passed committee already, as you know, that will be coming to, hopefully, to the next BCC for us to tack

All right, so thank you so much. So we have, you move it to defer. Do we have a second? Yes. And then do we have a date to next committee meeting? Is that okay?

Mr. Attorney, when is the next one? September? September. Please check the dates.

Yes, and I would just say that to Commissioner Bermudez's point, talking to the new mayor and the new administration, they may have another idea. He, the mayor, may already begin to see where the needs are. That's a long time from the last administration. And I'd welcome to hear what he thinks. So certainly moving it to October gives everybody plenty of time to have conversations, to meet with the right people. But I like, you know, Commissioner Regalado think, you know, we're giving up something. We got to get something. And if it had been senior housing, I'd have been ecstatic, even if it we

Thank you so much. So deferred to the October. We have two committees. October, what is the date, please?

All right. So there is a request that 2A is moved to the next BCC. Is that what it is? Yes. To the July 18 BCC. July 21st BCC. All right. Anything else, Mr. Attorney?

Thank you. Thank you so much. We're going to start with the presentations. I'm going to start with the Community Services Department. Please approach the well. I'd like to know how much time do you need to present at, you know,

Five minutes. Sounds good to me. Excellent. Are you going to time me? Well. Maybe. Maybe.

Thank you so much. Any questions from our colleagues? Good job. Thank you.

I'm just going to make a comment. It's not a question. All these presentations remind me of the Simpsons movie where everybody's at the bar and the other ones at the church are by each other. And the world is ending. They run the different direction. you know, the bar people go to the church, the church people go to the bar, because that's, I haven't seen any numbers or anything like that yet, but that's okay. Thank you very much. I know it's not your fault, but what was me? The world is doomed where everything's, you know, so that's what I feel. There's a soccer game that I'd like to go see i

Thank you, Commissioner. So we all had the same observations, no numbers. Maybe there is a strategy behind it, but... It is what it is. Thank you so much for a nice presentation. All right. Anything, Vice Chair? Okay. All right. Now we are calling on the Department of Public Housing.

You did. You did. You did. You did. You took a couple more minutes, but you're forgiven because I think you won the most dynamic presentation award this afternoon. I know my colleagues agree. And you also spoke my language when you talked about streamlining the process. I think this is something that we really, really need to work on. It's unacceptable for things to take so long. And so I'd like to commend you and your team for a great job. Nathan is out here. No, he's not. He's on vacation. But I really would like to commend the team because I know your job is not easy. But I agree. We need t

Thank you. Thank you so much. Most dynamic. Thank you. Now, final one is Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust. And did I see Ms. Mallette? How much time do you need, Ms. Mallette?

Thank you so much for your presentation. Any comments or questions from my colleagues?

Yeah, great job. Great presentation. And let me state that your job is not easy. It is the most difficult job, especially in these days where we are seeing new breeds of homelessness. no longer are the homeless, those who are unemployed or mentally challenged. We have families now who have two jobs and cannot afford housing. So your job is not easy and yet you do it every day. You have a great team. My team works perfectly well with you. And then kudos to you and the team, and then kudos to your visionary leader, one book, who is not here, but I want him to know that we appreciate your work. W

All right. I'm not going to ask you who you're rooting for. In terms of the soccer game.