City Commission - Regular Meeting

Please take your seats. The meeting is about to begin. Remember to speak into the microphone as this meeting is being recorded for public record. Please stand by. We are going on air in five, four, three, two, one.

Good morning. Welcome to our commissioning meeting of May 20th. Thank you to my colleagues who are here. Some are on the way, but let's get started. I'll turn it over to our city clerk, Raphael Granato, for any pertinent instructions.

Good morning. The City Commission is physically present in the Commission Chamber at Miami Beach City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Drive, third floor. Members of the public are invited to attend either in person or virtually. If you're joining us virtually, you can log in using the Zoom app or visit the zoom.us on your browser. You can also phone in at 305-224-1968 or toll free 888-475-4499. Again, the local number is 305-224-1968. The webinar ID is 813-928-576-71-pound. Again, webinar ID is 813-928-576-71-pound. If you would like to speak virtually on an item during the meeting, please click the raise hand icon in the Zoom app or press star nine on your phone. The Zoom link, webinar ID, and phone number stay the same for every commission meeting. All lobbyists must register with the Office of the City Clerk located on the first floor of City Hall. You do not need to register if you're an expert witness giving only technical or specialized testimony, a representative of a neighborhood association or nonprofit speaking without pay, or a private citizen speaking on your own behalf without compensation. However, if you're an expert witness or a nonprofit or a neighborhood rep, you do need to submit a written disclosure form to the Office of the City Clerk before speaking with a commission or city staff. Forms are available at the office of the city clerk for lobbyist gives or agrees to give a thousand dollars or more to a neighborhood Association or its representative regarding a city matter that must be disclosed in writing to the clerk Note that contingencies fees are not permitted to compensate lobbyists if you plan to speak during the public comment period today We request that you sign in you could sign in using the QR codes located on the on the days on the podiums Good morning

Pursuant to section 286.011 subparagraph eight Florida statutes, as city attorney I hereby advise the mayor and city commission that I desire advice concerning the following pending litigation matter. Penrod Brothers Inc. versus the City of Miami Beach and Boucher Brothers. Case numbers 2023-16657CA01, 2023-56AP012, 2023 CV 23362 and 2025 13415. These cases are pending before the Florida 11th Circuit Civil Division, Florida 11th Circuit Civil Appellate Division, Southern District of Florida and the 11th Circuit respectively. Therefore, a private attorney-client session will be held during the lunch recess of the City Commission meeting in the City Manager's large conference room on the fourth floor of City Hall to discuss settlement negotiations and or strategy related to litigation expenditures. The Mayor will announce the commencement of the attorney-client session prior to recessing the Commission meeting.

Okay. It is now my honor to welcome Rabbi Daniel Hadar. Thank you for being here and your lovely wife Dina for being here as well. Before you start your invocation, I just have to say thank you, not just for me, but really Miami Beach. I've seen the transformation that you have done in North Beach and building a community there, also working together closely, for example, with Normandy Fountain Business Association and David Sexton and others. It's a real true community, and we're thankful and blessed to have you here today.

humbled by your words and I think all of you for all the support for the community and I'm gonna just share a few words of thought and prayer this morning. In honor of, or on behalf of the commission and the mayor, and the great people of Miami Beach were sitting before an auspicious time in the Jewish calendar, which is the holiday of Shavuot, the holiday when we got the Torah, when we got the word of God, as it were, right in front of Mount Sinai. And something very special happened there. The whole nation of Israel came together, it says, as one people with one heart, as though they were just one person. And we found that when that happened, amazing things happen, that when they came together, God was with them. And today I give a blessing and pray that God should give all of you and all of us that we should come together as a city, as one person with one heart, and in doing so, what it shows is that we are of sound mind and of togetherness, and when we're together, purpose of mind, then amazing thing happen. Not just incredible things on our organizational side, but amazing things happens from God. And today I bless the commission that we should see all of that blessing and all the work that you do in bettering our city, in helping us become the best people that we can be and becoming the best people that you can be. May God bless, amen.

Thank you. Thank you, Robert Hadar. Thank you, Dina Hadar. Now I get to surprise someone in the audience to lead us in the pledge. How about Hernan Cardeno? Hernan is our director of code enforcement. We talk a lot about police, but code does an incredible job in code compliance, code enforcement. And welcome up.

Good morning. Please stand if you're able to. Place your right hand over your heart. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Before we start with the time, I wanted to recognize that there was an incident THE OTHER DAY IN OUR CITY IN WHICH SOME TOURISTS FROM OUT OF THE COUNTRY CAME HERE AND DEFACED WITH THE WORDS ADOLPH WAS HERE WITH A SWAT STICKER ON A BENCH AND BY A CROSSWALK THAT HAS BEEN REPRESENTATIVE OF OUR LGBTQ COMMUNITY. I want to open it up for everyone here. It's obviously horrific. And I was thinking about it. Why did this happen in our city? And I did some research and I was looking and I realized nobody's immune from hate. It's how you handle it and how you address it. And I'm so proud of our city, of our representatives. I know we have here COUNCIL GENERAL OF GERMANY, CHRISTOPHER BERGER, WHO'S HERE. I'D LIKE HIM TO SAY A FEW WORDS AS WELL SINCE THEY WERE GERMAN TOURISTS. COMMISSIONER BOTT, THANK YOU. I BELIEVE YOU WERE THE FIRST ONE THAT REACHED OUT TO THE COUNCIL GENERAL IMMEDIATELY TO NOTIFY HIM OF THIS INCIDENT. AND AGAIN, I'M APPRECIATIVE OF EVERYONE UP HERE IN OUR CITY FOR CONDEMNING THIS IMMEDIATELY OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT, FROM THE MOMENT THEY WERE NOTIFIED OF IT, WHICH WAS PRETTY QUICKLY, TO THE TIME OF ARREST, WAS LESS THAN ONE HOUR, USING OUR REAL TIME INTELLIGENCE CENTER CAMERA SYSTEMS, AND I'VE BEEN IN COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE STATE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, AND I BELIEVE THEY ARE TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY, AND WE'RE GOING TO PROSECUTE THIS TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW. AS I'VE MENTIONED MANY TIMES, UNFORTUNATELY, ULTIMATELY, HATE LIKE THAT Ultimately and always leads to violence. We've seen that throughout thousands of years of history So very appreciative everyone who took quick swift action I'd like to ask council general to say a few words and Thank you very much mayor minor for inviting me to speak here today Also, thank you again Commissioner, but for being the first to alert me to this incident yesterday

I, my name is Christopher Berger, I have the honor of representing the Federal Republic of Germany here in the great state of Florida and also being a proud resident of this beautiful city of Miami Beach. More than 300,000 German tourists visit Florida every year and I am happy to say that most of them are well behaved and well received here and rarely ever get in trouble with the law. Usually, if there is a case where tourists break the law, it doesn't really matter very much. It doesn't make much of a difference what country they're from. They're tourists. They committed some infraction. But we immediately understood that in this case, it does make a difference that these tourists came from Germany because as a nation, we bear responsibility for the worst crime in human history, the Holocaust. And that is also why under German legislation, public display of symbols of the Nazi party is considered a criminal offense. So when I learned of the shameful incident yesterday, I immediately reached out to the mayor to, first of all, offer our support in fixing the damage that was done, but also to offer our voice in reassuring our communities here in Miami Beach, the LGBT community, the Jewish community, with which we're so grateful to have enjoyed amazing relations over many, many years. to reassure everyone that this is not representative of the German people or the German nation, that we as a nation do not tolerate anti-Semitism. We do not tolerate hate against anyone. We stand united against bigotry. And this also serves as a reminder that you are... The work of combating antisemitism, of combating bigotry is never done. It takes a continuous effort, most of all through education. But where education isn't enough, it also requires us to use law enforcement to enforce the letter of the law to draw the line of what is acceptable and what isn't in our community. And I would like to thank Miami Beach Police Department and everyone involved for having such a swift and clear response to this to make it clear that together as a community, this is not something that we will tolerate. Thank you very much again. And if we can be of any further support in...

you know giving that assurance to our communities we will be happy to do so thank you very much thank you council john for being such a clear voice on this that's it's very meaningful uh to our city and to everyone uh you are you were out there you were seen in the media being a clear voice and it's uh it's noticed it's appreciated and and it's impactful thank you thank you question about

Mr. Consul General, thank you for coming here today and obviously for your quick response yesterday and your responsiveness to the phone calls. What you didn't mention in your remarks just now, which I think everybody should know, is that there was a big day at the consulate yesterday where I think it was 20? 14. 14? People, Jews, were reclaiming their German... lineage and reclaiming their German nationality, which is a real testament to the work that Germany has done. Most people don't know this, but German was actually my first language. I lived in Germany from the ages of two to four, which I know is not a big deal, but you do learn to speak there and I do have very real memories from there. And, you know, my whole family is Jewish and we lived in Karlsruhe and it was not that long after the war. It was in the in the very late 60s, early 70s, and we felt pretty secure as Jews living in Germany. And I think it's really a testament to the nation of Germany, the fact that they have taken so seriously this education process of making sure that people understand history so that we do not repeat it. And I think that is definitely missing in the world. The other thing that I wanted to point out is that this was an act of hate. It was specifically directed towards the Jewish community in Miami Beach, but it was chosen to be done just the most visibly proud LGBTQ corner of our community, cornerstone, foundational corner of our community where Joe had just gotten a beautiful rainbow bench installed and Alex has a whole memorial plaque history explaining why this rainbow sidewalk was so important. There are rainbow colored bike racks. There are rainbow banners because Miami Beach is not perfect. We have a complicated history, but we really strive to be open-minded and welcoming to everybody. And, you know, it's bad enough that that graffiti was done anywhere. I was hoping it was a bunch of idiot kids who were doing something with a Sharpie, but it was old men who knew better and were doing something intentional. And it was just a slap in the face to so many residents, regardless of religious faith or anything. It's just so many people who choose to be in Miami Beach because it's open and inclusive and welcoming. So it's even bigger than, I mean, anti-Semitism is big enough. Anti-LGBTQ is big enough. But it was just such a perfect storm of nastiness and hate and bigotry and stupidity. So it's really I think it's telling that everybody has jumped on this and I want to commend Chief Jones. I reached out to him and I want to also recognize one of our residents. I don't know if he's here, but David Adams alerted me to this yesterday and no, two days ago. And as soon as I saw it, I sent it to the chief and he and his team jumped on it. And as you mentioned, Mayor got these guys arrested and sorted out right away. And so it's a testament to how quickly people respond to things that go against the grain. for the greater good, so compliments to everybody on that, and onward and upward.

Thank you. Let's open up to the Sutnick Hour.

Commissioner Fernandez. Yeah, I wasn't going to comment on this. I actually was going to comment on something different, because today is Venta de Mayo. It's Cuban Independence Day. And my thoughts today are with the millions of Cubans, both on the island and throughout the exile, throughout South Florida, who have spent generations longing not simply for political change, but for freedom. FOR FREEDOM ITSELF. AND TODAY IS ACTUALLY QUITE A UNIQUE DAY BECAUSE ALL EYES ARE GOING TO BE IN SOUTH FLORIDA, IN MIAMI LATER THIS AFTERNOON AT THE FREEDOM TOWER IN MIAMI, THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE is expected to honor the four innocent men murdered in the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shoot down. And I think many of us who were living in this community at that time remembered that horrific act of of murder that was ordered under the Cuban dictatorship and that sent a chilling message to anyone daring challenge the tyranny of the Castro regime or seek freedom itself. And actually, it came back to my mind because yesterday we went to West Miami-Dade to honor one of our firefighters who passed away. And as we were leaving that funeral home, we turned on 97th Avenue and I look at the sign and the street was dedicated to Mario de la Peña. Mario de la Peña was one of the four pilots who were shut down, murdered, executed by the Cuban regime back in 1996. And for so many of us in this community, this is deeply personal. This morning, my mind was going back to great leaders who have fought for freedom, for the freedom of the Cuban people. Leaders like Jorge Mascanosa, leaders like Lincoln Diaz-Balart, leaders like religious leaders like Monsignor Agustin Roman, people who used the powers of their talents like Celia Cruz, who we have a street named after, or people like Marta Flores, people who fought for freedom in our community and who died, who died dreaming dreaming of that day of freedom, and my heart went directly to my family, my Tio Alberto, my Tio Enrique, my Tia Mirta, my abuelos, my grandmother who passed two years ago, carrying the pain of exile until her final days. And so hopefully we might be at a turning point, but I would have been remiss. I would have been remiss as a Cuban American born in this great country whose parents dealt the challenges of exiles and whose families felt the atrocities of the Cuban government, not to honor this day, not to remember the executed political opponents of the Cuban government who were killed by firing squads, all the dissidents, the students, the priests, the journalists, those who were accused of independent thought, and all who were persecuted by the Cuban government in churches, who were persecuted for just being who they were. It is an oppressive government that must come to an end. And today I wanted to shed light upon that government because of the historic nature of what's going to happen today at the Freedom Tower. And I thank you, Mr. Mayor, for indulging me with that. It represents so many in our community, represents so many of us on this dais, and represents so many of our workers whose families have dealt with this for decades.

No, thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Fernandez, for your words and for your really strong stand in taking the lead on this very important issue for the Cuban people. It's a sad situation, but one that we continue to fight. Thank you.

My name is Ken Barnes. I'm a retired physician. I live in Miami. I would like to ask you some questions. What if one of you hired video billboard trucks using pictures and videos of constituents, calling them anti-Semitic and Jew haters, in effect bullying them? What if this was an attempt to silence, target, intimidate, and harass members of the Miami Beach community and a political organization opposed to the beliefs of said commissioner? What if this was because you wanted these same constituents to become fearful of negative consequences because they spoke publicly, criticized officials, or exercised their free speech, What if one of you made false statements that attempted to harm the reputation of these constituents? Do you believe that the public official should be held to a higher standard? Would you think that such behavior is an abuse of office and against the public good, undermining the dignity, integrity, impartiality, and public trust expected of someone holding public office? Rather than being passionate, Was this a mean-spirited violation of norms of behavior? And what if said commissioner did these acts while the mayor and other commissioners of that city remained silent? Wouldn't you be obligated to call for his or her resignation? This is why we are calling for the resignation or removal of Commissioner David Suarez, who with malice tried to intimidate and harass members of the community, as well as an organization, Jewish Voice for Peace, both being critics of Israel's genocide in Gaza and unrelenting attacks in the West Bank, which he vigorously supports. At the very least, I urge you to put forward a resolution to censor him. Thank you very much.

Thank you. I'll just say, you throw out terms. The genocide, the only genocide that was attempted was by Hamas in Iran. You try to deflect on the real issue. You had your piece, I said mine. And I said it in a lot less than two minutes.

Go ahead state your name address and do you have two minutes, please? Go ahead.

My name is Shannon Bustamante I'm from 316 Payne Drive, Miami Springs, Florida, and I'm here speaking on the shark fishing ban on Miami Beach Good morning, everyone. My name is Shannon Bustamante Though many of you know me as seaweed from the award-winning film South Beach Shark Club on Amazon Prime. I The film was released in 2022 after being filmed over seven years because we knew back then and long before that one day we would be fighting for land-based shark fishing and recreational fishing rights. The documentary shows how beautiful South Florida cities built around fishing, diving, surfing, and skateboarding have slowly become controlled by foreign money and transient wealth. While lifelong locals like myself, born and raised on South Beach since 1985, are pushed aside through quietly proposed bans like the one we're fighting today. In the documentary, you'll see me at South Point Pier pointing out how certain pier rules and restrictions were already making fishing increasingly difficult long before this proposed ban. But beyond that, the film exists because shark fishing truly saved my life and the lives of dozens of friends during a wild era in Miami known for gangs and violence. The same path eventually led to me becoming the assistant head football coach at Miami Beach Senior High School here in Miami Beach and the assistant commissioner at Northwest Boys and Girls Club. One of the biggest traditions, something we do more than 30 times a year, is bringing hundreds of kids back to South Beach to fish. Many of these kids come from broken homes. Many of these kids come from broken homes and are being raised by single grandparents or practically raising themselves Their sporting events and fishing trips are sacred to them out there on the beach They learn patience discipline camaraderie respect for nature and moments of peace away from the chaos many of them face daily in Miami Most of the old-timers who helped save my life through fishing have passed away, and now I'm one of the last people still carrying the tradition forward more than 35 years later. Thank you, sir. Oh, okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Next, please.

Can I have a presentation?

PJ.

And while he's getting that, I just want to thank everybody who found the funding for the senior soccer group. There was a little contention at the end of last year where there was a hiccup with the funding. And I just want to thank you all because the group really appreciates that.

The presentation, again, was from the – PJ, this is a presentation that I sent you yesterday.

Understood. One moment. Bringing it up now.

Go ahead, sir, if you could start without the presentation or –

I'll start speaking, but the presentation kind of is coordinated with what I'm going to be saying. So I just want to thank you all for all the work that you do. My name is David Ballard. I'm from 421 77th Street. I'm here on behalf of the residents and neighbors of Altus Del Mar area, which is the section between 75th Street and 81st Street between Collins and Dickens. I'm here to speak about a public safety situation on Harding Avenue near 73rd, 74th, and especially 75th Street. Currently, 75th Street is a primary route for emergency vehicles in our neighborhood, which now that it's being blocked on an almost daily basis in the morning, emergency vehicles, fire trucks cannot get through. These intersections were blocked occasionally, maybe once or twice a month, usually tied up to a concrete pour or a broken down bus. We as neighborhoods understood that. But now the drivers are systematically entering the intersection without space to clear them, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of gridlock. This behavior is no longer an occasional occurrence. It has become normalized daily for the traffic on Harding Avenue. Cars consistently block the intersection mid-red light, preventing lateral traffic from moving and creating dangerous blind spots and obstructions for pedestrians using the crosswalk. And that's really why I was here is because one of our neighbors, an older lady who's about this tall, had waited at the light two or three times when it was completely blocked with vehicles. Finally, she wanted to go up to Surfside and she wanted to catch her bus. And as she's crossing, she almost got clipped by another car blocking the intersection. The law is clear. Florida Statute 316.2.0. Do not block the intersection. The sign is posted at 75th Street, as you all can see. Unfortunately, the sign is a fine for $133, where most of the other intersection blocking fines in the city are $500. We're not asking for any kind of major program. We're just asking for one or two citations a month at these intersections. Visible enforcement would change behavior. I believe that's all that it takes. Blocking these intersections endangers lives daily. And as it says very clearly over the intersection, do not block the intersection. We just ask that that be enforced. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for putting the work together to do this. Thank you, sir. I know Chief Jones is listening carefully. Thank you.

Mr. Hobart. Good morning, everybody. Mitch Novick, 38-year resident and business owner. For as long as city manager Eric Carpenter has been With the city, since the early days of the Morales administration, Miami Beach residents have faced annual water rate increases every October, along with additional fees created, such as the monthly fire sprinkler charge. Previously, customers received notice about upcoming increases on their utility bills but those notices disappeared this past November. Today's proposed water rate hike was pulled due to lack of sponsorship and now you're being asked to approve item R5Q allowing the city manager to sponsor items. This is clearly an attempt to revisit this unpopular issue. Residents reject these increases and approving more would equate to a political suicide. As someone With two water billing accounts, I publicly oppose these increases for over 30 years. I believe my opposition led to the adoption of automatic annual rate increases. If you approve item R5Q, the Public Works Director will likely stand up here holding up a cruddy pipe warning that the sky is falling. My response is find solutions within the existing budget. The city has added 500 employees and doubled its budget since Eric began. The problem is spending, not revenue. It's time to prioritize essential services over unnecessary expenses like the $100,000 for the sparsely attended Ocean Drive Promenade music series or the quarterly glossy magazine produced and mailed by the Office of Marketing and Communication. We're a municipality, not an entertainment conglomerate. It's high time to treat it as such. Thank you.

Go ahead, please. State your name, address, and you have two minutes.

I'm just going to do the translation. Good morning, everyone.

Good morning. So my name is Angie Safadi. Thank you for having us here today to be able to talk about our concerns. So I work in the Miami Beach Convention Center, and I'm here representing 130 other workers in my department as well. So we're here today to speak with you all asking for your support for a benefit that we had for years that was recently taken away from us.

So specifically around the parking, for years we had 100% parking coverage. We didn't pay a dollar to park at the 17th Street Garage. And then this parking was taken away and now we have to pay 50% of the cost.

So the goal here is to see whether through you all or if we can do a meeting to speak with you on Sodexo to get that benefit. I currently make $20 an hour. And this is something that's affecting all of us and it's affecting our pockets. Also, there's parking that's inside the garage. Now we have to park in the 23rd Street parking lot, which is a difference, but if there's some type of solution to be able to get and maintain the free parking. So if we can meet with you all and figure this out.

Thank you so much.

I'm sorry, can you restate her name? I didn't catch it.

Angie, A-N-Y-I, last name Safadi, S-A-F-A-D-I.

Thank you. Thank you for highlighting the issue. Commissioner Fernandez.

Yes, and thank you for being here. We had been notified of this through Unite here. and we had, I think a number of us had been notified, and I believe from what I'm gathering from the reactions of my colleagues, a number of us reached out to the city manager's office. It was my understanding that this had been solved. Es nuestro entendimiento que esto se había resolvido y que ya ustedes tenían acceso Mr. Manager, can you chime in? Because my understanding was when Unite here reached out to us, we reached out to you and your department and that this issue had been solved for the workers.

Commissioner, that is my understanding as well. Many of you reached out to me and I reached out to our parking department and I was assured that the same offer that we had been providing at the 17th Street Garage was now being provided at the Collins Park Garage It was a different location, but it was supposed to be the same rate.

But we're hearing two different things. We're hearing an offer that perhaps was made to Sodexo, but then Sodexo, from what I'm hearing, Sodexo le estaba ofreciendo a ustedes el estacionamiento sin costo. Con costo. Con costo. ¿Cuánto era el costo mensualmente?

Nosotros queremos que nos den el otro 50% de parte de eso. Ahorita es 8 o 10 dólares dependiendo de la jornada de trabajo.

¿Al día? Al día. ¿Y lo que ustedes están pidiendo es? El 100%. El 100%. Pero ustedes actualmente están recibiendo el mismo descuento que estaban recibiendo previamente. No, all right, and that's the problem. They're not getting today, Eric, the same discount that they were getting before. And so we need to get with Sodexo because perhaps we might be offering Sodexo what we have always been offering Sodexo, but Sodexo is not continuing to offer the workers what they were previously getting.

Okay, I will happily dig into that with Sodexo and we will address.

Thank you, and this is why at the Public Safety Committee, we've been bringing up frequently over the past few months the issues of the parking at the Convention Center Hotel. That building does not have sufficient parking for its employees. And right now, it's the workers from Sodexo that are coming here. And next July, when that building opens and its operation, we're going to be having here the employees and union members of the Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel coming to us with the same concerns about the parking that is not being provided for them on site. And we need to get ahead of that. and we need to address that. If not, the problem is going to overflow into the residential neighborhoods and it's going to come before this day. Thank you. Thank you.

Go ahead, please. Next. State your name, address, and you have two minutes.

Good morning. Raquel Pacheco, Miami Beach resident. I stand here today in solidarity with Donna Neville and Alan Levine who are two deeply rooted Jewish members of our community and who were recently targeted for harassment and violence by having their faces and names displayed on a mobile billboard and paraded through our city. This incident is not a one-off. It's a pattern of behavior from members of this commission who attack free speech of residents who dare to disagree with them on Palestinian rights in light of Israel's genocide. Today I urge you to do the right thing and to condemn this action and all actions which violate the free speech and safety of Miami Beach residents. And I urge the individual responsible for these egregious acts to step down from office immediately. David Suarez, you have no place in public office. You bring nothing but shame and embarrassment to our city. And also one last thing, the fact that all of you have the audacity to talk about hate, and while you spew nothing but hate and target your own private constituents with hate and violence is not lost on me. You surely have some nerve. Do the right thing for once.

Mr. Minor. Commissioner Suarez. I just want to call out some hypocrisy here. I think it's really rich that the person that was crying victim for months about free speech is now trying to trample others' free speech. I wanna remind this room and those watching how insane the last speaker is. PJ, if you could pull up the screen, please. I wanna show everyone that the comparison between this person and Nick Fuentes, who's a virile anti-Semite, It says the Zionist propaganda machine is full on, putting our tax dollars to work, comparing Israel to somehow the government spending and how Israel and Jews are. Excuse me, I gave you an opportunity to speak. It's now my turn to speak. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. You had your opportunity to speak. You had your free speech. I did not interrupt you.

Now it's my turn to speak.

Can we go to the next slide, please? So we have a government that's completely beholden to Israel. And for those of you who are watching, I want everyone to know that the reason why people like the last speaker hide behind Israel is because they don't want to call a spade a spade. They want to be able to say Israel and not Jews. Because it's the same thing. Because without the state of Israel, the Jewish people are destined to be wiped out. And that's the reason why there is a state of Israel. So we have complete government that's completely beholden to Israel. Nick Fuentes, okay, but Israel controls America. It's the same line of thinking. Next. Candace Owens, same thing, a virile anti-Semite. We have a government that's been completely beholden to Israel. And if you'll notice the pattern here, it's the same people online and in the world that somehow say that Israel is controlling the government and that there's this conspiracy. It's the same ones that you saw here. Next. I wanna go to the Ayatollah who's no longer with us thankfully. There we go. The US is definitely the Zionist regime's accomplice orchestrating the crimes being committed in Gaza. That's the same sort of logic that everyone just heard here from the last speaker. I wanna let everyone sink this in for a minute. The Ayatollah of Iran who wants to wipe out Israel with nuclear weapons has the same line of thinking from some of these extremist activists. PJ, you can put the slide down now. Now, for the group here, JVP, JVP is not a peace group. It is one of the most cynical, dishonest, extremist organizations in American politics today. They hide behind Jewish identity while giving cover to the same radical movement that demonizes Israel, excuses antisemitism, and cheers on the destruction of the world's only Jewish state. And the only thing more hypocritical than JVP is queers for Palestine. a group blinded by ideology, that they march for people who would erase their freedoms and their very existence. Let me be crystal clear, this is America. You have a right to say outrageous, hateful, crazy things, which you are clearly doing today. And I have a right to call it out as exactly as it is. No censorship, no intimidation, no moral blackmail, We just had swastikas graffitied on our city in front of a Holocaust museum, in front of a pride bench. We had Jewish school teachers spit on. This is in our city. Meanwhile, these lunatics come up here and espouse more antisemitism. Miami Beach will not be bullied into silence by extremists pretending to be activists. We will stand proudly against anti-Semitism, bigotry, hypocrisy, and anyone who tries to normalize hate. Thank you.

I'll just add, there's only one country in the world right now that has to consistently defend its right to exist, and that's Israel. It's the only country that when it defends itself from attacks against its civilians, has to defend itself. And not only does Hamas and Iran publicly state that their goal is to destroy Israel, but Israel then gets accused of what they're trying to do just because it's defending themselves. And that's the point here. It has become to the point, everyone can disagree on politics and policies of a specific government. We do that in America all the time. They do that in Israel all the time. Most countries in the Middle East, you can't argue the politics. In Israel they do. It has become to the point where when you're questioning Israel's right to exist and defend themselves, yes. It is anti-Jew, it is anti-Semitism because without an Israel, without an army to defend Jews not only in Israel but everywhere in the world, Jews are vulnerable and that's exactly what our enemies want.

I'm Donna Neville, and I live in North Beach. Two quick points. I teach courses and workshops on anti-Semitism across the United States. Anti-Semitism is discrimination against Jews, stereotypes of Jews, violence against Jews, or targeting of Jews because they are Jewish. Anti-Semitism is not criticism, including harsh criticism of Israel or Zionism, period. For hundreds of thousands of us, in fact, it is our Jewish obligation to speak out against injustice, apartheid, genocide. To quote Jewish philosopher Brian Klug, and I quote, anti-Semitism has rightly been called a monster, but false accusations of anti-Semitism are monstrous too, unquote. Two, when a member of the city commission acts unethically, is a bully, lacks any integrity, and puts Miami Beach residents in danger, literally targeting them to be harmed, as was done to me. I would hope that this person's colleagues would speak out and censure such a person. That is why I am asking the City Commission to censure Commissioner David Suarez for behavior unfitting for someone in office. And with all due respect, if you remain silent, that ends up being a reflection on all of you because we know all too well silence is complicity. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, please.

Hi, I'm Gregory Regano, and I just want to say this is like real democracy in action, even for people you disagree with. So I thought this was a water hearing today, right? So I'm here to talk. Yes, I'm gonna bring it up now. I'm here to speak exclusively about the water. So I've been here before. I'm on a bit of a wild goose chase. My background is as an environmental lawyer. I used to work in New York City as a big law firm, represented like billions of dollars in various different transactions related to the sciences, specifically environmental law, including pretty high-end environmental litigation regarding forever chemicals. And this is an announcement to everybody here. So the Miami Beach drinking water is highly contaminated with PFAS forever chemicals at levels a thousand, literally a thousand times higher than what the EPA says is safe. I brought this to the attention multiple times. Really, so that's really bad, right? But the single biggest issue is in the water report that is put out by the city of Miami Beach, which likely comes from Miami-Dade, it states that the water is safe and excellent. So the water is more than a thousand times higher than what the EPA says is safe. PFAS, forever chemicals, P-F-A-S. And the city of Miami Beach water report says the water is safe and excellent with children drinking it. Speaking with my own personal urologist, this is anecdotal now, she says that she's seeing a significant uptick in the diagnosis of testicular cancer. According to the EPA, the two types of cancer that emerge from PFAS contamination that you get from drinking water is kidney cancer and testicular cancer. Testicular cancer is a rare disease. So there's potentially an increase in this. This is very bad. It should be addressed immediately. We shouldn't tell children that the water is safe and excellent.

Thank you. You mentioned you used to work for a big law firm in New York. What's your current employment?

I work at my family's law firm, Regano LLC.

Do you have any other businesses relating to water quality?

I do not.

Okay, thank you. Yeah, we have John Norris who's also going to come up and speak.

I was just going to ask John to come up. And also just for the record for people listening, I believe you've met with John and Amy Knowles, our Director of Sustainability. So this conversation is ongoing. It is an issue that is handled by the county, everybody knows and agrees that, if I may finish my sentence, everybody knows and agrees with you that PFAS are a really big problem, they are endemic throughout everything we touch and consume, and John has great expertise and I look forward to hearing what he has to say.

I have to interject, they're not endemic in everything we touch and consume, they're not. This comes specifically from the airport, from firefighting foam, from plane crashes. Specifically, the wells that serve Miami-Dade and the city of Miami Beach come from the airport. Wait, no, no, please. I have expertise on this. The wells to the west of the airport are uncontaminated.

Excuse me.

John Norris, please.

Have you been doing this, having these conversations with the Dade County folks? Yes.

There's no response.

There's no response. They are the ones who control this.

Children and cancer. Thank you. Thank you. Yes.

Steve, the county's in litigation about this with many other cities. Oh, let me see this. Just like natural litigation.

John Norris, our public works director. Good morning, John Norris. And a North Beach resident, by the way. And a North Beach resident, yes.

So PFAS is currently identified as an emerging contaminant by the EPA and DEP. This happens quite frequently in the regulation of drinking water. They come up with emerging contaminants, and they come up with future rules. In that time, they're doing studies to establish what the maximum contaminant level should be in the future. There is a rule that is being considered to be implemented in the year 2030 currently. So Miami-Dade water that we purchase currently meets or exceeds all maximum contaminant levels from the EPA and DEP. All the producers of water are currently looking at their facilities and how they treat water to address the potential new rules that are coming in the future and that should that will meet or exceed all future maximum contaminant levels.

Thank you. Thank you.

Can I respond? It'll take 30 seconds.

No, we have to move. You made your points, and he made his points. No, I'm sorry. We have to move on.

The issue is you say it's safe and excellent, right? So he's saying the water is not safe and excellent. There's also a $200 million lawsuit. You're putting out to children that the water is safe and excellent.

I'm sorry, sir, we're not going to have this debate.

It's not a debate. It's not safe and excellent. You should warn children and their parents that this is cancer causing water that's a thousand times higher than what's safe and excellent. You put in writing, no, it's a products liability thing, massively, that could wipe the entire insurance of the city of Miami Beach. It's not safe and excellent. That's a product's liability in writing. Please adjust that and warn the children.

Is your family, are you or your family law firm involved in this litigation that you just mentioned?

Yes, yes. We're cleaning municipal water supplies, multiple places in the country. I don't understand. It's not safe and excellent, the water.

Thank you. And thank you for coming. I appreciate it.

but you keep coming at me like my family has a conflict of interest in this.

I think it's important to know where we're...

It's important to know that the children are being lied to, that the water is safe and excellent for industrial grade military cancer causing chemicals and they're consuming it. Is there filtration on City of Miami Beach High School? It's a simple thing. It could be done within 30 days. Reverse osmosis, anion exchange. You could literally call a company now to have it installed immediately.

Thank you. Thank you.

Next, please.

Hi, good morning. My name is Milagros Acosa-Delgado, and I'm a resident of Miami Beach.

Can you move the microphone down? Thank you. That's better? Yes. Thank you. Hi.

So first, I would like to extend my special thanks to you, Commissioner Laura Dominguez and Elizabeth and Julian, for giving us the opportunity to be here today and supporting the mission of the National MS Society. So I'm here for a slightly different reason than all the other reasons that people here. But I'm here just to bring awareness to the MS community and just bring light to this disease that affects like 30 million people in the US. So I just wanted to share some light on this and what we do. And I think that a lot of people would appreciate this information today. And we have a table outside as well. So this year, the National MS Society proudly celebrates 80 years of research, advocacy, progress, and support for individuals and families affected by multiple sclerosis. Today, nearly 30,000 people in Florida are living with MS, and more than 2.3 million people worldwide are affected by this disease. Over the years, the Society has helped fund groundbreaking research while also providing vital local services, including support groups, wellness programs, educational resources, advocacy, community connections for individuals living with MS and their families. We also bring the community together through meaningful and inspiring events across Florida, including Walk MS in Miami and Boca Raton, our MS Bike Ride from the Breakers to Key West, and several signature fundraising events throughout the state, including upcoming events in Boca, Jacksonville, Tallahassee. Every event, every volunteer, and every supporter helps make a difference in someone's life. In recognition of MS World Day, we would also Love to invite the community to join us for a special brunch gathering on Saturday, May 30th at Bernie's Cafe. Whether you are personally affected by MS or someone who is simply wants to learn more or become involved, we welcome you to connect with us. Please stop by our table to pick up resources, learn more about our programs and upcoming events. Thank you guys so much. Thank you.

I'm sorry, but since the microphone was up, I didn't catch your name.

Oh, Milagros Delgado.

Thank you.

From the resident, Miami Beach resident, 5600. Thank you so much. Thank you, Lauren. Thank you, everyone. Please stop by the table.

Good morning, Mayor and Commissioners. Eric Marshall on behalf of the Waverly Board of Directors and Residents. I actually sent in a presentation too. It's under C7AJ. It's just a couple pictures if you have it. It's regards to the railings that were recently installed on 14th Street, 10th Street, and Lincoln Road. I reached out to the Mayor and Commissioners. I see there's a resolution to rescind it and remove them. I really appreciate that. Originally, I guess it was for the boats a couple years ago. It was approved in 2024. They were put in last week. Please, please, please, if we can remove them before 2028, that would be fantastic. The sooner the better. It's a public walkway where they're now not going to the public walkway. They're just going to the neighboring properties and sitting for sunset. That's the baywalk there where it's empty with the new fence. And if you do the next picture, that's them at sunset in front of the Waverly. You know, it's a nightly occurrence. It's on the same side as the Flamingo as well. If we could just get those railings removed, really appreciate it, taking the time. You guys are always in response, so I just want to come down and say in person, you put it right on.

Eric, I just want to let you know, I have an item. I had it on consent. Commissioner Bott pulled it, so we'll discuss it after 5 o'clock.

Okay. I didn't know what time it would be, so I wanted to come down and just speak with her. And I actually spoke with Commissioner Bott earlier today, so I'm hopeful that we can have them removed. Thanks so much. Have a great day, everybody. Thank you.

Hi.

I won't speak until the mayor sits down.

I can't. I need his attention. Mayor?

Welcome, thank you. So to bring a little bit of, hopefully some levity to this amazing occasion here, we understand that there is a up for consent vote on the farmers market coming up today. I won't be able to stick around for it because we're in the middle of producing Miami Swim Week right now. You guys are welcome to come next week. But we're just here to lend our voice. We're putting together, so the conversation started about the farmer's market at the Blue Zone meeting that Commissioner Joe Magazine and Commissioner Tonya Bott held almost a year ago now. My partner, Todd English, Chef Todd English, who may be walking in in a minute now, started talking. I go, we need to bring in a farmer's market to the city of Miami Beach. We started the conversation with Commissioner Bott, and it just took off from there. We've developed a wonderful community within our group to bring the farmer's market to Miami Beach, and including Chris Robertson, Chef Chris Robertson there. Caroline has been amazing when he's doing it. So we're just here to speak on its behalf. It is a farmer's market for the community that brings people together, addresses some of the food issues, and organic, and educational, and the experience of it. It's occurring at West Lots 85th and Collins and we're just here to say Thank you. Thank you for your support and we look forward to bringing something again that brings us together in a wonderful organic no pun intended organic way that we can enjoy and from all walks of life. That's what the farmers market's about. It's a labor of love. And I can't thank Commissioner Bot for leading the way on this charge, including Cindy Casanova at Parks. But thank you, Chris.

Thank you. Can you say your name again?

Oh, it's Rich Santelises. Who asked? Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Is there anyone else in the audience who wishes to speak? If not, I'm going to go to Zoom. Our first caller is Amanda. Amanda, state your name, address, and you have two minutes. Amanda is gone. Next caller, Johan Moore.

Good morning, commissioners. I will have a few comments on practical affairs, but as a queer for Palestine who opposes Zionist genocide and attempts at eradication of the Palestinian nation, I will join in calls for the fascism supporting commissioner to resign from this commission. I would like to speak in favor of C7AI, the water rate moratorium. I think six months gives the city enough time to figure out a way to get the money it needs for water and sewer infrastructure improvements while finding some mechanism that would alleviate the burden on the most vulnerable. And I believe that has to be attached to specific AMI brackets. I also am objecting to R5T, the repeatedly appearing suspension of the color requirements for the historic district, and I want to support C for F, Commissioner Mateo Salinas, affordable housing fund, as well as express my support for pursuing the possibilities of a cable car system that could augment the water taxi and that specifically might permit for a much lower cost, in fact, extending such a service across both causeways and via City Hall and the Convention Center, which has proven problematic and even objectionable on the part of some when we're talking about extending the Metro mover. Thank you very much.

I'm just going to comment because I can't let false narratives just go. It's interesting, I don't have the exact numbers, but we hear the terms, we've heard it today about genocide. Meanwhile, the Palestinian population has increased exponentially. So we talk about genocide, but their population is growing. Israel, after it was attacked by Hamas and Iran's proxy, Israel sent text messages out, drops flyers, announces in advance when it's going to bomb and go into certain areas. I mean, Israel and its defense forces take extreme measures that very few countries would take to try to have civilians out of harm's way.

Mr. Mayor, I also want to remind everyone watching that the last caller called for the nuclear destruction of Jewish cities across the world. So again, these people are extremists and they are the symbol of hate and bigotry. And of course they have a right to say whatever they want, but we have a right to call it out every time. And some of those on this dais may disagree with that, But I am not going to sit here and let extremists drown out at least my voice and the voice of reason.

I think we learned the lessons from history that silence is not an option.

Mr. Mayor.

Commissioner Bott.

I am not going to get into foreign policy. It is not my job. I'm here to try to figure out how to fix our roads and prevent sinkholes from happening because our sewer lines fail. I will say that as elected officials, we are very much entitled to have very different views on lots of different things. We can vote our heart, our conscience. But our first job is public safety. And I would just suggest that in our role as an elected official, it's a different thing than talking among friends about how we feel about people's actions and when we, in our capacity as a public figure, put virtual targets on people's backs and call them out for their views, which I don't necessarily agree with, that is a very different thing than having a discourse. And I think that is dangerous. I think it's dangerous in the same way that hosting things that are inflammatory can be dangerous. And I think it is our job as public officials to not single out residents unless they're doing something illegal, in which case, by all means, proceed. to identify a number of people by name repeatedly and call them out for their views. If they are not doing anything illegal, I think it is a heightened level of attention that could result in tragedy. And I think we are being very cavalier about the import, the weight, that voices from a dais have. Not necessarily today's conversation, although parts of today's conversation, but in general, I think it's bad precedent to target individuals by name from a sitting official, elected official, and I think it's dangerous.

Commissioner Suarez, and then I do agree with your first part of your statement. I'd like to get back to the order of business. Just to let anybody know who's listening, none of us on the day has brought this up today. We have members of some residents, some maybe not. I don't know where everyone lives. But I believe when we hear narratives that are false and dangerous, they need to be countered. And that's what we're doing here.

And Mr. Mayor, I'm not having an issue with that at all.

That's a discourse. I didn't say otherwise. I'm commenting for people who may be listening why we're having this discussion. We didn't bring it up. None of us here today brought these issues up. We had individuals who came, as is their right, under our Suttonic hour. Anyone can come in and talk about topics on their mind and their concerns. But when we hear false narratives and what I believe is dangerous rhetoric, that could potentially harm members of our community. This is not just about a conflict happening in the Middle East and in Israel 6,000 miles away. This has a direct impact on people's lives here in America and in Miami Beach. We see it throughout the world, the violence that is happening because of this dangerous and false narrative. And we saw it happen in our city, thank God nobody was injured, but we saw it happen on the rainbow bench by Loomis Park with SWAT stickers and Adolph was here. It has an impact on the world and that's why we must counter the dangerous rhetoric. Commissioner Suarez.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So I just want to be clear that I have free speech, just like anyone else in this country has free speech. I like to use my free speech in calling out bigotry and hate and those individuals pushing that extremism. And I don't see anything wrong with that. I don't think that that's a bad precedent. I think that's a good precedent. I think finally, for once, when we know who anti-Semites are and people who are pushing hate, they should be called out. I don't see anything wrong with that. And Commissioner Bhat, I respect you, but respectfully, I don't need to take direction from you and to tell me what a good elected official is. I mean, we both have criticisms of each other, but I don't judge how you manage your office or what you say. I give you free reign because this is, you got elected the same time I got elected and you have every right to say whatever you want to say, but I will never criticize you for how you conduct yourself. And that's, that's on you. It's not on me. And so, you know, respectfully, I would appreciate if you keep your comments about how I conduct myself to yourself. Thank you.

It's a public safety issue.

Okay. Any more callers? Our next caller is Tim Carr. Mr. Carr, two minutes, please.

Good morning, everyone. This is Tim Carr, Shelby West Neighborhood Association. I just wanted to call out a couple of quick items, items C4A and C7R. I know it was on the consent agenda at last month. Mayor, if you could please call it today. It's very important to help move this process forward to help the residents during the West Ave Phase II construction process to assist with parking needs and also for staging construction equipment over on the Epicure site and to help move it off at some of the sites at the parking lot next to Trader Joe's. Again, moving this forward will also help the city with other construction project staging needs throughout the city as well. The second item is also C7AJ. Again, Eric Farshall from the Waverly CONDO BOARD JUST RECENTLY TALKED. AGAIN, THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO REMOVE THE FENCES AT THE 10th AND 14th STREET BAY WALLS. AGAIN, WE WERE NOT EVEN AWARE OF THE DESIGN OF THOSE FENCES AND THAT THEY WERE EVEN GOING TO BE INSTALLED. I WISH WE HAD KNOWN IN ADVANCE SO THAT WE COULD HAVE USED THOSE FUNDS TO HELP INSTALL. railings along the Mirador Baywalk, which is currently still not open because it's missing baywalk fencing in that area, which is critical. So again, just keep that in mind. I know you have a busy day of agenda items, but again, if you could please call and discuss C4A and C7R and also C7AJ. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next caller is Karen. Karen, state your name, address. You have two minutes.

Can you hear me?

Yes, go ahead.

Okay, my name is Karen Rukus. I am a Miami Beach resident. I want to thank Commissioners Alex Fernandez and David Suarez regarding their support of a moratorium on the increase of water and sewer infrastructure. Currently, everyone knows that we're in a period of very inflated living costs, which is making it very difficult for longstanding residents to remain residing in Miami Beach. Miami Beach is not a cheap place to live in. But what I do take exception with is that last year, I think we had a surplus of about $11.6 million. And as Commissioner Tanya Bott said, if we needed to prevent sinkholes and improve sewer infrastructure, why wouldn't that money be spent and directed towards important infrastructure? The second item I want to talk about is independent waste removal. I think John Norris has corresponded with me. We had an unexpected 30% increase. from our independent waste removal company. And I think that's unreasonable. And I think what we need in Miami Beach is more competition. I know that John Norris had suggested that we might get to see five companies coming in to Miami Beach. That might be an answer. Otherwise, for the smaller buildings, perhaps a city removal as per paid through our property taxes might be another idea. Anyway, thank you very much for your time. And again, thank you for your support on this, Commissioners Fernandez and Suarez.

Thank you so much. Our next caller is Asso Middleman.

Go ahead, please. Miami Beach. This is Asso Middleman from Curious URL. Our community was recently shocked to see the CBS report on your commission sending out public hate messages to other Jews for supporting peace in the Middle East, staying for mobile signs with pictures of your perceived, quote, Jew haters. Our rabbis take note that this is not the Jewish way. In fact, this is the same guy that was caught stealing political signs from his opponent with his family. How can a city government support the hate this person creates while disrespecting the entire Jewish community, comparing residents who simply disagree with the Palestinian genocide to the Jew-hater Nick Fuentes and others? It's time you get commissioners who have the capacity to behave older than a 14-year-old. Thank you and Shalom.

Our next caller is Jessica. Jessica, state your name.

I'm also going to intercede. Obviously we're on Zoom so we'll take people's words who they are. You're always gonna have a select few in any group who sort of turns against its own people. But I'm gonna be consistent when I hear the term people throw out lies and false narratives. There's a one-way genocide attempt here and that's against the state of Israel. And I gave examples before, I won't repeat myself.

Jessica, please unmute yourself. State your name, address. You have two minutes.

Hello. My name is Jessica Pita, resident of Miami Beach 33139. Vibrant meeting here. I will speak quickly and get right to the point. Although, let me begin. Addressing everything else that has been said, preservation historic preservation has a lot of overlap with all of these issues in regards to the conservation of resources like water the maintenance and repair of city infrastructure and even the topic of deplorable acts of hate when anyone sees a beautiful place or beautiful people there will be negative players that want to you know, take that down or have it as their own. And I really see the threat of constant new development as that people wanting South Beach, Miami Beach historic districts as their own. Now to get quickly to my comment. I recently watched the HPB historic preservation meeting May 12th via YouTube, something architect Enrique Norton, who works for the land owner and developer said really stuck out to me. He said that replicas of historic building facades have gotten so good that you can't even tell the difference between the original and the replica. Then he added, this is not a hard building to replicate, referring to 1600 Washington Avenue building, which is proposed for demolition. Quickly wrapping up, this comment requires pause. If we are, in fact, so good at recreating historic building facades, buildings in general, then what's the point of preservation at all? I mean, Disneyland's castle looks just as good and authentic as England's Windsor Castle, right? Wrong. We all know this isn't so because we can feel the difference between authentic, original architecture and replicas.

Thank you, Jessica.

sense of place. Thank you.

Our next caller is David Roland. You have two minutes, please state your name and address.

Hi, thank you. Um, I'm David Roland. I live, uh, 8th and Euclid. Uh, I, I called the mayor's office about this recently. There's been construction over, uh, overnight, all night, very loud construction over the sewage of manuals. Uh, commissioner magazine responded to, uh, Facebook post about this. But I have not been given reason why I called the right of way. I did not get a call back. Why this sewer construction for these manholes cannot be done in the daytime. These roads are not busy. But meanwhile, children have school the next day. Parents and non-parent adults have work the next day. Why can this construction not be done during the day?

That's a simple answer. Maybe we could have our public works director because this has come up numerous times.

I appreciate you raising the issue, Dave. Good morning John Norris public works director. I'd like to look into this case specifically, but they are probably doing manhole rehab work and You know that is citywide So what we might need to do is look at exactly where they are a lot of areas within the city We do not want them doing manhole rehab during the daytime due to traffic concerns We try and balance the traffic concerns with the noise complaints and it really is a difficult thing in the city of Miami Beach so I

John if I could I know Dave specifically just because I had corresponded with them has reached out It's the manhole Cover issue that we discussed then and you replied back. I think in the middle of the evening I appreciate the time and dedication on that but it is in the Flamingo Park area and Just off the top of my head, I would agree with the gentleman that it's not a very highly trafficked area. If we would be able to have some internal discussions and consideration, does it make more sense to have that there during the daytime? Absolutely. Will do. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thanks, David, for the call. Our next caller is Travis Spencer. Mr. Spencer, you have two minutes. Please state your name and address. Can you guys hear me okay? Yes. Yes.

Okay, very good. Good morning, Mayor and Commissioners. My name is Travis Spencer, and I'm speaking on Ordinance 2026-4800, which is the shore-based shark fishing prohibition that was codified at Section 1021. The City Attorney's Office has already concluded that this ordinance must be repealed. Enforcement has already been suspended, and the legal analysis is finished. What remains is just procedural. And the law on this is settled by Article 4, Section 9 of the Florida Constitution by Amendment 2, ratified by voters in 2024, and also by the FWC's General Counsel April 20th letter on materially identical ordinances, which was essentially the Markle Island situation in Florida. And today, my respectful ask is direct. I am requesting that a commissioner make a motion today from the dais to suspend the rules and place the repeal of Ordinance 2026-4800 on the next available meeting agenda, not June 24th, not July 22nd, but preferably now. And here is my offer in exchange if the Commission or Commission moves to accelerate the repeal today I will submit in writing before the close of business a formal administration request to suspend processing of all 10 pending public record requests I currently have on file with the city pending final repeal now this is a meaningful operational relief for your clerk's office and your city attorney and I am prepared Put it in writing today now this decision will be watched because we're fighting ordinances the same ordinance or similar ordinances in Indian Shores Reddington Shores treasuries in Red Beach and Our next caller is I just want to speak to the last speaker through the mayor we

We are going to be issuing a reversal of that, but ordinance take two weeks of notice requirements. So we couldn't just put it on this agenda. But I believe one of my colleagues is going to be repealing this for the next June meeting. Thank you.

Our next caller is Wayne Roberts. Mr. Roberts, you have two minutes.

You knew my initials, W.R.W. Wayne Roberts.

It's been 15 years, Mr. Roberts. I know them well.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am a Jewish voice for peace. And I find that I wish these folks would focus on the real problem. And the problem really is that I ran through the IRGC. and their proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Assad, has annihilated over a million citizens in those countries of Lebanon and Syria and Yemen alone. They've annihilated 30,000 of their own citizens that were rebelling against theocracy. And that this year alone, that they turned off the internet so that nobody could speak to the outside world. That they have decimated the economic output in the crown jewel of the Middle East and Lebanon that was number one in the world, in the region, to down to $2,000 per capita. Syria down to $1,000 per capita. Iran, pre-war, was $4,000 per capita. Now it's approximately $2,000 per capita. And they've ruined the lives of not only Jews, but Arabs themselves. And these folks are opportunists that come into this chamber in such a nefarious way. I know some of these people. And I was vehemently against her election. because I knew what kind of person she really represented to me, and I find it offensive. And the opportunists that walk into this room, we should just, you know, take it with a grain of salt. But thank you very much, have a great day.

Thank you, sir. Our next caller has a screen name of Miami Beach. Please state your name, address, and you have two minutes.

Good morning, I'm Wanda Jamies, 8305 Crispy Boulevard. I'm also going to speak about this topic, but I want to make it very clear that we are Americans and we are protected by the freedom of speech and expression from any group, individual or elected officials. As we know, Iran is the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world. They have told us our Iran and all the proxies alike Hamas, um, sick people. They do not only go after or harm Jews. They also do that to Christians. And I am a Christian. They go after gays and any other entity that doesn't agree with their absurd beliefs. Moreover, not to forget that they chant death to America and that means all of us. With that said, I am opposing, also opposing item C2D as I send emails to all of you and I am sorry because I'm sick. I'm also in favor of the moratorium on for the water utility hike. And we need to really look at this hikes that are affecting us residents. The water hikes, the trash, it seems like everything seems rising. Without the proposed hike approval, we still seen monthly increases. I'M GETTING $800, $900 A MONTH. I'M FORCED TO RAISE THE HOA ON MY CONTAMINIUM.

OUR NEXT CALLER IS LORI BACHEM.

Good morning, thank you so much for having us here today. Lori Bauckham, Executive Director of Power Access and the South Beach Jazz Festival. I'm here in reference to R7K to speak our opposition of this item. Power Access is a local nonprofit for cultural arts and inclusion in the arts for people of all abilities. 100% of our programming takes place in Miami Beach. 95% of our programming is free. A large portion is for youth programming, but that is not all the programming we do. ourselves and organizations like ours in the arts that provide programming contribute to the 1% resort tax that brings culture to our city and cultural tourism. We are also well supported by the community and residents. Quality of life has increased because of our programming. The way this is written, we would be excluded from cultural arts programs programming funding which we rely on we are a cultural presenter we perform all over the city and i hope that you will not pass this resolution thank you thank you our next caller has a phone number that ends in five six zero zero state your name address and you have two minutes please please good morning

unmute yourself please you're muted good morning good morning can you hear me yes good morning hello uh good morning mayor and city commissioners my name is christina vega i live in golden dream condominium located at 65 washington avenue I'm speaking today on behalf of Cyber Money Laundering and Real Estate Investigations Corp. I'm here to put this to your notice regarding material presentations of ownership and legal standing in development applications, specifically DRB 25-11-59, DRB 25-10-99, DB 22-05-48. This is a formal demand to void the development applications due to the city's lack of jurisdiction. We conducted a forensic analysis into the documents submitted to the city related to 1790 Alton Road, 1250 West Avenue, and 935 Second Street. We discovered forgery and material mispresentations regarding the ownership of the land to be redeveloped. Under City of Miami Beach Code section, any application employing a device, scheme, or device to circumvent disclosure requirements must immediately be null and void without further force or ethics. Therefore, the city lacks jurisdiction to proceed with the application. Cyber Money Laundering and Real Estate Investigation Board is also filing a petition for the Bank Secrecy Act injunction with the U.S. Secretary of Treasury and the Office of Foreign Access Control along this notice of probable cause for seizure for the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act violations report with the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service. We will send the demands to Void Letter along with our discovered evidence of misrepresentation and forgery to their commissioners and the city authorities. Thank you.

Unfortunately, you're out of time. Our next caller is Amanda. Amanda, please unmute yourself.

Thank you. Can you hear me?

Yes, go ahead, please.

Okay. Good morning, commissioners. I'm Amanda Fisher. I'm a resident of Miami, and I'm a member of our local Jewish community like yourselves. I'm here today because I'm deeply disturbed and appalled by Commissioner Suarez, whose position is funded by the public. He used his salary and his office to purchase roping billboards that circulated around Miami Beach. that amplified a campaign that targeted two revered community leaders and Miami Beach residents, endangering their safety by publicly displaying their faces and calling them Jew haters. Alan Levine is a civil rights attorney, and together he and Donna Neville have spent years modeling the very opposite of hate. Their leadership within the Jewish community has created a space where many of us have learned to love being Jewish more deeply and to connect to our Jewish identities, to justice, to dignity, and collective liberation. The legacy of the civil rights movement that people like Alan have dedicated their lives to is what paved the way for you very people to be here today. For there to be a Jewish mayor in a city that once was shaped by exclusion and redlining, for there to be women, for there to be immigrants, differently abled people on this commission, to hold public office with dignity and visibility. This attack does not simply offend or provoke disagreement. It places both of their lives at risk. No elected official should be able to use the power and visibility of public office to target elders in our Jewish community. I urge this commission to censure Commissioner Suarez and to call for his resignation because the people of South Florida and Miami Beach deserve leaders who protect our safety and dignity and not endanger our lives with hate. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor. That concludes everyone. I just want to clear the record that all of my salary from commission goes to charity. In fact, for the first two years, I went to Pelican Harbor, Seabird Station, 100 percent of my charity – or 100 percent of my salary. And then, unfortunately, when Officer Cahuso passed away, my salary now goes to his widow and three children. So I want to make sure and make the record clear that none of the money that I get from the government is accepted by me, it goes to charity. And I also want to make a final note that the one thing I've learned in history and experience is when the people who, when there are people out there who hate Jews and hate everything that you stand for, and they're against you, you know you're doing the right thing. You're on the right side of things. And that doesn't just apply to anti-Semitism, that applies to anti-LGBTQ, correct? Anti-black, anti-Asian. When you are the one being criticized for defending the minority, you know you're doing the right thing. You know you're on the right track. So today, I learned one thing. I'm on the right track. And I'm very proud of myself. And I think there's more than enough on here that are proud of me for what I've been doing. So thank you for reminding me, everyone.

Thank you. Thank you. I agree. And I'm very proud of everyone on this day, us and the leadership that we've shown, whether it be anti-Semitism, racism against the LGBTQ community, we have stood united and not divided in saying that bigotry, hate, racism has no place in Miami Beach.

Thank you, Mayor. Everyone who was originally online to speak has spoken, so we may close subject at this time. Okay, thank you, everyone. Let's get to the consent agenda. Yes, Mayor. A couple of announcements. The following items have been separated from the consent agenda. You have a list that has been provided to you. Mayor Minor has separated C7AE. Again, C7AE. Commissioner Bott is separating C2D as in dog, C7X, C7AG, C7AI, C7AL. Again, C2D, C7X, C7AG, C7AI, C7AL. Vice Mayor Dominguez is separating C7AL. Commissioner Fernandez is separating C4O and C4R. COMMISSIONER MATEO SALINAS IS SEPARATING C7AH, C7AI, AND C2D. AND FOR THE RECORD, COMMISSIONER MATEO SALINAS IS SEPARATING C4, I'M SORRY, IS WITHDRAWING C4C. SO IF YOU CAN MAKE THAT NOTATION, C4C IS BEING WITHDRAWN. R5R is being opened and continued by Vice Mayor Dominguez. And just on the days you have two items. First, you have a revised resolution for item C7AQ. which is accept donations of approximately $200,000 for artificial turf. That revised resolution is on the dais. And a new item was added, C4T, which is a referral to finance an economic resiliency committee, fund critical resiliency and neighborhood infrastructures through dedicated capital millage. That was by Commissioner Suarez, and I believe Commissioner Fernandez is co-sponsoring that item as well. So the mayor has not approved any of the addendum items to be included on the agenda. So if any of those will be heard after five o'clock. If possible, if I could have a motion on the consent agenda, excluding the separated and the addendums.

I'll second on that, Mr. Mayor. We have one of the time-certain second reading ordinances, R5D, that is the companion item to C7AS, which is an addendum item. When you call the time-certain, can those be called together? Yes. Thank you. With that, I'll second the motion to approve the agenda.

Okay, give me one second. I have a motion by Commissioner Soraya, seconded by Mayor Minor on the consent agenda excluding the separated and excluding the addendums.

Well, with one amendment, that's C7AS, which is an addendum item, is going to be heard with its companion item, R5D. So we're going to separate C7AS as well? Right.

Okay, so all in favor of the consent agenda as stated, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Hearing none, the item, the consent agenda is approved.

So one item that just got approved, but I wanted to highlight, is that we have just approved Debbie Tackett becoming our new planning director. Congratulations, Debbie. I've told Tom, who's stepping down, it's big shoes to fill, but I know you will absolutely do it. I think there's complete, 100% universal confidence in you.

Literally big shoes to fill. Exactly.

I told Tom we've got to retire his number. We've got to figure out what that number is. 33, right? 33 years with the city of Miami Beach. So maybe that's the number we retire, but congratulations, Debbie.

I just want to thank all of you. Thank you. the manager, and, of course, Tom, for your confidence in me. I very much look forward to our continuing working relationship.

So thank you.

Same here.

Thank you.

Commissioner Bach.

I'll make it quick because I know we've got a lot of catching up to do from the last couple of months. You know, you and I first met when I was a nascent preservationist, and your knowledge continues to dazzle, and it is so timely now as we fight to keep what we love about our city and also not let it run amok. And so I am so thrilled, and Eric has, you know, it's a really nice problem to have because I also love Rogelio, who I've gotten to know from my days on the planning board. So to me, you guys are the dream team. I can't wait to see what you guys are doing together with the rest of the planning department staff, and I am here for it. So you go, girl. Well done.

Thank you. Let's call R9AG. R9AG.

R9-AG is discussed. Make action comprehensive citywide water taxi programs. R9-AG.

Thank you, Jose. Sponsor, thank you to my co-sponsors, Commissioner Dominguez, Commissioner Bott, but I know this has universal support in our commission and really wanted to thank you, Jose, because we've been working on this a couple of years and I've been pushing and you've responded. It's been an incredible success. We have the water taxi, which is free every day, weekdays, not yet on weekends, going from our Maurice Gipp Park to Venetian Marina. And it has received wide claim support and success. Everyone's noticing, the state, the county. I presented recently at the Downtown Development Authority, TPO, you were there with me, transportation planning organization. BUT REALLY WHY I BROUGHT THIS ITEM TODAY IS BECAUSE I KNOW YOU ARE WORKING ACTIVELY ON A COUPLE OF THINGS, ONE, TRYING TO GET FUNDING FOR WEEKEND SERVICE, TRY TO INCREASE SERVICE. RIGHT NOW WE HAVE ONCE AN HOUR, LITERALLY 12 HOURS A DAY, BUT STARTING AT 4 30 P.M. EVERY HALF HOUR, TRY TO INCREASE THAT SO WE HAVE THAT ALL DAY. ALSO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PICK-UP AND DROP-OFF POINTS. WE HAVE SOUTH OF 5TH, WHICH IS VERY INTERESTED IN ONE, AND NORTH BEACH AS WELL. POTENTIALLY GOING TO MOUNT SINAI, OTHER AREAS, POTENTIALLY GOING TO THE CASAIA CENTER, BUT ALSO GOING NORTH AND SOUTH THROUGHOUT MIAMI BEACH. THINK OF THAT, THAT YOU CAN HOP ON AT 1ST OR 87TH AND GO THROUGHOUT OUR CITY TO MID BEACH, SOUTH BEACH, NORTH BEACH. But I wanted you to give an update what you're working on, because I know you're working so hard on this, and I think it behooves all of us to be involved, because getting funding is not always the easiest thing, but the opportunities are there, not just from other agencies, but potentially private partnerships that have expressed interest. So tell us what you're working on, what next steps you can use from us as a commission.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good morning. Mayor, Commissioners, Jose Gonzalez, Transportation and Mobility Director, thank you, Mr. Mayor, for the opportunity to talk about our water taxi. We're extremely excited about it, newest addition to our transportation portfolio, and a growing success, as you pointed out. Ridership, average daily ridership, is about 1,000 passengers per day, and it Even when it started, it was at about 800, and then it's grown to about 1,000, and that's where we are now. We are working on multiple fronts on different aspects of the program, both the current service as well as trying to expand on it and looking forward. I'll start with the current service. So with the current service, as was pointed out, it operates between Maurice Cave Memorial Park and Venetian Marina in Miami. At the Marie Skip Memorial Park, there's some challenges there with the space, particularly that the Marine Patrol building will start being reconstructed very, very soon. And so there are challenges with just a lot of construction that's going to be happening there for Several you know several months probably about a year And we're trying to work or we're working with the contractor to identify the optimal space for Some amenities for the passengers including restrooms. It's very important to have restrooms that are little Fancier than just porta-potties, which is what's out there today? so We have a vendor that's prepared to deploy a restroom. It's an upgraded restroom facility. It also has for ADA accessibility. And we've identified a location for it. It's in the parking lot, unfortunately.

Let's talk more about how we increase the services, like weekend services. I mentioned North Beach pickup to Miami, one in South Beach, and also the interconnectedness, North and South. How do we get there?

Sure. Well, as you know, Mr. Mayor, the biggest challenge right now, the biggest constraint is the funding. If we had more funding, we'd be able to deploy a second vessel the entire hours of operation. But unfortunately, because we've got that budgetary constraint, we have one vessel in service for the majority of the day up until 4.30. At 4.30 p.m., we kick in. second vessel to accommodate that p.m. you know peak hour rush and that operates at about 730 p.m. so what we're doing to try to to at a minimum maintain the funding that we have which is 50% from FTO T and 50% city funds is is that we've reapplied under the FDOT public transit service development program. And that's a program that funds 50% of the annual operations and maintenance of a transit program up to three years. So we're actually coming up on our third year. It'll be fiscal, next fiscal year, fiscal year 28 will be year three of the service and we've already applied for fiscal year 28 funds. We applied for half of the cost of the service. The total cost of the service, by the way, is about $1.5 million, and that's really our biggest constraint at this point. There is a lot of interest on behalf of Miami-Dade County. The TPO expressed some interest in this. However, they're of the opinion that the city would need to charge a fare to at least subsidize part of that operating cost of the service.

So, yeah, I mean, I, I presented there and obviously commissioner Suarez is the representative there. I think there was some dispute. There was, Couple of County Commissioners that mentioned that, then Commissioner Lopez, God bless her heart, was taking the position that we have been espousing that we should do everything possible to keep it free. Anything we can do as a body, do you think there's additional efforts that we collectively can make? For example, resolutions to a particular body to enhance funding?

Mr. Mayor, there have been several CITY COMMISSION RESOLUTIONS ALREADY ADOPTED BY THIS BODY. THEY'VE BEEN TRANSMITTED TO FDOT, THEY'VE BEEN TRANSMITTED TO MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, TO THE TPO AS WELL, TO THE CITIZENS INDEPENDENT TRANSPORTATION TRUST, THE CITT. SO THERE HAVE BEEN MORE THAN TWO, TWO TO THREE RESOLUTIONS ALREADY ADOPTED BY THIS BODY THAT HAVE BEEN TRANSMITTED TO THE AGENCIES TO ESSENTIALLY WE'RE JUST ASKING FOR SUPPORT. primarily financial support from these entities.

And I'll turn it over to my colleagues. But what's amazing about this, one, it's been incredibly successful. I think the numbers are that 8% of passengers are being turned away, which shows you the success. I went down with my family recently, and we actually could not get on, which shows you the interest in it. It's for one... You should know the captain actually, because I take it enough, the captain or someone came over to me and said, you're not going to get on. Do you want to? He didn't know what to do, which was nice of him. I said, no, no, no. I'm standing here in line. The last thing I want to do is cut the line. So we ended up not getting on. We were actually the cutoff. There's 55 passengers and we couldn't get on. But what's amazing about this program is we talk about the congestion and the traffic. THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE, EFFICIENT WAY TO GET ACROSS IN 18 MINUTES TO GET ACROSS BISCAYNE BAY. AND WE'RE DOING ALL THIS. IT REALLY SHOCKS PEOPLE WHEN YOU TELL THEM WE'RE DOING THIS FOR CLOSE TO A YEAR EVERY SINGLE DAY DURING WEEKDAYS FOR $1.2 MILLION. IT'S AN INCREDIBLY EFFICIENT MONETARILY OPTION. AND OF COURSE IT'S FUN, IT'S SCENIC, AND PEOPLE REALLY ENJOY IT. LET ME TURN IT OVER TO MY COLLEAGUES. FIRST WE'LL START WITH COMMISSIONER MONICA MATEL-SELENAS AND COMMISSIONER SUAREZ AND COMMISSIONER BOTT.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So this is a great item, and the water tax is excellent, and I'd like to co-sponsor this item. In terms of funding, again, I'm sure we can find some type of business that wants to sponsor the water taxi, either putting advertisements inside the water taxi or even... you know, if it was like a restaurant or something, they could pass out little food. I want to encourage us to look at advertising. I don't know how my colleagues feel about this. I don't know if wrapping the outside of the taxi would be, you know, there's just so many ideas to partner with private businesses, you know, that might want this water taxi that, how many people ride it again?

About a thousand a day.

A week? So a thousand people a day I mean that's some serious eyes on these brands that might want to come in and it could be local brands It could be a business opening. That's you know, maybe one expanding going from Miami Beach to Miami or Miami to Miami Beach There's just so many opportunities here for for for private sponsorships and so I want to and just a question for the city manager who would be in charge of Because I know it's probably not Jose.

So it's a combination of our transportation department and our marketing communications department. Transportation, believe it or not, actually has the most history in working with advertisers through our bus shelter contracts and our static signs. But obviously we're constantly trying to work collaboratively to figure out ways to increase the revenue stream on that side.

Lovely thank you.

I also want to give a shout out to Mikhail Rybov, who's done a lot of work on this as well. Melissa, did you want to comment? Because we are actually actively looking for a private partnership. So how would, Pierre, we don't want to make it too much where we're changing the look of the water taxi, but Melissa.

Sure. Good morning. Melissa Bertier, Director of Marketing and Communications.

We actually did have a conversation with Outfront to explore it, and they weren't as interested because the volume wasn't there. So I'm just sharing.

Well, that's the issue. It's not there yet. Sorry for interjecting, but it's not there yet. And we need to find partners who understand the value of getting in early because it's going to expand. So out front, maybe they don't get access to this.

Well said.

Commissioner Suarez. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And Mr. Mayor, you were at the TPO meeting where some of the concerns were raised by other county commissioners. And I think there is certainly a propensity for funding from the county for this program. But one of the concerns that was raised was at least we're gonna if they if the county is gonna ask for money from the state for funding there has to at least be the appearance that we're trying to make itself sustainable as far as funding as far as maybe perhaps a fee and It doesn't have to be a very expensive fee, but I just wanted to see, and look, I understand the concept that if it's free, people are gonna use it, but if we have the possibility of going to the county and expanding this, if we were to charge perhaps a small fee, maybe a dollar. And that would open up two, three different routes. I don't know how my colleagues would feel about that. Mr. Mayor?

Members? Did you want to add, Commissioner?

Yeah. So I think that's an interesting... a way to approach it. We could also do sort of charge for tourists versus charge for commuters. Maybe there's a monthly pass for $15 for, you know, I think there are ways to look at it. I would, I think a lot of us are working on funding private funding. I know I am working with one of our largest employers trying to do that. I also know that Blue Zones, which we are very close to pushing play on officially, which I'm very excited about, but that's for another time. This is exactly the sort of thing that Blue Zones will help us get funding for because it addresses one of the major quality of life issues and they can help us expand our pool of potential grants, private philanthropy, underwriting. So there's a lot of different ways to do it. I would be interested in seeing if we could find private funding first to try to keep it free or maybe explore it concurrently and then decide once we have more information. So that's to your question. The other things I was going to ask, Jose, one of the opportunities that we're really excited about is having go north and south. I know we've had conversations about where the landing spots would be from 71st Street down to the Miami Beach Marina. I think what happens a lot of times is that when we have an idea, we wait until everything is set before we start doing the work to make the idea happen because we're all running around doing lots of other things at the same time. What I want to make sure is that when we do get the funding to expand, because we will, it's not a question of if, it's a question of when and how quickly, that we are ready to go with, we have the sites identified, we know where they're going to go, we know what it's going to take, we've got the permit applications ready to go so that we can just hit, you know, press play and go ASAP. because it will really stink if we've got funding identified and then it takes three years to start the permitting process or figure out where it's going to go. So I know you guys are understaffed. Misha, I'm sorry. This is probably going to fall on your shoulders. So I just want to put that out there so that we don't lose sight of that and get caught short-sighted if all of a sudden we get a windfall. The other question. My understanding is that currently bikes are not allowed on the ferry. Is that correct or is that incorrect? They are allowed. They are allowed. Okay. And e-devices? Scooters as well. Everything is. So it's not an issue. Is there a limit on how many can fit on?

I believe there is a limit of four devices.

Okay.

FOUR DEVICES PER TRIP. AND THAT'S JUST BECAUSE OF THE CAPACITY CONSTRAINED.

SO I WONDER IF DOWN THE ROAD ONCE WE GET THIS UP AND RUNNING AND IT BECOMES MORE OF A COMMUTER THING AND I KNOW COMMISSIONER LOPEZ IS WORKING ON trying to find parking on the Miami side so it can become more of a commuter thing, but that last mile connectivity so that maybe we think about at rush hour times, do we allow maybe fewer people or run two boats at the same time so we can get more e-devices or bikes going back and forth so that people can use it as a true commuter vessel, no pun intended. To to address that need because again the more people we get off the roads the better off will be so just food for thought as you Keep moving with this really excellent initiative Thank You Commissioner magazine Thank You mr. Mayor for your leadership on this and Ralph please add me as a co-sponsor for this in terms of

Charging and I don't know the dynamics that were discussed at TPO. So perhaps it's to get federal or state funding. We need to show Progress towards being self-sustaining. So this comment is kind of absent having that background knowledge, but I There was a fascinating interview just this morning on CNBC by Jeff Bezos, and he advocated for reducing the taxes for people making $75,000 per year or less. But he said, let's not reduce them to 3% or 5% or 10%. It should be free. And he goes, there's a reason Amazon charges free shipping, that we don't charge a dollar. So if we're discussing price dynamics, perhaps... we kind of do something that's going to make itself sustainable, which will probably decrease ridership but raise a little bit more money, or free, right? So maybe three or four, no, four or five dollars per ride, or free. I think if we go with something ceremonial, like two bucks, we're probably not going to generate much revenue, but we'll lose a lot of ridership just because there's some people where if they have to pay, whether it be, Ten cents a quarter or a dollar they're not going to ride it You're gonna get your core rider. So I think we just decide Do we make? The decision to get on the path towards it being self-sustaining and if that is then we actually have a tangible amount there or zero It's just kind of my initial thoughts. I'm not dogmatic about it, but that interview this morning just seemed pretty relevant

Yeah, my thinking on this is that we had in the past, our city has tried paid for services by private operators, which I voted against because they fail. They charge too much money and their people are not going to use them. So maybe in some time in the future, there's a place to charge a minimum amount. But this is still in its infancy. As you say, the ridership keeps increasing. There's an excitement level to it. We want people off the roads. It's incredible because we talk about, I mean, my... When you look at the state of Florida, and FDOT does studies, we're code red in South Florida. It's not just Miami Beach and South Florida. We're code red. This is for literally... They were talking about doing a Bay Link, and that's not this discussion, which would cost over a billion dollars. This is $1 million. We are providing a service literally almost every day, I mean every weekday, and for $10, $15, $20 million, we could have a whole network going. It's... literally peanuts compared to a bigger picture and other options. I mean, they're talking about building highways over the MacArthur or the Tuttle. We're talking billions and billions of dollars and years. This is a water taxi that we could get literally up and running in a matter of weeks, if not literally in a matter of weeks. And we're talking in the low millions of dollars, 10, 20, 30 million dollars to run a whole network. So I don't get why it is even so difficult to get that funding. I've had conversations and I'm actually working with some some senators in Congress to try to get federal funding. One of the obstacles we had getting federal funding is they want to see a level of success before they will provide grants. And they're more the infrastructure, which is necessary, but we now have that success, which we never had before with any of the operators. So there's a lot of movement, but I wanted to bring it up because I know we have buy-in from our entire commission. I know we're completely supportive and we need to just keep pushing this forward together.

Has there been outreach to find? Because it's a water, aren't they the people who helped us with the marine, with the mooring field? It's water transportation. It's ecologically sound. It might, maybe this falls within their purview of funding.

So I just want to chime in for find it that's they were morally responsible for one-time projects I don't think they I don't think they fund ongoing No, but they could find the building of the docks for instance

Yeah, and that's correct commissioner. We have had discussions with one of the representatives from find and one of the things we learned which the mayor Touched on is that in order to apply for federal funds. We need to show success We also need to show that we've done our due diligence and our research in terms of where the doc will be located What will it cost and so that's going to require and it's something we're working on now is taking and The initial the initial feasibility study that we did that was done by a water taxi national water taxi expert KPFF we're taking that analysis and you know drilling down and as a matter of fact this item the mayor's item lists several locations and All of these locations are on either the KPFF feasibility study or the TPO's feasibility study, but those are high-level feasibility studies. We need to now take those and drill down on these locations to see exactly what it will take and what it will cost to build a dock at that location, and then we'll be better positioned to be able to apply for the capital of funds that are provided by FIND and by the Federal Transit Administration.

And is the drilling down in those locations that have already been identified, is that covered within your department? Or is that something that we also need to find funding for?

We are in the scoping process, so I don't have a cost for you yet, but we may need influx of funding in order to get to that next phase, that more detailed phase that looks at all of these locations. and determines feasibility, determines where the dock would be located.

Will you have that information so that we can figure it out as part of our budget process for 27?

I can certainly have a cost, yes.

Yeah, okay. Let's make sure that that is something that we capture. Please. Thank you. Thank you.

Ms. Muir? Commissioner Fernandez. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll just be quick. There's one thing that I do know, just having observed government for a long time. Free transportation is successful transportation. When you look at the Metrorail, the Metrorail has had great success because it is fare free. When you look at the trolley services, the trolley services are successful throughout all the municipalities because in the large part, they are free, especially when you look at our municipal trolley. And I think that that's part of the success of this iteration, Mr. Mayor, of the water taxi that you've led on. and that you have successfully implemented. And I do think that putting a user fee on it will hurt ridership and ultimately the success of the program. I'd like to propose, Mr. Mayor, that we consider hiring a lobbyist that specializes on county government for this specific issue, because I do think we need someone that is dedicated on advancing this. This is transformative. a transformative mode of transportation that's going to cost a fraction of any other mode that has ever been proposed. And so I just want to put that out there as a suggestion.

I'm going to turn it over to Eric. I like that. Thank you. I mean, I'm wondering if the and the city administration come back with a proposal.

Yeah, we can certainly take a look at that and see what makes sense, and obviously we would want to make sure that they were bringing in more than they were costing.

Right. That's always the... I figured with your county connections, Commissioner. I know.

Commissioner Magazine. I like the idea, Commissioner Fernandez, about having a lobbyist, but... Not but. The but isn't towards you. Of all the lobbyists that do business in front of us in the city, are you telling, not you, I'm just, are there none of them? Yeah, for the good of the community, for the good of the city, the city that they live in, the city that they make a living in.

I'm looking around for our hands here. No, I think I agree with that. And I think there's ways to do it. I love the fact that you're mentioning it, Commissioner Fernandez, because you're highlighting it for people. But I guess it behooves us to take a look at what's potential. I think the concern is how much we'd be spending on it.

Yeah, we'll take a look at different options and maybe bring back a couple of different ones.

Great, thank you, Jose.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Yes, sounds like a good idea. Let's call R5F.

R5F is an ordinance of the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, amending Chapter 46 of the City Code entitled Environment by amending Article 4 entitled Noise by amending Section 46-152 entitled Noises, Unnecessary and Excessive, Prohibited. By amending Subsection B to reduce distance to establish prima facie evidence of the specified noise violation during specified hours, providing for repealers of ability qualification and an effective date.

I move the item.

This is a second reading. Public hearing is item R5F. I see no one on Zoom and no one in the audience requesting to speak. We're adding Commissioner Magazine as a sponsor. I believe I heard a motion by Commissioner Bott.

And second by Commissioner Mateo Salinas.

Okay, so I vote. If there's no discussion, I'll call the roll. So motion by Commissioner Bott, seconded by Monica Mateo Salinas, co-sponsored by Commissioner Magazine. Commissioner Mateo Salinas. Yes.

Yes.

Commissioner Bott. Yes. Commissioner Magazine. Yes. Vice Mayor Dominguez.

Yes.

Commissioner Suarez. Yes. Commissioner Fernandez. Yes. Herder, yes. Mayor Miner. Yes. Motion is approved 7-0. That was item R5F. Let's call R5A. R5A is an ordinance of the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach, Florida amending Chapter 78 of the Miami Beach City Code entitled Personnel by amending Article 5 entitled Classified Employees Leave by amending Section 78-282 entitled Definitions Clarifying the Definition of Immediate Family by Eliminating Duplicative Language by amending Section 78-285 to allow service members to cash out on hours accrued in excess of the carry forward cap otherwise forfeited as a result of the active military duty by amending section 78-286 to increase the cap of the maximum amount of annual leave hours that may be accrued from 500 hours to 600 hours retroactive to December 31st, 2025. By amending Section 78-290, subjecting paid holidays to collective bargaining provisions governing holiday pay, if applicable, by amending Section 78-292, to authorize transfer of part or all of accrued leave to an employee's 457B account upon retirement, resignation, termination, or death. and authorize the use of accrued leave to be used to extinguish a debt owed by the city, such as reimbursement over repayments through payroll or unpaid insurance premiums, repealing ordinances in conflict with this ordinance, and further providing for severability, codification, and effective date. This is a second reading public hearing. It is item R5A. Thank you.

Commissioner Mattias Salinas.

So, um, hi Marla. Uh, this is a, uh, item that we're doing that will benefit our employees. So this is something that will help them feel a little bit better and appreciated here working for the city of Miami beach and Marla, if you'd like to explain the details, that'd be great.

Through the Chair, Marla L. Pizar, Human Resources Director. Yes, Commissioner, thank you. This is an ordinance. This and its companion item for unclassified leave as well will allow us to align with our collective bargaining agreements and raise the amount of leave accrual to remain constant between years from 500 maximum to 600 maximum. That is the proposal before you So when you accrue vacation You can get to a maximum of right now under the ordinance of 500 hours This ordinance will change the maximum every before that can be carried from year to year to 600 hours. I

So essentially if you're working really, really hard and you never take days off and you love your job and you love this city and you bust your butt and you don't take your time, you can now roll over to more time to the next year. That is correct.

How does that ultimately impact pensions and I always hear these infamous stories of the Long Island Railroad, right? These guys will just stack vacation days, and then when they go to retire, they'll say, well, I have all these vacation days, I'm working this extra overtime, and that's essentially in their last years what they base their retirement off of. Whether it be that or other financial implications, what are the financial implications of this?

There are no financial implications to speak of because the cap for when you're paid out when you leave the city is remains the same at 620 for vacation. So there's no change to the final payout cap. This is the amount of leave that you can roll over from year to year. So not to name names but you know there are individuals that can't use all their vacation and they lose it every year unfortunately.

Does this pay them out, their vacation?

Can you repeat the question, please?

Do they get paid out their vacation or they just get to take more the next year?

Neither. When you leave the city, you're paid out up to a cap of $620. That remains constant. But when you're working here and you have a lot of vacation because you don't use all your vacation, from year to year, you can only carry over $500.

500 what?

Hours.

Translate that for me.

So if I've been here for a long time and I have 520 hours and I can't take time off.

Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you said per year. Okay.

Right. And that year we would have to swipe 20 hours from you so that you could only carry from year to year 500 hours. But when you leave the city, you can be paid up to 620 hours. So this brings the cap to 600. that from year to year the cap can stay constant at 600 when you leave the city you may be paid up to 620. so there could be significant adjacent there could be significant financial implications of this so there the city books the the and i don't want to speak for the finance department but we we maintain our um Liabilities based on the cap when you're paid out, which is 620.

Use just me as an example, or Joe employee. If I can, Jason Green, Chief Financial Officer, to just answer directly the question about pensionable. It says no.

Forget pension.

Okay, I just want to clear that. Well, not forget it. Include that, but don't make it exhaustive of just pension. Sure. So this would have no financial impact because two things. Your payout is not pensionable. So your pension is based on what your annual salary is. So if you have an annual salary of $80,000, your pension would be based on $80,000, regardless if you got paid out on unused vacation of 20 hours or 500 hours. And you only get paid out, the payout amount of the cap of 620 doesn't change in here. It's just how much rolls over from one year to the next. So that has no financial impact to the city at all.

But individually, while that cap remains the same, we're rolling over more and more let's say a hundred people now well the cap doesn't go up but let's say we roll over an extra how many hours per year per individual the cap was is proposed to be raised from 500 per year to 600 per year so you have to use that hundred hours during that year you wouldn't get paid out so again the financial impact I'm writing a check the amount I'll be writing a check will never change so there would be no financial impact to the city

IT WOULD JUST ALLOW THE EMPLOYEE TO TAKE A LITTLE BIT MORE VACATION THE NEXT YEAR. I THINK AS COMMISSIONER SELINAS SAID, OFTENTIMES LONGER TERM EMPLOYEES ACCUR A CERTAIN AMOUNT. BECAUSE OF OUR JOBS, LIKE MYSELF, WHEN MY FAMILY IS OUT DURING THE SUMMER, THE TEACHERS, I CAN ONLY TAKE ABOUT A WEEK AFTER THE JULY COMMISSION MEETING. SO I DON'T HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE ALL MY VACATION.

I guess I'm getting confused by these number of hours per year. We're raising the cap that you can roll over per year? It's not cumulative.

So it's not 500, then another 500, then another 500, then another 500. It's just a max of 500. But why are we saying per year? Because at the end of each calendar year, the amount that we rolled over would be 600.

How much can you roll over every single year? Oh, okay. How much could you accrue in any given year?

Oh, wow. I'm not good at this.

I believe that, Commissioner, if I could, when you start working for the city, you get up to two weeks vacation, so that could be the equivalent of 80 hours. After you get to 10 years, it goes up to three weeks that you could acquire. So you're looking at about 120 hours that you could gain at that point in time.

So that's what's throwing me off, because if we have a maximum of 120, why 500?

So every year when December comes, up to 500, you can roll it to the next year and you don't lose it. If you have 520 hours, as Marla was saying, THEN WHEN WE ROLL OVER, $20 DROPS OFF AND YOU ONLY TAKE 500 FORWARD. ALL THIS DOES IS ALLOW YOU NOW TO CARRY OVER THE MAXIMUM OF 600 HOURS. IT STILL DOESN'T HAVE ANY IMPACT ON THAT FINAL MAXIMUM PAYOUT THAT YOU COULD GET OF 620. IT DOESN'T FORCE YOU TO TAKE THAT VACATION AT THE END OF THE YEAR JUST TO BE ABLE TO BURN THOSE HOURS, WHICH IS ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT WE HAVE, IS THAT YOU GET TO THE END OF THE YEAR, YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO BE ABLE TO TAKE A VACATION, YOU COULDN'T FOR WHATEVER WORK REASONS, AND NOW YOU HAVE THIS TIME, SO IT'S NOT FORCING PEOPLE TO TAKE THAT TIME OFF IN DECEMBER WHERE EVERYBODY STARTS TAKING OFF. So it just allows you to carry it over and then you can use it in January or February or any time during that next year. But once you get to that 600, now you, that's the max. So it's not, there's no cost impact. It's just what you can carry over and use it in the beginning of the next year.

I'm having a hard time Making logic of that, but I'll take your word for it. Thank you, sir. I hope it's not the fox guarding the hen house, you know, telling them. But no, I say that in jest. Okay. There's no financial impact. I'll take your word. I'll try and make logic out of that later.

If no, do I have a motion? Second me in.

I mean.

Motion by Commissioner Suarez seconded by Commissioner Fernandez. It is a public hearing I see no one on zoom and no one in the audience. I'm gonna call the roll vice mayor Dominguez Commissioner Mattel Salinas. Yes, mr. Fernandez. Yes, mr. Bott Mr. Magazine. Yes, Commissioner Suarez. They're mine. Yes motion carries item r5a is approved.

May I do companion item r5b?

Yes, I R5V is an ordinance of the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach, Florida amending Chapter 78 of the Miami Beach City Code entitled Personnel by amending Article 4 entitled Unclassified Employee Leave by amending Section 78-181. Entitled definitions clarifying the definition of immediate family by eliminating duplicative language by amending Section 78.182 to allow service members to cash out on hours accrued in excess of the carry-forward cap otherwise forfeited as a result of the active military duty by amending Section 78-183 to increase the cap of the maximum amount of annual leave hours that may be accrued from 500 hours to 600 hours retroactive to December 31st, 2025 by amending Section 78-189 to authorize transfer Part or all of a crude leave to employees 457 B account upon retirement resignation termination or death and authorized the use of a crude leave to be used to extinguish a debt owed by the city said owed to the city such as Reimbursement of overpayments through payroll or unpaid insurance premiums repealing or ordinances in conflict with this ordinance and providing for severability Calification and effective date. This is a second reading public hearing. It is item r5 B. I'd like to move the item.

I

Motion by Commissioner Monica Mattel Salinas, seconded by Commissioner Suarez. It is a public hearing. I see no one on Zoom and I see no one in the audience. Vice Mayor Dominguez.

Yes.

Commissioner Mattel Salinas. Yes. Commissioner Fernandez.

Yes.

Commissioner Magazine.

Yes.

Commissioner Bott. Yes. Commissioner Suarez. Yes. Mayor Miner. Yes. Motion carries. The item is approved. That was item R5G. Our 7a our 7a ease approved second amendment to Lincoln Road bid mo you are 7a II I

Thank you, John. First, I want to thank the Lincoln Road bid. Annabel Lopez is here and all the work they do. You see when you come down Lincoln Road, there's a lot of activations. Just opened a FIFA store the other day, which was a nice addition. And I got to tell you, hopefully we're all seeing it. When I walk down Lincoln Road, it's pretty busy. It's robust. It's alive. Take it away, John.

All right. We're here today to extend the city's funding for the maintenance hospitality, the work that they do block by block on Lincoln Road.

I'll second. Well, I heard a motion by Commissioner Fernandez, seconded by Mayor Miner on item R7AE. All in favor?

Aye.

Any discussion? Can we... Can we just specify what this is? I mean, if I'm public, I'm just sitting here watching this. Oh, what's the second amendment to the Lincoln Road bid MOU? I know you have some staff out there. You want to explain what they do? Yes, absolutely.

Annabelle Yopi is Executive Director for the Lincoln Road bid.

So, Annabelle, I think everybody knows what the bid does, but what is the amendment?

So the bid and the city has had an MOU since I think 2017 to go in partnership with really cleanliness and an ambassador program on Lincoln Road. And right now we have a company called Block by Block. They do a lot of the urban districts around town and across the nation. So they're really our eyes and ears of if there's an unhoused situation, if somebody broke into a store. We had a situation not too long ago They are constantly walking around Lincoln Road, doing light cleaning, working with the tenants, working with the visitors who come to Lincoln Road and they want to know where to go. But they are really a liaison with the city as well and support the public sanitation program on Lincoln Road.

Why do we not do that? Well, it's a partnership.

Hold on.

I sent an email. I walk Lincoln Road every single day, every single day, constantly just looking. What is good? What is bad? What needs to be fixed? And I said, we're in like peak season here. We paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for new pressure washers. And I'm like, where are we getting bang for our buck? So who cleans Lincoln Road?

Various departments.

Maybe if we could have John come up here as well.

Various departments are out there. You have facilities out there. You have doing painting and whatnot. You have sanitation out there. You have green space out there. We're taking care of the fountains and then we have this this additional service almost like ambassadors and additional cleaning that that's out there as well I'll do you might see them with their pails and their t-shirts and whatnot, but do the individual shop owners have or stores have any requirement for the public rights of way in front of their buildings, or is that all the city and these partnerships I

No, the private sector doesn't have any responsibility in cleaning anything beyond their lease line. That is all public right away.

And how about for these deep cleanings? Tell me, maybe, John, the heavy-duty pressure washers.

The heavy-duty pressure washing, the city does handle that, and we also have sanitation crews, hand crews working the area all day long. They're emptying trash and assisting and picking up, but then the bid also has...

litter pick up as well and we do have an effort right now regarding the world cup where we do have all teams got together they did a walk through all city teams and we are working through the road right now doing exactly we're talking about the painting the deep pressure cleaning and preparation i i request that we all do a walk through tomorrow morning i do one every single day i'm not happy about having to have the world cup as a catalyst for the gum the dirt

to look world class, right? It shouldn't just be because of the World Cup. And I want to make sure that I'm not off in my analysis. So I'd request that at some point, maybe tomorrow morning, Friday morning, that we all kind of take a walk before the crowd set in. If you could, Friday morning, I'd be available.

Just for the record, Friday morning is the Jewish religious holiday of Shavuot. So I won't be able to do it Friday morning. But if you do it tomorrow morning, I'll be there.

And does this increase funding, the amendment?

So, yes, it incorporates the CPI. The CPI? From what was agreed to last year. And this is a partnership. They are funding a portion of the block by block services. The city's funding a portion. And this is one of the fundamental reasons for creation of a bid is to give them the ability to tax themselves additional.

Mr. Oh, of course, I get all of that part. I just wanted to know what was being amended from the original agreement. So, just CPI and credit. Perfect. I appreciate you and the bid. The recent activations have been great. You had thousands of people there for the pink.

Ms. Pink palm puff.

Mr. My daughter knows better than I do. Mr. Yes, my teenage daughter told me. And we, I actually took her down there. It was incredible.

It was. We had close to 9,000 people come for that activation.

The swatch was interesting.

It was, yes. Globally, swatch was an interesting drop.

So thank you for the work you do. No problem. Mr. Mattias Salinas.

I'd actually like to co-sponsor this item because I I'm actually I see the block-by-block folks that walk around and they have the shirts on and They always smile at me and they are very friendly and helpful and so it's a great program and I appreciate the fact that you're also a INVESTING IN THIS PROGRAM. SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THE BID INVEST OVER $221,000 A YEAR IN THIS PROGRAM IN ADDITION THAT WE COVER THE COST OF THE RENT FOR THE OFFICE THAT THEY HAVE TO BE HOUSED OUT OF. SO THERE IS A LOT OF SUPPORT AND CONTRIBUTION ON THE PRIVATE SIDE AND THAT'S WHY IT MAKES A GREAT PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY. IT'S MUCH NEEDED BECAUSE WE CAN REACT TO THINGS A LOT QUICKER. THEY TELL ME THEY CALL US AND WE'RE ABLE TO CALL THE CITY IF IT'S SOMETHING BIGGER THAN WE CAN HANDLE. Those are our immediate eyes and ears, you know, that we can react quickly to things.

And Commissioner Magazine, I'm available Thursday and Friday morning for the walkthrough. Happy to do that with you. Depends on how early, though, but I'll do it.

6 a.m.?

Fine.

Commissioner Bott.

I think, if I'm not mistaken, they were actually memorialized in Lincoln Road Hustle, right? Weren't two of the characters talking about their jobs and what was going on? It was, yes. They are now part of Miami Beach Law. In addition to being very helpful in providing a useful service, that's a pretty cool thing, too.

Through the chair, if I may, the amendment is extending the agreement for an additional year. So that is the reason for the amendment.

Great.

Yeah.

Well, thank you, Annabel. Thank you for working with me on this.

Thank you very much for supporting mayor and commissioners. Absolutely.

Thank you for your work, Lyle Stern, who we love working with. I'm also going to give a shout out, because I've actually heard recently a number of residents commend us as a body, our police, ALBA, because it's a constant effort. But there used to be a pretty large issue, especially early mornings with homeless population on Lincoln Road. Number of people commented they walk out there every day early and they do not see those same issues We have definitely seen a positive change on that. So thanks. Thank you to all involved in that Great.

Thank you

So let's take the vote. Motion by Commissioner Fernandez, seconded by Mayor Miner. All in favor of R7AE, please say yes. Yes. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, the item is approved 7-0. That was R7AE.

And Rafael, I emailed earlier that I want to be a co-sponsor on this as well.

So this is, we're adding you and we're adding Commissioner Mateo Salinas. Excellent. Thank you. We actually have one more HR item, R5C. R5C is an ordinance of the Mayor, City Commissioner, City of Miami Beach Board amending the Miami Beach Employees Retirement Plan created by Ordinance No. 2006-3504, as subsequently amended by amending Sections 2, 3, 4, and 5 to correct errors in the internal cross-referencing to increase the drop participation period for members in the AFSCME bargaining unit from 5 to 8 years to allow for the re-employment of retirees after a period of separation. of at least six months continued receipt of retirement allowance during the employment and foregoing eligibility to rejoin the plan and by creating a new section 16 of the plan to allow employees participating in the defined contribution system to join the plan and invest in the current schedule of benefits after five years of credible service, repealing all ordinances in conflict therewith and providing for an effective date that is item R5C, the second reading public hearing.

Since Commissioner Magazine is going to ask you to explain this in plain English, I'll ask first.

Good morning, thank you. I'll do my best to be in simple English. This ordinance does three things. One, it extends the drop from five years to eight years for AFSCME. fiscal impact, we have an actuarial statement that was attached to this item before second reading. The second thing that this ordinance does is it allows the city to rehire individuals that used to be employed here, have been gone for more than six months. They may or may not have a pension, but it allows them to come back and be rehired with a, not with a pension, but with a 401 . And the third thing that this allows us to do is to, there are a group of employees who many years ago did not opt into the pension. They have been employees here for a long time. There's about 12 of them. And this allows them to opt into the plan on a go-forward basis, which is a normal cost to the system, just like we would hire a new employee.

Commissioner Natalia Salinas.

So I have a couple of questions. So I've received some communication from employees that want to opt into the system, but they don't want to start off at zero. So can you address that please? And apparently when in 2006, when this was offered, they were allowed to buy time, but now it's not being offered. That is correct. And is there a way that we can allow employees to buy some time or is that going to tell me a little bit about the financial impacts that might have?

So I'm not an actuary, but I understand that if you were allowed to buy time, um, it could create, there's two, two issues. If it's their own funding that is being brought into by time that doesn't have an immediate fiscal impact to the city because, um, allowing people to buy time using, for example, their leave does have a cash impact to the city. But if you buy time into the system, it creates an additional unexpected liability on the pension system, which would be factored in to the cost. So each individual person is buying service hours, basically. And so that means that their pension benefit would be higher.

So Commissioner, to answer your question, in 2006, what happened was we had two systems. We had a 401 and we had a pension system. And people were given an option at that point whether they wanted to continue on in the 401 or they wanted to join the city's pension system. And we had a group of individuals that decided that they wanted to stay with the pension system for different reasons. Sometimes people thought, I'm only going to be here for a couple of years. I don't want to worry about a pension. want to put it in something I can easily get out. But people had a choice to make. There were a group of employees that we still have, I think it's around 10, that did migrate over. They chose to stay in the 401. And now, years later, they maybe stayed longer than they thought. would like to be able to be a part of the pension system what's being offered to them at this point in time is the ability to at least get in on a go forward and you know we've discussed with the manager there may be something in the future where where we have an opportunity for them to maybe get some of the credit if they you know at a cost to them but right now it was just to be able to at least get them into the system because those individuals that have been in the 401 for a number of years ALL THEY HAVE IS BASICALLY A SUM OF MONEY, BUT THEY ALSO WILL HAVE NO SOCIAL SECURITY. SO IN THEIR RETIREMENT YEARS, THEY WON'T HAVE ANYTHING COMING IN, THEY WON'T HAVE A PENSION AND THEY WON'T HAVE ANY SOCIAL SECURITY BECAUSE THEY'VE BEEN HERE FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. THIS AT LEAST GETS THEM IN WHERE THEY'RE STARTING TO GAIN ON A MOVE FORWARD AND WE'RE NOT RULING OUT THE POSSIBILITY THAT THERE MAY BE SOME OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM IN THE FUTURE. THAT'S KIND OF WHERE WE'RE AT RIGHT NOW.

I just want to make sure that, thank you, Mark, I appreciate that. I just want to make sure that we do have that opportunity for those folks if they do want to buy in with some of their own money and they can have that opportunity as well and we're not closing the door on them. So how do we make sure that that happens? Because there are a number of folks that have reached out to me and they're very panicked about this, very worried.

So if I could, you know, there's multiple conversations I feel like that are going on simultaneously one is if they move from the 401 to the pension system they're not losing their 401 they get to keep the entirety of the nest egg that they've built up over the time that they've been here they are entering the pension system as if they were a new hire employee and they do have to go through five years in the city to vest in that program But that gives them the opportunity to start building an additional nest egg on top of the one that they already have. And if we were to do a buyback, there are many bargaining units across the city that are very interested in having these buyback conversations. And there are instances where people can buy back former military service, Former municipal government service that doesn't have an associated pension. These are these are not uncommon things But it's something that we would want to do holistically and and have a conversation Amongst all the groups rather than just these individuals So we're but we're gonna we're gonna have those conversations as as it comes up. Yeah, we have them every bargaining session

And the unclassified employees too?

So we typically try to give the unclassifieds similar opportunities to the folks that are in the bargaining units so that we don't create a situation where people feel like they have unequal benefits.

Okay.

Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

So I need a motion on R5C. I'll second. I have a motion by Commissioner Fernandez, seconded by Mayor Miner. It is a public hearing. I see no one on Zoom, no one in the audience requesting to speak. Commissioner Fernandez?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Dominguez?

Yes.

Commissioner Magazine?

Yes.

Commissioner Mateo Salinas?

Yes.

Commissioner Suarez? Yes. Commissioner Bott? Yes. Mayor Miner? Yes. Motion carries. That was item R5C. It is approved.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mahler. Mark? R7Y. R7Y is... ID location to replant oak trees removed during construction on First Street. I'm sorry. No. Our settlement agreement with Marine Association Amendment 5, Lease Agreement Amendment 3. So R7Y, the settlement agreement.

Mr. Mayor, I don't believe this item is ready to be heard. So I think we're going to ask that it be withdrawn. Deferred. Deferred. Deferred to next month.

So R7Y is being deferred. Okay.

Let's call...

That was easy, Mike. Mayor, can I make two withdrawal announcements? Commissioner Suarez is withdrawing R9N. If you could list that as a withdrawal, R9N. And he's withdrawing.

You want to say which item that is? Yes. R9N. Short title. Yes. For people in the public. R9. Okay.

So I'll do it that way. R9N is discussed. Take action. Our Basel license agreement. R9N is being withdrawn. And Commissioner Suarez is also withdrawing R9G. Discuss action. Recent uptick in car thefts within the city. R9G.

Commissioner Suarez, thank you for your efforts in moving this meeting along. Hold on. Let me have some more.

So if anyone else wants to withdraw, this is the time. R9H, Commissioner Magazine is withdrawing R9H. Discuss municipal prosecution program. So R9H is being withdrawn. and R9P is also being withdrawn discussed. They can actually maintain house party ordinance to allow city manager discretion for event permits, R9P. So where we're joining right now, R9G, R9H, R9N, and R9P.

Great. Thank you for those announcements. Let's call R5D along with, as we discussed during the discussion, the consent agenda, C7AS. Yes, sir.

R9D is an ordinance of the Mayor and City Commissioner of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, amending Chapter 106 of the Code of the City of Miami Beach, entitled Traffic and Vehicles, Article 2, entitled Metered Parking, Division 1, entitled Generally, Section 106.47, thereof entitled Freight, Commercial, and Passenger Curb Loading Zones, Hours, Deliveries, to modify and clarify requirements applicable to the use of freight, commercial, and passenger loading zones and providing for repealer, qualification, servability, and an effective date. This is a second reading public hearing. It is item R5D, companion item C7AS is, C7S is identify areas near blind corners in need of vessel speed reduction.

No, C7AS.

AS, I'm sorry. C7AS and resident tows.

Commissioner Fernandez. We have a few co-sponsors. Commissioner Dominguez, Commissioner Bach, Commissioner Suarez, and Commissioner Mateo Salinas. And I believe yourself on the end resident toes.

Yes, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you to this City Commission for unanimously sponsoring the end resident tolls reform. Today we're considering two items that work together to achieve strong enforcement where public safety requires it, but smarter and more proportional enforcement where compliance and where where where compliance can reasonably be achieved without unnecessarily punishing our residents who have placed their trust in us to serve them and improve their quality of life the first is our item that we've collectively sponsored to end resident toes this is one of the most common frustrations that I hear and I think we all hear from our residents. People come home from work late at night, they circle the block trying to find parking, they finally find a space and wake up the next morning to discover that their vehicle has been towed for a non-safety violation. Something innocent, maybe you parked a few feet into the yellow curb. you parked in the wrong residential zone, you misunderstood the confusing signage, or you didn't realize that a spot was painted yellow, but the yellow is now faded and you ended up getting towed. These violations should absolutely still be enforced with a traffic ticket, a citation, but towing is often excessive when the compliance can be achieved another way. And that's why this proposal creates a smarter driven enforcement framework that based on current city data could eliminate the majority of immediate resident toes on public property. Under the framework that we have before our commission today, residents would still receive citations and accountability measures, but would also receive up to three courtesy text messages per calendar quarter before being eligible to have their car towed on the fourth violation. Vehicles remaining in continuous violation for more than 24 hours would also remain tow eligible and that was a recommendation that came from Miami Beach United that has also endorsed this reform. And let's just put this into perspective, because this year alone, over 1,181 resident vehicles have already been towed in Miami Beach. And under the reform framework before all of us today, roughly 62% of those resident tows would likely have resulted, would not have resulted in an immediate tow and could have instead been addressed through a parking citation, through a warning first enforcement and through graduated compliance measures. The remaining violations involving genuine safety hazards, obstruction of dumpsters, you're blocking driveway, you're blocking emergency access, or you're a repeat violator, then in those cases, you are still eligible to get towed. Also, if you're blocking a fire hydrant, If you're parked in a handicapped parking space, shame on you. You will get towed. The change in the reform here, even for those, is that to try to achieve the quickest compliance possible, now even those violations will also get a text before tow notice because oftentimes people are close by and they can quickly correct that violation before a tow truck gets there. But unlike today's system, residents, would generally receive one final text before tow notification, giving them an opportunity to probably move their car before the tow is complete. The companion item also is important because it talks about freight loading zone. Freight loading zone abuse is an issue in our city. It creates traffic on our roadways, it creates congestion, It impacts businesses and it affects public safety. And the companion item enhances the penalties on freight loading zone violations, but it also creates a much needed consistency and clarity on freight loading zones citywide. Because right now, freight loading zones operate under a mismatch of different schedules and rules that can be confusing for our residents. You have freight loading zones that end at 11 a.m. You have others that end at 1. You have some that end at 3. You have some that end at different times, and it becomes a guessing game for our residents to know where they can park and at what time. So this companion ordinance, it creates a uniform citywide operating schedule for freight loading zones that pretty much says when you see a freight loading zone, you know that you can't park there between the hours. 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. No more guessing, you know that that is the schedule for those freight loading zones. So together these items create a more balanced enforcement mechanism, more fairness for our residents navigating everyday challenges in our city, stronger enforcement where public safety and mobility are impacted, and a clearer more predictable rural system for everyone using our streets. With that, I'd like to move these two items and open the floor to discussion through you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you, Commissioner Fernandez. Commissioner Suarez. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you, Commissioner Fernandez, for bringing this forward. I mean, it's almost like a rite of passage getting your cart towed in Miami Beach. I think everyone up here has got their cart towed. And I'm supportive. Obviously, I'm a co-sponsor. The only one thing I want to caution, and I don't know if this was thought about, but The North Beach is going to be going through serious parking constraints with the parking lot 92, right? Where it's going to be under construction for the foreseeable future, maybe three, four years. And we're going to have, again, many shows at the bandshell, many events in North Beach. What I want to avoid is residents from South Beach or Mid Beach going to North Beach parking in the residential areas there and just saying, well, it's only a $30 ticket. It's almost like a valet. And it's easy for me to do that. Is there a way we can come up where we prevent that?

I would defer to our parking director.

So we can, from an enforcement aspect, Commissioner, Will McDonald, Director of Parking for the City of Miami Beach, we can create different enforcement rules for different zones if that's what we are directed to do. We absolutely can do that.

Right. And again, I mean, look, I'm supportive of the idea, but what I don't want to happen is... there to be because they're going to be bad out. There's going to be that bad. There's people are going to take advantage of this and say, well, you know, it's only a $30 parking ticket and I want to go see the show or I want to go to North beach or anywhere, you know, vice versa. And you know, it's, it, it's not, it's not a big deal for me. I know I'm not going to get towed because I'm part of the registration program. How do we prevent that bad behavior from happening?

I think one of the things that we could do, because a lot of this, I think, is giving the benefit of the doubt to the residents that we serve. I think people that are coming into our city that abused us, they're going to get towed. First violation. They're still eligible to getting towed. This is about those who have placed their trust in us, us trusting them back. and giving them the benefit of the doubt. Now, if they abuse the system and we see that there's a problem, I think we can always come back. We can always make an amendment and say, you know what? It's on North Beach, the issue that you're mentioning, and we can always amend it, and it's a simple resolution, so it's always easy to amend a resolution. But I think we should give our residents the benefit of the doubt. I think that we're already putting on the table an enforcement mechanism, and if they are repeat violators and they do abuse the system, then they'll still get towed. And they're also, upon the first violation, they're getting a text message. They're getting a text message that tells them, hey, you're illegally parked, second sentence, please move your vehicle immediately. And that's within the item that's before us. I don't know if you have any other suggestions.

Since North Beach parking is so limited, and it's going to be even further limited once we remove this parking garage, How about we do specifically for Zone 26 a one-time courtesy?

That's fair.

I think that's fair. A one-time courtesy non-toe, text message and everything. But after that, there really should be some sort of protections for the residents of North Beach and their parking.

And let me hear from my colleagues on that because we're all sponsors on this legislation.

Thank you. Through the Vice Mayor?

Laura, you're leading the meeting.

Through the Vice Mayor? Yes. Well, I saw your face. And I thank you for just give us your thoughts on how that works. I like the idea because it is going to be a little bit of a cluster up there for the next few years. Is it viable? Is there any issue with that? No. I like the protections that are already built in with it. The text, I would suggest, please move your car within 30 minutes of receiving this message, because as soon as possible, you know, like...

It says immediately.

Well, whatever it is, but I think we need to, like, you know, whatever. But that's nuance. Is this doable, practicable, a nightmare, completely unenforceable, all of the above?

So it's absolutely, we will execute it. I want to make that very clear. We employ human beings just like everyone else in the city. There may be some mistakes because right now the technology isn't there to immediately, say, build an algorithm that says, oh, we're in this zone and this zone. We only do one in this zone. It will be three.

Yeah, that's my concern.

It does get challenging. But we have some stop gaps in place right now before our team performs any tows. There's, for example, one of our team members will call into our dispatch. They'll repeat the plate phonetically. The dispatch will also then check the plate. We do these things to try to stop mistakes now. So we can build policies and an SOP that can state If we're in this zone, these are the guardrails that we're looking at. If we're in this zone, these are the guardrails. And we will absolutely execute it to the best of our ability.

And by the way, just to be clear, I'm not trying to single out just North Beach. I mean, there's also South of Fifth, right? I mean, you have a very limited residential on-site parking. There's a lot of restaurants in South of Fifth. And if people from anywhere else on the beach wanted to just come and take over the parking there that are residents, it could possibly happen. So look, again, of course I'm supportive of this item, I think it's a great idea, but we just have to have some protections because it is ripe for abuse.

So if I could just chime in there. Those weren't the same concerns that we had when we initiated the text before tow program. We had the same concerns that the residents were going to abuse it. And to the contrary, the residents haven't abused it. I think it's broad awareness you've informed someone that they're in violation. And I've heard from people that they've received those text messages, They've been able to correct the violations before a towing truck got there and they were aware now of something that they shouldn't be doing that they weren't aware of before. One of the other tools that we have is that we have the ongoing reporting. that we're going to be getting as a commission, we're going to be doing the monitoring of this. We're going to get weekly LTCs summarizing the towing activity, the citations, the enforcement metrics, and perhaps we could get a specific, you know, as part of that LTC, get a weekly update there, okay, and what's happening in Zone 26, and that's a concern, so that if we need to correct course, we could do that. But I would like for us to consider adopting it uniformly throughout the city. And then if we see that there is an abuse somewhere, we can go back and fix that. But I do think we should give our residents the benefit of the doubt. Because I think for the most part, people make innocent mistakes when it comes to parking. And that's been my experience. People generally, they're not looking to purposefully violate our parking regulations.

And if I may also just jump in, Ralph, since you're here, gentlemen, if you don't mind approaching for a quick second. You know, part of the issue with towing is the residents being knuckleheads or forgetting or sometimes both at the same time, in my case, certainly. Part of it is our policies and our staff doing the best they can with challenging circumstances. And part of it is our partners in towing. And I would suggest that it is going to be very important that our partners in towing understand what we're doing and do not get trigger happy with their towing vehicles. Because once a car is on the tow truck, it becomes a whole different conversation. And I know I have been towed when I was not supposed to have been towed years ago, and they did not want to hear it from me. And that is an operational thing for the business owners. And I think there's going to need to be a very clear set of policies and procedures that is understood by the ownership and the staff who are enforcing it once it gets handed off from the city. Because we've all gotten these emails from people who got towed when they shouldn't have been. And if we're making it a little bit more complicated anyhow, we're going to need to make sure that tow operators know what they're doing when they're doing it.

THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER BOTT, FOR INVITING ME UP. GOOD AFTERNOON OR GOOD MORNING, CITY MANAGER, COMMISSIONERS, Mr. Topico. That's why they're here. I asked them to come so that they can hear directly from the commission regarding any concerns related to towing and the direction that this is all moving in. So I think they can both acknowledge what they've heard and we will absolutely do our best to meet the city's expectations. And certainly if I can tell you from my perspective and their perspective, if we never towed another resident again, We're thrilled. We don't want to tell residents. I'll move that motion. There you go. So we're here to cooperate with you and help the city however we can, whatever challenges you all face. So thank you for inviting me up. And anyone else sitting right here, if you have any other questions.

So just just to be clear, I mean, is there an appetite for zone 26 to have a little bit more protections because You know, they're going to be, when that parking lot is demolished, it's going to spill over to the residential parking lot.

Why don't we look at the metrics? Let's see when that happens.

The problem is it's different when it gets demolished, right? And so we kind of want to be ahead of the curve.

But that's going to be a long project. If people start abusing it, we'll be able to notice it immediately. I mean, the moment people start abusing that, you're going to be giving us weekly LTCs. And in that LTC, you can tell specifically what's happening in Zone 26. The moment we see that, we can put a resolution on the agenda.

Commissioner, with all due respect, that sounds great, but from my experience, the parking enforcement on Zone 26 is abysmal. When we had an issue with this one block on Zone 26, there were 26 citations given. When my aide and I, who... raise the issue, they gave out 26 citations on one block because I asked them to, to start enforcing zone 26. And so, you know, we can certainly wait, but that's assuming that we have a robust enforcement system on parking, and I don't think we have that right now.

Well, and one of the items that we've adopted as part of the consent agenda specifically speaks to enforcement and enforcement in North Beach, about allocating resources for enforcement in North Beach and enforcement in South Beach, where we know we have challenges to make sure, because what you're telling me is that even the... The problem isn't even towing. The problem is that there's not even citations being issued. Correct. And one of the policies that we've put forward that got adopted with this agenda, and I'll give you the item number in just a second, it established a dedicated parking enforcement pilot program, C7AN. C7AN. addresses specifically what you're asking, the violation of the resident parking in North Beach, the violation of the resident parking in South Beach, and making sure that we have the sufficient personnel available to be doing that enforcement. Because you're right, you know, oftentimes, you know, people get home from work and they can't find parking because you have people even from outside the city, from outside the city that are going in and parking in parking spaces that belong to our residents. And who's being affected are those who we are actually trying to protect. And so we've taken that concern that you have into consideration and we've created this detail that we approved as part of the consent agenda.

I'm okay with just waiting for the data to see if there's, but again, that's only as good as the people taking the data.

You have my commitment. You have my commitment that as part of this detail that's been created and the LTCs that we'll be receiving, that if we see abuse, listen, at the end of the day, that abuse, who does it affect? The residents in North Beach. The residents in North Beach who won't be able to find parking when they get home from from work and we will work together on addressing that if that does happen.

This is a great item. Thank you, Commissioner Fernandez and everyone. This is a perfect example of what our commission is doing for residents' quality of life.

We're ready to call a vote. I have a motion by Commissioner Fernandez. I need a second. A motion by Commissioner Fernandez, seconded by Commissioner Mattel Salinas. It is a public hearing. I see no one on Zoom, no one in the audience requesting to speak. It is a motion for both item R5D and C7AS. Commissioner Batt.

Yes.

Commissioner Mattel Salinas.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Dominguez.

Yes.

Commissioner Magazine. Yes. Commissioner Fernandez. Yes. Commissioner Suarez. Yes. Mayor Miner. Yes. Both motions are approved. Item C7AS and R5D are approved.

While we're on the general topic, R9Z.

R9Z is Disgusting Action Contemplated Inclusion of Motorcycle Scooters Residential Parking Permit Program.

Commissioner Suarez. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So I was briefed that the city administration was contemplating scooter motorcycle permit fees without putting it on the agenda for the seven of us to vote on. I don't think that this is an operational issue. It's a new fee and I certainly don't think that the city administration should be unilaterally applying fees to our residents. I understand the need for this was to get data on where there are more scooters, but I think our scooters being throughout the city. However, I don't think we need to require a fee for that or a permit. I think we can, I think the city administration can do that without that. So Mr. City Manager, is this program still being contemplated by city staff?

So yes, this program is currently scheduled to roll out on June 1st. My understanding is that the ordinances that are in place for parking allow us to implement this. And based on the recommendations of our parking department, we felt that this would help bring some order to Some of the challenges we've been facing with the motorcycle and scooter parking and I would welcome our parking director to add any color to that Okay before we do that.

I just want my colleagues to know I Have a big problem with the administration imposing fees on our residents without our input I don't I think that at a very minimum should never happen unless it's put on an agenda from one of us to decide that. I don't think city administration should be imposing fees on anything. And so I think the city administration, respectfully, is completely out of line on this. Second, the whole reason why scooter and motorcycle parking was, when I did the research, was to is because they're more efficient when it comes to parking. You can put seven or eight, ten motorcycles or scooters in a single parking spot than for a car. I understand there's a lot of challenges when people leave a motorcycle or a scooter in a parking spot in the middle and it doesn't prevent anyone else, but we can address that easily with just dedicated scooter parking spaces and having an ordinance that says, look, if you have a scooter or motorcycle, you have to park in the scooter motorcycle designated parking spots, not take up a whole lane. But at the very minimum, I'm wholeheartedly against the city administration imposing fees on our residents and unilaterally deciding that we're going to upend a tradition that that encourages smaller transportation devices on the city parking infrastructure. We don't want to make it harder, we want to make it easier. So I want to see how my colleagues feel about this. We can certainly accomplish the intent of this without having to raise any fees or create BUREAUCRATIC PROCESS TO GET A PERMIT FOR SOME OF THESE TRANSPORTATION DEVICES.

COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ.

THANK YOU. MR. MAYOR, COMMISSIONER SUAREZ, I AGREE WITH YOU 100%. RIGHT NOW THERE'S A CITYWIDE MOTORCYCLE DECAL THAT I KNOW I HAVE IT ON MY MOTORCYCLE AND IT'S LIKE $134 A YEAR I THINK IT IS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. YOU CAN PARK CITYWIDE.

And those are, that is a metered. So those are citywide in any metered motorcycle area that's meant for the general public.

Right. And so, and so to the people who are purchasing that, I mean, if you, if you live in a residential zone, you're probably purchasing that already, um, to, uh, to park in, in one of these metered spaces. When the person goes in and they buy the citywide motorcycle, um, PASS, IT SHOULD ALSO INCLUDE AS PART OF THAT THE RESIDENTIAL ZONE THAT THEY LIVE IN. AND MAYBE THAT'S SOMETHING THAT CAN BE DONE AND THEY CAN and they can park in those designated motorcycle or scooter areas, to your point, so that people are not parking a scooter or a motorcycle in a full parking space that could be used by a vehicle. You still direct them to scooter or motorcycle designated parking, but you're not adding the fee. But people are already registering their motorcycles with the city. through this annual pass, and maybe when they buy that pass, you just also include as part of that the residential zone that they live in. Is that possible?

Yes, 100%.

It is 100% possible.

100% possible. And we would be full support of that. Is there a vote you want to?

Well, the vote is I don't want the city administration imposing a fee. I agree with you.

And we're open to fee-free just way of registering vehicles so that we know who has what where.

Yeah, but I don't think, I think his point is even when something is not fee-free, when there's a fee to be imposed on the residents and the taxpayers of the city of Miami Beach, that should be considered, debated, voted on, and approved by those who have been elected by the residents, not by the city administration.

And I would welcome the attorney to just weigh in on what the ordinance allows or doesn't allow under that. Particular I mean, I think I think that was your point commissioners, right?

That's what I brought this ordinance or that's why I brought this Discussion item is to Prevent that from happening June 1st because I don't think you can I don't I certainly don't think you guys should be imposing any fees before a discussion happens And so where does that leave us right now? I think I guess I would make a motion to approve

not allow the city administration to impose a scooter parking fee for um for residents in starting in june um rick i think you're gonna answer the manager's question but i also have a question that's kind of a corollary since i don't have experience of how other municipalities do this um Will, in other cities where you've been the director of parking, what is the typical best practices of when the administration can institute fees versus when they become policy decisions done by the electives?

So I will... So the administration, from best practice, a registration, especially in our residential zones, is going to be a best practice, and full stop. The reason, So under the ordinance it talks about automobile and motor vehicles. And motorcycles under Florida statute are already included under automobile and motor vehicle under the definition. And so I understand that this was a past practice from previous directors that really wanted to focus on the sustainability efforts of motor scooters inside residential zones. The challenge that has been presented to me over my last year is simply without registration, it's impossible to control. And so, for example, our team started when I first got here. They were already in the process. I'm sorry, I just got to push back on that.

Why is it impossible to control it?

So if we don't require registration, and let's say we go, there are certain places, I'll use Flamingo Park, where you can see 25 scooters lined up in a row. We don't know if there are workers going to the entertainment district, or we don't know if there are residents that actually live there, because we don't require registration, even though... Well, how hard would it be to just have dedicated parking spots for scooter and motorcycle?

Yes. And having us pass an ordinance that says you can't park a motorcycle or a scooter on a regular motor vehicle car parking spot.

So we actually, when I first got here, the team had started painting those spaces in certain areas of the city. The challenge was, because there was no control, if somebody was parked outside, and we had heard it when we had given citations, they're like, when I got home, all the scooter spaces were full, And there was no room for me to park, so I had to park outside the scooter space. And we had no way of knowing if the people that were inside the scooter space were actually residents or they were supposed to be there. And so what we are hoping to accomplish by having two-wheeled vehicles register is to be able to now we have the data to say we know that 15 two-wheeled vehicles exist on this block. we can say two and a half feet per stall, we can create a space that exactly aligns with the resident needs so as not to now take up unnecessary space by blindly going out and painting a motorcycle or scooter parking stall and taking away from vehicle parking.

But wouldn't that be just part of parking's job is to know exactly where the hotspots are? Because I can't imagine there's more than a few hotspots of not enough scooter parking of those designated areas. It just seems... too much of a shotgun approach to require a fee and make everyone register because of maybe a few problems here and there.

I think we're in agreement that we're not going to charge a fee, so let's...

Right, but I want to get to the solution of... Because in South of Fifth, there's plenty of spots where motorcycles just park on a parking spot, and they should be parking in the scooter zone, and there's plenty of parking in the scooter zone. They just choose not to do that. So does that require a commission ordinance for that to happen?

It does not. My only request is that if these scooter zones become unregistered areas, so any scooter can park in any residential zone in these scooter areas and it displaces a resident and then we cite a resident for not parking in the scooter zone, it does become an enforcement challenge.

Let me make a recommendation. Eric, we have your commitment. You're not charging fees, correct? Correct. You want to come up with a proposal that we can consider at the next meeting?

Sure. And if I may, through the Chair, we've heard you loud and clear, Commissioner. We will hold off on implementation of the program until we've had a robust conversation here at the Commission and we've decided on what's the appropriate next step.

Well, I'd still like to make a motion to ensure that you don't impose any fees for a scooter motorcycle decom.

We have a motion and a second by Commissioner Fernandez.

I have a motion and a second on R9Z. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Hearing none, R9Z, the motion is adopted.

And in the meantime, we'll work on crafting... better approach to the scooter motorcycle challenge thank you Commissioner Suarez good discussion r5h

F5H is an ordinance of the Mayor, City Commissioner of the City of Miami Beach, Florida. Amending Chapter 10 of the Code of the City of Miami Beach, Florida. Entitled animals by amending Section 10-2 thereof. Entitled fines for violations of animal control ordinances. Unpaid fines to constitute lien and basis for revocation of city parking permits. Decals by amending and identifying those sections of the City Code to which the general penalty provision set forth in Section 10-2. Do not apply and by amending section 10 a dash 11 thereof entitled running at large prohibited exceptions But providing enhanced civil penalties for animals running at large and providing for repeal or several ability codification and effective date This is a second meeting public hearing. It is item r5. H Commissioner bought move the items I heard r5. H. I heard a motion by Commissioner bought seconded by Commissioner Fernandez It is a public hearing. I see no one in Zoom, no one in the audience requesting to speak. If there's no discussion, Vice Mayor Dominguez. Commissioner Fernandez? Yes. Commissioner Suarez? Yes. Commissioner Magazine? Yes. Commissioner Bott?

Yes.

Commissioner Mateo Salinas?

Yes.

Mayor Miner? Yes. This item is approved. It was item R5H. It is approved 7-0 with no one requesting to speak. R5H. R5K. R5K is an ordinance of the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, amending Chapter 14 of the Code of the City of Miami Beach, entitled Building Regulations, by amending Article 2, entitled Construction Standards, by amending Division 4 thereof, entitled entitled 2017-2026 Building Permit Reprieve Program to extend the duration of the Building Permit Reprieve Program for owners of single-family residential, multi-family residential, mixed-use, or commercial properties who have failed to obtain a building permit or who hold expired permits through December 31, 2028, and to amend the definition of existing buildings as used therein and providing for repealer qualifications of ability and effective date and a sunset provision. This is item R5K. It is a second reading public hearing. I move the item.

Second.

A motion by Commissioner Fernandez, seconded by Commissioner Suarez. It is a public hearing. I see no one on Zoom and no one in the audience requesting to speak. Commissioner Fernandez? Yes. Commissioner Mattel Salinas?

Yes.

Commissioner Suarez? Yes. Commissioner Magazine?

Yes.

Commissioner Bott?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Dominguez?

Yes.

Mayor Miner? Yes. Motion carries. That was item R5K. R5L. R5L is an order to the Mayor, City Commissioner of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, amending Chapter 82 of the Code of the City of Miami Beach, entitled Public Property, Article 7, entitled Art in Public Spaces, Division 1, entitled generally Section 82-537, thereof entitled definitions to create certain definitions. DEFINE TERMS AMENDING DIVISION 2 SECTION 82-562, THEREOF ENTITLED POWERS AND DUTIES TO MODIFY THE POWERS OF THE ART IN PUBLIC SPACES AIPP COMMITTEE AMENDING DIVISION 3 ENTITLED FUND SECTION 82-587, THEREOF ENTITLED APPROPRIATIONS BY THE CITY TO FUND AMEND REQUIREMENTS FOR AN AIPP ALLOCATION TO BE IMPLEMENTED ON THE SIDE OF A CITY CONSTRUCTION PROJECT NOT PROVIDING FOR REPEAT OR CALLIFICATION SERVABILITY IN AN EFFECTIVE DATE. R5L IS A SECOND READING PUBLIC HEARING. COMMISSIONER BOTT.

I MOVE THE ITEM.

SECOND. A motion by Commissioner Bott, seconded by Commissioner Fernandez. It is a public hearing. I see no one in Zoom, no one in the audience requesting to speak. May I call the roll? Yes. So Commissioner Mateo Salinas.

Yes.

Commissioner Bott.

Yes.

Commissioner Fernandez. Yes. Commissioner Magazine. Yes. Vice Mayor Dominguez.

Yes.

Commissioner Suarez. Yes. Mayor Miner.

Yes. Motion carries. The item is approved. That was R5L. R5S. Yes.

R5S is an ordinance amending the City of Miami Beach year 2025 comprehensive plan pursuant to state coordinated review process of section 163.3184 subsection 4 Florida statutes. By amending goals, objectives, policies, and document titles of the comprehensive plan, including the following elements, resilient land use and development, transportation, housing, public school facilities, and capital improvement, and pursuant to Florida Administrative Code Rule 73C-49 and section 163.3191 Florida statutes, And title evaluation and appraisal of comprehensive plan incorporating necessary amendments reflecting changes in state law and updating the comprehensive plan based on changes in local conditions since the last updated based on evaluation and appraisal report updated adopted on October 16, 2019. And providing for inclusion in the comprehensive plan, transmittal, repealer, servability, and an effective date. This is item R5S. It is a second reading public hearing.

Commissioner Fernandez. I move my item.

Second.

A motion by Commissioner Fernandez, seconded by Commissioner Suarez. I see no one in Zoom, no one in the audience requesting to speak. Commissioner Fernandez? Yes. Commissioner Bach?

Yes.

Commissioner Mattel Salinas? Yes. Commissioner Magazine? Yes. Last Mayor Dominguez? Yes. Commissioner Suarez? Yes. Mayor Miner? Yes. Motion carries. The item is approved 7-0. That was item R5S. R5AC. R5AC is an Ordinance of the Mayor and City Commissioner of the City of Magbreech, Florida, amending Chapter 70 of the Magbreech City Code, entitled Miscellaneous Offenses, by amending Article 1, entitled, in general, by amending Section 70-1.1 thereof, entitled Habitual Municipal Ordinance Violation Offenders, to include additional criminal municipal ordinance violations within the Habitual Municipal Offender Ordinance, and providing for repeal or sub-ability, codification, and effective date. This is a first reading public hearing. It is Item R5AC.

Thank you for bringing this item, Commissioner Mattel-Selinas. Proud to co-prime with you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you for your co-prime as well. I appreciate that support. So this is tightening up our municipal habitual offenders ordinance. It used to be in the past that someone could be, if they were convicted four times in the previous year, they were considered a habitual offender. And now we're doing, we're tightening up a little bit to be three times in two years because we have so many folks that are out in the street that, you know, commit crimes and they're convicted time after time after time and then sent to jail and then let let out, and then they come right back to Miami Beach to prey on our residents and our visitors. So this is just tightening this up a little bit. And I would appreciate everyone's support. Thank you.

If I may, if I may, through the chair, I just want to make one clarification. The tightening up applies to certain municipal offenses, which are generally quality of life issues, smoking cannabis, urinating or defecating in plain view public camping park after hours the The other ordinances that we have in our code Relate to state law offenses and those will remain with the four strikes So so we are not able to change that until unless and until the state changes its habitual offender statute

So just I'm sorry just to be clear so even if it's a municipal ordinance You couldn't change it if it's considered.

It's similar to state law if it's something that we adopted pursuant to state law Then it has to stay at before strikes in one year unless and until the state changes Do we have a separate item to? Legislative priority yes Thank You Commissioner Fernandez

Commissioner Mateo Salinas, thank you for bringing this item and Mr. Mayor for co-priming. With the Commissioner, I'd like to join as a co-sponsor.

Excellent. I heard Joe Magazine and Commissioner Magazine as well.

Let's call the vote. It is a public hearing. I have a motion by Commissioner Mateo Salinas, but no second yet.

I'll second.

Heard Commissioner Bott. Motion by Commissioner Monica Mattel Salinas. Seconded by Commissioner Bott. It is a public hearing. I see no one on Zoom. No one in the audience requesting to speak. Commissioner Magazine.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Dominguez.

Yes.

Commissioner Fernandez.

Yes.

Commissioner Mattel Salinas. Yes. Commissioner Bott.

Yes.

Commissioner Suarez.

David.

Yes. Mayor Miner. Yes. Motion carries. R5AC is approved on first reading, second reading, public hearing is scheduled for June 24th. We're listing Commissioner Magazine and Commissioner Fernandez as co-sponsors. That was item R5AC.

I'm sorry, I was listed yesterday as a co-sponsor on this, I think.

We'll verify that, so we'll add you also. Great. Thank you, Commissioner Mateo Salinas.

I'm there. Okay. It just wasn't called in the record, but it's there.

Oh, I was just adding the ones that said now.

Oh, gotcha. Okay. Thank you.

R5AD. R5AD is an order from the Mayor and City Commissioner of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, amending Chapter 12 of the Miami Beach City Code entitled Arts, Culture, and Entertainment by amending Article 2 entitled Special Events by amending Section 12-5.2, the relevant title special event permit required for large-scale residential parties and events to provide for recovery of city cost violations, providing for repealers of ability, qualification, and effective dates. R5AD is a first reading public hearing.

Commissioner Fernandez, co-sponsored by Commissioner Bott.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Residents have been raising concerns for years about large, unpermitted house parties. and the strain they place on surrounding neighborhoods. And the truth is that enforcing these events isn't easy. It requires a great amount of resources from our city administration, whether it be code, whether it be police, fire, parking, sanitation, to step in, and sometimes in significant numbers just to keep everyone safe and maintaining order. Right now, when a homeowner hosts a large scale party during a certain high impact period without a special event permit. The city is the one that is absorbing the cost. Every law-abiding resident, every law-abiding homeowner, every law-abiding resident taxpayer of the City of Miami Beach are footing the bills for the personnel, for the equipment, for the emergency response triggered by these illegal events. This ordinance as a straightforward cost recovery process so that when the violation occurs, the property owner, not the public, covers the city's expense. It establishes a new subsection in our existing code that allows the city to bill for enforcement costs, and if those bills go unpaid, then place a lien on the property. is simple. This is about fairness and ensuring that one person's abuse of their neighborhood, abuse of the city code, doesn't end up costing the rest of the law-abiding residents of the city of Miami Beach. And with that, I'll move the item.

I'll second. I love this item. I think it's great and long overdue.

Thank you. Thank you. A motion by Commissioner Fernandez, seconded by Commissioner Bott. It is a public hearing. You'll see no one in Zoom, no one in the audience requesting to speak. Commissioner Dominguez.

Yes.

Commissioner Suarez. Yes. Commissioner Mateo Salinas.

Yes.

Commissioner Magazine.

Yes.

Commissioner Both.

Yes.

Commissioner Fernandez. Yes. Mayor Miner. Yes. Motion carries. Second reading. Public hearing is scheduled for June 24th. That was item R5-AD.

Thank you Commissioner Fernandez. We'll call another one of your items R5-W.

R5W is an ordinance of the Mayor, City Commissioner of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, amending Chapter 82 of the Miami Beach City Code, entitled Public Property, by amending Article 5, entitled In General, by amending Section 82-441 thereof, entitled Fishing from Viaducts and Bridges in the Jetty Area between 29th and 33rd Street and in Restricted Swim Areas, by providing definitions, amending and clarifying those areas in which saltwater fishing is prohibited for the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare, and providing for repealers of ability, qualification, and effectiveness. This is a first reading public hearing. It's item R5W. I move the item.

Through the chair.

Commissioner Bott.

I actually would like to understand this a little bit better.

Sure.

I definitely don't want fish guts and fishing hooks lying around where it can cause trouble for pets and children. That's not the goal. My concern is, and so I'd like you to explain it, a little bit better. My concern is that for, we live on a barrier island and for people who don't live on a waterfront property, this may be their only opportunity to go fishing with their kids or their parents or by themselves. We have lots of public parks along the water that have benches and sea walls where people can avail themselves of the beauty of living on an island without having the, you know, it's very self-limiting self-selecting for people who are able to afford to live on the water. I myself am not a fisher person. It's not something I enjoy. But I am concerned about making it illegal for people who do enjoy it, who don't have any other access to it, unless you're a shark fisherman and you want to go fish sharks on the beach, which is a whole other disastrous conversation. But anyhow. So help me understand, because I don't want this to be a city of haves and have-nots.

So, Commissioner, if I could just answer you regarding the – this is about our Baywalk at the street ends of 10th Street, 14th Street, and Lincoln Road. We're not talking about our parks or any other areas. This is the Baywalk, 10th Street, 14th Street, Lincoln Road. These are some of our – most cherished spots along Biscayne Bay where our residents are walking their dogs and we want to keep them safe. So this is specifically in those areas. And Mark, I don't know if you want to expand on that.

No, that's exactly correct. Just for those three designated city-owned street ends along the Baywalk, which is obviously heavily utilized and quite crowded, you've already eliminated all motorized and unmotorized means of transportation except for, of course, wheelchairs when used by disabled individuals. But moreover, this ordinance would actually provide more opportunities for individuals who do want to fish because aside from the city-owned designated street ends that the Commissioner mentioned, 10th, 14th, and Lincoln Road, this would remove the prohibition on fishing from the jetty area between 29th and 33rd and also remove the prohibition on fishing from the restricted swim areas. So this actually opens it up more.

So removing it from restricted swim areas, does that cause a potential damage if you've got people out there swimming and they don't see somebody fishing and all of a sudden they get a hook in their bathing suit? I mean, again, clearly not a fisher person.

Well, and the reason why we're doing that is because we don't have jurisdiction in those areas. We can only do it in the city's right-of-ways. Is that correct, Mark?

NOT EXACTLY RIGHT-AWAYS, BUT CITY-OWNED PROPERTIES, CITY-OWNED REAL PROPERTIES. AND THE FACT OF THE MATTER, COMMISSIONER, YOU'RE CORRECT. I MEAN, IT IS CERTAINLY POSSIBLE. BUT, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT RARELY HAPPENS. I THINK OFTENTIMES THESE FISHERMEN ARE OUT THERE NOT WHEN SWIMMERS OR BATHERS ARE THERE. I THINK THEY'RE OUT THERE IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS AND THE MID TO LATER EVENING HOURS WHEN IT'S BETTER FISHING FOR THEM. THEY'RE USUALLY NOT STANDING THERE WHILE PEOPLE ARE ON THE BEACH. I DON'T THINK THAT'S SOMETHING MANY OF US SEE.

So can I respectfully ask that we somehow communicate this to our residents? Because I know I've heard from people who are concerned the way they're reading it. is that they are not going to be permitted to fish places. And it starts here, then moves other places. And I get concerned with that. So is there a way to, through our social media, whatever else, I don't know if people need to apply for a fishing license. I have no idea. But so that people know you can't do it here, but all these other places now you can. Because again, we're an island. People move here because you're surrounded by water. You can't afford to live on water. You should still be able to enjoy it. something that I want to make sure people understand.

Yeah, Commissioner, I'd be happy to work with, or she is, I'd be happy to work with Melissa and I could provide her the substantive message. She can clean it up and make it marketing friendly. We can put it out and let the residents know that while these three city-owned property designated street ends, 10th, 14th, and Lincoln Road, fishing is prohibited. However, we're opening up the J.R. again between 29th and 33th and restricted swim areas. We could communicate that. Sure.

Okay. Thank you.

Great.

Any action, Commissioner Fernandez?

I move the item.

Second. Anyone second? I'll second. A motion by Commissioner Fernandez, seconded by Mayor Miner. It is a public hearing. I see no one in Zoom, no one in the audience requesting to speak. Commissioner Suarez? Yes. Commissioner Fernandez? Commissioner Fernandez? Yes. Commissioner Magazine?

Yes.

Commissioner Mattel Salinas?

Yes.

Commissioner Bott?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Dominguez?

Yes.

Mayor Miner? Yes. Motion carries. Item R5W is approved. Second reading, public hearing is scheduled for June 24th. That was R5W.

Great. So before we break for lunch, we have a working lunch, an attorney client session. I am required to read into the record. The attorney-client session shall commence and will be held during the lunch recess of the city commission meeting. In the city manager's large conference room regarding the following case, Penrod Brothers Inc. versus the City of Miami Beach and Boucher Brothers. the whole slew of case numbers. Hopefully I don't have to read all those. The following individuals will be in attendance. Me, Vice Mayor Laura Dominguez, Commissioner Monica Mateos Salinas, Commissioner Alex Fernandez, Commissioner Bott, Tanya Bott, Commissioner David Suarez, Commissioner Joseph Magazine, City Manager Eric Carpenter, Assistant City Manager Mark Taxis, City Attorney Rick DE PICO, CHIEF DEPUTY CITY ATTORNEY ROBERT ROSENWALD, DEPUTY CITY ATTORNEY HENRY HUNNENFELD, ATTORNEYS ERIC HACHMAN, ANNE FLANAGAN OF WEISS SOROTA, HELFMAN COLE, AND BEERMAN & BEERMAN. WE HOPEFULLY WILL BE BACK BY 1 P.M. TO CONTINUE WITH OUR SUDNICK TIME. THANK YOU.

Thank you. foreign Bye. Bye. Bye.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Please take your seats. The meeting is about to begin. Remember to speak into the microphone as this meeting is being recorded for public record. Please stand by. We are going on air in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Welcome back. After our lunch break, I'm required to read into the record. The City Commission meeting is hereby reopened. The attorney-client session announced at the beginning of our lunch session has been terminated. Thank you, colleagues. We're going to now reopen our Sutnick time for the members of the public to speak.

Good afternoon, everyone. If anyone's interested in speaking during Sutnick, please approach the podium. And remember to please state your name, address, and you have two minutes.

Hello, I'm Gregory Regano, resident Miami Beach. So briefly we spoke on this this morning about the PFAS forever chemical levels in the water, in the drinking water in Miami Beach. And I just have a few key points I wanted to make. Commissioner Bott had stated that this is the county's fault and it is because the contamination has come from the airport. They own the airport and the water supply that the city of Miami Beach contracts with them to buy. But what the city of Miami Beach can rectify is in its water quality report, which I have here, it states unequivocally the following. The data confirms that the city's drinking water quality continues to be excellent, not just safe for our more than 80,000 residents, but also for the millions of visitors who travel to Miami Beach. It calls the water safe and excellent which it's a thousand times higher than what the EPA says is actually safe. The EPA also says water at these levels is cancer causing and inhibits development of children. Now there's simple solutions to this, including reverse osmosis and ion exchange. And instead of telling people that the water is safe and excellent, we should be telling them about these simple filtration solutions like reverse osmosis and ion exchange. The best company from what I have seen in my research is called Culligan.com. They've been around for almost a century. And they offer a product with financing for less than one dollar a day that you can have reverse osmosis installed in your home to have 99% less PFAS in your drinking water. Additionally, there's a famous movie based on this chemical and all the litigation into it called The Devil We Know. I highly recommend it. And thank you for your time. Really, we need strong leadership here, especially to protect the children and future generations. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else in the audience who wishes to speak? Seeing none, let's go to Zoom. Lilia Bobic, please state your name, address, and you have two minutes. Lillia, please unmute yourself.

My name is Lila Bobic, Lila, L-I-L-A.

I want to express my deeply concern about a news that I read today regarding the approval of the demolition of the building in Macy's 17th Street in Miami Beach to give us space to build two towers. We don't need more towers, we don't need more apartments, and we don't need more cars in the city of Miami Beach. The soul of Miami Beach is the Art Deco District and their old constructions, and I expect the mayor and the commissioners to work to save it. That's what I wanted to express, and I thank you very much.

Thank you. There is no one else wishing to speak, Mayor.

Okay, thank you. Not as lively as this morning. Let's get down to business. R5AH. R5AH.

R5AH is an order from the Mayor, City Commissioner of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, amending Chapter 30 of the Miami Beach City Code, entitled Code Enforcement, by amending Article 2, entitled Special Magistrate, by amending Section 30-37, entitled Terms of Office Compensation, by amending the compensation of the Special Magistrates, providing for codification, repeal, or servability at an effective date. This is a first reading public hearing. It is item R5AH.