Board of County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Civic Leadership. Miami Dade College Institute for Civic Engagement and Democracy. The Clio Institute. Miami Workers Center. Hispanic Unity of Florida. Again, the Mexican American Council for getting the youth engaged. And then we also have the Prosperity Social and Community Development Group. Thank you all to the community partners for making this happen. The mayor and the chair. The mayor will read it for you so you all know what it says.

Great. And please, for the photos, you can take off your yellow stickers. That was to get you in the building, and guess what? You arrived. So that's great. All right. So to each of these fine organizations, we say much appreciation. This is a certificate of appreciation. As mayor and on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners and the residents of Miami-Dade County, almost 3 million, I take great pleasure in presenting this certificate to you in recognition of your valuable contributions today. to our community and for your support and dedication in bringing the Miami-Dade County Civics Academy to life on this first day of the month of September 2026 in Miami-Dade County, Florida, signed by Commissioner Bastien, Chairman Anthony Rodriguez, and myself as mayor.

Josh, and my new baby, and my baby.

So where did these classes take place? How many of you attended in person? And where did you go? And what's the common denominator? Library. All right. And we're so pleased that our library director, Lydia Lopez, is with us. Lydia, please join us up here. Because our libraries are truly our most democratic institutions. And our libraries are always available to support our community. So let's give a round of applause again to our library director. Great. Okay. All of our graduates. Uh-huh. Great. All right, all you beautiful graduates.

Again.

Again. And a group shot. Hello. Great. So good. Yeah, sure.

Yeah, we'll take it.

Are we going to need two? Like, should we put tall people behind? Okay, you tell us. This Armando, he'll direct us what we need to do. Go ahead and fill in the back. So the person I communicated.

Please keep it filled in the back, please.

Civico, just so happen it has civic in it. And due to the flexibility of Miami-Dade County, I just had my little one, so I was able to attend online. That being said, one of the great takeaways for me was section two, where we talked about community from a design standpoint, and that being the infrastructure, the institution, the people. And I laugh a little because one of the great exercise was the asset mapping. And with the asset mapping, which I did twice, but with the asset mapping, it allowed me to map out something we're currently working on about place-based investments and redevelopment. So I won't go too much into that because I'd love to get others' feedback. But yes, the program was great. All sections was cool, but section two was near and dear to me.

Hi, good morning, everyone. My name is Oriana Casqueta. I am a public servant. I work with the Department of Transportation. And I also am part of a few nonprofit organizations, one of them being Women in Transportation, where we get to work with the youth. We work with K through 12 students and lead them through career pathways. And I think the most significant part of this Civics Academy was the networking with other people that attended. I believe the relationships that I created during the Civics Academy will help me build a better future and develop the nonprofit organizations that I work with. Online, I attended online.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Bonita Jones Peabody, and it was an amazing program. I was already involved, Brownsville Civic Neighborhood Association, in the community. I have a not-for-profit organization, Education Means More Access, for pregnant teen moms. But what it did for me was I had run for office. I did not win. I was discouraged. But when the opportunity came and someone asked me again, having been a part of this, Arcola Lakes, I relish the opportunity to do it. And so now I'm running for office. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I'm in the runoff. So see you in November. Thank you.

Oh, she went to our holidays. Yes. So what we're going to do is, like I said, we're going to move to breakfast, but this is the perfect opportunity to put into work what you learned. So today is actually Board of County Commission's meeting. So for those who are able to stay, we know we sent you the agenda. If there are any issues you're interested in speaking on, please stay and show all the amazing things that you learned.

And you need to sign up to speak by 9.30 if you are going to speak at night.

All right.

Thank you.

All right, Elsa, we're going to move you, everyone.

Let's go to Elsa.

I voted for you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Can I take a photo with you? Yes, my pleasure.

I think my husband's coming.

Okay.

music music

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All right, Mayor, are you ready? OK. All right. So good morning. Thank you for being here. So today, of course, is September 1, which kicks off many things, including Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. And we have two incredible organizations that are here this morning. And we're going to start with Mystic Force. As we know, the Mystic Force Foundation was founded 18 years ago in honor of Salvatore Sal and is dedicated to supporting children and families affected by pediatric cancer through advocacy, awareness, community outreach, and programs that provide hope, assistance, and comfort throughout their cancer journey. Mystic Force Foundation continues to raise awareness of childhood cancer, provide meaningful support for families, and inspire communities to unite in the fight against pediatric cancer through compassion, service, and advocacy. So now, therefore, on behalf of our mayor, who's right here, our entire Board of County Commissioners and the community here we do proclaim September well the month of September 2026 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in Miami-Dade County why don't you come up here I'm gonna have the mayor say a few words and we'd like to hear from you as well

Well, I'm very, very pleased to join our wonderful Commissioner, Mickey Steinberg, with this presentation. And let me just say that mysteriously behind us has arrived this glorious bouquet, which was presented to me, and I had no idea it was this big. I said to bring it down, but I think it's very fitting that we should have this beautiful, vibrant bouquet of life. And I'm wearing my butterfly for also ascendance. So that is exactly what this great program does. I actually didn't know about this program, as I said earlier. What a wonderful, wonderful way to help our children on their way to provide the support. Because we know it's not just the medicine, it's the heart. It's the caring. It's the... pouring love to those who are going through challenging times that really helps them on their way to fight back and win. So thank you and congratulations. And to the two young men who are here celebrating their own journey, we congratulate you, we celebrate you, and we give thanks to those who are here to embrace you on the way. Thank you, Commissioner.

Thank you so much. Thank you for always supporting our children. Our own journey started, as you said, 18 years ago when my baby was diagnosed with cancer. It was a very long three and a half years of very devastating and torturous treatments for him. But the one thing that he always... His spirit was about always having fun and being able to enjoy life every moment that he could. So for us, that is what we bring to our children, celebrating every single day, giving them back some of the childhood that is always lost, as you know, to a childhood cancer diagnosis. and our children aren't in the hospital for just a day or two. These children battle cancer for years, so they become a part of our own family. And the support that we get from our community is truly exceptional and not seen anywhere in the country. Miami-Dade County, South Florida, is the most caring and wonderful community literally in the world, and we are so thankful for all the support that we receive.

We're going to do a picture.

thank you

All right. Our next presentation also is to a wonderful organization. And, you know, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is observed each September. And the Live Like Bella Childhood Cancer Foundation was established in memory of Bella Rodriguez Torres and is dedicated to changing childhood cancer from a terminal diagnosis to a treatable and curable disease by funding innovative research, providing financial and emotional support to families, and advocating for children affected by cancer. The Live Like Bella Childhood Cancer Foundation has made a profound impact by supporting families throughout their childhood cancer journey, advancing pediatric cancer research, increasing awareness, and ensuring children and their families have access to resources, care, and support that they need. So, of course, Miami-Dade County does hereby proclaim on behalf of our mayor, our county commission, and everybody, September 2026 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, again, in honor of Live Like Bella as well. And with that, I will pass it over to the mayor again.

Thank you so much, Commissioner, for making sure that we pay tribute to the organizations that take care of our children during their greatest time of need. I must say that I have been part of this great organization for many years. Bella actually was a resident of District 8, her family as well, and of course we named a park in honor of of Bella in, again, District 8. These are all things I got to do. I was so proud to do during my time as Commissioner of District 8. Since then, we know the organization has grown to be a tremendous force for not only family support, child support, but research. and has been able to raise significant dollars and have breakthroughs for our children through that research. So providing so much hope, and every year with the run and the gala, and I know many other events, people are joining the movement because they see and are inspired by the great work of the family and the organization. So congratulations. Congratulations.

I just want to say thank you so much again, Mayor. And to reiterate what Sylvia had mentioned, that Miami has been such a blessing in their support and efforts and awareness for our children who are battling cancer. Bella fought for six years before she passed away in 2013. And the support while she was fighting was, you know, so overwhelming and a blessing. And the fact that the city and the community are still supporting pediatric cancer awareness and funding and research is just very humbling. And we are very thankful and appreciative. And I think Bella's sister Raina wants to say something as well. No, it's just incredible to be here and to stand alongside my mom.

And it's incredible what we've been doing and what we're continuing to build. And we will continue to live like Bella until we find a cure.

Thank you.

So for anyone who knew Bella, it was her spirit that moved people. And really, she's looking down on all of us as we fight this fight on behalf of our children and make great progress. She's a very special spirit. Thank you. God bless.

picture with both amazing organizations.

Why don't you tell them what's happening this weekend and let the public.

So this weekend we have our ninth annual Childhood Cancer Awareness Gold Ribbon Parade. It is the largest parade in the world dedicated to childhood cancer. We have over 100 gold ribbon police cars, 50 police motorcycles. It is a police-escorted caravan from Nicholas Children's Hospital past Holt's Children's Hospital and Alex's Place, the Ronald McDonald House of South Florida, and Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. No, it's police escorted. Yes, so you can see it on CBS News, but you can also check out our social media and find all the viewing routes. Thank you.

Can I maybe get two of you ladies on this side to help me balance out the picture?

Here you go. Thank you. Yes, please. That's it. Thank you.

And so now we have, um, our final presentation. We are going to be acknowledging, um, hunger action month. And so Miami-Dade County is honoring, well, feeding South Florida. for those of you who may not know, have been around since 1981. And have worked to address food and hunger insecurity in Miami-Dade County, providing the community with immediate access to nutritious food and other vital resources and support. Feeding South Florida leads hunger and poverty advocacy efforts while transforming lives through innovative programming and education and provides economic growth and overall well-being. And so September is also Hunger Action Month. On behalf of our mayor and our county commission, we do proclaim September as Hunger Action Month, and we invite you to come up. Mayor? Yes, yes.

So in a former life, my work was about connecting people to resources that they needed, especially in times of great need. And food, obviously, is number one. And Feeding South Florida is our premier resource. South Florida organization located in South Dade providing those services. And it also provides it not just in Miami-Dade but around the state. So we're very proud of the work and of the partnership between Miami-Dade County and Feeding South Florida. And we know that whenever help is needed, Feeding South Florida steps up. Congratulations and thank you.

Thank you very much. Would you like to say something? I came prepared.

I'll hold this for you if you would like, whatever is easier.

Good morning, everyone. My name is Cosmo Kumani, and I'm the Director of Strategic Gifts for Feeding South Florida in Miami-Dade County. On behalf of our team, I want to thank Mayor Dan Levine-Cava and the city commissioners for recognizing September as Hunger Action Month. Feeding South Florida is a leading hunger relief organization serving Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe Counties. We serve over 1.7 million individuals annually. And here in Miami-Dade, we provide nutritious food and critical resources for over 553,000 households annually through a network of direct programs and partner agencies. Our work goes beyond food distribution. Through community food pantries and mobile pantries, we ensure families have access to fresh, nutritious groceries. Our school pantry program and summer meals for kids make sure children don't go hungry in or out of the classroom. For older adults, we provide home-delivered meals, while our benefits outreach help families access programs like SNAP to stretch their deposits. We also invest in long-term stability with workforce training programs that prepare individuals for a career in culinary arts, warehousing, and logistics. Together, these programs reflect our commitment not just to feeding families today, but also to building a stronger, hunger-free South Florida tomorrow. We are deeply grateful to the City of Miami for this recognition and for your ongoing partnerships in raising awareness, inspiring action, and helping us move closer to a community where no one wants to wonder where their next meal will come from. Thank you very much, Mayor.

Let me say another word.

Some of you might not be aware, but there have been changes at the federal level in the SNAP program, and many families are losing their SNAP, formerly called food stamps benefits. So our food banks are more critical than ever to assist our families and really needs our support. Thank you. All right.

So that concludes our formal presentations.

Okay, we'll start in Spanish with Carolina, and then I'll do a little bit of speech in English, okay?

Buenos dias, mi nombre es Carolina Incapiet, y nosotros somos Antioquia Global, Feria de las Flores. Feria de las Flores es un evento que tenemos en Colombia, Medellín, donde celebramos la cultura de los silleteros. Esto se llama una silleta, hecha por un campesino de Medellín, en la cual una vez la hacen, la cargan en sus espaldas, y la caminan por... por todas las calles para que la gente pueda ver su arte. Entonces esta silleta fue hecha por un silletero. Este fin de semana que pasó tuvimos el desfile de silleteros en Wynwood y esta silleta fue hecha con honor para la mayor. Gracias.

Good morning. My name is Derek Toro, and I'm one of the helpers for the event. We actually, Antioquia Global, and this weekend we did the parade for the Feria de las Flores in Wynwood. It's actually a facility that takes place every year in the city of Medellin, Colombia, where we're from. And actually, this arrangement is made by the people on the farms outside the city where they used to come and carry their products to the city to be sold. But later on, they... proceed with doing a festivity with them and being recognized to the city because of their hard work. So nowadays, they do these arrangements once a year so they can walk through the whole streets of the city and then it's a big festivity and it's a really honored for us to be able to be here today presenting these arrangements that was especially made for the mayor of Miami-Dade County.

So this is, I knew nothing about this. This was a surprise. They contacted me and said the flowers were not going to last that much longer. They wanted to give me some flowers. I said, well, I'll be here today. I had no idea. what this was. I'm really so honored and so grateful. So we know what's happening in Colombia right now. We are doing our best to recover from a devastating earthquake. This country, this county especially, as was said for children with cancer, is always showing care, and we have been sending care and relief to Colombia, but we know that it will be a long recovery. I think Medellin was not as affected. Fortunately, as Cali, for example, but the whole country is in mourning, and we stand with the Colombian people. I want to also acknowledge on Saturday I attended the 50th anniversary of the Colombian American Chamber of Commerce here in Miami. So... Incredible. Did we get enough pictures of this beautiful display? Thank you so much, Armando. And I don't know exactly what we're going to do now because obviously this will dominate the morning if it's left here. So we need to find an appropriate place. Maybe we could put it in the hallway to greet people as they come in and they'll see this beautiful display. And you have something here? Oh, this is for me. Okay. Okay. Wow.

Can I get one more? Actually, can you separate so we get the flowers? Mary, can you get on one side? There you go, perfect.

Come in, come in, one more. And, you know, Colombia produces most of the flowers that come into the United States. Mother's Day, Valentine's. Oh, yes, Valentine's Day. And I don't know, something like 90% of the flowers that come for those holidays come through Miami International Airport. So it's a great joy for us to celebrate Colombia's flowers. Gracias, Monton. Increible. Yes, I think so. I'm not in charge of this space, but I think in the hallway there's an area outside of the... I'll go with you to show you.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, I think the rest of the meeting starts at 9.30, so thank you.

. .

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So, Thank you. Thank you.

All right, guys, please take your seats. Find a seat. Unless you're press or law enforcement, you should not be standing up. And I need the podiums placed where they go. All right clerk, please call the roll.

Good morning, the clerk's office has received notification that Commissioner Bastien will be absent from today's meeting. Commissioner Bermudez. Commissioner Cohen-Higgins. Senator Garcia. Commissioner Gilbert. I'm here. Commissioner Gonzalez. Commissioner Hardiman. Commissioner Lopez. Here. Commissioner Milian Orbis. Present. Commissioner Regalado. Commissioner Steinberg. Here. Vice Chairman McGee. Chairman Rodriguez.

Present.

We only have six members present, we don't have a quorum.

All right. I can, I can. All right, while we wait for quorum, I'm going to ask you all to please I'll stand up quietly for the invocation this morning given by Pastor Worth Carson of the Granada Church at the invitation of Commissioner Emiliano Orbis, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Commissioner Gilbert.

Thank you for the invitation to be here and to pray with you today. Let's close our eyes. Let's bow our heads. Let's pray. Lord God, we seek your face today on behalf of our community, Miami-Dade County, for all who live, work, learn, and serve here. We give you thanks for this beautiful place that we call home and for all who give themselves for the good of our community. We pray especially for our mayor, her family, for our commissioners. Thank you for their willingness to serve, for the responsibilities they carry, and the families who support them. Lord, as they undertake the difficult work today, especially the work of preparing for a budget, grant them wisdom, patience, and discernment. When resources are limited, help them to recognize what matters most. Give them courage to make difficult decisions, humility to listen well, and grace to compromise when compromise will serve the common good. Help them to work together with respect, even when they disagree. We pray also for all who have come today to speak, to listen, to participate. Help us to see one another not as opponents, but as neighbors and fellow members of this community, each seeking its good. And when today's work is done, help us to entrust what has been decided to you. May the work done here contribute to peace, flourishing, and the well-being of all who call Miami-Dade home. For this place, for these people, and for the privilege of serving one another, we give you thanks, O Lord, and we pray in your name. Amen. Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

You may be seated. all right welcome back guys do we have quorum now let me see before we do a whole other quorum call all right All right, clerk, please call the roll.

Commissioner Bermudez. Present. Commissioner Cohen-Higgins. Good morning, present. Senator Garcia. Present.

Commissioner Gilbert. Here.

Commissioner Gonzalez. Commissioner Hardiman. Commissioner Lopez. Here. Commissioner Mila Norvis. Present. Commissioner Regalado. Present. Commissioner Steinberg. Vice Chairman McGee. Chairman Rodriguez.

I'm here.

We have nine members present, we have a quorum.

All right, thank you very much. Madam Attorney, is it in order to move into the reasonable opportunity at this time?

Yes, Mr. Chair, good morning.

All right, I'm going to go ahead and open up reasonable opportunity for the public to be heard. As you call your name, please state your name and address and the item on which you're speaking of, and you will have one minute to speak. Victor Antunez, please line up, approach the podium, and as I call your name, line up beside each aisle. Victor Antunez, Joseph Roca, Sophie Amaya, Damian DeJesus, Elio Lopez, and Nicole Lozano. None of these people are here. Okay, they're here. All right, need you guys to approach the podium.

Hello, my name is Nicole Lozano. I live at 795 Southwest 110th Avenue. I'm a student at Florida International University studying sustainability. Sustainability meaning that we are protecting the environment for future generations, which this item 4B does the exact opposite of that, paving over wetlands for our own convenience. And I believe that we should stop all this. I think all of us can agree that we don't need any more houses. We don't need any more homes because there are already so many vacant homes in Florida and warehouses and beige buildings. And I believe as a Miami-born resident that we do not want any more money going towards this. So, thank you.

Hello, Commissioners. I'm Elio Lopez-Mino, living at 5256 Northwest 103rd Avenue. I'm speaking on the sign in 4B, which proposes altering the construction of our city. We have to be very aware of the construction, the overwhelming construction that has already been happening and all the taxpayer dollars, where that has been going to. The community is watching, the community is listening, the youth is paying attention to your every decisions. I came here today on behalf of also my students, my family members, my loved ones that share the same opinions as me. Please make responsible decisions. Use taxpayer dollars responsibly. Listen to what the people have to say who give you guys your positions. And I thank you for hearing me out.

Thank you. Hello, Commissioners. My name is Damien. I live by 4791 Northwest 2nd Street. We're here to speak on 4B. We wanted to talk about the general development that's happening here in Florida, especially over our nature and taking our trees. And the community just does not want this. No matter what development it is, the amount of jobs do not reverse the damage that would happen to our animals especially in the everglades we just want we just want our community to benefit and our future generations are just going to look over a concrete jungle and wonder what happened so please you're on the position to represent us so please represent us and our needs over the corporations once thank you for your time

Hello, commissioners and chairman. My name is Sophia Maya, address 33172 Fulton Blue Boulevard, Miami, Florida. I wanted to speak today about item 4B and remind board members to be mindful and educated about all agenda items being voted on. Every vote matters because we need positive impacts in Miami that will benefit residents. With great power comes great responsibility. Taking accountability and moving forward with integrity and compassion is vital for making a meaningful impact in our communities. Whether that's creating affordable housing, protecting First Amendment expressions, and preserving our environment from harmful developments such as Kelly Tractor and etc. The existing UDB boundary is there to protect the last existing wetlands. So what message does that send to us from elected officials? Businesses can thrive in Miami, but it shouldn't be at the expense of wildlife and essential wetlands that we all need for our city and that we benefit from. If there's something that I want commissioners to remember from my comment today is that we can all work together and reach a common ground. We don't have to see each other as a burden, but as an outlet for actual change. It's never too late to actually care about each other and our city. Thank you. Thank you.

All right, is that it? I also had a Joseph Roca and a Victor Antunez. Joseph Roca, Victor Antunez, one once, one twice. All right, and then I have our tax collector, Daryl Fernandez, who's not able to have made it, but he prepared a video he wanted to share during reasonable opportunity. So if we can play the video, please. I guess, do you want to say something first? Yes. Go ahead.

Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Honorable Commissioners, Madam Mayor. My name is Andrew Lopez. I'm the Director of Motor Services at the Office of the Miami-Dade County Tax Collector. On behalf of the Honorable Daryl Fernandez, we have an important video message we'd like to share with this board.

Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, Mayor, and residents of Miami-Dade County. I am Daryl Fernandez, Miami-Dade County Tax Collector. Chairman Rodriguez, thank you for working with me and my team on this important issue. Today, I am confirming that I will waive the tax collector's commission on the board-approved school board millage for the fiscal year 2026-2027. This will save Miami-Dade County residents more than $13 million. I ask the Commission to use this savings for property tax relief and to protect police, fire rescue, emergency response, and other essential services. This year, we expect 97 million to be returned to all taxing authorities, including 84 million that will benefit Miami-Dade County residents. This includes the 20 million returned early in April, and 64 million expect to be returned at the end of the fiscal year. My administration, responsible for financial management, has allowed us to operate without requesting up to 24 million in early year advances that we were entitled to receive. Our office also does not collect the 2% commission on incorporate areas and municipality, representing 40 million in savings for Miami-Dade County residents. Let me be very clear. No other tax collector in Florida does this. And all of these savings are being achieved without affecting our services. I believe it is important to do everything we can to help our residents while continuing to provide the quality service they depend on. To the residents of Miami-Dade County, we are committed to lowering your taxes, supporting our public schools, protecting our police, and keeping the important service you depend on. Thank you, God bless Miami-Dade County, and God bless the United States of America.

And Mr. Chair, we've also submitted a letter to the clerk to distribute to every one of you detailing everything Mr. Fernandez covered in the video. If you have any questions, we're here to respond.

Appreciate it, thank you. And yes, the mayor and myself have been speaking with the tax collector, Dario Fernandez, and we even wrote him a letter to try to get him to waive this, and he's agreed. So this, as he mentioned, is about $13 million that I believe will be outlined in the mayor's change memo. So I want to personally thank the tax collector, Dario Fernandez, for his partnership and commitment, as he did last year, he did again this year, in working with the county to deliver the savings. Thank you, Mr. Tax Collector. All right, Madam Attorney, is it in order to set the agenda at this time?

Mr. Chair, I apologize, but I've just received some additional requests. I need a few minutes.

Okay, no problem. Take your time. I also need Director Lourdes to read a statement. Does the agenda need to be set for that statement?

No, that could be read now.

Is Lourdes in the building? Director? In the chamber? Well, we have the attorneys finalize the agenda changes. Director, I know it's just a protocol statement that you need to read. If you can go ahead and put that notice on the record.

Thank you. Lourdes Gomez, RER. Section 376.80 of the Florida statutes requires that a notice of a public hearing on a resolution designating a brownfield area be announced at a scheduled meeting before the actual public hearing. This announcement serves as notice that a public hearing on a resolution relating to a proposed brownfield area designation is being planned for this board's October 6th, 2026 meeting. The proposed designation is for the property located at 7248 Southwest 42nd Terrace, Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Thank you, Director. All right. Madam Attorney, I'm ready when you're ready. Just wing me down. And while we wait, good morning, sir. While we wait, also, I want to recognize Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson from Coral Gables. I believe she's in the chamber. Welcome to our chamber. I'm sure you're here for a specific item. Are you in support or against an item?

in support of an item and if i may you may rhonda anderson vice mayor of city of coral gables business azurus 234 monarca avenue residential 2715 hernando street coral gables florida thank you chair for the recognition mayor and commissioners for the opportunity to speak i came here to thank commissioner orbis for entertaining the resolution i brought to city of coral gables to extend the life of trolleys in our city and for other municipalities as well. As the daughter of an airline mechanic and automotive mechanic, I'm aware of the testing methods used to determine the viability of engines well beyond the 15-year previous mark, and I would appreciate your support in helping our city save taxpayer dollars by extending them to 20 years. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. All right. I think we have another meeting before. We have the budget meeting on Thursday, so I won't. I won't get ahead of my colleague Commissioner Steinberg and wish everybody a happy Rosh Hashanah, but because I think we still have another meeting before it starts officially, right? So. Yeah, we still see each other before then so. Yes, sure. All right, Madam Clerk, if you would like to make the Valuma Award announcement at this time as we await the attorney.

Absolutely. The Veloma Award recognizes parents who have been inspired by the memory of a lost child and have taken action to positively influence the community. Pursuant to the award procedures for the second nomination period for 2026, Vice Chairman McGee nominates Tracy Lyons and Commissioner Steinberg nominates Steven and Sherry Silverman on behalf of the organization who we play for. Presentations of the Veloma Awards will take place at the Tuesday, October 6th commission meeting.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. All right, Madam Attorney, are we almost there? Let me welcome also our Madam Sheriff to our chamber. I see her there in uniform. Thank you for being here for a very special recognition that we have today and that hopefully we'll be passing as an item in short order. Madam Sheriff, I always wonder whenever there is business that you have to be down here, you really fill this room with your officers and I can't help but think who is safeguarding our streets because... Every officer in Miami seems to be in this chamber right now. But.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

All right, Madam Attorney, go ahead.

So we have a number of requested changes to your agenda. Item 3A1 and its supplement, Senator Garcia and Commissioners Bermudez and Milian Orbis are adding this item to the poll list. 3A2 and its supplement, Senator Garcia and Commissioner Bermudez add their names to the poll list. Item 4C, the prime sponsor has requested deferral of this item to the October 6th commission meeting. I have some requests to bifurcate public hearing items. 5E substitute, Senator Garcia and Commissioners Bermudez and Regalado wish to bifurcate. And that is true for 5E substitute, 5F substitute, 5G substitute, and 5H substitute. 5M, Senator Garcia and Commissioner Millian-Orbis. 5P and 5U, Senator Garcia. This is to bifurcate. 5X and its supplement, Commissioners Gonzalez and Regalado wish to bifurcate, as well as 5Y and its supplement. I also have request to bifurcate items for second reading. 7A, Commissioner Millian-Orbis. Senator Garcia is requesting to bifurcate this item, but the prime sponsor has requested deferral of this item to no date certain. So the board would need to decide how it wishes to proceed. That's item 7D. 7E and supplements, Commissioner Gonzalez and Commissioner Lopez wish to bifurcate this item. 7F and supplements, Commissioner Regalado wishes to bifurcate. 8A3, Commissioner Regalado adds this item to the pull list. 8A4 and its supplement, and 8A5 and its supplement. Senator Garcia and Commissioner Bermudez are adding these items to the pull list. 8G1, Senator Garcia pulls this item. 8K1, Commissioner Gilbert is pulling this item. 8N5, Commissioner Regalado is adding this item to the poll list. AP1, Commissioners Bermudez and Millian Orvis add this item to the poll list. 11A1, Commissioner Bermudez is pulling the item. 11A3, Commissioner Steinberg is pulling the item. And 11A4, Commissioner Regalado is pulling this item. I also have some requests for co-sponsorship. 3A2, Commissioner Regalado. 5C, Commissioner Steinberg. 5X and 5Y, Commissioner Steinberg. 7B, Commissioner Steinberg and Commissioner Regalado. 8H2 Commissioner Regalado and 10A2 Commissioner Lopez. The items to be considered at today's meeting will be those listed in the printed final agenda with the additions, deferrals, withdrawals, and scrivener's errors noted in the chairman's memorandum and the items I just mentioned. The commission will approve all of these items by a single vote setting the agenda, accept ordinances for first reading, public hearings. Item 681, a discussion item on the special task force to reduce inefficiencies and procurement task force. Ordinances set for second reading. Items 8P2 and 8P3. Our commercial service airport contracts, which pursuant to Florida statutes, must be voted on separately and are not on your poll list. And the following poll list items. 3A1 and its supplement. 3A2 and its supplement. The requests to bifurcate are 5E substitute, 5F substitute, 5G substitute, 5H substitute, 5M as in Mary, 5P, 5U, 5X in its supplements, 5Y in its supplements. 7D, Mr. Chair, on 7D, Senator Garcia wishes to bifurcate, but there's a deferral requested to no date certain. Okay, so he's released his request. So with the setting of the agenda, 7D will be deferred. 7E in its supplements, 7F. 8A3, 8A4 in its supplements, 8A5 in its supplements, 8G1, 8K1, 8N5, 8P1, 11A1, 11A3, 11A4. 14A1 is a first reading item. I'll read that item with the other first readings. 14A2, 14A3 is a public hearing, so that item will be considered with the balance of the public hearings. And 14A4, a motion to set the agendas in order.

I have a motion by Commissioner Gonzales, seconded by Commissioner Steinberg. All in favor of setting the agenda with every single item being pulled, essentially. Signified by saying aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. All right, show the agenda here by set. Commissioner Gilbert.

Mr. Chairman, I just had a question on AK1. I got my question answered, so I release it.

Okay, so AK1 has passed with the setting of the agenda, right, Madam Attorney? yes it will pass as soon as you take a motion and a second i did it's been moved it's been second and we all voted so the agenda i move ak1 yes we need to move it okay so ak1 is being moved it's being second by commissioner regalado all in favor signify by saying aye aye all opposed nay all right show ak1 passed as well then all right i'm going to go into first reading items at this time since that should be should be quick So Madam Attorney, please read the first reading items. And any bifurcations you may have.

Yes, 4A is an ordinance relating to Miami-Dade County Behavioral Health Advisory Board establishing section 2-430.6 of the code creating the Miami-Dade County Behavioral Health Advisory Board Trust Fund and providing severability inclusion in the code and an effective date. 4B is an ordinance relating to Miami-Dade County Comprehensive Development Master Plan, providing disposition of application number CDMP 202521, located between Southwest 272 Street and Southwest 278 Street, and between Southwest 157 Avenue and Southwest 159 Avenue. Filed by Lennar Homes LLC in the October 2025 cycle to amend the county's comprehensive development master plan, providing severability, exclusion from the code, and an effective date. 4D is an ordinance granting petition of Acacia Grove Community Development District, generally bounded as amended on the north by Southwest 336 Street, on the east by Southwest 192 Avenue, on the south by Southwest 340 Street, and on the west by Southwest 197 Avenue, Richard Road. Amending the boundaries of the district to expand its total acreage by approximately 9.88 acres, providing severability exclusion from the code and an effective date. 4E is an ordinance granting petition of Newton Road Community Development District, generally bounded as amended on the north by Southwest 276th Street, on the east by Southwest 155th Avenue, on the south by Southwest 280th Street, and on the west by Southwest 159th Avenue. Amending the boundaries of the district to expand its total acreage by approximately 20.87 acres, providing severability, exclusion from the code, and an effective date. And item 14A1 is an ordinance relating to zoning and right of way plan in the unincorporated area. amending section 33-133 of the code, providing for reduced minimum street width requirements in the right-of-way plan for the portion of Southwest 47th Avenue from Southwest 72th Street to Southwest 82th Street, providing severability, inclusion in the code, and an effective date. Those are your first reading items.

All right, so any bifurcations? Seeing no bifurcations, we'll have a motion to, all right, it's been moved by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Cohen-Higgins. Clerk, please call the roll.

Commissioner Bermudez? Yes. Commissioner Cohen-Higgins? For. Senator Garcia? Aye. Commissioner Gonzalez?

For.

Commissioner Gilbert? Commissioner Hardiman? Commissioner Lopez? Yes. Commissioner Emilia Norvis? Yes. Commissioner Regalado? Yes. Commissioner Steinberg? Chairman Rodriguez?

I vote yes.

Motion passes unanimously.

All right show the first reading items passed. I'm going to get into public hearing is that I'm going to take them a little bit out of order. So and we'll do public hearing has the order comes as well rather than all up front. I'm going to start. If you can. Read 5 X and 5 why.

Yes, Mr. Chair, 5X is a resolution co-designating that portion of Southwest 132nd Avenue between 104th Street and South Colusa Club Drive as Deputy Sheriff Devin Matthew Jaramillo Way and its supplement. And 5Y is a resolution naming the football field at Devon Air Park as the Deputy Sheriff Devin Matthew Jaramillo Field and its supplement. And this is a public hearing item. I do have a request to buy for case.

Okay, so I will open public hearing for this specific item at this time. I don't have anyone signed up to speak in public hearing, but if the sheriff wants to say a few words.

Family.

If the family wants to say a few words, this would be the opportunity for you all to say a couple words. Madam Sheriff.

good morning chairman good morning all commissioners elected officials in the rooms and everyone who came here today this morning this is an important important moment for us in our agency in our community devin jaramillo gave his life in service to this community. And this is a small moment that we can honor him, honor his family, honor his sacrifice and his memory for years to come. We are very grateful for this board to consider this proposal. And I humbly ask on behalf of the family, on behalf of every man and woman who works for the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, that you approve and move forward with the naming of the street and of the park. For Devin Jaramillo. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Madam Sheriff. Does anyone from the family want to say anything, or you guys are good? Dad?

Good morning, name's David Jaramillo. I'm the father of Devin Matthew Jaramillo, Chairman Rodriguez and Commissioner Regalado and the rest of the commission. I wanted to thank you all for taking this motion into consideration. I hope that you pass it. The support that you guys in the community have given to my family and keeping my son's spirit alive and I just wanted to say thank you on behalf of his mother, Yolanda, and the rest of our family here, and our brothers and sisters in the back. Thank you so much, and I hope that you all pass this unanimously. Thank you.

Thank you, David. We're good mom. Okay. All right. So public hearing is officially closed. Yes. I'm sure that several will speak. Of course, my co-sponsor and in your district, I'll recognize you in a minute. I, um, look, I just want to say, um, that Devin wasn't just, like many of us, wasn't just born here and raised here, but he ultimately gave his life protecting this community that he so very loved. Service was in his blood. As many of you know, his dad, David, he grew up in a law enforcement family and followed in the footsteps of his father, David, a retired Miami-Dade police detective. And Devin went on to wear, proudly wear, his father's badge number, 1765. that, David, you carried your whole career, right? His heart for helping others started early. Before becoming a deputy, Devin volunteered in his community, including helping collect and distribute Christmas toys to children in need. He served with distinction at the Coral Gables Police Department before joining the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, where he came home to serve the Kendall community where he grew up. But Devin was more than a deputy. He was a loving son, a brother, a friend, and a colleague. He was someone people could count on and someone who always looked out for the people he loved. Those who knew him remember the simple moments that made him who he was. Riding motorcycles with his dad, stopping for a cafecito a la carreta, and spending time with family and friends. His life was far too short, but his impact will last forever. Devin represented the very best of Miami-Dade, a young man who chose to serve, honored his family, loved his community, and made the ultimate sacrifice protecting the place he called home. We will remember his service, we will remember and honor his service, and we will never forget Devin. We unfortunately hear about passings of law enforcement officers or first responders more often than we'd like. The sheriff is at the forefront of that, of course. And it impacts the entire community when something happens. For me, Devin was the first since I've been elected that I personally knew and called a friend. So it was more personal and special to me and definitely hit a different part of my heart. So we love you guys. That's why Commissioner Regalado and myself and this board and this mayor and this commission is honoring him by naming a street and a football field in Devener Park today. Hopefully we will earn that support today and get that passed. So with that, I'll transfer over to my co-sponsor, Commissioner Regalado. Thank you for doing this.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for your support and to the family and to all the officers that are here and the residents. You know, One of the saddest things that we do is name streets. It's usually not for happy reasons. And for us, it's such a tremendous loss. And as the chairman mentioned, for those of us who knew Devin and know his family, he was such an amazing light. It is an honor to honor him, not just with the street, but also with the field that he played in in Devon Air. And my hope is that when people drive down and see the name on the street, they'll Google it and they'll learn about him and that future generations will also honor his service. And for all the kids that play on that same field, that they'll grow up knowing who he was and the great sacrifice that he made. I know that nothing can make this easier, but you have our respect and our admiration for your sacrifice today. and for your family's dedication to public service. He was an outstanding human and I think as parents, that's all that we can do is raise good humans and hope that they make the world a better place. And in this case, you did that and so much more because not only did he make the world a better place, he reminds us all of the sacrifice and the love and the heart that goes into serving our community. So thank you. It really is an honor. District 7 is blessed to have seen him grow up and to honor him and his legacy.

Thank you, Commissioner. And with that, do you want to make the motion to move 5X and 5Y?

Yes, please. Second.

It's been moved. It's been seconded by Commissioner Steinberg. Commissioner Gonzalez, you're recognized.

Thank you Mister chair and I I'd like to thank the sponsoring commissioner and I'd like to be I'd like to ask to be included as a coal prime sponsor on this. I'm sure my colleagues would like to do the same.

Co-sponsor anyone who wants to join his co-sponsor raise your hand.

I'm fine with the coal prime.

The thing is that there's already coal primes got yeah, there's already to cope arms and it's already written so co-sponsor everyone.

If it could be a co-prime, I'm okay with it, but I don't know that you can have more than one co-prime. I'm not sure how that works. You can? Okay, so unanimously?

I mean, if we're going to make one more person co-prime that didn't draft, then we should make everybody co-prime that didn't draft. So that's kind of, I mean, the whole purpose of co-prime is that you were drafting. So, but it's fine if everybody wants to be co-prime, we can do that too.

I'm fine with it. Either way, I'm fine with it. Whatever. I mean, this is personal to the community, so this is why I think everyone wants to. So everybody wants to be a co-sponsor for sure. I know some want to be a co-prime. Okay, I'd leave it up. I'm okay with it.

Yeah, just everyone's co-prime is fine. I'm happy with everybody being co-prime. That's all good. We all agree and we just should vote and support. Thank you.

All right, with that- Thank you, Mr.

Chair, and if I could have a point of personal privilege, please?

Yes, sir.

There's a lot that I want to say, and I wish this would have came up sooner. I see a lot of deputies here today, and Devin was a young man that gave everything for this community. Today, we honor his legacy by naming a street after a hero. But we're not just honoring a street. We're honoring a legacy that he is instilling into this community, into this county, and into every single deputy that wears the badge. Because bravery doesn't mean that you're not afraid. Bravery does not mean That you don't recognize the risk that you take every single day that you wear the badge. I think the best example of that is in the Bible. Christ is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is God. He's praying and he's asking that this cup can be taken from him. That it please be taken. But that God's will be done. And then he goes on to do what is necessary. That's what it means to wear the badge. It doesn't mean that you're not afraid. It means that despite being afraid, you run towards danger because it's the right thing to do. Because it's what the job calls for. That is a legacy that will forever carry on. It's not just a street naming. Devin Jaramillo will forever be remembered. Because he lived that legacy. As every single officer that is here, that is in Miami-Dade and across the country embodies that legacy and learns from that legacy and lives that legacy. To the family, we mourn with you. We love you. And we will forever be indebted to Devon sacrifice. God bless you. And thank you.

All right so having a motion and a second on the table having us all reflected as co primes all in favor of approving 5 X and 5 why which means the street and the football field at Devon Park signify by saying aye aye. All opposed, nay. Show the item passed unanimously. Congratulations. Unfortunately, this isn't something to extremely be happy about, but find happiness in knowing that this community honors Devin Jaramillo. All right. Don't leave, because I'd like to see you before you guys leave. I'll step aside, but we love you guys. All right next item that I want to call madam attorney if you could read into the record item 5 C.

5C is a resolution co-designating that portion of Southwest 84th Street between Southwest 97th Road and Southwest 103rd Avenue as Sergeant David Cajuso Way.

All right and I'm going to go ahead and open a public hearing at this time I don't have anyone registered to speak. Under public hearing, but I know that. Sergeant who so's wife Eileen is president. He did you want to say anything or you don't have to understand that OK. Well, I will I will take this opportunity and then I'll recognize Commissioner Gonzales who is my my co-prime sponsor on this this item But you know, I was proud to to sponsor this item as it's in my district honoring the life and service of sergeant David Caruso Who was tried tragically killed on October 28 2025 in a motorcycle crash on I-75 in Hialeah He was just 33 years old still his whole life ahead of him. He proudly served the Miami Beach Police Department for 10 years, known for his professionalism, compassion, and commitment to this community. His fellow officers remember him as someone who always helped others, offered guidance, and went the extra mile. He understood that public safety is about more than enforcement. It is about trust, dignity, and this very community. And beyond the badge, he was a devoted husband, a father, a son, a brother, and a friend who left a lasting impact on those around him. This resolution co-designates Southwest 84th Street between 97th Road and Southwest 103rd Avenue in Commission District 10, mine, as Sergeant David Cahuso Way. This is a lasting tribute to a man who dedicated his life to serving others and ensuring that his service, sacrifice, and legacy are never forgotten. I know that my team has had the opportunity to visit with the family and the beautiful girls. Is it two girls? One girl and a boy, right? Two girls, one boy. I saw them riding their bikes and I keep track through social media. That's a powerful tool these days. Could be dangerous, but it's a powerful tool. And beautiful children that I know he was raising very well, he will be missed. Commissioner Gonzalez?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Eileen, I didn't know Dave. I didn't know him. But he impacted my life, and I'm going to tell you why, because I think you need to know. To me, personally, the most important thing is to try to be a good man. In the Bible, it says that there is no good man but God. But to try to be a person that tries, that is a life worth living. I'm not going to talk about Dave's career. I'm going to talk about the impact that he made with many people that called me and told me how he led them to Christ. Not by forcing them. Not by citing Bible verses like I do, but simply by being a good man. That's a legacy for his kids. That's a legacy for this world. And as a man, that's the type of legacy I would love to leave when I get a chance to go to Christ. There's a story in the Bible about Steven. He's very young. He's only mentioned for like two chapters, Acts 6 and Acts 7. And he makes one of the greatest speeches sharing the gospel. And in the crowd, right before he passes, is a man named Saul, who later becomes Paul, writes about 60% of the New Testament, and brings both the Jews, Gentiles, and Romans to Christ. Two chapters. That's impact. They've had impact. We feel you, we love you, and we will forever be grateful to Dave for his sacrifice. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner. With that, Commissioner Gonzalez, would you move the item?

So moved.

moved it's been seconded by commissioner steinberg you want to co-sponsor it as well yes okay all right so list us list of entire entire days as co-sponsors not prime co-sponsors on this one Prime them. All right. You guys can prime this one too. All right. With that, all in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All opposed nay. Show the item pass and street naming being approved by unanimous vote. With that, I'll have the attorney move into the rest of the fives, but I want to thank both families for being here today. And being present. I know that the drive is not easy to come downtown But it's for a very meaningful reason that you all drove down here. So I appreciate it and I know some of you may have to go but if I'm able to Catch a couple minutes here and in a few I'll I'll step aside to to say bye to you guys before you guys leave let me just continue getting the meeting if you want to stand up and Work your way towards the back or start, you know You could stay, whatever you guys want, but just letting you know this, we'll be moving on. Thank you guys. God bless you all, and glad that you guys made it. All right, Madam Attorney, should I do public hearing for the rest of the fives at this time?

Yes, would you like for me to read all the titles?

Go ahead and read all the titles.

Mr. Chair, we have 5A substitute, ordinance relating to hospital mandatory payments, amending Article 4 of Chapter 18 of the code, revising definitions, authorizing electronic signatures and electronic delivery of documents. Recognizing waivers granted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, expanding the scope of Medicaid supplemental payment programs. Revising petition review and notice procedures, authorizing payment plans, authorizing suspension or termination of mandatory payments by resolution. making technical and conforming changes and providing severability inclusion in the code and an effective date and its supplement. 5B is a resolution approving issuance by Capital Trust Authority of its revenue bonds in one or more series in an amount not to exceed $155 million for the benefit of BH Wellness Foundation, Southern Winds Hospital Holdings LLC, Southern Winds Hospital LLC, and 4225 LLC to fund a plan of finance which includes acquisition of Southern Winds Hospital. 5D is a resolution declaring certain county owned properties a surplus and revising the inventory list of real properties to include such properties. Authorizing conveyance to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami Inc and Elite Equity Development Inc for the purpose of developing such properties with affordable housing to be sold to very low, low or moderate income households. 5E substitute as an ordinance relating to county procurement, implementing in whole or in part multiple recommendations from the final report of the special task force. To reduce inefficiencies in procurement relating to bid protests, amending section 2-8.4 of the code. Relating to protest procedures, amending implementing order 3-21. Directing the mayor designate to create and maintain and update a centralized automated online portal for use in the protest process. in coordination with the clerk of the board, requiring a report providing severability, inclusion in and exclusion from the code, and an effective date. 5F substitute is an ordinance relating to county procurement, implementing in whole or in part multiple recommendations from the final report of the special task force to reduce inefficiencies in procurement relating to small business and local preference requirements. Amending sections 2-10.401, 2-8.1.1.1.1, 2-8.1.1.1.2, and 2-8.5 of the code relating to small business architecture and engineering program requirements, small business enterprise services program requirements, small business enterprise goods program requirements, local business preference, locally headquartered business preference, local preference eligibility and verification, small business remedies and related procurement policies. Directing and authorizing the mayor to make conforming changes to implementing orders and providing severability inclusion and an exclusion from the code and an effective date. 5G substitute is an ordinance relating to county procurement implementing in whole or in part multiple recommendations from the final report of the special task force. To reduce inefficiencies in procurement amending section 2-11.1 of the code relating to the conflict of interest in code of ethics ordinance. Section 2-8.8 of the code relating to fair subcontracting practices. Section 2-8.1.1.1.1 of the code relating to the small business enterprise services program. Section 2-8.1.1.1.2 of the code relating to the small business enterprise goods program. Section 2-8.1.1 of the code relating to bids from related parties and bid collusion. And section 10-33.02.1 of the code relating to bids precluded from related parties repealing resolution R6314. Requiring certain due diligence, affidavits, and procurement, providing severability, inclusion, and an exclusion from the code, and an effective date, and requiring a report. 5H, substitute as an ordinance relating to county procurement, implementing in whole or in part multiple recommendations from the final report of the special task force to reduce inefficiencies in procurement. Amending section 2-11.1 of the code relating to the code of silence to permit closed recorded oral presentations in competitive procurements. Consistent with an exemption of Florida law. Amending implementing orders 3-34 and 3-39, establishing requirements for competitive selection committee appointments. Composition, scoring, training, and conflict checks. Creating large local employer category relating to evaluation, scoring, and acquisition of professional services agreements. Limiting use of technology at oral presentations. And providing severability, inclusion in and exclusion from the code, and an effective date. 5i is a resolution amending resolution number R79510 to revise the co-designation of that portion of Venetian Way between East San Marino Island and West Rivo Alto Island from Judge Irving Saipan Way to Judge Irving and Hazel Saipan Way and 5i supplement. 5K is an ordinance creating and establishing a special taxing district in the county, generally bounded on the north. By theoretical, Southwest 325 Street on the east by Southwest 194 Avenue. On the south by Southwest 328 Street, Lucy Street, and on the west by Southwest 197 Avenue. Richard Road, known and described as Harmony Homes Multipurpose Maintenance and Street Lighting Special Taxing District. Identifying services to be provided authorizing and directing mayor designee to cause to be maintained and operated various public improvements. And to provide for the installation of street lights. Approving a street lighting agreement with Florida Power and Light and authorizing mayor designee to execute the agreement. Waiving provisions of resolution number R1306 and providing for exclusion from the code on an effective date. An AK1 is its corresponding resolution approving, adopting, confirming a preliminary assessment rule for the district. 5L substitute as an ordinance granting petition of Sunset Opportunities B1 LLC and Sunset C1 LLC for establishment of a community development district generally bounded on the north by Harriet Tubman Highway US 1, on the east by Southwest 57 Avenue Red Road, on the south by Southwest 72 Street Sunset Drive, and on the west by Southwest 58 Avenue. Creating and establishing downtown Somi Community Development District, providing for name, powers, and duties, providing description and boundaries, providing initial members of Board of Supervisors, Accepting proffered declaration of restrictive covenants, providing severability, exclusion from the code, and ineffective date. 5M as a resolution approving the waiver of plat of 6301, Southwest 27th Street, LLC. 5N as a resolution approving the waiver of plat of Claudio Garcia and Giselle Betancourt. 5O as a resolution approving the plat of Mark Estates. 5P as a resolution approving the waiver of plat of Jose Andres Gonzalez Hidrobo. 5Q is a resolution approving the waiver of plat of Alliance Northwest 60th Street, LLC. 5R is a resolution approving the plat of Lions Trail Subdivision. 5S is a resolution approving the plat of Blue Nest Palm Villas. 5T is a resolution approving the plat of the Vaunt West. 5U is a resolution approving the plat of Sunset Oak South. 5V is a resolution approving the plat Rumasa subdivision. 5W resolution approving the plat of Princeton Meadows. 5X is a resolution co-designating that portion of Southwest 132nd Avenue between 104th Street and South Colusa Club Drive. I'm sorry, we did them. 14A3 is a resolution approving as a governmental facility the development of certain new facilities for an integrated correctional campus located at 7000 Northwest 41st Street, Miami Dade County, Florida in compliance with section 33-303 of the code subject to certain conditions. Those are all of your public hearing items.

Thank you. At this time, public hearing is open to the clerk. We have two that have signed up for quasi-judicial items, 5M and 5S. Can you please swear in Mr. Jose Basos and Mr. Sergei Kelly? To the clerk, please swear in those witnesses.

Please stand and raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? So help me God. Thank you. You may be seated.

If I call your name, please approach the podium and line up in the order that your name is called. Please give us your name, your address. You'll have one minute. Mr. Jared Simon, Jennifer Harrison, Tom Carney, Eddie Arroyo, Rochelle Vargas. Mina Trettenberg, Ghislaine Fandel, Marcelo Bandares, Muhammad, and Connor Palmville. Please state your name. You'll have one minute.

Good morning, commissioners. My name is Jared Simon. I live at 3900 Crawford Avenue in Coconut Grove. I am a Jewish resident of Miami Dade, born and raised. I believe my tax dollars should be kept safe and should be working to benefit my community. I also believe in democracy. I had hope these were values that we share. But a few minutes ago, you all voted unanimously to allow the county to invest up to 5% of its portfolio of local tax dollars in the unrated debt of the Israeli government. An extremely controversial choice. You could take a look at the nearly 700 comments on the Miami Herald article that came out yesterday afternoon. And you didn't even allow public comment on it before voting. You didn't even discuss it. Many of you are not even listening to me right now. Your constituents do not want their tax dollars funding the functions of the Israeli government. They want their taxes working for them in this county. You are here to serve the public. You seem to forget it.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name, your address. Chambers. Chambers. Chambers. Thank you. For those of you that are joining us for the first time, we don't applause. We raise our hands in support. We can thumbs down if we don't support, but we don't allow the applause. Welcome. Please state your name, your address, and the item that you are speaking on. I'm going to remind you that we are here on public hearing items. 5B is listed for a lot of you as the item that you are speaking on. However, it is not. And I will repeat, 5B is not the Israeli bonds item. If you start your commentary regarding the Israeli bonds item that already passed, it's 11A, you will not be permitted to speak. Unfortunately, that item has already passed. Please keep your commentary limited to the item you registered to speak on, which is item 5B. Thank you, go ahead.

Tom Carney, 824 Cortez Street, Coral Gables, Florida, 33134. I'm here to address item 5B. While I would need some more information about this item before I could give it my full support, it appears to be an excellent example of how Miami-Dade County can invest its money in local bonds that serve the community, rather than the illiquid risky bonds of a foreign government in a volatile region of the world. Following Hamas' heinous attack on October 7th, Mayor Daniel Nadigaba increased the county's investment in Israeli bonds to demonstrate its support for the people of Israel. I respectfully request this commission to demonstrate their support for the people of Palestine in future bond investment decisions. Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony. Next speaker, your name, your address, you'll have one minute in the item you are speaking on.

Yes, hello, my name is Eddie Arroyo. I live at 401 Northwest 42nd Street in Miami, Florida, 33127. I'm in District 5. I'm here to speak on Senator Garcia's county investment policy.

That item has already passed. That's 11A2. That item has already passed.

And 5A.

You signed up to speak on 5B.

B, right, 5B, correct.

Speak to the item that you registered to speak on. 11A2 has already passed. Thank you.

I still want to speak on the item that has passed as well.

That's not how it works here. Unfortunately, the public hearing on that item has already been opened and closed, which that instruction was previously given to you downstairs. You need to speak to the item that you registered for. That's what our rules require. We almost follow the same rules. 5B is what you're registered to speak for. Please proceed on 5B.

I just want to make a comment that I don't approve of this policy and I think that it's reprehensible that this wasn't open to public speaking even though it was passed. I want to put that comment on the record and I find it- Disresponsible.

To our sergeants, to our sergeants, to our sergeants, we will have order in the chambers. To our sergeants, if you are standing in the back, I need you to find a seat. I need you to find a seat now. Please find a seat within the chamber. Please keep order in our chambers and please be respectful of everyone. Are you wrapping up? Are you finished?

I just wanted to make a comment.

Before we move forward.

Okay, thank you.

Before we move forward.

Thank you. Commissioner, Commissioner, can you please ask to be recognized as a- Listen, we could be asked to follow the procedures in this board, but we're not doing that.

I'm going to say this. We are not going to stand here and allow anyone to be intimidated on this dais, anyone who's in this room. And we're not going to stand, I don't care what you're talking about, what subject it is that you don't like, what you care for, what you don't care for, what your politics are, what they are not. What we are not going to stand for are people who want to make anyone in this room feel uncomfortable about where they are, which means that they are in this place. If you make people feel unsafe in here, you will be removed immediately. Immediately. We don't care what God you serve. We don't care who your child is. Your child is not. We don't care if you are the mayor. We don't care if you are a commissioner. Whoever you are, if you try to intimidate someone on this days, in this crowd, in this place, you will be removed from this space. And if you don't understand that, please try us.

Thank you, thank you, Commissioner Hardiman. He's speaking to, I don't think it was caught on the microphones, but somebody within our audience spoke out, out of turn and without registering. I couldn't agree with Commissioner Hardiman more. Again, we will have order in our chambers. Welcome back, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Go ahead.

Yes, I just wanted to have the time to speak about that. This particular Israeli bond that has been passed.

You already spoke, right? Yes. Okay, thank you so much. Ma'am?

Jennifer Harrison, 901 Southwest 37th Avenue. And I want to speak also to the egregious nature and fiscal misappropriation of agenda item 1182 that you all unanimously pass. Clearly don't have the fiscal responsibility to pass item 5B as you're misappropriating Miami funds. They should be used for Miami-Dade County residents.

Ma'am, we need to speak on items that are in public hearing right now. If it's not part of public hearing, then it's not something that you speak on. And so thank you so much. Can we... I stepped off for two seconds, and I caught the tail end of Commissioner Hardiman's comments and Commissioner Cohen-Higgins, and they're right. We've got to stay on subject. And... Let's stay on the agenda, guys. Let's be courteous and respectful of the people that drove all the way down here this morning to speak on the items that are on the agenda and are following the rules and following what they're supposed to do. Go ahead, ma'am.

Good morning. Rochelle Vargas, 1960 Southwest 24th Street, District 5, Item 5B on bonds and investment. I'm here to speak about... just asking the board to consider how policies are amended and written for bonds and investments, especially as your duty is to protect taxpayer funds, keep them liquid, and to protect our taxpayer money and prioritize this the taxpayer money and its liquidity over the rate of return with bonds always want to remind you all that we work in miami-dade county we work live and enjoy Miami-Dade County, and we should keep bonds local. We should keep our investments local. There is many things right now that are being cut in the county budget that would benefit the local community instead of investing in foreign governments. Thank you.

Good morning, my name is Mina Trachtenberg. My address is 350 Northwest 13th Street, Miami. Florida statutes and the Miami-Dade County investment policy itself specifically state that their top priority is the safety of public funds and liquidity of public funds above all else. And yet, the resolution passed today achieves the opposite of that, opening the door to the purchase of high risk, even junk quality bonds of a foreign entity, which I will note is the only foreign government that Miami-Dade is invested in. Items like Resolution 5B are an example of how we could instead invest public funds. Please divest from apartheid. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Hi, I'm Marcelo Bayadares, 16171 Southwest 73rd Street. I'm here to speak on item 5B in Miami's investment portfolio. Our county finds itself in the middle of another budget crisis, and instead of figuring out how we can best continue to support the services and programs that are essential to the residents of Miami-Dade County, the commission has just passed an item that would allow for further investments in a foreign country. Investments that are already morally bankrupt, widely unpopular, and should have truly have ended long ago.

This decision puts another county- Puts another country first over the many residents of Miami- Sir, that's not what this item is. I'm speaking towards the investments. You may go, his time's up. Ma'am?

Good morning, commissioners. 2441 Southwest 23rd Terrace, speaking on item 5B. I'll be speaking to the investments of this county and where they choose to place our taxpayer dollars. Item 5B does exist within the context of a budget crisis, as well as a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza at the hands of Israel, backed by the United States and propped up by the- All right, so we're going to do something.

They're not listening. So sergeants, they continue, just escort them. Just escort them. Ask them to kindly exit the chamber.

All right, sir. Good morning, esteemed commissioners, mayor. My name is Mohamed Mohamed. I'm now concerned because I'm a Palestinian resident here, born in this great state. And I'm already worried that I'm going to be escorted out just for being Palestinian. I came here to give information on 5B.

That's not the case. Let's not put words in anybody's mouth. You just have to follow the order and speak on the item. You signed up for 5B. If you speak on 5B, you can say as much. Not 1182. You've got to speak on 5B. You could speak for your entire minute. Have at it.

I also wanted to thank the pastor who gave this lovely Christian prayer at the beginning of this. Commissioner hearing, and he said, and I think it's about the humility of listening. Our tax dollars paid for this building, it pays for all of your salaries. And in that case, I will say that 11A2 is an absolute disgrace, especially- All right, sergeants.

That we cannot ignore anymore.

They want their minute of fame. I mean, they want their minute of fame in the Herald. I mean, that's what they want.

Mr. Chairman, good morning. James Fishback. The address is 177 Southwest Range Avenue. Mr. Chairman, I assure you I am not here to talk about Israel. I'm not here to talk about the fact that this commission this morning voted unanimously to give $450 million to the Israeli government. I am not here to talk about the fact that this commission has struggled to pay the deputies in this county, the teachers in this county, while the fact that the commission unanimously voted to give up to $450 million of money to Israel. I assure you, I am not talking about that today because I don't want to be escorted out. by these great men in uniform. What this is about very simply is whom do you serve? Do you serve the people of Hialeah or of Haifa? Do you serve the people of Aventura or of Tel Aviv? Do you serve the people of South Miami or of Jerusalem? This money should be invested here in this community. It should be invested in Miami-Dade County. of your country. They deserve better. We need a country that is America first.

That's what he wants. America first!

America first! America first! America first! America first!

America first!

Mr. Chairman.

You're recognized, Commissioner Gilbert.

Okay. Let's just, Yeah, Senator Garcia, we should probably take a moment to address a couple of things. First of all, when folks say things like America first, the very first amendment, The Constitution allowed us to speak, and so that's why we allowed, and it allows you to petition your government. That's why we have procedures. When Commissioner Hardeman spoke, he spoke the way he did because at times we are so involved with what we believe, we don't understand that there are folks on the other side of this who could just believe something different. We can disagree. Civilly, we need to disagree civilly. That conversation can be had, the discussion can be had, but it has to be had in a civil manner. Because when civil discourse breaks down, we're no longer America. We can't be all America first, at the same time wanting to shout everybody else down. This meeting has to operate in a way that allows all of us to discuss items, hear information, make decisions, and exist afterwards as a community. That includes information that's correct. Our board today didn't vote to give any money to anyone. We set investment criteria. So without regard to the sound bite that you might want to generate for your social media platform, that's not what happened. We need to be clear about those things because we can have different opinions, but facts are facts. The vote didn't give money to anyone. It didn't buy anything. We established criteria. We changed the percentage. And while I appreciate everyone's opinion, It is important that you disagree civilly. Because I know I speak for my colleagues when I say no one on this board intends to let this meeting devolve into anything remotely similar to some of the stuff we see online. That won't be here in Miami-Dade County. So we should all just probably calm down. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, if I may. Thank you, Commissioner. Senator Garcia.

I know we don't want to belabor a point, and I know that the item already passed, and I think there was a public opportunity to testify on this item. There was. It was open to the public, and I understand that we're using another item to testify, but I just want to be very clear what this is and what this isn't. The reality is the state legislature passed a new regulatory scheme for investments. We are following state law based on what was passed. I have a hold on a lot of these state requirements and implementation language. Therefore, that's why we're sponsoring this. The reality is when we look at investments and we try to tell the public that we should not be investing in one fund or another fund, the county right now invests about $9 billion. A lot of our pension. is invested in the FRS. We use these investments to make sure we have a greater return of money than sitting in a bank account so we can fund our police, so we can fund our firefighters, so we can fund the operation of government as well. So to call out and say, and just for sound bites, I agree with you, Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, Let's stick to the facts and say what this is and what this isn't. The reality is that we are already making these investments and just want to make sure that what we have here working together with our clerk gives more flexibility and more liquidity to some of our investments. That's all that it says and that's all that it does. It doesn't mandate us doing one thing. It gives the clerk and our investment personnel the flexibility to pick the best return on yields for this community, and that's all that this does. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Mr. Chair. Vice Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Senator, let me just take my hat off to you because I know and everyone else knows that this information was already made public knowledge. Individuals had access to the very knowledge that we've actually discussed today at this particular meeting. And I agree with my colleagues to take this particular item to raise a political position in order to do what I believe is the act of engaging into click bake is, in my humble opinion, one of the most disgraceful things we can do.

so senator you continuously stand what stand by what you believe this board is standing with you on this and the reality of it is is if they had issues with this before they would have made their position known early on inside of this meeting so thank you so much commissioner bermudez this child be brief ditto to all the comments made by my colleagues in particular making sure that these meetings are run the efficient and correct way and second of all obviously as commissioner gilbert said america was based on respecting other people's opinions, even if they disagree with you. But I just want to point out for Thursday night, because everybody's going to be back, that we are all taxpayers. All of us here are taxpayers of Miami-Dade County. And sometimes I think the individuals that come to see us at our meetings Forget that we pay taxes. Unless one of you served in the military and you get an exemption, you pay property taxes too. So if you don't, let me know, because that's incredible. But the suffering that everybody feels in this community, we feel. And I'm saying this because Thursday night, while everybody's home, or many people are home watching TV or the beginning of college football season, we will be here probably from 6 at PM to 4 in the morning. And there'll be a number of people who'll come and say, I'm a taxpayer. I just hope, Mr. Chair, that we remind them we're taxpayers too.

All right. All right, so the first 10 were called. I've got Geneva Claus, Rachel Prestipino, Donna Novell, Gabriela Noah, Mishka Hamad. Jessica Johnson, Liji Ferrer, Adriana Noboa, Joe Conlin, and Sebastian Mouton-Gill. You may approach the well, state your name and address, and you have a minute to speak. And as you've witnessed, please stay on topic.

Commissioners, my name is Rachel Prestapino. I reside at 1865 79th Street Causeway. I would just like to point out that that heinous display was from someone who was not called and was not registered to speak. His name was not called by the chair. I believe he's also running for public office. And I don't think anyone wants to be associated with that kind of heinous display. I do want to comment on hospitals. I think they're a great thing for public investment of our taxpayer dollars. As the commissioner just rightfully said, you all are taxpayers. We are taxpayers investing in hospitals. That's the kinds of things bonds can fund. They can fund affordable housing. Municipal bonds can fund roads. These are the kinds of things we want to be investing in. You've heard already the kinds of things folks don't want to be investing in. So I just want to ask the question, who is calling your offices? What are they asking for? If you think about when people are calling you and they're asking you, in this time when people are struggling and they can't afford to live here what are the kinds of things positively that they want you to invest in both with uh... you know that the pensions that we want those that we want the money that we invest to make money of course we want that we can do that ethically financially responsibly We can do that. So I just want everyone to reflect on what do your constituents want you to invest in? What are they calling you and asking to invest in? And I know it's not foreign governments. Thank you.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Ma'am. Peace be with you all. My name is Mishka Sahar Ahmed. My address is 18810 Northwest 78th Way. My family has lived and paid taxes here in Miami-Dade County for the last 50 years. I'm also an alumni of FIU and an active member at the Islamic Center of Greater Miami. I'm glad to be back here at the annual budget meeting. And we have always made our positions clear. We have shown up. This isn't the first time that we spoke on, like today I'm talking on 5B, bonds and investments. And I agree with the beautiful prayer that was made earlier today, that the decisions you make today should bring peace to all the Miami-Dade residents here today and our neighbors. And we are not, we are sleepless to know that the investments that are being made by this commission, $151 million of our taxpayers are going to Israeli bonds, which are funding a genocide in Gaza. And if you want to talk facts, sir, on the investment end of it, this is not a sound bite. It's a bad investment. That's why you're changing the criteria.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Appreciate it. Sir. You need to invest locally.

Sir, go ahead. Good morning, Mr. Chair and commissioners. My name is Sebastian Gill. I am a high school junior and my address is protected from disclosure. I'm here in support of item 5D, which would transfer certain county-owned properties for $10 to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami and Elite Equity Development to build affordable homes for lower income and moderate income families. As a high school student, I'm not buying a house today, but my generation will live with the housing decisions you make today. I support using public lands for affordable home ownership, but a $10 transfer should come with a clear public return. Homes built on a clear timeline and kept affordable for the people this program is meant to serve. Because the resolution also waives some normal property transfer procedures, I ask the board to ensure strong deadlines, clear affordability requirements, and real accountability. I don't want to live with my parents until I'm 40 years old, so please support item 5D. So years from now, we can see not just the promise, but real homes built for real people. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Gil.

Thank you, Mr. Gil.

Sebastian Gil. All right. All right, okay, no one else from the list that I called. So I have Dorothy Brown Alfaro. Ralph Ferrer, Rick Crooks, Maria Luisa Castellanos, Brenda Betancourt, Edmundo Rodriguez, Soraya Marlez, Franklin Torrialba, and Agustin Maristani. You're recognized.

Okay, thank you chair and commissioners and the mayor. I am here on items 5E, 5F, 5G, and 5H. I'm against all of them. Chair, I know that you appointed a lot of the people on the strip task force, but I wish you had appointed a small business advocate such as myself.

Your name and address, please.

Dorothy Brown Affera, 4699 Northwest Seventh Avenue, Miami, Florida. I believe that as a small business advocate, we've been advocating for decades for positive changes for the small businesses, which included increasing the limit of revenues for trade contractors, such as electrical contractors. from 5 million to 10 million, same thing for general contractors from 10 million to 15 million. But now with the strip recommendation, it is reducing it overall for goods and services, construction, architect and engineer from 250 up to 8 million. The other thing that we have been advocating for is positive changes in the construction industry for small businesses where we really don't have any rights. anymore. We can have contracts taken from us by general contractors. We also have been advocating for prompt payment for decades through various administration, including software that has not happened. And also in the local preferences that strip has put in there where you have small businesses that are micro small businesses where they may only have the owner and one employee. Now that recommendation is saying that they have to have at least a minimum of three employees.

Thank you, Ms. Dorothy.

Okay, thank you. And I ask you to not move forward with this. I think we should have had input as small businesses in it. Thank you very much. Allow me to speak to you.

Thank you.

Brenda.

Good morning. Brenda Berancourt, 1436 6th Street. I'm referring to 5E to reduce inefficiencies in the procurement procedures. I think something that we need to make sure is when we apply to be a provider or to ask for an RFP for the county, sometimes it's too many steps that doesn't be followed. And I have applied for a provider as a primary care with our organization. And we've been trying. The system doesn't work. You go to check what is exactly the category that you need and the system doesn't work. You call and sometimes you get somebody who answers the phone, but most of the time you don't get an answer. You do events of procurements, but you bring other cities or other departments that is not actually a procurement who's going to be doing what you need as a small business, as an organization. Is this new legislation actually going to work? I'm 100% with the person who was before me. You need small businesses to be part of that committee to understand what we have to go through in order for us to apply. Thank you.

Thank you, Brenda.

Sir? Hi, Ralph Ferrer with Curtis and Rogers Design Studio, a landscape architecture firm, 7520 South Red Road in South Miami. And we're also a certified small business enterprise headquartered in Miami-Dade County. And I respectfully express our strong opposition to items 5F, 5G, and 5H. which is scheduled for second reading today. The proposed elimination of the goal setting firm level commitments and the small business advisory boards would significantly reduce opportunities and protections for small businesses. These measures have long ensured accountability, meaningful participation, and a voice for the small business community in the county's procurement process. Finally, we know that no certified small business representative served on the task force that developed these recommendations. Changes of this magnitude should include input from the businesses most directly affected by it. We respectfully urge the Board of County Commissioners, the Mayor, To reject this ordinance on second reading and to engage the small business community in any future procurement reform efforts.

Thank you So So anyone that's speaking in the same line you can you can anyone is speaking the same line Make sure that you've all read the substitute item because I've removed everything referencing anything that that is against or not in favor of the small businesses that has been removed from the item so make sure that you've read the latest version of the item uh because i don't think you would be up here asking for us to oppose it if you if if you see that the latest item actually makes no reference to uh to the to a lot of the things you guys have mentioned uh but ma'am go ahead

Good morning. My name is Soraya Marlis. I'm with J. Just Doors Installations, Inc. I'm a certified small business specialty contractor, and I support making the county procurement faster and more efficient, but I am concerned that the file 261351 eliminates the Small Business Advisory Board and the Small Business Project Review functions. For a large county construction project, our specialty trade might be a small percentage of the total contract, but that percentage can represent a significant opportunity for a local small business, an opportunity that creates local jobs and keeps dollars in our community. Before these projects go to the market, someone needs to ask, are the qualified Miami-Dade certified small businesses capable of doing this work? Can we create a fair opportunity for them to compete? If the current process is inefficient, please improve it, consolidate it, establish deadlines, use technology, and hold the process accountable. Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you. Good morning, Rick Brooks, 5959 Waterford District Drive, Miami, Florida. I'm a proud graduate of the Miami-Dade County Small Business Program, so I'm here to speak in favor of maintaining the Small Business Advisory Board. as well as hearing some of their other concerns. The substitutes did address some of the issues, but there are still some issues that are pending. I want to applaud you all for the substitute that removed strip recommendation 33 and 35. Those affect locally headquartered businesses like myself. And that's it. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Crooks.

Good morning. My name is . I'm a Miami-Dade County resident in District 6 and a licensed professional engineer. I'm principal of Green Day, a certified SB firm headquartered in the District 7 in Miami-Dade County. I have not read the changes, but I want to make sure that we all understand what is happening. I'm here to oppose 5F, G and H. This ordinance will have a negative impact in our professional community by reducing SB participation goals. eliminating firm labor commitment and dissolving small business advisory boards and opening local business benefit to large non-local firms by the creation of the new category. for large firms that will overpower our local businesses. The Strip Tag Board was composed entirely for non-SBE field representatives who then produced recommendations that the Strip protect protections from SBE and locally headquartered business. Not a single SBE or locally headquartered business representative was invited to participate despite the minority of the county being a locally headquartered business. That is not a reform. That actually creates a conflict of interest when the recommendations came. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Sorry. Thank you. Ma'am?

Hi, my name is Maria Luisa Castellanos and I live at 2271 Southwest 122nd Court. And I'm here to speak on behalf of the small business community because this particular ordinance is very detrimental to us, particularly the part where It eliminates basically the locally headquarters part of the ordinance. And also, it reduces the participation of small business to a very specified number, but it doesn't give any leeway. And lastly, I want to talk about the issue where if you have less than three employees, then you don't count it as SBE at all, which is very detrimental, especially to me, because I have less than three employees. And I think that's just an aberration. I think you really need to think about whether you're trying to help the community or you're trying to help large businesses from some other area of the country. Thank you.

Thank you, Maria Luisa. Good morning, my name is Augustine Marastani. I'm a principal with Aduara Group. And I'm a resident of Miami-Dade County, 9935 Northwest 28th Terrace. I'm here to speak in support of the SBE and the locally headquartered business community. I don't know if you know, but the majority of the architect and engineering employment in Miami-Dade County is medium to small size firms. So the strip committee recommendations that impact SBEs as well as a local headquarter business are effectively destroying your locally headquartered businesses. So why would you do that? It's a question that I ask that you please consider. Why are we making the requirements harder for companies that are already headquartered, chose to be headquartered in Miami-Dade County? and creating a more accessible pathway for firms' headquarters elsewhere. You are one of the major counties in the nation. You want to attract big companies to become locally headquartered here. This is the big game. And this, as it stands today, it will destroy your local headquarters businesses as well as your SBEs, which, by the way, they are the muscle. Thank you. Thank you means we're- The production capacity of your system. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Sir.

Good morning, Mr. Chairman, commissioners, mayor, and county staff. My name is Franklin Antonio Torrealba, and I'm a regional director for Ardura and 300 Engineering. I want to talk to you about the locally headquartered firms and respectfully ask you to reject recommendations 16, That was removed already. 34, 35, and 37.

All removed.

Thank you. And I'm an engineer, so I'll make it really simple. The small business cannot survive on 10 to 15%, number one. Number two, the locally headquarters are a bridge for small businesses. I used to be a small business. When you're a small business and you graduate, Nobody wants to work with you anymore because the big companies compete with you and the little ones don't want you competing. So it's a middle size where the locally headquartered was created. And what that is, is a bridge to go from a small business to a mid-sized business and hopefully in the future grow into a large business. And I'm an engineer, so I got to do the numbers. The current locally headquartered Audience that we have in place, it works perfect. Let me tell you how it works. It's perfect. Whoever did it, did an excellent job. Let me tell you why it works. It's 55% for the large companies. They only have to give to the local and small, 55%. Small companies, 25%, and locally headquartered, 20%. And it's perfect. Everybody eats, everybody works, and we grow local headquartered. Thank you, sir. Thank you, ma'am. All right.

Mr. Zichella. Thank you. Eric Zichella, 2035 North Miami Avenue, P3 Management. On behalf of my client, Chen Moore and Associates. Chen Moore was my first client when I opened my business. I've been representing him consistently ever since I started this. And I'm very proud to represent them for that period of time. They started their business here in South Florida, Miami-Dade and Broward County. They've had a BTR in Miami-Dade County for the entirety of the time they've existed as a business. And they're very proud to have started in your small business program and graduated from it. What I encourage you to do when you look at all of these changes not only these changes but your current ordinances that are on the books which some of them need to be changed is think about whether or not they actually increase efficiency in the procurement process i submit to you that they don't they probably invite preemption from the state and the people that you're leaving behind are the ones that started their businesses here graduate from the program as you intend them to do, as they're supposed to do. Thank you, Mr. Zakala. And then grow. Thank you. Those are the ones that get left behind.

Thank you. All right, I have, let me see. This is tricky because I'm going to try to sign up twice. Deborah Swain, Juan Crespi. Did everybody call Alejandro Crespi?

That's good for you. Thank you.

Angel Saki, Daniel Yobet, and Geraldine Grimes-Lewis. Ma'am?

Yes, thank you. My name is Deborah Swain. My business address is 2025 Southwest 32nd Avenue. I'm actually here to speak on three different items, 5F, 5G, and 5H. And I wonder if I need to do them all at the same time. Can I just continue? Okay, I'll be as brief as possible. With respect to the entire process that came up with the recommendations from the strip committee, which was to reduce inefficiency in procurement. As you've already heard, there were no SBE firms and no locally headquartered firms represented on the task force. However, many of the recommendations are really on the back of those particular types of firms here. I want to address recommendation number nine, for example, elimination of firm level commitments. It eliminates protections currently in place to individual firms in the event that they fail to honor their commitments to those individual firms, there is no consequence. My recommendation is to eliminate it and work with the small business community to come up with a way to address this. Recommendation number 10, eliminates the process for establishing small business goals. This as standard was put in place, I understand from staff it was intended to be a minimum. Thank you.

Thank you so much, ma'am.

Can I go on to the next item or?

No, that was your time. Thank you.

sir go ahead thank you uh good morning my name is juan kraspy address 227 northeast 26 terrace i'm the owner of an sb farm architects international inc however today i'm speaking as a chairperson of the sbe architecture engineering advisory board This board has been in existence for five years and consists of 14 members. Presently, there's three practicing architects, four practicing engineers, and one FIU engineer professor. We have been successful in creating a path for SBE to grow and serves as a sounding board for SBE's issues and recommending solutions to SPD. SPD prepares reports in business outreach, certifications, and any utilization, and we advise them on those reports. On our last board meeting, July 29th, 2026, I would like to point out about the certified directory. There are a total of 247. Thank you.

All right, sir. Your minute's up. It's not up? Right, yeah. The clock is there. You're over by 15 seconds. Sir? Sir? Sir? Yes? Hello? Over here.

That was a short clock.

Good morning, everyone. Mayor Cava, distinguished commissioners. My name is Angel C. Saki II. I'm a humble architect. I will abide by the rules here today, just in case. Thank you. Thank you to our officers for their service. I like to keep things simple. That's the way I've always been since I've been a young man, since I had dark hair in those days. My office is at 1236 0 Southwest 132nd Court. and um this weekend i'm a fa a grandfather of one little boy but this weekend i was told that both my daughters are pregnant with two little girls a month apart so i i gotta tell you the reason why i'm here to talk about these small business administration or enterprise deals is because we're going to need more milk in the house okay Okay. A lot of you have seen me around. I am, as a small business architect here in this county, for 55 years, I'm a second generation architect. I am the architect of the Westchester Library Health and Wellness Center, which Commissioner Rodriguez was there on grand opening. I'm the architect of the James E. Scott Restoration, tremendous project. Commissioner Hardeman was there. Thank you, sir. Very emotional. The Fire Station 71, which Mayor Cava was there.

Thank you. Thank you, my friend. I like the spirit. Thank you so much. We're good. I thought you were following the rules. You made us say thank you. You got us excited.

All right.

We're making a difference. We're making a difference. All right. Yes, sir.

Good morning, Mr. Chair and Commissioners. My name is Daniel Lobet. I'm a high school senior and the co-founder of Miami-Dade Commission. Watch and my address is protected from disclosure. I'm here to support item 5F. Overall, 5F improves efficiency and accountability for small and big businesses alike across the county. For example, the county has the ability to audit if a company is truly local, expediting the process for companies across the county. But one rule is missing. 5F deletes the line that reserves contracts under $250,000 for small businesses. The introduction says a new rule will replace it, but lacks a clear deadline. And since 2024, the county doesn't publish how many of those contracts it awards. So my ask is simple. Write it down, codify it, and count it. But put a deadline in the ordinance. In the same manner that today's public hearings provide transparency and accountability to local government, I ask that you uphold companies in our county to the same standards. Thank you for your time, and please listen to the words of your residents. Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Point of order.

Thank you. Point of order.

Let me just get through.

Well, the point of order is I just want everybody to be quiet. So he was speaking and making some great points.

Thank you.

And there's a lot of conversations you all, if you all could just, I know we haven't seen each other in a while, calm down so we can actually pay attention to the speakers. Thank you.

Thank you, commissioner.

Ma'am.

Thank you. Good morning, Chairman, Commissioners, Mayor Cava. My name is Jerry Grimes-Lewis. My address is 1431 Northeast 201st Terrace, Miami, Florida. And I'm the owner of Grimes Consulting, an SBE certified firm in Miami-Dade County. I also issued a statement summary for your review you should all have in front of you. Our ask is simple on this item. We urge you to defer it and require a public small business analysis. Efficiency matters and I support that. But so does ensuring that local businesses have meaningful access to county contracts. Before changing these protections, the small business owners need to understand who benefits, who loses opportunities, and how accountability will be maintained. I ask that you do not consider 5F until the county completes and publicly releases a small business impact analysis and hold meaningful consultations with affected businesses. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am. All right, I've got Mark Drummond. Mark and Mariana Evora. Mark Drummond and Mariana Evora. Jose Pasos and Sergi Kelly. Those are my last four. Mark Drummond, Mariana Evora, Jose Pasos, and Sergi Kelly. Sir?

Hi, I'm Mark Drummond, 2355 Salcedo Street for C Solutions. We're a certified A&E small business in the county. And we want to express our strong opposition to the proposed ordinance impacting A&E firms. Colleagues have spoken about it, 5F, 5G, I think would be detrimental to small business. While it's presented that the measure to improve procurement efficiency and many of its provisions will have the opposite effect, creating significant disadvantages for local small businesses while disproportionately benefiting large multinational corporations. Most concerning is that the Perseus changes appear to undermine decades of successful small business participation on county projects. It's particularly worrisome of the composition of the task force. Not a single member of the 246 certified A&E small businesses were on that committee. And only three of its 14 members currently represent A&E firms. We hope that you would consider this and vote to eliminate those provisions. Thank you, sounds good.

Ma'am?

Good morning, everyone. Mariana Evora, Delta Consultants. I'm a small business owner in Miami-Dade County. Home address is 4841 Northwest First Avenue. I come here to second basically everything that my colleagues here have mentioned. The small business community in the A&E world in this county is extremely important, not only to develop the local workforce, but also it helps keep and maintains accessibility to the county for local firms that are knowledgeable of the issues within Miami-Dade County itself, more than any other company that can come from outside of the local county. We, as the SB community, put together months ago a letter to all of you that was sent out and it was signed by over 100 firms. I urge you to please look into those letters and read it carefully. This was sent back in March, March 11, I believe to be exact, and it was signed by over 100 firms. Today, I ask that we vote no or at least defer items 5F. This item should not pass without meaningful impact from the SBE community.

Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you. My name is Jose Pasos. I live at 6331 Southwest 27th Street. I'm here for item 5M, Mike, 5M. This is a plat waiver. This started three years ago. This is the first time the public ever gets to hear about it. Every time I've asked about it, and I've knocked on all the doors. And some of you, I'm proud to see you in front of this dais. We've worked together for the last 20 years, and I'm proud that you're up here. And I thank you for your service because I know this is very difficult. But I've knocked on doors and nobody wants this development. This development... is basically a condo association in the middle of a single family home community. They say it's two duplexes, but these four units are up on the MLS for $1.85 million each townhome on the corner of 63rd Avenue and 27th Street. This is Shenley Park, this is Coral Villas, this is Coral Terrace, as we like to call it, East Chester. This is a single family home community over 100 years old, built by veterans. We would ask that you keep it single family. I'm so happy of all of you that voted against this plot waiver in July. The gentleman has wiped his proverbial butt with this board and went ahead and continued building up till it's up. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you for being on our time. Where we go one, we go all.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Pasos. Perfect, perfect. Sergey, Palm Beach. Speaking about the Blue Nest development, obviously Blue Nest has developed a lot of areas around here. Obviously Florida, wild Florida and rural Florida has a lot of concerns with massive builds, condos, townhomes, whatever it is. Blue Nest has certainly been a part of that, but not the only one. It's unfortunate that there's limited opportunities to speak on developments like this. Furthermore, the item of Kelly tractors being talked about for the eighth time today, but technically we're not allowed to talk on it, but it is a huge development in the Everglades, historical Everglades, and functioning Everglades. You have clean water over there. It cleans our water. You have manatees, herons, gators, all that beautiful wildlife. And the fact is, Kelly Tractor is going on the wrong side of the urban development boundaries. The item itself should never even been considered by you guys, because it's on the wrong side of the boundary. Should have been, sorry. Look on the other side where you have permitted development. We have residential dense housing. And they'll not just put the wild everglades at risk, but rural areas. And it must not happen as we continue to see wild Florida developed. And it should not be approved today. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, sir. Ma'am, your name?

Andrea Suarez Avastida. I registered, but for some reason I wasn't called.

Let's see. Yep. All right. Go ahead. And then I have also, did I call Sean Lozano? Sean Lozano? He can approach as well. Ma'am, go ahead.

Good morning, Chairman Rodriguez, Commissioners, Mayor. As I said, my name is Andrea Suarez-Avastida. I live at 5875 Southwest 77 Terrace in South Miami, Florida. I am also a member of Leadership Miami, Class 48. I came to Miami to earn my master's degree at FIU, so I've been part of the community. I've settled my roots here, and I've experienced what some of these companies have done for my career growth. And that's why I recognize that making a long-term impact for some of the large companies is a benefit for the community. I'm one example of those. I've contributed back to the community, and I continue to do it. So I support... the large local employer designation, and I ask you to do the same. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am. Sir? Good morning. My name is Sean Lozano. I reside at 9690 Royal Palm Boulevard. Today, in speaking about 5H, I would like to comment and say that I believe financial equity is the equivalent to financial irresponsibility. As a former South Florida police officer, I'd like to remind this commission and the people of Dade County of the 2010 disaster, which was the invocation, I'd say the improper invocation, of financial urgency, cost first responders thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits, in retirement, in income, and they're still picking up the pieces of that today. I would urge this powerful commission to do more than just platitudes. It's something I would say all the time as a police officer. I would hear politicians say, we back the blue. Well, how do you back the blue? I believe that the commissioners on this council can back the blue by taking action to invest here locally in our local government and the best of us, which is our first responders, our men and women in blue and red,

and those who do what others will not thank you so much thank you sir all right that is those are all the names that i've have is there anyone did i not call your name anyone that i did not call their name in public hearing all right so public hearing is now closed on the public hearing items does anyone wish to bifurcate any items Commissioner Cohen-Higgins, which ones?

I need to bifurcate 5D, Mr. Chair, for a brief motion. If the attorneys can please read my motion on 5D.

Yeah, I was going to, but let's take it. Give me a second. I'm sorry. We can just bifurcate it. Any Commissioner Regalado?

Yeah, there was a request at the beginning of the meeting to bifurcate some of the fives. So if we can have the attorneys repeat that. Specifically, I think we pretty much divided all the procurement ones up so that we can go through them one by one.

Jerry?

Yes, Mr. Chair, I had requests to bifurcate. 5D just now by Commissioner Cohen-Higgins, 5E substitute, 5F substitute, 5G substitute, 5H substitute, 5M as in Mary, 5P, 5U, well we did 5X and 5Y supplements. So those would be the ones that are bifurcated.

5M.

M as in Mary, correct. The four procurement items.

5N as in Nancy as well? No.

No. 5M as in Mary, 5P as in Paul, and 5U.

Mr. Chairman, that's just a vote no for me.

Which ones? 5M, P, and U. 5M, P, and U. Yes, sir. All right, so.

Mr. Chair, I have 5M as well, but I'd like to speak on it.

Okay, and what about 5P and U? All right, so Commissioner Gilbert moves 5P and U, seconded by Commissioner Cohen-Higgins. Clerk, please call the roll.

A little unreadiness before you said the motion.

On 5P and U? This motion is for what? Just 5P and Peter and U. Clerk, please call the roll on 5P and 5U.

Commissioner Cohen-Higgins. I vote yes. Senator Garcia.

No.

Commissioner Gilbert. Commissioner Gonzalez. Commissioner Hardiman. Commissioner Lopez. Commissioner Emiliano Orbeez. Commissioner Regalado. Commissioner Steinberg. Commissioner Bermudez. Yes. Vice Chairman McGee.

Yes.

Chairman Rodriguez?

I vote yes.

Motion passes 11 to 1.

Okay, and then I'll entertain a motion on the remainder of the items that were not bifurcated.

Move it.

We have a motion by Commissioner Cohen-Higgins.

I want to get clarification because I thought 5E. E through H. E through H. And H were all bifurcated, Madam Attorney, were they not?

Yes, I did. I read those as bifurcated.

Okay, so we're not voting on those right now. No, I said the non-bifurcated items. So we have a motion by Commissioner Cohen-Higgins, seconded by Commissioner Gilbert. Clerk, please call the roll.

Senator Garcia?

Aye.

Commissioner Gilbert? Aye. Commissioner Gonzalez? Aye. Commissioner Hardiman? Aye. Commissioner Lopez?

Yes.

Commissioner Emiliano Orbis? Yes. Commissioner Regalado? Yes. Commissioner Steinberg? Yes. Commissioner Bermudez?

Yes.

Commissioner Cohen-Higgins? For. Vice Chairman McGee?

Yes.

Chairman Rodriguez?

I vote yes.

Motion passes unanimously.

Commissioner Koenig, is he recognized on 5D?

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I just want to recognize the young man who came, the 11th grader that is in high school. I think his name was Sebastian Gill. Thank you for your testimony in support of 5D. And I want to reassure the young man who did an excellent job at our podium. That 5D does have very strong deadlines and accountability, and we look forward to offering, finally, some real affordable homeownership opportunities in District 8. So thank you to the young man, Mr. Sebastian Gill. To the attorneys, can you please read my motion on 5D? Thank you.

Yes, Commissioner Cohen-Higgins moves to amend agenda item 5D to remove the property currently bearing folio number 1078120070640 from consideration for conveyance to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami Inc., a Florida not-for-profit corporation, and to delete all references to such folio in the item and make any necessary conforming changes.

To my colleagues, there are other folios going to Habitat for Humanity. They requested the removal of this folio because for whatever the reason, this particular parcel became very difficult for them to construct on. So they simply requested that this particular folio be removed from consideration. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for that clarification. Thank you. It made no sense otherwise.

It's been moved as amended, seconded by Commissioner Gilbert. Do I need a roll call on this, voice vote? All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All opposed nay. Show the item passed. Commissioner Orbis on 5M. You had some- Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

As amended, yes.

Yes. Yes, on 5M. So this came to my attention in April, at which time I requested a deferral because I got a lot of feedback. I went myself by this neighborhood, Shenley Park, very familiar with this neighborhood. And when I found out that there was a proposal for two duplexes on these small parcels of land, it just didn't make sense. It didn't conform to the neighborhood. So I asked for a deferral so that we could figure out what we could do. And in doing my research, I found out that somewhere along the line there was an ordinance change that allowed this type of use to just be done administratively and basically doesn't give us any jurisdiction over the matter. So I want to ask the county attorneys, can you explain, why I keep being told that this has to pass. And I have a few questions. Can we defer it today? And if not, why? And what is the appropriate cause for denial?

Yes, Commissioner. Plat items under Florida law must be approved unless there's evidence showing that they don't comply with the criteria and the statutes and the code. And this is pursuant to a Florida Supreme Court decision. And this is a quasi-judicial, so that limits how many times this could be deferred. What is the proper evidence? Evidence showing that it doesn't comply with the criteria in Chapter 28 of the County Code and Chapter 177 in the Florida Statutes. And I defer to RER to explain those technical criteria, but they relate to public improvements and dedications of rights of way.

Can we have RER expand?

Good morning, Commissioner. So for this plat application, generally for plats, the rules are mainly related to the subdivision of the land. So we confirm the size of the property meets code. We confirm the utilities are in place. We confirm that it's safe for traffic.

Okay. And I'm asking these series of questions because we have obviously a resident here who is against this. And I have received numerous phone calls and emails against this plat. So I wanted the residents to understand that I have been, in the last couple of months, trying to figure out how we can do right by them. So my question now to the attorneys is, what happens today if we vote this down?

That could be grounds for an appeal of this board's decision.

And who would appeal it?

It could be the applicant or anyone else who has appeared at this hearing and objected.

And who would they appeal it to?

The court.

What court?

The 11th Judicial Circuit Appellate Division.

Okay, well, I am not comfortable with this and hearing our residents are against this. I know I've spoken on this before as this item has come up. Shenley Park is entirely single family homes. Although the designs that are proposed are beautiful, I don't think they conform with the neighborhood. So I am okay with it going through the process and I would motion to deny it.

Commissioner Cohen-Higgins. There's a motion and there's a second by Senator Garcia. So I have a motion and a second to deny. Commissioner Cohen-Higgins, do you recognize?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think 5M raises an interesting issue because nowhere in the item have The administration, the attorneys articulated this very important piece of information that was just shared with us on the microphone, i.e., this is not a discretionary item essentially for us to vote up or down. You're saying if it meets certain technical statutory requirements, we are mandated by law in order to approve this. I'm not sure why that critical information is not included in the item because our residents read these items. They organize, they petition our offices as they absolutely should do. And we're here to reflect the voices of our residents, which is exactly what the commissioner of the district is trying to do. So this puts us in a very awkward position. And I don't understand why that level of critical information is not included in an item like this. Why are we learning of this requirement at this juncture? The final hearing to the attorneys.

We're happy to work with the administration moving forward to ensure that memoranda items note this.

I do think that that would be helpful. I don't know that that needs to be a policy decision. I don't know that that needs to be an item. I think that's just a level of transparency that our residents deserve so that they can understand when they're positioning our office, the position that we're in and the discretion that we have, or that we don't have. which is applicable in this instance. I support the district commissioner and her decision to say that this is not conforming with the neighborhood. This is not appropriate in the neighborhood. I'm not sure where it takes us legally, and I know it's not advisable for us to have legal conversations on the microphone. But if the district commissioner doesn't support it, I don't either. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I wanted to add on that, that I have been working with the county attorneys on legislation that Would change this in the future so that it would come to us so that we can have jurisdiction over these types of plots. So I am working on that already with the county attorney's office because to me it was extremely offensive to find out about this just on an agenda and to be told basically there's nothing you can do about this. It has to go forward when all these residents have come forward, they're not okay with it. And it doesn't conform with the neighborhood. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Commissioner Regalado.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have some questions in terms of compliance. And obviously, I agree with my colleagues that I want to get into a whole conversation about our rules in quasi-judicial. But in terms of another deferral or a denial, are we limited in the number of deferrals since the maker has mentioned that she's working on something? And if so, can we waive it because it's our rule? So could we waive, if there is a limitation on deferral, can we waive our rule to defer it again as she continues to work on an item instead of a denial that would trigger court action?

There's no limitation in this board's Rules of Procedure on the number of deferrals, and this could be deferred again today.

Okay. Just putting that out there since you're working on something, I know that it's annoying to have it come up again and again and again, but you could defer it for a period of time, depending on what you're working on, and then it's not foreclosed completely. It's still difficult, but not foreclosed. Correct.

I appreciate that. I'd be happy to entertain the motion to defer. I also wanted to add, my staff just brought up to me and I did notice because I drive by there all the time. These developers have already begun construction. They have already begun laying down the foundation for this property without knowing if they were going to get an approval or not. So that is astounding. It is terrible. that we are basically bound by this and we have no say. And that speaks bounds of what the expectations are for these kind of applications. They're basically assuming that we are going to approve it. Thank you. Happy to second the deferral.

All right. Commissioner Bermudez, you're recognized.

I'm going to support the county commissioner on this too, but I really am a little bit, with legal, a little bit... Actually, I'm very confused. A lot of times... And we've got a friend right to your right there that says no to every plat. A lot of times, plats are just administrative. How did we get here to something that changes the community and changes the makeup of the community? How did we get to the plat before we got to a decision on that? Just a little bit, I'd like to know how that happened. I mean, did this get through before, or what's the reasoning there?

Commissioner, the zoning was previously approved for this property.

Okay, when was it?

I defer to RER on the timing of that.

Commissioner, this property is in a neighborhood that's zoned RU1, which is single family development. But this application that came through to us is part of the workforce housing program, which allows for a duplex on the property.

So it was approved administratively?

It's administrative, correct.

In general, I think as we move forward, and I'm going to support Commissioner Horvitz, but I think it's important when you work on that legislation, there are some plats that are just plats. And those, truthfully, there's not much we can do about it. Sorry, Senator. But the reality is they're just plats. There's others like this one that apparently was approved administratively, but the commissioner of the district either was, I'm assuming you weren't made aware or were not until it got in front of us. i would think when you work on that policy if anything pops up like that the administration and the director should let at the very least the commissioner of that district know at the very very least when it's in the process so i'll say i'll leave my piece at that but i'll support you all right commissioner hardeman is is this plat in an unincorporated area

Yeah. I don't know if you are aware of this, but I became aware because when I was serving as the city of Miami commissioner, we have certain zoning and we abut the county. And so the county made some changes long before any of us were on the dais. Our mayor was on the dais at the time. But they made changes where in the unincorporated areas, it allowed for the development of duplexes and single family zone areas, which... Sounds like this is exactly what this is, although they're in a program. That's how the property maybe was transferred, et cetera, et cetera. But that was a big thing to have been done, especially in areas where you have communities that look the way where most people would like to stay sort of. as natural as possible. And what I mean by that is, the single family zone area is probably the most protected space that we have in Miami-Dade County. Most of our lots are probably 5,000 square feet. Now, of course, in other areas, you have single family zone areas that have much larger lots. And then, you know, people want to make changes to that, and it involves lots of discussion. But when you intensify the use of single family zone areas where you have 5,000 square feet, and you allow for cacitas or granite flats or whatever new terminology has been made for these other areas, you're intensifying that use more people, more parking, more cars, more concrete, et cetera. And so if we are to consider for instance what you're going through right now we probably should consider the the the law that we have in books right now that makes those types of changes because I can tell you in in for instance in my district we have a lot of vacant single-family zone lots one of which I mean well and many of those lots we give to people to develop and so they are going to intensify those communities and sometimes in these neighborhoods people don't have voices certainly when those things were passed i had no voice in the matter i'm not i wasn't a resident of those unincorporated areas and um and the commission at the time was all for what was happening it didn't change necessarily we didn't get a bunch of houses built one but two where we did get houses built they were duplexes now it's just a much different experience for the person living there And so, you know, I think there's a space for all types of development in Miami-Dade County. I think that there's a space for duplexes and quadplexes and tall buildings and short buildings and, you know, no buildings at all. But if we don't, if this matters to all of us, then we should probably reconsider the entirety of the ordinance that we have in place that allows this to just occur naturally and by right.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is not as simple for me, and I'll support the district commissioner, but let's just be mindful that the housing affordability problem that essentially occurs because of supply and demand didn't happen overnight. It happened with a whole bunch of discrete single determinations. So if we stand by the principle that neighborhoods should never change in character and anything that's changed to character can't be built, then we lock ourselves into an affordability quagmire that's very difficult to overcome. And so I think that's why I promoted the RTZ and density and high FARs on our major corridors because ultimately we have to increase supply. And so these policies were put in place so that with some degree of certainty, people could actually buy properties of a certain size in a certain area. And instead of building one house, not build an apartment, but build two, two residences. That's why the policies were put in place. And I'm not defending the policy is perfect, but I understand why it exists. Now, if this board wants to be in the business of saying, hey, say that policy doesn't exist, okay, we can do that. But let me just suggest that those are the types of decisions that makes Tallahassee come in with stuff like Live Local. Those are the types of decisions. Because ultimately, we're safeguarding what was and we're foreclosing ourself about what from what can be. And so in, you know, in isolation, this duplex is a duplex. I'm okay with there's, you know, the district better than I do. And I'll, I'll see to that, but, but understand the gravity of the aggregated effect of the decisions that we make as this body, because people who came here before us made decisions just like this. And so I'm always cognizant of decisions that we make that are just like this because I think we're a very different board than prior commissions. But to the extent that we make decisions that allow and kind of require us to maintain whatever it is and what isn't can't become, then we are perpetuating a problem that was created by someone else. And so if we need to have a conversation about what our plan is for housing overall, then that's fine. If we want to reinvest in, you know, some people have complied with the RTZ, some people have not. The RTC is a great way to protect our wetlands and the stuff out west and our farmlands. It's also a great way to protect the sanctity of our single family homes because we're building along commercial corridors. But let me just suggest that we can't have it both ways. We're going to allow Require density and high far along those corridors along all of the county not just the unincorporated parts the cities for the cities also or at some point That urban sprawl is going to spill out into our pristine agricultural areas and into single-family homes But somewhere supply has to be met or this becomes a community, further becomes a community that people cannot afford to live in. We are a tourism based economy that's fueled by small businesses. People don't make a lot of money. We need more supply. Thank you.

Senator Garcia, the Vice Chair and then Senator Garcia.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and look, I believe if I'm hearing Commissioner Oberst's position, if I'm hearing this correctly, two things happened. A decision was made, number one, and number two, notice was never given to her to have input. And I'm wondering to the county attorney as it relates to because it seems that it will now apply or it has always applied to all the commissioners district, especially when we are making the attempt to honor the wishes of a particular commissioner for a particular district. Is there a way where we can mandate notice to be given to the particular commissioner of that district whenever there's an administrative decision made as it relates to this particular type of item?

As Commissioner Millian-Urbis mentioned before, she has legislation pending that would require notice for workforce housing density bonus applications.

Okay. And if I heard you correctly, these are normally important enough where it has to go through based upon state law?

That's for plat items, not for the workforce housing density bonus zoning.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Commissioner Orvis. Thank you for bringing this item to us. And I completely agree with your stance and your positioning that you're taking on this. And I understand the argument that we have about ensuring that the community is changing and we need more workforce housing or we need more housing in general. But the reality is that we have to be careful in how we proceed with some of these items. Seeing what Commissioner Orbis brought to us, Will really does not go along with the integrity of that community itself. It's not along a rapid transit zone. It really doesn't go along with some of the rules that we have applied as it relates to housing. This is why we do have to be careful, Commissioner Gilbert, on how we proceed forward. Not too long ago, we passed an ordinance allowing for In lock quarters in unincorporated date, and we talked about this and this could potentially be a problem because we're going to add more people into the single family residents communities that. We all cherish so. That is an issue that went through, and I still think it was the wrong policy for us. But when we have those type of policies in one area, this is what it affects in other areas. And this is why we always have to be extremely careful on how we do this. And I am all about Increasing density. We have it along the rapid transit zone. This is why we have that, and I think we should encourage that. But we have to take a pause when we look at our residential communities, and we do need to speak up and voice this. I get that growth happens. I understand that you have to have responsible growth. But at what expense are we going to now start saying that, not saying that this issue is doing that or any of us are saying that. But we have to try to protect, have some conservative ideas and values when it comes to property and land and communities. We should do our best to try to protect some of these neighborhoods. Some of these neighborhoods are the fabric and the existence of our people. So Commissioner Orbis, I was happy to second it to not only defer it, but to deny the item. But I understand the policy that exists here right now, but I still stand by my second. If you hold on to it, we'll move forward and let the courts decide.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, if I may. I'm happy to do the deferral at this time as I'm working with the Attorney's Office on the legislation. I would request it to the second meeting in October to allow some time to work on that. And to Commissioner Gilbert's, what he just said, I agree that we need to work on the affordability crisis, 100%. but these are not affordable homes these are million dollar duplexes so i don't know that we're helping anybody in this case we're not helping a first-time family buying a home because no one can afford that this is a different situation so i but i agree and i do think we need to look at it overall in general and and really fix this thank you mr chair all right so we're going to be deferring it so you're you're withdrawing your motion to deny and making a motion to defer to no date certain

Second October meeting, seconded by Commissioner Regalado. So then on the deferral?

Yeah, I just want to add something really quick since she's working on the item and, you know, we have sunshine issues. And I'm glad that she brought up the point that these are not affordables. So in my district, in 7 and in 6, one of the things that we're seeing is people are buying single-family homes, tearing them down and building homes. that are multi-million dollar duplexes. They're not affordable homes. And I live in the Pines. I live in a single family home that's surrounded by duplexes for this same reason. I don't know if she's been invaded by the sugar cubes like I have, but that's kind of the deal. The only thing that I would say is when we look at this to consider for comp plan purposes that you look at the adjacent properties and the one across, because what we're seeing is if you have a series of duplexes and you're just adding another duplex, then that may be a buffer of duplexes as you go from our one, you know, to something more substantial. But if you have an area where you only have single family homes and now you're buying a single family home, you're tearing it down and you're using this to put a duplex there. You have substantially changed the character that block so similar to what you do for live local which is you look to both sides live local should also look across the street but that's a story for another day I think a comp plan change that has you looking at what is adjacent and what is across in terms of a change would alleviate some of the concerns as as we comply in a way that is aligned with the state's requirement to provide more affordability

All right, Commissioner, she hasn't spoken, so Commissioner Lopez.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I just want to applaud Commissioner Milan-Orbis, because in my district, you will see all of these duplexes in the middle of these very old, characteristic neighborhoods in District 5, and they are so out of character. And you're right, they are over a million dollars. I actually called. to see because there was a group of duplexes that were for sale in my district, and they were a million four. And it was so shocking to me because I said, first of all, they're out of character. They are two stories. They're not just duplexes that look like single family homes with two doors. They are literally buildings, very large, that have somewhat destroyed not only the character of the block, but the character of the neighborhood. So I'm so grateful. I remember this item and thinking, how did we not know this beforehand? And I knew that you did not know it, and that's why you were forced to defer it. But I'm grateful for your leadership and for taking on this project, because in fact, it has really impacted District 5, which is some of the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Miami. So thank you for that.

Thank you, Mr. Chair to the attorneys. Are they actually doing work on the property already? And if so, if this is deferred to mid October, right? I mean, I'm not sure that they're doing the construction appropriately, but what I don't want, especially if this gets appealed. is for them to incur expenses and then come back to us and have an issue created there without getting into those details. So is it appropriate for them to have began construction on this property? That's question number one.

Construction has started, but they're required to enter into a hold harmless with the county. Have they done that yet?

Yeah, at the tentative plat stage, that's required. Okay, so can we enforce that so that further construction does not commence in order to preserve the status quo? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. My point was going to be the same as Commissioner Cohen-Higgins, but I think moving forward, the fact that someone started construction without the final decision, knowing it had to be approved by this body. And I know it's permitted in certain instances. I think we need to look at that also again to make sure that these things don't happen. So I hope when you guys review it, you do it. And finally, I'm going to do a plug for what I've said over and over since I got on this dais. If we're going to talk about affordable housing, we need to talk about the urban development boundary. Look at the whole county from Aventura to Florida City and let's stop letting everybody give us testimony that isn't accurate. in front of us.

All right, so we have a motion to defer, a second. All in favor of the deferral, signify by saying aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Show the item deferred to the mid-October meeting. All right, so now I'm going to take up together, and if anybody needs to split it afterwards for voting purposes, we can. But I'm going to take together the strict task force items, which is 5E, 5F, 5E substitute, 5F substitute, 5G substitute, and 5H substitute. And at the appropriate time, just to make it easier, I've heard all of the concerns and discussions of those that came up to speak. And so at the appropriate time, I'll ask the attorneys to guide me, and I'll bifurcate or remove out of 5F number 9, 10, and 11, which will essentially fix the few concerns that were spoken about. The rest I had already removed prior to today in the substitute, but we'll go ahead and just remove 9, 10, 11 from item 5F and then work on all of that with the sbe community and then bring it back as a separate item but when you know when when we created the task force the special task force here to reduce inefficiencies in procurement or strip as we call it uh back in may of 2025 uh the the goal was to really take a hard look at our procurement system and identify opportunities to improve develop practical solutions that make the process more efficient, transparent, competitive, and accountable. And after months of work and many meetings that this task force had with public hearing from the public as well, the task force has completed its charge and it delivered to my office 59 final recommendations. that provides this board with a roadmap for meaningful procurement reform. Something that really has not been done in years. We've touched procurement throughout the years, but not a holistic overall reform. Most importantly, these 59 recommendations, when applied into law and if passed, will be measured and will have a measurable impact on the procurement timeline. Currently, the estimated procurement process takes about 349 days. That's the average. As we know, sometimes it goes way over that number. Rarely does it go below it. But 349 days is a conservative average number. By implementing these items that came out of STRIP, that will bring it down and reduce it to somewhere between 120 to 150 days. That's over 60% reduction in time savings. And as we discussed before when the STRIP committee was passed, time reduction also means taxpayers save money. Costs stay at the original price. It does not continue to raise. Less change orders, less price adjustments. It maintains transparency, competition, and accountability. I want to thank every member of the task force for their time, their expertise, and dedication. And there was, and I know some people mentioned, but there was SPEs on there. There was locally headquartered companies on there. I know for a fact there was three locally headquartered companies that ring a bell. There might have been four or five, but at least three that I remember. But I want to commend them for striking a balanced work product with demanding professionalism, professional schedules and professional recommendations. And it's difficult when you're there and you also work for a company you're, you know, it's hard to be unbiased and be balanced. And I think that they did a decent job at doing that every member. I want to give a special thank to our chairwoman, Diana Mendez, who is here today, I believe. Diana, thank you for chairing the committee. And I have some members of the committee present, so I want to specifically thank those that made it out today. Who do I have? I have Aaron. Let me see, I have my list here. Who do I have? I have Aaron, I have Jose Enrique Cueto. is going to leave all right, thank you for being here and I've seen Rudy from afar Rudy, thank you for being here. Anyone else from the committee that is here. So thank you guys for coming out today. And thank you for having served. I know that all of your times and those of the committee is very pressed and you also made the time to attend the committees and make it happen. I trust in your faith and here we are.

Mister chair.

Madam Mayor. Thank you.

I just wanted to add that we want to thank the staff members because you're there.

Great. You could wait.

You want to interrupt them?

I will wait. All right. I also want to take a special moment and thank Namita. Namita, are you here? I'm sure you are. Namita, thank you as well because I know that even for yourself, it was difficult dealing and challenging to deal with all the committee members. striking a balance between, of course, the administration's priorities with some of the recommendations. And honestly, I could not think more highly of you after this strip has concluded. So thank you for being honest, for being balanced and neutral in your work. admission so appreciate you and of course your entire team to the mayor's point all of the staff that worked on this including the staff at office of the chair and bcc that was involved from bia to jasmine to christina at opva and i know i'm missing a few but thank you all that had that played a role in this these recommendations will help create clear timelines, reduce unnecessary delays and bureaucracy, increase transparency and accountability, make the process easier and more predictable for businesses, make it easier for businesses to do business with Miami-Dade County, and at the same time, I have heard, as I mentioned, directly from small business community. I've spoken to them prior to today's meeting. I've received several calls and emails, and I've heard them come up to the podium today. So as I said, I'm going to be removing from 5F those three numbers that speak to SPEs. I still want to bring that back once we can all connect with them. I may even engage some of the STRIP committee members to assist with that and re-engage on that. but I want to make sure that we finalize a complete package of procurement reform. I've always talked about this. Many of us say this, something that you hear often, but small businesses are the backbone to our community, and I believe that. I am a small business owner myself. Also, the last thing I want to do is change anything in the item that That has any unintended consequences. So we'll continue working on it thoroughly. But I do want to make sure that we pass the stuff that does not affect it because we can get to work right away. We can start saving time right away, cut down on the timeline and IE start saving taxpayer dollars right away. Our reforms should never unintentionally create barriers that make it harder for small businesses to compete and succeed. Hence why I want to work on it a little bit more carefully. These recommendations are an important first step toward a clearer and more user-friendly procurement manual. One that provides better guidance, makes the rules easier to understand, and gives business greater clarity about working with the county. This is about more than changing a process on paper. It is about saving time, reducing bureaucracy, increasing accountability, and making Miami-Dade County easier to do business with. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues and sharing the next steps in the months ahead. With that, I would like to call up first Chairwoman Diana Mendez to share a few remarks about the task force and its final report. And then Mayor, if you wanted to be recognized, of course, I'm happy to recognize you as well. Madam Chairwoman.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning, commissioners. Diana Mendez, I'm a partner at the government contracts group of Bills in Somburg. And for the past year, I've had the honor of chairing the special task force to reduce inefficiencies in procurement. And also, I'm part of the American Bar Association model procurement revision code. So both projects have been very important for me in the past year in bringing knowledge from the nation to Miami-Dade County and likewise bringing the experience of Miami-Dade County to the broader procurement community. So following the mandate given to us by this board and the resolution that, of course, was sponsored by Chairman Anthony Rodriguez, for about a year, the task force met on average twice a month to learn from each other, collaborate from each other, and of course, from staff To recommend changes to the county's procurement process that enhance the efficiency without sacrificing the fairness and transparency, which is the ultimate goal of any public procurement framework. That requires, as the chair mentioned, a lot of balancing. As you could see from the task force members who are here today, Our task force members come from many different industries. We have members that came from the development industry, procurement attorneys with decades of experience in procurement, consultants, and of course, members of the architects and engineering community, some of which who have grown from being small businesses to large businesses today. And while we had many different views and a lot of disagreement, there's something that I know we all share. And that is an appreciation for the importance that procurement has in everything that our county does. from staff to industry, we all understand how important that is. And for that reason, we are very thankful to you, Chairman Rodriguez, for creating this initiative, to Mayor Levine Cava for generously sharing all of the resources that you were able to give us, the knowledge that staff was able to provide us. Director Namita Upal and staff were there each way of the process. And their dedication and concern for improving the county procurement process was visible. And it's visible not only through all of the accolades that our procurement department receives from national organizations, but it was visible to us throughout this procurement, even in times when we disagreed. The recommendations that you will find in our report, many of which were included in the items sponsored by the chair, were the result of a careful examination of each phase of the procurement process. That means that we studied issues that go beyond architectural and engineering issues. items or small businesses, but really went from each, we studied each part of the procurement process. We analyzed how the scope is developed. You know, that's a part that sometimes is not as visible, but it's one of the important parts because it's the foundation of the whole procurement. So we studied the scope, we studied the evaluations process, what improvements we could make to the evaluations process. all the way through how we look at the issues that came up through the appeals process in procurement, as well as to improvements that we can make to the award process and beyond, which is the performance of vendors and contractors during their contract years with the county. So with that, we hope that you will find these recommendations useful, and I'm happy to answer any questions that any of the commissioners may have about this process. Madam Mayor, if anyone, please use this as a resource, and we're happy to provide our knowledge and experience. Thank you so much.

Thank you madam chairwoman and I will say and I alluded to it earlier in my remarks, but I will reiterate that. In fact, all the members here from strip force today are included in this comment and some that are not here as well, but. 1 of my biggest fears that I made sure my team. Kind of kept tabs on and monitored throughout the meetings is that that at no time and we're all human. At no time any of the strip committee members would put their personal interest before that of the counties and I will tell you not just because they've told me because of. Because of hearsay, but but I've seen it firsthand in the in the item. It's in here that. there's that all of these committee members and a vast majority of them uh in fact supported uh recommendations out of strip that were unfavorable to their own organizations uh but they all agreed it was the right thing to do for the county as a whole so For that, I thank you, and I don't think everyone has as much faith in you all as perhaps we did up here, those that nominated some of you. But you guys did an excellent job, so thank you for doing that. Twice a month for nearly a year of meetings is actually a lot of time spent on this, but a very important issue. So thank you again, Madam Chairwoman.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Madam Mayor, did you want to?

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you to you for taking on this very ambitious task. Certainly something that is going to be for the benefit not only for our administration, the commissioners, and the public. uh in facilitating the process as you've thanked the members i too acknowledge it was a tremendous amount of work and they took it on diligently our staff's expertise very critical to the process and especially to the chairwoman who facilitated with grace and and great skill to get to the finish line i want to thank you as well for acknowledging some of the items need to be considered further. I do want to also acknowledge that some of the items were already underway administratively through our staff's efforts and the staff is eager to proceed to turn all of these into a a single volume if you will that will make it easily more readily accessible to everyone to understand the myriad of rules that that we do have overall this will save us time it will save us money and it will lead to better outcomes so thank you very much Mr. chair

Thank you. So with that, and I'm sure there'll be questions as there's some bifurcations, or I guess two or three members bifurcated the items. But to start, I'll entertain a motion on all the items.

I move 5E through 5H.

And it substitutes?

And it substitute in the removal of 5F, 9, 10, and 11.

Okay, so there's a motion there's a second by Commissioner Orvis all right Commissioner the here's I'm gonna go to you last I'm happy to go first, but I just don't want you to jump back in later I mean, it's your decision All right, so I'm gonna start over here then Commissioner Lopez

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you, first of all, for hearing some of the concerns. Certainly the strip committee did an amazing job and it's a super undertaking. And anything like this isn't always fixed one time. And I love that you're going to continue to work particularly with my small businesses. In District 5, small businesses are not only the foundation, But I profile them every week. I try to find a small business because government shouldn't be an impediment to small businesses. It should be motivating small businesses not only to begin, but to grow. So I want to thank you for the removal in 5F of 9, 10, 11, 33, 34, 35, and 37. Great job. Those were things that really I had a lot of concerns about, and I want to thank you for your leadership on that. But I do want my small businesses to know that I will continue to work with them and with this commission because it's the one thing that I want to do and have really emphasized since I became a commissioner. My support for small businesses is a priority, a high priority in District 5. So I'm looking forward to continuing the work with you, but I think this certainly is the start of many good things to come. So thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner. On this side, Commissioner Gilbert.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On, I guess, 5H, did we delete the requirement of dropping the lowest selection committee score for competitive procurements? Because that's one of the things I took issue with.

Namita, the director could come up, because I know that was something that. Director, can you address Commissioner Gilbert?

Yes, through the Chair, Commissioner, yes, the requirement to drop the low scores for architecture engineering solicitations is no longer be the requirement. So we won't be dropping if this passes. The reason being is, as a part of the efficiency, we are reducing the number of members from five to three. up to $20 million, so if you drop the scores the lowest, there will be only two people whose scores will be counted. And still, we're going to do the variation study of if the scores deviate by 33%, people have to justify on the record. So I think the safeguards are in place to not to do that.

Okay, so you said yes, but the answer is no, it has not been deleted. No, OK, that's that's yeah, it's oh.

From the item, yeah, so removed from the item.

It's not been removed from the item. OK, so I I have an issue with with that first. It's one of the things that I think we put in recently because what we found previously we looked at procurements. is that sometimes there'd be extraordinary outliers. Not to say that anyone would do it on purpose, but it looked like someone was tanking a score for folks. And so the reason why we put that in there was because of that reason. And so I wouldn't be supportive of that. And also, on the sunset of the Small Business Enterprise Advisory Board, I'm okay with looking at that later, but it's my understanding that that's the board that sets the goals.

That's the board that meets periodically to make, not the goals. They just look at how small businesses are doing, what can we do differently. They give suggestions and ideas.

So who would be doing that if they didn't do it?

Well, so commissioner, I know the chairman has withdrawn that requirement. But absent that, what we had committed was we will still meet with the industry leaders, whoever those is, either every month, every two months. One meeting for any, one meeting for goods and services construction to get their ideas and feedback and continue to work collaboratively with them to implement those.

If it's withdrawn, I'm fine with that, and I appreciate you all being willing to still meet. But the reason why we have systems that allow things is so that we don't actually, it's not required benevolence of the administration or procurement staff to do it. So I think that it's kind of difficult for us to say we value our small businesses, but we're going to take out the requirement that we actually talk to them. And they actually meet and agree. So I think those are challenging things to say together. But those are my two observations, Mr. Chairman. That one item, dropping the lowest score. I understand reducing the amount of people. I don't know that reducing the amount of people is the right move either. But to the extent that we start to run into, because having been here for a while, and you review a lot of these scores, you would see people with scores like, let's give examples, 80, 80, 80, 21. I mean, that's just kind of crazy. And so that's why we put that in there. Um, so I think that that's probably something that needs to be addressed. Mr chairman. Thank you.

Thank you commissioner Gilbert. And, uh, and look, I, when, when we went over everything, that's something that I asked that. So I agree with what you're saying. The reason that we added it, I think you understand it is because they're reducing it from. 5 members to 3, so it's difficult to just take. 2 and to consider, you know, 2 numbers. So that's why they wanted to count all 3. So, in theory, if it stayed at 5, I understand what you're saying. Like, I agree with dropping the last, you know, the lowest score. We're bringing it down to 3 members. It, um, it's, it's kind of challenging to drop 1 of them.

And so how does it work then? If you have an outlier.

Yeah, what if you have an outlier, how does it still not do you want to address that? If you have an outlier, there's still like a 30, there's a, there's a.

So the current safeguard is we do the average scores, and then if somebody's score is 33% more deviated from the average score, we ask that committee member to either Explain what the rationale is and have a discussion. And sometimes after discussion, they may realize, I made a mistake or they may say that we keep it. But the deviation analysis is done for all committee members.

Mr. Chairman, okay. If that's the option, then I'd rather just stay with five members. Because what you're saying is, is that if there's an outlier, We asked them about it and they can explain it. They can stick to their core score that they can't. I mean, these are people's business. It takes a lot to actually submit these proposals. So the reason why it's in there is for a reason. So like you really don't want those scores that are significantly below to be counted because that one person. can tank somebody's entire submittal. And the reason why it exists is because we saw it happening. That's why that was in there.

Can we have Madam Chairwoman Diana? Can you come up and probably just stay sitting up here. Because I know that this the specific portion of the item passed like 8, 0, I could pass unanimously out of out of the strip committee can you kind of walk us through why we're reducing it to 3 from 5 and then you know the second piece I think was addressed, but the reason for the reduction is it just it's so hard to get.

That's right. That's right, Mr. Chair. So what we notice is that it takes a lot to assemble an evaluation committee. Sometimes it's the little procedural things that nobody thinks that take so much time, but they do. And I see it all the time when I make public records requests and is trying to schedule one meeting, because everything, of course, needs to be done under the sunshine. We selected based on the certain thresholds, of course, for larger contracts, we would still have the five member committee. For smaller contracts, we concluded that a three-panel committee would suffice, but that entailed, Mr. Chair, as you mentioned, that we couldn't drop the lowest score at that point because then at that point, the selected proposer would be selected based on the scores of only two evaluation committee members, which defeats the whole purpose of having a third evaluation committee member there.

We're only dropping it for that scenario, not for the five. Are we dropping it across the board for the five as well? For the larger procurements. Namita? Probably Namita should stay at one podium and Diana at the other. This is going to be, this is a big package, so we're going to have a lot of questions.

So the requirement is getting eliminated from all procurements. So regardless of the threshold.

So what would you feel more comfortable commissioner Gilbert to just remove it from the smaller procurements? I mean, add it back to the, to the smaller procurements, but keep it off from the bigger ones that have the 5 members.

Thank you for the question, Mr chairman and thank you all indulgence on this. I was very interested in what you just said, because you said it would remove it. From you'd be dropping the 3rd 1 and you couldn't just have it. based on the two, but even under that scenario, if it were larger and you'd be dropping the fifth one, you would still be having it just on four. It's still an average of those scores. So that in and of itself, while you stated it as though it was a fait accompli, that it was some unfairness, it really didn't actually change anything. It's still significant. And let me just add, those small contracts and small procurements are really big to small businesses. It is small in comparison to our multi-billion dollar budget, but not to them. So that would make me more comfortable, but I think probably, I'm okay with the average, dropping it and taking the average of two. I mean, I'm okay with that because what we're saying is this person was way out of line. Now in some instances, you drop the highest and the lowest. In some instances, that's what happens in procurements. You remove the highest and the lowest, but you require more people, so that's difficult. So I understand the scheduling. Also, if what we're saying is we made this accommodation because it's difficult to actually get people in place and together, I understand that. Let me just suggest to the administration to set aside time. These are the times you would do procurements. Everybody who's in there, you block these times off. They work here for us. Show up. It's a part of your job duty. This is where you report today. This is where you report. This is what you do today. That's not that complicated. I know. I did it in Miami Gardens. This is where you report today. You're going to be here. You're going to do this. And whatever your normal duty is, this is your normal duty today. But to rewrite the system based on their calendar availability, It's almost something that we should be hesitant to admit in public.

So what can we amend to It's a lot more than just their calendar availability. It's qualifications, and then that adds time to procurement, right? So that's how we're able to reduce. I mean, that may not be the 60% we're reducing, but that's 5% or 7%. It adds up. So a lot of little things we're changing add up to that over 60% timeline reduction. So that's why we need to bring it down to the three-member evaluation committee for the smaller procurements and I agree the big procurement for for small businesses, but smaller in the grand scheme of all of the contracts that we put out. So I I agree with kind of both sides. It's it's a question of can we maybe drop it to to commissioner Gilbert's point can we drop it if it goes over that 33%. We're discussing.

We could do that.

Instead of having them explain, just drop it at least for, if it goes over 33, that one is dropped.

If your score is beyond the 33% deviation, yes, that could be a recommendation.

That eases you?

And that would be standard practice across all procurements, I guess, regardless of the dollar value?

Mr. Chairman, that is substantially better. I just want us always to remember that also they're looking at categories here. And some things, like what I've noticed about one of our procurements that actually I'm paying attention to right now, is that there shouldn't be that type of deviation in certain categories. So for instance, if price is a category, if cost is a category, so if you are the cheapest, then you get all the points. If you are the next cheapest, then you get less points, but people getting the same amount of points for instance for cost because the other stuff is also a category like experience and quality and proposal, like all of that stuff is also a category. But if you can factor all of those things into whether this, well this costs more because we think it's better, well then the other categories you're actually counting that twice. And so the fact that we're, that there is that type of deviation, I say that to mean that it's relative to where the points deviated, because some things are just numbers. Some things it's just, it should be. If you charge a hundred dollars and you meet the you're competent and submittal and you charge a hundred dollars. and that's the cheapest price, then you get all of those points. If the next person charges $105, I mean, those things can be standardized. There shouldn't be deviation. If there's deviation there, those are things we should look at. As for 33%, how did you come up with that number? I would be substantially more comfortable with like 25%, So because I'm thinking, I think I break everything into dollars because I don't have a lot of money. So I'm thinking like it's 75, you know, that's 25, 50, 75 a dollar. If I'm saying that something is a dollar and someone else is saying that it's 45, 55, 65, 70 cents, I'm thinking that that's a little, those deviations are way out of range. And so I just want to be mindful because I know what's going to happen. And God willing, I won't be here when it happens. But there's going to be a small business that's screwed by this process. And they're going to come here and they're going to complain about these bids. And we're going to feel very sympathetic to them because it's going to affect their business. And it's the decision that we're making right now. This decision will live on beyond this moment. It won't just be something that's written in a paper. It's going to be something that's written in somebody's bank account. And on their mortgage payment and how they pay their employees, it's going to exist in different ways. And so I just want us to be mindful. So I'd be more comfortable with 25%.

OK. So I'm good with doing that, that you keep for the three members, you keep it, or for all of them, you keep the three unless it's over, he's suggesting 25%. Is there a reason that you would object to 25%? No? No. OK. So the committee sees.

To clarify, 20% over and below. Is that the intention?

The way I understand it is below, right? It is.

I have to check back. I think it's low scores, yes, deviation. But deviation could be up or low, but usually it's on the lower side, but I have to check back on that.

Over 25% of deviation, then it's not counted. Okay. Okay. All right.

Go ahead, Eddie. to clarify the amendment this was an amendment to recommendation 16 which only applied to a e procurement so what i have down here is um keep eliminating dropping the lowest score for any procurements except if the lowest score deviates 25% or more from the average score award by all committee members. Correct. The recommendation currently for 16, just to be clear, is not for all procurements, it's for any procurements. Correct. So then that would change the recommendation to keep the drop in the lowest score, except if the lowest score deviates 25% or more from the average score of all social committee members.

That is correct, yes. All right, Senator Garcia.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And by the way, I kind of wish this would have gone through committee, but I appreciate what you're doing here and giving it to Committee of the Whole, so I appreciate that. I'm throwing that out there, and I thank you for that. And I do thank you for bringing up some of these and resolving some of these issues that were outstanding that really go a long way to help our small businesses. I do have one question, if I may, and it has to do with the startup businesses. that we have removed we went from okay yeah we should not have a requirement of three full-time staff members for small startup businesses right usually when we have startup businesses especially when we talked about engineering and architecture firms that's usually one employee maybe two part-timers is there a rationale for that can we look into that as well because when we are the Mecca right now of startups, right? And we are looking to private investors to come out here and invest in new companies. And usually most of these startups are one or two employees. Can you help me with that rationale? What's the thought? And maybe we can try to fix that.

Yes, through the chair. Senator, we did not change any requirements to be a small business from one employee or two employee or three employee. There is no requirement that you have to have three employees to be a certified small business. The three-employee requirement has been the longstanding board's policy to get local preference. And if you want to qualify for local preference, you have to have three employees. That was the policy I think adopted maybe eight, ten years ago by the board. But if you're a small business, you don't have to do that either. You don't need three employees to be local preference. So that requirement is not changed. You don't need to have them.

I just got a little more confused right now. Let's talk about local preference and then small business. The definition of a small business is what?

There is a dollar threshold for your business income, gross income, and then you don't need employees. I think there is a confusion in the industry. They're thinking that we are changing the requirement to be a certified small business. We did not. So the requirement stays as is. You don't need three employees. You can have one employee or your own or yourself.

Okay, Mr. Chairman, that's for the small business, correct? Yes. And then now for local preference. Yes. Now for local preference, what is it for local preference?

To qualify for local preference, you have to have a business tax receipt issued by Miami-Dade County's tax collector office. And you have to have three employees. If you are a small business already, you don't need that three employees.

Okay, so if you're qualified as a small business, can you qualify for local preference? Yes.

Yes.

Okay, that's fairly fair. Let me, Mr. Chairman, I think that addresses my concerns, and I think I feel fairly comfortable, but I'll get back to you. Thanks. And thank you for what you're doing here, Mr. Chairman. I really thank you for this.

Thank you.

Commissioner Steinberg.

Thank you. Actually, some clarification on the local preference. Just generally speaking, obviously, we know we have an affordability issue here in Miami-Dade County, and we know that we want to tackle it through many different means, and one of that is supporting local jobs, right? The local economy, the local ecosystem that we have here. So what are we doing today as it relates to that? Because I know we have two different versions as it relates to local preference. Can you please just give me the clarification?

To qualify for local preference or to enhance encouraging business with the local company? So Commissioner, I think in 2016, 2017, this board or the prior board adopted changes to the local preference program, which changed the requirement to have one employee to a three employees. and you have to have a local business tax receipt, and you contribute to the local economy of Miami-Dade County by either renting or owning, by renting office space. So you have to have an office, three employees. That's how you qualify for local preference. But in addition to that, there's locally headquartered program, where if your nerve center business is in Miami-Dade County, then you also get for additional preference regardless of the type of procurement. And in certain architecture and engineering procurement, if you subcontract with a locally headquartered firm, you are eligible for more points as a scoring criteria. In addition to that, we have invested under the mayor a lot of resources in creating training programs through our vendor academy that we launched under the mayor in 2023. to give local companies and small companies resources that they need to do business with Miami-Dade County, whether it's we do registration bootcamps, walking them through different classes, free classes, English, Spanish, and Creole. We have created YouTube training programs. So they can watch at their own time. And we have opened office in the south. We go there and also cater to the businesses in the south. So there are a lot of efforts that we are coming out with. And recently we also launched a comprehensive small and local business development program. There are departments in the county that have benefits that they offer to small local companies, so we're incorporating that. So there's a single resource or single document for any small and local company to see what kind of benefits they could get from the county, in addition to doing business with the county.

All right. Minister, do you have anything? Go ahead.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And first of all, let me just say to both of you, thank you so much. It's obvious that the work that went into this produced a great product, right, where we can hang our hats on and appreciate the system even more. And to the administration, thank you so much for making sure that this is something that, again, would right the ship, get us where we need to be as it relates to procurement. And Mr. Chair, thank you so much for your leadership in pushing this forward. I have a few concerns I would like to address, but instead of me addressing it technically each line by line, I would just issue some statements and just ask for some clarity as I make my position. The first thing that strikes me the most is the fact that You all have been working on this for over a year, meeting twice a month, giving up your time, your quality time with your family, and just putting time in. What bothers me the most, though, is the fact that there were substitutes filed on these items at the very last minute. And when you look at the substitutes, as they were filed as it pertains to each and every last one of the items. These are no small items to overlook. It takes time to really flesh it out to see how is it going to affect this, how is it going to affect that. I would have preferably had requested, and I haven't said it yet, but I think I will, I would prefer to defer these items, right, to give me an opportunity to really meet with stakeholders To see if, in fact, this is what they had bargained for or they're willing to bargain for. What I heard from those podiums earlier, I didn't hear them say that They had a comfort level with the substitutes. What I heard was that they needed more time to review the substitute so that they can make an informed decision about the proposed changes that they just received midnight, including myself. I was prepared to vote one way based on the original language because I had it all lined up. We read it, we had it. But it just strikes me as odd to receive the substitute midnight on something that is so huge that's going to change the trajectory of business and procurement in Miami-Dade County. It just strikes me and forces me to ask the question, Why not simply defer this to the next meeting so that we can have time to flesh out the issues that we heard from that podium? And I'm wondering and asking this question, Ms. Mendez, is there a reason why, is there a reason why we should actually move forward right now as opposed to waiting to the next meeting to give those of us who are really entrenched and really supportive of small businesses Is there a reason why we can't wait until the next meeting so that we can flush out these things and at least meet with the stakeholders? Will something get lost in the fray? Will there be a cost that we must bear if we were to just simply push this to the next meeting? Just asking that one question first.

I don't think that's an appropriate question for the chair. I think that's for Diana. If anything, that's a question for me.

Well, whomever wants to answer the question, but if you would like, that'd be great. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Yeah, it's very simple. No, we can't wait till next meeting because this is real people's money that we're talking about. There's taxpayer dollars that we're talking about. And delaying this another month when the only thing that was removed in those substitutes was the removal of anything pertaining to small business and locally headquartered businesses. Nothing was changed. So the same item you got a week ago, you have it before you today. It was just removed. Nothing was changed. There was no funny games of words. So you've actually, if you read it, if it's true that you were briefed and re-read it in the last week, then you have it all. It was just the numbers that we called out were just extracted from the item. So in reality, so that would normally play in. Senator Garcia often brings that point up in other items and it makes sense when things are dramatically changed. Nothing was dramatically changed, it was just removed from the item to further elaborate and discuss exactly on what the folks spoke about at the podium today. That's the only reason, no, it cannot wait another month. And the reason that it skipped committee is because we're having this Discussion amongst the entire board because it's that important and I wanted the entire Board of County Commissioners to discuss it and there were in excess of 20 to 25 meetings held on this that any Commissioner at any time there was sunshine meetings and any Commissioner could have taken time if they had an interest and And shown up and spoken to so of course the committee at that time.

I think Thank You mr. Chairman and and let me just say this I please please understand and appreciate my position not to say that there was some funny business going on behind the scenes and or someone had a position that would actually benefit another person into another organization over one my position has always been the same and it will continuously be the same it's really about transparency at this particular point because at the end of the day you know we prepared we were brief but at the last minute we feel as if things were actually injected into a conversation and it forced those to come to the podium without adequately being prepared with the new changes. So you're asking, not you, but we're asking individuals who may or may not be affected to on the fly look at this with the lens of whether it hurts their business or whether or not it moves the agenda forward the way they believe it is. I'm simply asking the question, if we've already waited a year and to wait an additional 20 days, Would it really cost that much money to give comfort to the people who came to the podium, who raised the concerns that there may be something there that they need to understand? And let's be absolutely clear, I'm an attorney. By trade, that's what I do, I read documents quickly, I get to the point, I identify the issue, look at the rule, do the analysis, and do the conclusion. But we're talking about small business folk who are just as equally intelligent as we are, but they're simply asking for more time so they can make sure what they're reading is what they're reading. Because if they have an issue with it and we work for them, we're simply saying just give them more time to read it, just defer it to the next meeting. And if that's not something that the board wishes to do, I'm okay with that. But I just want to make sure I put this on the record. And lastly, I will be voting no on all of these items, the ones that have had the substitute applied to it at the very last minute. It's because I do not believe that, in good faith, I can hang my vote on something that very well may screw over the small businesses down the road, because this thing has not been properly vetted. And I do believe, I do believe, I do believe there's a world where small businesses are going to be screwed. Because we rushed this at the last minute, when in fact we could have easily just postponed it for just one month to give everybody a comfort level so that they can meet with folk and get their issues out of the way. So those are my positions on the record, Mr. Chairman. So it's nothing against you. It's nothing to suggest that something funny went behind the scenes. It's just simply saying we don't drop this amount of change at midnight and tell us, hey, it's okay, these are the things we want to remove without knowing whether or not it's really going to affect monetarily those small businesses who are actually the backbone of our community. So that's my position for the record. But thank you very much to both of you ladies and to the committee and to the administration and to you, Mr. Chairman. You did a great job. And let me tell you something. That's a lot of work that you all did on this project. And again, I take my hat off to you. Thank you, Vice Chair.

Commissioner Cohen-Higgins.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to be brief in my remarks in thanking you for your leadership on this. It wasn't but a few years ago when I was running my first campaign that I think the business community's loudest complaint to me was procurement. We need to get procurement in order in Miami-Dade County over and over again. And when Ambassador and my friend and former Commissioner Cabrera was here, we took a stab at it. I mean, this is an issue that we have dealt with in Miami-Dade County for a very, very long time. And I am very grateful to you, Mr. Chair, for your leadership in putting together such a comprehensive approach. I'm grateful to our administration. If you have not seen Namada's binder of the procurement ordinances and resolutions, That we have passed as a board that she and her team are required to follow on every procurement. It would blow you away. The binder is about this big. Okay. And I know that the task force tackled that and hopefully it will substantially reduce that binder, making things more streamlined and efficient and hopefully inviting more businesses. to do business with Miami-Dade County. And I also want to thank the task force members. Meeting twice a month for 12 months is not a small ask. I know a number of the board members are parents. They have young children at school. Some live out of the county. And so you all are not doing this for compensation. You are doing this because you care about our community and I'm grateful for you investing that much time to sit, to govern, to chair meetings, and to volunteer your time to the residents of Miami-Dade County to get to the point where we are today. It is greatly appreciated. So thank you for that. And regarding the small business concerns, I'm very grateful for the amendments that were made to remove the provisions that our small business community said were of concern. I think that that's the fair thing to do. And if there is an amended item that will be brought in the future with their consideration, I look forward to that. at that time, but I think this needs to pass today so that we can get the ball rolling, appreciate the savings of dollars that our business community will appreciate that hopefully will pass on to our residents, and certainly appreciate the reduction in the procurement time. Sixty percent is not a small number, so my hat's off to all of you involved in this process, and I'm happy to support the item. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you.

Commissioner Orbis, do you have anything?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Obviously, I agree with the task force recommendations. I know you've worked very diligently for the past year on hopefully fixing our procurement system. I know that we get so many complaints, one of the most that we receive as commissioners, and I'm glad that we were able to address the small business unrest that there was. I'm glad that we're able to assist them, so thank you for bringing this forward.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Hardiman? Commissioner Bermudez.

Yeah, I have a lot to say. Let me start by thanking you, because your efforts are efforts that I think a number of us shared, but you've always shared, which is to make things more efficient in the county, not only for the large businesses, but for the small businesses. And I thank you for, and applaud your effort, and thank you for, even though I agree with the Vice Chair that I don't like things getting dropped at 11 o'clock, I do appreciate the fact that you've taken the steps to clarify some of those things, and it's appreciated. But effective and as an efficiency too, I think we've always shared that, and I also applaud you as Chair for trying to move us in that direction. And not always. As we had somebody here earlier who was a candidate for governor and used words that everybody wants to repeat. By the way, he was removed, so don't feel bad about it. I'm going to support 5E. I probably won't support the others, and I'm going to tell you why. When you were kind enough to create the GEC Committee a little bit before the Strip Committee, which by the way, I guess this is an improvement. If I remember, she said there was 372 days was the average back then. Now it appears it's 349, so there's been increments a little bit at a time. She also pointed out there were over 177 to 179 ordinances. that impacted her, which I've all told her then let's try to make the changes to decrease it to fewer ordinances so it could be more effective. You know, increasing transparency and decreasing bureaucracy and being more efficient is always something that is very, very, very important. But, you know, looking at 5G in particular, Transparency is a word used by many people. Accountability is used by many people, especially in politics. We're removing the collusion portion from our ordinance. So what type of message do we send to the public, the citizens of Miami-Dade County, large and small businesses, when we remove the collusion portion? Of the ordinance and don't think I didn't catch it now, but I, cause I did. Okay. It's, it was not on the recommendation cause it's not a recommendation. And by the way, thank you to the committee. We had one appointee. I appreciate the work that all of you did. We have a small businessman here to my left and. You know, I know bills. It isn't a small business, but we're we're appreciative of the fact that you took the time, but collusion, the collusion portion, you know, removing that bids precluded from related parties, including bidders. I mean, Really? I mean, if you're going to talk the talk, you've got to walk the walk, man. This department needs to be changed. Now, but as a wonderful lady, the administration has done a great job. But guess what? As many times as we say that, it doesn't mean they've done the right job. Because at this point, my concern, which is whether you're large or small, that we do things right. The chairwoman and many of those members, they weren't all, by the way, it's the usual suspects, Miguel de Grandi, blah, blah, blah. They should be, they should talk the talk. They should really walk the walk after they do the talk the talk, okay? You know, we are sending a message. And finally, I'm going to leave it with this, because I'm going to vote no on the last three. I will support you on the first one. I think 20 days does not make a difference. I think 20 days is... Gives the opportunity to all these people that came here today that spoke on behalf of small businesses. And by the way, the gentleman, I think it was Saki, who got a little bit of emotional. It's a second generation small business in Miami-Dade County as an architect. And I thought that when Senator Garcia talks about let's get those startups. Well, it's great. We can get starters, but let's also get the people that can start their own law firms, the people that can start their own businesses, et cetera, going. So I have a problem with, really, truthfully, I have a problem with a lack of transparency and accountability, the issues that make it more transparent and accountable. And, you know, he's not sitting here now, but I know he's listening. Commissioner, soon to be Congressman Gilbert. I'm going to miss him. There you are. I'm going to miss him a lot because he's one of the guys that I count on that always checks those details with the administration. Because we get told X, and then six months later, nothing has happened. But he's the one guy that I can count on that is going to say, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Let me, did this happen, you said this, did that. So I'm going to miss you because when you're gone, and I know the gentleman who's replaced me is a wonderful guy, I've known him a long time, Mr. Gallin. But your zealousness to make sure that when the administration talks the talk, they should walk the walk, has always been important to this commission. So Oliver. I hope it's not just a matter of, well, you're going to be up in DC, you're going to have other problems. But I hope that this commission, if we keep on using these terms, effectiveness, efficiency, transparency, and yes, if we reduce it to 120, 130 days, I'm fine. But you know what? We have to monitor that whether, and the vote looks like it's gonna pass, which is fine. And whether there's an extension or not, it's also fine. It's gonna pass eventually. But I would like to make sure that we monitor this. Really, we gotta monitor this. We can't just, I can't, now that Oliver's going, you know what, either that or I'm gonna have to get a cot and sit in my office over here. It's crazy. So I wanna make sure that these things get done. And the removal. the removal of section 2-811, I don't think it's a good thing. I think it sends the wrong message to all the businesses in Miami-Dade County, small, medium, and large. The game is, everybody understands that there's a process, and I've always been confused. All I want is fairness and clarity. The world's not perfect. It isn't. You're right. People aren't, you know, not everybody's fair, not everybody does. But this is not just about us as a commission. It's also about the administration and the day-to-day. We just saw earlier today that the commissioner of a district could have been facing tremendous backlash, and that just popped up. So I'm going to vote no on the three others. I applaud you again. Don't take it personally, some of the things that I said, but I do applaud the fact that you at least were willing to tackle this subject. It's an important subject and it just so happens I'm not going to agree on three of the items.

All right, and then before I continue, just for a quick, Commissioner Gonzalez, you need to do something.

Oh, thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, to the County Attorney's Office, if I can just please remove co-sponsorship 8A5. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

All right, anyone else before I go to my last argument? Are you getting...

I mean, because, like if... You know we can talk, like, you know.

I'm not trying to engage you, I'm just trying to say like, if Raquel speaks first, then you, and then you say something that triggers her, she's going to want to speak twice.

Well, that's kind of how this works, right? Like, we listen to each other, and then we say what we believe. We don't create like a game plan before, and then, you know, call to play.

All right, come in, Raquel Otto.

Thank you. Thank you to my colleagues. I'm glad that some of my concerns were already mentioned. I'm going to start with the easy stuff. In 5G, there is one of the recommendations for D7 is to develop a standard ground lease agreement. And I would like this to have parity with what we did for HUD. So what we did for HUD is we said we're going to have a standard ground lease. And when you apply, whatever you don't object to, you are barred from objecting to. And so I think you should add that on here because that's really, when we studied why Broward and other places do it faster, it's because we have a template. Whatever you disagree with in that template, if you do not submit your objection when you submit your response, you are foreclosed from bringing it up during negotiations. So that would be my recommendation for parity. with what we do in affordable housing so that everything kind of lines up the same way. We spend a lot of time doing that. So I don't know if you have a, you're cool with it. All right, good. That's an easy one. All right, the other one I wanted to mention, unfortunately I can never forget an item. I appreciated the five day objection period and the changes to the objection period. But I can think off the top of my head of seven procurements where there was not an objection. Yet when it came to the Board of County Commissioners, we were inundated with letters that were drafted exactly like objections. So I think we need to draw a hard line here because what we may be doing is Incentivizing people to not object and then send the letter and then turn us into the selection committee. It has happened too many times and I was really, and I did watch the strip meetings by the way, they were fascinating. I think a lot of the points that were made were great points. But this was not tackled and I think it's because it's not something that you all see, it's something that we see. Um, so I don't know if you want to deal with that now. I have suggestions. I mean, I think. That again, similar to what I'm saying about the contracts. If there has to be a determination, if you send a letter. When when this comes to the board, and there is a determination that whatever arguments you are making could have been. an objection, then those arguments should be stricken when it is presented to the board. Because again, you're choosing not to go down one path so you could take a second bite of the apple, or worse, you do both, right? Now you're doing both. And all we're doing is relitigating the objection and just complicating things more. So I think if we're going to draw a line, then it should cover everything and not create unintended consequences by incentivizing people not to object.

I agree with that.

How do we- So what we would effectuate would be when we get a letter, because when the agenda item publishes, we get the letters. When we get the letters, they're made part of the record here and usually passed out. What I would say is, and usually procurement's copied and the mayor's copied. When they get those letters, then they have to give it to our legal department. And they have to say these arguments could have been, right, an objection to the procurement. So those arguments are taken out because you had your chance to object, right? And you didn't object. And now you're placing those objections in a correspondence so that you can have a second bite of the apple here at the BCC. So in the same way, when we function quasi-judicially, that things are stricken, then that should be stricken. That would be my legal advice.

I don't see an issue with that. Do you guys see an issue with that?

It sounds fair. The whole idea is that the further you advance into the process, the more entrenched you are into the process. So the idea of creating another level of an objection is precisely to do that. If there's anything that needs to be changed about the process, that staff and the administration have the opportunity to do so before it It's another year before it comes here, before you.

Yeah, and I think, and you're saying, Commissioner Regalado, like specifically just to arguments that could have been appealed.

Right, things that should have been part of your objection, right. So that's a legal, as I'm saying, it's a legal determination. What could have fallen within our, An objection to that procurement, which now they're re litigating in correspondence to the board of county commissioners instead of officially filing an objection or they did file an objection. It was rejected and now we're bringing it up again.

I guess my, I'm fine with it. My question is like, how do you, so let's say they send us, let's say we implement that. They sent us the letter. We had, we, it becomes part of the records. We give it to the attorneys. They. They say that what you just said that it's, they could have been, it could have been objected. What happens after that? Because as commissioners, we can still bring it up because we got the letter. Like they still kind of accomplished her there.

Yes, but on the record, it will be said that this argument, this argument, and this argument could have been part of an official objection, and they chose not to do that. So if we still want to go down that rabbit hole, we can, but at least there is, on the record, the statement that they chose to not use the vehicle provided to them by our procurement.

I'm fine with it. Diane, I don't see an issue with it.

I think it's fair. You reserve your right to listen to it, but you acknowledge that it was something that could have been cured at an earlier portion and no one was given the opportunity at that time.

It doesn't preclude us from still taking a different course. It doesn't change the outcome on our end at least. But I'm fine with it because it doesn't change our outcome, but it puts on the record that they could have objected through the right process.

And what I'm saying is, I think the restrictions that we're placing on objections, I don't want people to then send letters as a quasi-objection. I'm trying to hold everyone to that rule. And I think that this allows us then to look at those arguments in the context of not choosing to object.

Okay. Commissioner Gilbert, I mean, she still has the floor, but

Because what you're saying, I follow what you say, Commissioner Regalado, but the chairman's point is well taken because what you're saying is any other, that would just be cosmetic because we could still always consider and any other thing would be a limitation on our ability to take whatever comes into purview into making our decisions. And we have that discretion unless it's like quasi judicial. So I think it's just cosmetic.

No, it's a clarification on the record because I can think of three times that it's happened where we've put our attorneys in a difficult spot because then we ask the question. Like, could this have been an objection, right? So I think if it already comes to us with the determination, saying look they didn't file an objection or they did file an objection and what's in this letter is a repeat of that objection or they could have filed an objection for maybe they mentioned five things they could have filed an objections for one two and three but they didn't now four and five that would have fallen outside the scope we can still consider all of it but at least the record is clear as to their decision to not file an objection and be held to the existing standard. And if we want to then step into that space, we do so knowingly without turning it into a commissioner has to ask the question in order to have that clarified.

Yeah, but that's why it's cosmetic, because it doesn't actually change anything. It doesn't change anything, that's almost the definition of cosmetic. So it doesn't change anything. So what they can say, what we can actually- I hope it de-incentivizes them.

I mean, that's the idea.

Okay, so it's like lip gloss and not lipstick? I mean, I don't get that. Okay, but whatever. Chairman, you accepted it. You accepted it.

Let's roll. I'm good with it, because I'm good with it. Commissioner Bermudez, to that point, right?

Yeah, to that point. To that point, I agree with Congressman Gilbert. It's totally cosmetic, because some of the people on that committee are the ones that do this all the time. We get a letter when they don't like the decision that was taken by a committee and they don't, you know, they might lose a procurement hearing or they might not even have one and then they come in front of us. I have no problem with it. You accepted it. My only suggestion would be, since I believe legally They still have the ability to bring things in front of us, whether we like it or not. It's up to us to say, hey, you didn't follow the rules. What I would suggest is that we also add there is some language that the county attorney's office has to put a line or a caveat, if that is the instance, that they did not appeal X, Y, and Z or did not appeal the whole thing. Right, that's the point. At least put it in writing because we all know how the game is played. They don't get it, they hire X, X comes here, X lobbies us, tries to change the decision. If we're clear, then at the very least, if we do it as a body and we accept it, then we're saying, okay, we accept it, because you have a right to come in front of us. Yeah, you're just calling it out. But I want the attorneys to at least put it in writing. That's the only thing I would ask. Yeah, that's what she's saying, yeah.

And I would add, this will allow us to quantify it, so then we can go back and look at this. And if people keep doing it, then we can actually do something about it. Because I think right now it's kind of left to our memory to remember how many times this happened, because it's not something that we consider. Okay, all right. Next one. To Commissioner Gilbert's point about deviations, one of the things I was hoping to find here, and I didn't find, was more accountability in terms of change orders. And I would separate change orders into two buckets. Change orders as a result of a change in scope, which don't concern me, because that is a department driven change order versus change orders that you didn't you didn't really know the market right and now you're coming back you know i guess somewhere in the middle there is change orders as a result of time and this board has already dealt with that in the majority of our contract saying that if there is a delay and there is a change in pricing of materials or labor we will add that to the price so we've already done that in the majority of our departments so that doesn't really concern me nor does the scope because sometimes the scope changes and then you get a scope change order but in the case of change orders that are their their nature is derived from their inability to quote the price correctly I think that there should be an accounting of that in our procurement system when you look at these deviations. So I don't think you should just look at the deviations of that contract. I think that there should be some information provided regarding, is this a serial change order situation? And Namita, you and I have talked about the serial change orders. There are some people, this is their MO, right? So I would suggest that as we look at dropping the lowest, we also have some information about the change order history of the people that are being ranked. Because if it's a scope thing, it's fine. We change the scope. We deal with it. If it's a time thing, we've already dealt with it. But if this is a situation in which you're consistently under pricing in order to hit us with some change orders, this is the time to deal with that and not later in the process when we're victims of it.

How can we address that? I think it's a good point.

Commissioner, if I understood, you wanted, when the selection committee is scoring, you want them to have information about the change order history for each of the companies?

No, when we look at dropping the lowest, right, I think that's when you should look at change order history. I'm happy to include it also as a selection committee, but they're going to say, oh, but that was different. I think if you include it, in the selection committee's decision-making regarding that, it might be presidential. But I think as you decide to drop folks, that's something that you might want to consider and definitely something that the board should have access to as we look at those decisions.

Commissioner, hold on one second. Guys, can we lower our voices? It's getting loud in the background. Yeah. Guys in the back, commissioner, staff. Go ahead.

Commissioner, I'll have to look how we could implement this. I don't want to commit to anything because collecting that information means if there are ten companies and subs, I have to collect that information from departments who are monitoring those contracts and come back to either selection committee. So it could be adding more time. So I'm happy to work with you separately, apart from the items today, to incorporate how we make sure the change orders are only as a result of the county changes and things like that, but not vendor-driven.

I would say maybe go back five years and just look at the vendor driven and maybe when it comes to the board. Not as part of the selection process, but when it comes to the board. Because I think that's when it really, like when the rubber meets the road, right? I don't want to jam up the selection committee process, but I think that's information that we need in order to make a final determination. If it's like a serial change, because we're the ones that have to approve the change order, not the selection committee.

So we can, as a part of the board agenda item that that could be done.

Thank you. All right. Now, Mr. Chair, to the more complex one. So. One of the things that we've talked about that are part of this is how we make up the selection committee. And I've talked about this before, selection committees were created by this board over two decades ago when there was an administration that did not trust staff. And over the years, we now have selection committees made up of staff. So how the pendulum has moved is very interesting. One of these changes changes the makeup. And I think that there's been a lot of concerns about the makeup of selection committees in terms of their expertise. And I appreciate that. But at the same time, as someone who gets frustrated when you're waiting for something to get through a department because the human who has to approve it is on a selection committee and then on another selection committee and then as a result of the vacation time that we give them for being on the selection committee is then on vacation. There are situations in which the humans that are supposed to be at their desk are gone for long periods of time. So one of the things that I discussed that obviously we couldn't do because of strip with Namita and staff was. Instead of randomly picking individuals to serve on these selection committees and then giving them vacation time for it and then having them go out and then having them come back. And I've been tracking it and people are gone for very long periods of times as a result of this process. consider having the department select a group of people that are their selection committee people. These are their experts. And to Commissioner Gilbert's point, it is their job to show up. And their workload is adjusted as a result of that. And we eliminate this vacation time nonsense because it's not working out for us. The only thing that giving them more vacation time is doing is incentivizing a small group of people to participate in selection committees and then they go on vacation and then they do a selection committee again. I would rather have a group of people that we know are going to be spending time in selection committees and then we adjust their work accordingly so I don't have something sitting on their desk for five months as we await from them to return from this process. And I think that we're losing, not winning on this vacation time thing. So I would, you know, we tried it. I don't think it's necessarily working. We have people showing up at selection committees that are saying, I didn't read this or I didn't have the chance to read this. That happens all the time. That happens all the time. So I think we need to really look at who's serving on the selections committee, let the department pick the people that are best suited for this, create a pool, remove the vacation time situation, and then just adjust their work accordingly so that if they're not available to do that work, it can be given to someone else and we don't have to wait two or three months to get something signed.

I know that we addressed this to some level. Do you want to touch on it, or Diane, whichever one? I know this was talked about.

So Commissioner, the selection committee process has been revamped since we last discussed. And part of the consideration is also we developed an AI tool, my team at IT, that's looking into the expertise of the county. We dumped the scope of work in that AI tool. THAT TAKES THE NAMES OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE EXPERTISE. IT ALSO TAKES INTO ACCOUNT IF THEY'RE SERVING ON ANOTHER SELECTION COMMITTEES, THEY'RE ACTIVE COUNTY EMPLOYEES, AND PLUS HAVE THEY DONE THE TRAINING. SO THE WORKLOAD BALANCE HAS BEEN, THERE WAS A TIME WHERE PEOPLE WERE GETTING APPOINTED MULTIPLE SELECTION COMMITTEES, SO THAT HAS BEEN ADDRESSED. IF I'M SERVING IN A SELECTION, I MEAN TWO SELECTION COMMITTEES, I'm not going to be put in the third one, because we're trying to balance their work, regular work, with the selection committee. So I think that process has, I used to receive a lot of complaints, but now it has smoothed over. I haven't heard any complaint where people are saying, oh, I'm overwhelmed on this, because we're balancing and spreading the work around among all departments. Plus, the department directors are recommending the names for the selection committee, so Let's say if it's a five people selection committee, three people are recommended by departments. And we try to find, sometimes four, but we try to find the remaining expertise from other county departments. So I think the process is working much better ever since we implemented the AI tool and taken into account their workload.

But what about through the chair? But what about the vacation time and the cost of that and the loss of that employee for that?

So we were struggling with the participation, but I think it's an incentive because people are reading these proposals either during the work or maybe they keep taking home. There are like five proposals, eight proposals. If you ask me today, I have no choice but to take them home and read at home or maybe on the weekend. So I think this is to incentivize people. You do get one day, whether it's five proposals or eight. I think it has changed the mindset that it's something in return. I think it's working, but...

But to my point, I mean, we do have cases where people are walking into selection committee and saying that they haven't read it. They haven't even read the executive summary. That is a thing. That is a thing. We get complaints about it all the time, and it's not a new complaint. It's an ongoing complaint. And I appreciate that the directors are now participating in this election, but it's challenging for us to know that they're not at their desk, they're getting vacation time, and then they're saying that they're not prepared or they haven't read.

I've heard the same thing, by the way. I think that instance, I think we should keep record, and the person that says that they've not read the reviewed the information they should never be part of one again for sure because i've heard the same i mean actually they've said it on the right they've said it on they've said it it's recorded so i agree with at least keeping record um but the other thing what i would what i would suggest on the rest of it commissioner is let this play out for a couple months see if it works and if it doesn't a lot of these things may not we may need to revisit not just this one point but it's changed a little bit let's see if it works now if it doesn't we revisit it

Thank you. I'm just concerned. I can tell you there's certain departments that we need these people to approve things. So they need to get back to their desk, right? The procurement part is important, but so is the everyday work of Miami-Dade County. And when you combine all these things, it gets a little complex. So I hope, I think this idea of maybe reporting back on this and saying how it's working is a good idea. Because I think... having the directors participate, having some accountability, and making sure that someone is not overly participating in selection committees, because some of the complaints that I got is the same people not reading, not knowing, but just racking up all the vacation time and then disappearing. So I'm glad that the AI or however we're doing is going to try to curtail that, but I think that the board should also uh be aware of the the reporting on this in case we need to course correct okay that's it oh wow all right all right any other any other discussions yeah

Commissioner Steinberg says she wants double the amount of time of Commissioner Regalado. All right, so I'll take up each item individually. I know that there was a motion already on the table to move them all, but I think some may vote for some, I don't know. So I'll take, yeah, but we're going to take them up separately.

Although, may I?

So, I have a question. Okay, yes, go ahead Commissioner Steinberg.

All right, I think that it's very important that since we are making some changes today and we did get a lot of feedback, and I appreciate some of the amendments, that this does come back in some form of a report or update. I don't know if you feel six months or a year is enough time so that we can continue incorporating and fine-tuning to make sure that we are cognizant of everything that we are doing so that we don't, so we try to eliminate as many unintended consequences as possible. So I do make that as a recommendation or amendment to what we do. Thank you.

All right, so Commissioner Conegans, would you, I know you made the motion. 5E. Would you move each one individually?

Yeah, I move 5E and any supplements and agreed upon amendments. It's been, well-

Okay, so it's been moved. It's been seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez.

Point of order. So Commissioner Steinberg made up a good point. Are we running that stat? Because I really do think we need a report. I would say six months. Are we running a stat through all of them?