Housing Committee - Regular Meeting

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

Good afternoon, Commissioner Bermudez.

Present.

Commissioner McGee.

Here.

Commissioner Regalado. Present. Vice Chairwoman Lopez. Chairwoman Bastion. Here. Quorum members present. We have a quorum.

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

Madam Chair, just some preliminary matters. You have the addition of item 2B. Item 2A has a as noted on the changes sheet. And in addition to that, there's an amendment that the administration needs to make to item 3A. The second bullet in the mayor's memo on MDC 002 should be deleted in its entirety.

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

That is correct.

Madam Chair.

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

I want to speak on 3A also.

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

Motion on the second.

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

Madam Chair, are you going to have a motion to approve the remainder of the agenda other than item 3A? I thought we just did that, but we'll do it again.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Commissioner Lopez, you were setting the agenda. All right. Motion to move the remainder of the agenda. Okay.

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

Thank you. Um, so I, I'm, I'm concerned about the items specifically since, um, the The city of Hialeah has plans for the High Line, and they've been working on this for some time. I know that every time we have an opportunity to do affordable housing, we should take it. But in this case, it's going to impact a plan that they've been working on for some time. So I wanted to hear from the administration as to their communications with the city of Hialeah, And their plans for the high line because this this breaks up.

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

Thank you, Stacey Miller, CEO of Department of Transportation and Public Works. Through the chair, thank you, Commissioner Regalado, there are provisions in the ground lease and development agreement that protect the High Line from any interference with the project. So it requires collaboration and insurance that the High Line is viable through the parcel.

Is it going to, in part, help fund the Highline? So for those of us who do development for, like, the Underline, for example, part of what we do is use those impact fees. You know, we've used those impact fees to build the Underline. So has there been a conversation with a developer about their potential contribution to the Highline? Because you're going to benefit from it.

I'm not cognizant of whether we've had that conversation yet as this is an active A4. That will be part of the development agreement when we finalize our negotiation. Okay.

This is an unsolicited. Is this an unsolicited that's going to be open to for an RFP like the state one? Or is this going to be a straight up unsolicited?

This is a straight unsolicited as state law allows for this to move forward because it is associated with housing.

Right, but we also and this is for Nathan. Where's Nathan? Who's here representing housing? Closer. How are you?

Clarence Brown, deputy director of CD.

So we recently received a letter from HUD specifically about unsoliciteds. And one of the things that I talked to Nathan about after we were given a copy of that is that we might consider moving forward instead of just doing an unsolicited that closes the door on everyone. when there is potential HUD housing, you know, HUD financing involved, that we would open up an RFP period so that it could be competitive under the HUD rules. Now, I understand that before we had, HUD had not sent us this letter. But now that HUD has sent us this letter, are we going to do something or are we going to continue with the prior practice post-HUD letter?

Thank you for that question. So what we've learned from HUD in conversations, I believe we've had two conversations, is it depends on the route. For example, if it's a typical public housing site where you're trying to do development using housing funds, then HUD is saying clearly it needs to be a competitive solicitation. However, if it's a typical RAD deal, we're believing that HUD is saying that you do not have to. You can negotiate that lease.

Okay, but is this a RAD deal? So this is not, right? So this is a property that's owned by DDPW, right? So I'm going to ask the question again. For this property, then, what is our stance on using this vehicle? Would that limit the ability to get HUD housing? Because this is not a RAD deal.

It's not a RAD deal. It's not a HUD deal. So there's no housing urban development implications in this transaction, none whatsoever. Okay.

Well, yes and no, because the developer is saying that they're going to do affordable units. Yes. So then they're going to go and get affordable money.

So they're using the state statute, I believe it's 125379, which allows them to do affordable housing. It has nothing to do with HUD funding.

So are we saying that, are they going to be prohibited from coming back and asking us for, because... We all know how this works, right?

Are we missing something here? Commissioner Regalado, I'm sorry, and I'm a little uncomfortable speaking on their deal and their transaction that I had no part in. But if they were to come and to seek surtax, which is not HUD funding, they would be eligible for surtax.

Okay. All right. Just wanted to get that on the record, because we know how it goes, right? So we start in one department, and then we're building, and then they call, just so that we're all clear. Everybody knows how the game goes. So that we're all on the same page as to that it is your opinion that this would not, the fact that it is not competitively bid would not prevent them from receiving surtax funding. That's your position. All right. Okay. And then just let me know about Hialeah and contributing to the High Line because I think that's important.

My team has informed me that there is no contribution to the High Line in the current development agreement.

Okay, that's problematic.

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

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

Commissioner, can you get to the mic?

Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. I spoke to the Mayor Hialeah, who is one of the cities that I represent, and he is not aware. Nobody spoke to him from the county on this issue, and I just think the proper policy should be for the administration or the administration's representatives to talk to the mayor of that municipality. This may have started. With a prior mayor, Hialeah was once on his days, but at this point there is a new mayor and he correctly. Or he indicated to me, and I agree that the courtesy should be to speak to him. This is something that does impact the Highline and that for Hialeah may be something that would be very beneficial. So I don't have enough clarity on it in the sense of. And I know this has been sitting around for a while, apparently, right? Unless I'm mistaken. But I can't, in good conscience, unless somebody sits down and tells the mayor of that municipality, at least talk to them and at least reach out to them. I mean, in the end, there is no contribution and all that. We can debate that till the end. There are other issues too, obviously. You know, I want to make sure these things get done. I've been very, very adamant from my position that when we're dealing with housing, whoever we're dealing with, whether it's my district or anybody else's, I want to see people who can get things done. And not because we've had situations where some of these things have not been done. But in this particular case, in speaking to the mayor, I was actually kind of, because I thought he knew, And when I spoke to him, he said, no, I haven't spoken to anyone on this. So it's not about you. It could be anybody else.

We had spoken to the prior administration.

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

Yes.

Yeah, I know, but I got it.

But now there's a new mayor.

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

Thank you. Do you have an answer, Director?

We had previously spoken with the administration of the city. They were in favor of the project, knowing that we had included provisions to assure that the High Line would be incorporated. But I understand Commissioner Bermudez's request that we speak to the current administration.

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

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

They're affordable housing.

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

I will look into that. I don't have the parameters in front of me. I apologize.

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

We're talking about how much here? It's like over 100,000.

At least a year.

Yeah, at least 100,000.

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

So I can answer the question that is not senior housing. It is affordable housing. It is based on the parameters of our affordable housing application.

Madam Commissioner Regalado, would you like to be recognized?

Yes, please. Thank you, Madam Chair. Go ahead. The application on page 201 has it as Hialeah Senior Living. That's the project name. And throughout it, it talks about Hialeah as about senior housing, which is why we're confused by the name of the application and the 120 like ami which is why i was also asking about surtax and what's what's what's the next step this this seems like a flip it smells like a flip um and i'm happy i'm happy to address the question of it was originally proposed as senior during the development discussion it was changed to affordable and again falls within that parameter Workforce. So it started off as a conversation about affordable, and it ended up being a conversation about workforce.

Well, it started off as senior and then went to...

Okay. Again, I just think for the price point that we're talking about, there should be contributions, right? There should be some sort of community benefit. This is a county property. They're not building low-income senior housing. If you were saying, look, we're building 30-something units of low-income senior housing, the county's going to take a wash, okay. $37,000 a year is nothing, but you're building workforce housing at the top of the market. Either there has to be a bigger contribution to the county. We have to figure out where is that money going to go? Is it going to go into transit? Are they going to make a contribution to the High Line? It should have a community benefits package at this price point. At this price point, in my district, in Lopez's district, in JC's district, in Bastien's district, it would have a community benefits agreement, and we would be asking for community benefits.

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

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

You are recognized, Commissioner Lopez.

Thank you so much. So I think the discussion that we're having always begs the question about these AMI charts that we just got. And for me, as we've said in this committee before, our seniors are not 30% AMI, 20% AMI. Our working class is at 50 and 60 percent AMI. So the county has somehow in its inevitable way said that workforce is between 60 and 140, which does not encompass the true picture of Miami-Dade County. And either we start talking about that, because that is why everyone thinks that it's not affordable, even though we say it is. We all know it's not. And the people that we represent, the vast majority of the workers, who provide essential services are not at that level at all. So either we start to look outside the box and say, maybe we have to reevaluate what we call affordable and what we call workforce. Because clearly when you look at this chart, most people that I represent do not fall even in that chart at the 60 to 140 or the 60 to 120. And I think that's probably happening in all of your districts, not just mine. So I really think that it's it's a disservice to the people that we represent to continue to say, oh, but this is affordable or this is workforce when in fact it's not. So I think we have to kind of maybe conceptually change the way we operate because it's exactly what happened at the state when we thought when we thought we would solve the housing crisis and we passed live local and we said 80 to 120 that didn't help anybody and it was meant to help the essential services personnel which were the teachers, the nurses, the firefighters, and the police, who at the time that that bill was passed, it was during the pandemic, and they had to go to work. And we were trying to help them find places to live close to where they worked. And it ended up not helping anyone that really needed the help. I think to Commissioner Regalado's point as well, it's well taken that they also need to provide community benefits. We would never allow anything at that level in our districts not to come with a full community benefits package of which this has zero. So, you know, that's why I'm seconding the deferral.

Thank you so much. Vice Chair?

Thank you, Madam Chair, and ditto to both of the Commissioners who have spoken earlier about this. Look, I honestly think the problem is the AMI. I think the new name for AMI should be Add More Income, right? Honestly, think about it. The chair said it best. She said, hey, listen, you're asking the great folk of Hialeah to meet this threshold. Hell, I don't know if that many people in an entire Miami-Dade County can meet that threshold. And so we say, well, what is the area of medium income? Essentially what we're saying is if you have more income, we will classify it as affordable income. And you get to run around town simply saying you support affordability, the affordability regime that we're pushing forth to make Miami-Dade County more affordable. In fact, you're really not, right? Let's be absolutely clear and call it for what it is. It is giving more opportunities for more of those bad actors because we have really good developers in this county, let's be absolutely clear, who have contributed more to the community benefits than most developers in other counties and other states. But then there are those developers out there who are simply using the AMI model to shake down the residents who are already filling the pinch. And then we come in and we say, wait, it's affordable. It's not affordable. You cannot tell me that the same $163,000 could be used and showcased as affordable for a family of four when, in fact, there are people in all of our districts who are not even going to be able to see $100,000 on their taxes. It's... It's just ridiculous to suggest that. So again, I think we should declare And I'm going to use this word very strongly. I think we should declare war on this AMI idea that that should be the driving force as it relates to affordability. I think we should reclassify it as add more income because that's its real name. And I also believe that any time we speak in terms of the AMI, we should also talk about healthy community benefits agreement packages that the community can really benefit from. Those are my two cents on it, and I do support the deferral.

Thank you, Vice Chair, and we are all in agreement, and that's why, as you know, I sponsored legislation to reassess this AMI because there is a disconnect. There is clearly a disconnect. We cannot continue to pretend that we are building affordable housing and then we call it affordable when most of the residents... In my district, in his district, in Commissioner Agada's district, are not able to afford it. In Commissioner Lopez's district. So there is a disconnect. So I have an item that passed committee already, as you know, that will be coming to, hopefully, to the next BCC for us to tackle this. Because we cannot be living in this la-la land. right, voting on projects that will, you know, exclude the residents' access to truly affordable housing. At this level, even our police officers, our surgeons, our teachers, essential workers, by-emitted country workers, will not be able to qualify to access while we're supporting housing that our workers are unable to afford. That doesn't make any sense. It really, really, really irks me beyond measure that our teachers have to move to Broward, to further north,

that our police officers are unable to work uh you know in man to leave in miami-dade county that's not the vision that we should uh support so commissioner regalado thank you i'll just add one more and i completely agree with you all i will just add one more thing um you know while back i brought an item um to safeguard water and sewer properties that was not done for transit So separate and apart from the conversation that we're having about the true affordability of units. This is a transit public works asset. This is a transit public works asset, and we're giving that asset for free in exchange for units that do not match up with the need. Because if you were giving away a transit asset and you were getting the price point of 20 or 30, you said, well, we're giving away a transit asset, but we're getting housing that we absolutely need, and it is a RAD program. That's what we would be doing. We would be saying, you know what, this is a transit property, but we want it to become part of the housing portfolio so that we can have a RAD project, and then we can stack the financing. so that we can get to that 25, 35, 40, 50% that we need. But to poach a transit asset to no benefit to transit, to then create workforce units without a community benefit as transit is on its knees is just irresponsible. It's just irresponsible. And listen, you're just suffering the request, right? Statutorily, you have to respond to the request. But that's why I think in a situation like this, if we are gonna take a transit asset, then it should be an open and competitive process so that we could get the best deal. I mean, where we are in transit right now it doesn't make any sense to do this unless they were coming with something that is so so compelling right if it's so compelling for seniors if it's so compelling that we're like okay we're gonna we're gonna do this because it's so compelling this is not compelling under any scenario it's actually kind of offensive um because of The area and the need in that area, you know, and the fact that transit is not being made whole. We're just treating it as a housing project, as if this was part of the housing portfolio. And that's not true. So I think we should have a community benefit. I think there should be a benefit to transit. I think that there needs to be some accounting as to why this high price point. So I think we defer it and we ask the maker.

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

I mean, I don't know if the maker's going to be here for that. When's the next committee meeting?

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

I mean, dealing with the budget is the only thing. Ah. That's my only thing, is everyone's kind of busy. Yeah, so the clerk is saying September 9th. I mean, I don't know if we're going to have time from now to then with the budget. So, I mean, definitely push it out till the October. And that way we have time to bring it back and talk about it and meet with housing and meet with transit. But I think this is one of these situations where we need to have a meeting of those two departments to try to figure out a path forward.

Yes, and I would just say that to Commissioner Bermudez's point, talking to the new mayor and the new administration, they may have another idea. He, the mayor, may already begin to see where the needs are. That's a long time from the last administration. And I'd welcome to hear what he thinks. So certainly moving it to October gives everybody plenty of time to have conversations, to meet with the right people. But I like, you know, Commissioner Regalado think, you know, we're giving up something. We got to get something. And if it had been senior housing, I'd have been ecstatic, even if it weren't in my district, because that's what we need across the county is more senior housing. But Commissioner Regalado is right. We're getting nothing. And I think it's important that we wait and also hear from the sponsor of the item. So October sounds great.

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

It will be October the 14th is your date. The 14th. All right. All in favor, say aye.

Aye. Okay. Any opposed?

Okay.

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

Madam Chair, you just have the budget presentations.

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

Madam Chair, however much time you need. Five minutes?

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

Good afternoon everyone, Kathy Burgos, Director of the Community Services Department. Thank you Madam Chair, Commissioners, Chief, for your continued leadership and partnership. Your support ensures that every day across this county, children and families, older adults, vulnerable residents can turn to us and find a place for help, healing, and hope. Our vision, a thriving, resilient Miami-Dade where every individual and family has the opportunity to reach their full potential in a safe, healthy, and supportive community. Our mission, to deliver a comprehensive continuum of care that supports Miami-Dade residents from birth through older adulthood, ensuring access to essential services that promote safety, stability, and emotional well-being at every stage of life. Our major functions, we provide a nationally accredited services that address social, educational, economic, behavioral needs. We're serving the family entirely, including vulnerable adults as well as children, older adults. We are in line with many of our mayor's priorities, including promoting economic opportunity. through self-sufficiency programming, advancing health and safety communities through violence intervention and prevention, Ensuring fiscal responsibility by maximizing grant funding and leveraging partnerships. Reducing outreach at risk behaviors by providing wrap around services and expanding critical services through our no wrong door community centers. our customers. We provide a client-centered model that includes individualized case management, assessment, wraparound services to deliver a range of external and internal customers. We deliver, my apologies, the services to internal and external customers. The populations that we serve mirror Miami-Dade's most urgent needs, including families in crisis, homebound seniors, survivors of violence, youth at risk of entering our juvenile services department, and veterans seeking stability. Our external customers, we wouldn't be able to do this work without them. It includes all of our law enforcement agencies, our state, county, federal partners, our funders, our school system, community based organizations. I'm excited to report that we have successfully merged two legacy departments, our community action and our juvenile services department, and have created our community services department, aligning all of our services and practices and delivering a continuum of care. We've also earned a new five-year reaccreditation which shows the ability to really provide oversight to services that are provided to our residents. We have many licensed mental health professionals ensuring the care and the services provided to our residents. We've also been able to secure new funding to strengthen social safety net programs, including housing safety, nutrition, transitional housing, and Head Start family engagement. And many of our directors have already stated this, Madam Chair, as well as commissioners, the reduction of funding. And we're looking at reductions within federal, state, local funding. flat allocations and unfunded mandates potentially creating some gaps in services, but we understand that the needs of our residents are increasing. We also have aging infrastructure, which causes a lot of complex maintenance that needs to occur. These are not just structure, right? In nature, these are facilities that our aging population, our older adults depend on, as well as children. And many of our services are provided within these centers. And our last piece, our key issue is we do have many database systems, and we have the need to streamline processes. And within some of our protocols, we have manual processes. So technology needs to be key. We have to focus on really establishing a continuum of care that's digitized. Our priority initiatives are in line with our key issues. The first one focuses on really continuing our relationship and enhancing that relationship with our office and management and budget in pursuing funding. Also, we have a five-year plan, as I mentioned, with our facilities deploying annual facility review process to ensure that we are taking some preventive measures to address COVID. these concerns and also the digitizing of our case management systems. It's important to understand that when clients are served in different parts of our department, that we're able to really not only connect those services, but make operational decisions according to the reports that we're able to generate. Our future outlook. We're evolving. Evolving federal and state policies continue to reshape program requirements and funding, requiring our department to remain flexible, agile, and responsive. Also, Miami Dade's aging population is projected to reach 25% of residents by 2050, increasing demand in services for the older adult population. Rising housing costs and cost of living pressures coupled with poverty among young children and older adults are driving greater demand for prevention, stabilization, and basic needs services. We have to continue investing in prevention, technology, and integrated service delivery. We'll position our department to meet growing community needs while maximizing resources, improving outcomes, and reducing long-term costs. Lastly, this is the last one, Madam Chair. Community Services Department's outlook reinforces the core theme of this presentation. We are not simply a social services provider. We are the infrastructure that supports community well-being. Miami-Dade's resilience depends on the strength of its people, and through a no-wrong-door approach, we help residents access the support they need to thrive and reach their full potential. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Commissioner Regalado.

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

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

Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Welcome. Again, Clarence Brown, Deputy Director for Housing and Community Development. I'm here representing Nathan Kogan, our director, who is enjoying some time with his family. Canada is out of the World Cup, so I thought he would probably be- So as not to disappoint, I did bring the entire brain trust. I don't know why they're so far away, but that's okay. How much time do you need, Clarence? Less than five, I promise. All right, go ahead. Okay, vision and mission. Our mission is housing, right? All things housing, that's what we do. And our vision is to do it better than anybody else. So we do have a ways to go to get there, but that's where we're striving to get to. our major functions, I need for you all to know that we're your public housing agency. That's what HUD calls us. That's what they defined us as. Some people use housing authority. We're the county housing authority. Yes, we do public housing. We do Section 8. Those core functions of a housing authority, just like any other housing authority in the nation, but this government operates the housing authority. We're also your community development office, right? The community development office that uses programs like community development block grant, emergency solutions grant, and the home program. So those functions are all federal functions, federally funded, and that's how we get the work done in those two key areas that we operate as a unit in this government. Also, with your housing department. So sometimes this board comes up with policies and ordinances that are outside a housing authority or community development office, similar to the infill program or developing housing. Did you all know that we own and operate what? Maybe about 1,700 of housing that's not public housing. And that's something we want to be able to continue to do for the benefit of the residents here in Miami-Dade County. Our customers, you know all of our customers, right? Because they call you, the developers call you, the residents call you, they all call you. Those are our customers, but also the departments. Two of our key customers are in the room here, and we love them. The trust, when Vicky comes up here, hopefully she has nice things to say about me. also community services another one of our customers transportation an amazing customer for us and commissioner regalado i promise you we'll be at the table to talk about that deal uh we just mentioned earlier to make sure that we're contributing to helping them do the right thing for the benefit of the uh the county here Accomplishments, because of your leadership, thousands of units are in the pipeline. Over 15,000 of those are our units through redevelopment activities. I remember there was one housing committee, I don't know if you all recall, but Kyle, I think it was about 1,500 units was approved in one meeting. How amazing is that? With our RAD redevelopment, I believe we're now third in the nation, third in the nation, only behind New York and Chicago. So hats off to you, Housing Committee, for the amazing work that you allow us to do. We were also able to do condo special assessment. I keep telling all of you, hottest program out there, right? Commissioner Regalado, you know all the output and outreach that we've done in your district. 2,200 people have benefited nearly $60 million out the door to help those families. 22 new projects i believe 23rd there was a additional project from our rfa that was approved by this very committee so again thank you for your leadership and your support key issues this is really important We need more advocacy. You know, the funds we receive come from the federal government. And the way they fund the Section 8 program is troubling. They never fund the program fully. You all remember the discussions last year about shortfall? Well, guess what? We could potentially end up in a shortfall again. So we're doing everything in our power to prevent that. So project-based vouchers, they're at risk because they come out of our own portfolio. If we don't have the funding to support them, then those vouchers that are used to close the financing gap in a lot of these deals, they won't be available. Vicki may talk about emergency housing vouchers. We got those vouchers as part of COVID. HUD is now saying, hey, guess what? Funding is done. Housing authorities, you got to figure it out. So we're talking about 300 and... 70 people that potentially could be impacted this year. So yes, we're working on figuring that out, but we need for you to understand that that's something that's critically important and is a key issue for us here in the department.

Tenant protection, yes ma'am.

You mean 370 or? 370 individuals with that voucher assistance that HUD is saying funding is no longer available. So what we have to do, we have to figure out a way to absorb them into our program, identify existing funding sources so that they do not get negatively impacted. So we're working on that, we're putting out there as a key issue, but do not be alarmed, again, The brain trust is here. We're working on figuring it out. The Miami Beach portfolio, some of you may recall, about 357 assets on the beach. It's coming over to the county, so there's some capital needs we're going to need there. So that's also something that we're working on. Priority initiatives, it's always to increase more housing. We've seen amazing projects come before this committee, and we hope to continue to see those types of projects come before this committee to make sure that we're doing the county's business and the county's work. Making sure we continuously stay engaged with our residents out there because we understand it's so important for them to participate. In the typical community meeting, we try to convince them that look, this is your opportunity to tell developers and to tell us exactly what it is you need. Community engagement is so important and we support all the efforts that this committee and the board has done so far to make sure that we're doing our part. Future outlook. Boy, I tell you, technology. We need more of it. You know, you may recall we paused the condo special assessment program when we said we wanted to come back with a more technological solution. Well, we did come back with a paperless application, but that's not as far as we got. What we're working on now is actual technology that will help us process those applications so that we don't take so long to give a response back to the community. So that's a key thing that we're working on. Continued strengthening the The work we do with our community, making sure our resident councils, our community advisory committee, everyone feels that they're participating in the solutions that we're putting forth before this committee and our full board. And of course, the preservation and expansion of affordable housing. Did I do that in lesson five?

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

And I'd like to remind the Brain Trust that you all do good work.

Thank you. Any comment? Any questions?

No? Okay.

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

I'll take the same five minutes as my predecessors.

All right.

Thank you so much. I'm Vicki Millett. I'm the Executive Director of the Homeless Trust. Our mission is quite simple, to prevent and end homelessness. We envision a community where no one sleeps on our streets and everyone has a safe, stable place to call home. So who are we? We are the umbrella over housing and services in Miami-Dade County at any given time. We're managing 100 plus grants with about two dozen nonprofit agencies and municipalities in the community to provide services to people experiencing homelessness, as well as those who are at imminent risk of homelessness. We're funding things like street outreach, emergency shelters, short to medium term rental assistance, rent and arrears, and permanent supportive housing, which is non-time limited subsidies. We're also providing transitional housing and some support service only programming. We administer, as you know, the proceeds of the food and beverage tax, and that includes proceeds going to domestic violence centers in Miami-Dade County. Our food and beverage tax has done quite well. We anticipate projected $43 million in food and beverage proceeds. We also serve as the collaborative applicant for state and local federal opportunities. You as a body just approved one of our items that is a $63 million federal portfolio. I will tell you that compared to other large communities in Miami-Dade, Orlando and Jacksonville draw down nowhere close to $63 million in federal funding. And we manage the homeless information system. So this is a system that allows us to see not only the client, but the entire system and how individuals move through that system. So we can track things like length of time homeless, successful exits from homelessness, returns from housing to homelessness, increases in income and employment, and first-time homeless. For every 16 people we house on any given day, another 14 enter our system for the very first time. and we field calls every day from constituents in your districts as well as the sheriff's office who is oftentimes serving writs to people in the community. Their things are being put on the front lawn and they have no options. One in every four people and it's getting closer to every one in three people who enter our system as a senior, 55 plus. We also conduct two homeless censuses a year and in those censuses We saw the increase year over year of 65 and over, 28% increase. So we are seeing the seniors being impacted in our community. Many of the people we serve, particularly those we serve in our supportive housing programs, are disabled. They're homeless and disabled, and they've been homeless for a year or more. And as you know, we're up against changing pressures in the federal government, shifting from permanent housing to a more transitional housing model. And that could impact people who are currently in our supportive housing programs. But we are pivoting to create those interventions, which we know well and have done before. And people who seek treatment should get treatment. And people who want detox should get detox. So we're working every day to work with other systems including Thriving Mind and other systems who work with people experiencing homelessness.

who intersect with other systems.

We also, as you know, are dealing with a state law that prohibits overnight camping and sleeping and that has changed the way we do street outreach. We've incorporated a homeless reporting tool so when we work very closely with your constituent services office to field complaints and concerns about homelessness in your districts and those get entered into the homeless reporting tool and that immediately dispatches an outreach team to Be first on the scene, offer a menu of services, prevent arrest, and coordinate with other departments, be it solid waste, transit, co-compliance, law enforcement, to try to address the issue. Because, as you know, the state law includes a provision that the county and or any municipality can be sued if an issue isn't remediated promptly. We fielded over 526 reports in the last year. Obviously, we're laser-focused on reducing unsheltered homelessness. While we do have 2,500 people in shelters on any given day and we are scaling up short-term capacity, we need to be able to exit people in short-term destinations in order to keep the flow moving so that those individuals who are becoming homeless for the first time or returning to homeless, we're able to catch them as part of our safety net services. We need priority access for extremely low income people to be able to exit into the community into deeply affordable units. I talked about serving seniors on fixed incomes as well as disabled individuals who are getting a check for about $950 a month. There's not a lot you can do with a one bedroom apartment at $1800 when your total income is $950 a month. One of the things we're trying to do better is work across with other systems. We have a great partnership going on right now with Jackson when people who are both highly utilized of their system and our system enter the hospital system. We're coordinating with them with the population health unit to try to triage those people who might just be cycling through our various systems. forging closer partnerships with corrections, and all of the different departments that intersect with homelessness, including our investment of $2.4 million into the new mental health center. Our goal is to add at least 1,000 units over the last year. We're well on our way. There's some data points in the presentation before you. And I think technology, I would echo what some of the other directors said, we need systems that are able to talk to one another. Because we're all working, I think, in silos, but our people are crossing over into other systems. So we need to be creating a data warehouse and pulling those elements that we all know are of concern and trying to prioritize those particularly vulnerable households. It's not only a financial savings, it's the right thing to do and the compassionate thing to do for the people most in need in our communities. And I'll wrap it up there, Madam Chair.

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

Vice Chair, are you recognized? Thank you, Madam Chair. And I just want to say, Ms. Millett, thank you so much, Director Millett, for all you've done and all that you're going to continue to do. Full faith in you. Every time our office reached out, you were always willing to take the call and provide housing for these families who are feeling the weight of this economy. So thank you so much.

Thank you. I appreciate that.

Anyone else?

Great job.

Yeah, great job. Great presentation. And let me state that your job is not easy. It is the most difficult job, especially in these days where we are seeing new breeds of homelessness. no longer are the homeless, those who are unemployed or mentally challenged. We have families now who have two jobs and cannot afford housing. So your job is not easy and yet you do it every day. You have a great team. My team works perfectly well with you. And then kudos to you and the team, and then kudos to your visionary leader, one book, who is not here, but I want him to know that we appreciate your work. We know it's not easy, but you do it. You answer the call every time my district calls you. So thank you. for your vision and then thank you for all that you do for the residents of Miami-Dade County. We appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you. Anything else?

All right.

Yes.

Thank you so much. We'd like to take a personal privilege to recognize three of the strongest and intellectually sound college students in all of the United States of America were sitting behind me and I have the opportunity to have them to work in my office during the summer. So we have Elise stand up and be recognized and Eli stand up and Haley also stand up and I just wanted to recognize them for all the great work they do in the office. So thank you so much. Congratulations, young leaders.

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