Miami-Dade commission’s first post COVID19 meeting is virtual, very full

Miami-Dade commissioners will meet Tuesday for the first time since the COVID19 pandemic pretty much shuttered and cancelled everything, including the March 17 commission meeting.

One might think it’s all going to be about the coronavirus numbers and the local government’s continuing response to its threat on our county, which is Florida’s epicenter, with 4,146 positive cases reported by the Florida Department of Health as of Sunday night. That’s more than a third of the state’s cases.

But there’s a lot more on the plate.

Sure, commissioners want to discuss the situation at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where unpaid furloughs for medical staff were considered briefly but have since been discarded, according to the Public Health Trust Chairman Joe Arriola. Commissioner Rebeca Sosa put it on the agenda and Ladra expects Arriola or Jackson CEO Carlos Migoya to be there, virtually of course, to answer questions about the public hospital’s current COVID19 conditions and supplies as well as future plans — since healthcare workers expect the pandemic to peak in late April to mid May.

And almost every commissioner also has appropriations from their discretionary district funds for community organizations or food banks resulting from the state of emergency and the stay-at-home order that has impacted most residents.

But there are a lot of items on the agenda that seem like they can wait until people have an easier time participating, including:

The non-competitive sale or “conveyance” of 14 county properties to House Park Investments, LLC — owned by Vicente, Manuel and Guillermo Roversi, for $10. That has to be a typo, right? The company is supposed to build affordable housing for low- to moderate-income residents, but ten dollars? This county doesn’t have the best track record with affordable housing already so that’s something to watch.
The award of contracts totaling $1.27 million to Tabb Textile Co., United Mattress Materials and Chestnut Ridge Foam for the purchase of mattresses and linens for multiple departments for a five -year term.
Approval of Lennar Homes’ plat for Silver Palms Midtown, which is bounded on the north by SW 236 Street, on the east by SW 115 Avenue, on the south approximately 135 feet north of SW 238 Street, and on the west by SW 117 Avenue. Lennar plans to build 43 single family homes there. It is in Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava‘s district.
Approval of a plat application by 13256 Investments, LLC, for Eureka Cove, seven single family homes built between SW 176 Street on the north, on the east approximately 80 feet west of SW 114 Avenue, on the south approximately 130 feet north of SW 180 Street, and on the west by the Homestead Extension of Florida’s Turnpike. This is in Commissioner Dennis Moss‘ district.
Approval of a plat application by San Simeon Lennar for Via Ventura Neighborhood 4, bounded on the north about 1,100 feet south of Northeast 215 Street, on the east by NE 10th Avenue and on the southwest by San Simeon Way. The developer wants to build 157 townhomes there. This is in Commissioner Barbara Jordan‘s district.
An ordinance creating a redistricting advisory board that would recommend any change in county commission district boundaries because of the 2020 Census numbers.
A resolution to establish a pre-qualification pool for the redevelopment of county-owned public housing.

Other things that don’t seem like too much of an emergency include the approval of 31 grants for a total of almost $400,000 to promote tourism in Miami-Dade. Um… aren’t we telling people not to come here? These funds come from hotel bed taxes, which are going to be diminished in the very near future. Shouldn’t the commission hold on to those until we know what the future holds?

Then there is the award of a $74.5 million contract to New Flyer of America for 140 low-floor, heavy duty 40-foot compressed natural gas buses for the Transportation and Public Works Department. Really? Now? Now we have to buy 140 buses for the next five years?

And while our beaches are closed to curb the coronavirus community spread, the commission may give a $14.2 million annual contract to Beach Raker, LLC, for seaweed removal and mechanical beach cleaning. Again, we need this right now?

There are also a bunch of new taxing districts being formed and some being retired, as well as five different items about the issuing or refunding of bonds equaling more than $1 billion — yes, billion — that is reportedly being done to save us money. Ladra is going to have to inquire about that.

It almost seems like the county commission is going on a spending spree while we’re all staying at home hiding from COVID19.

This is why it’s so important for the public to know how they can participate even if the meeting is remote. Voice mails and emails will be read into the record, but if people aren’t tuning in and speaking live, the commission is going to do whatever it wants.

Let Ladra be the first to thank Commission Chairwoman Audrey Edmonson for scrapping the idea of having the meeting at the Adrienne Arscht Center, in a giant, sealed auditorium where people could, maybe, sit six feet apart. The meeting will now only be held virtually using communications technology allowed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who, for the duration of the state of emergency, waived rules requiring in-person quorums and that public meetings be in a “specific place.”

They still have to be open to the public, however, to give the public an opportunity to speak or make comments on items. Thank goodness for that.

“We are a large county with significant responsibilities and there are important matters that the County Commission needs to take up,” Edmonson said in a statement, although some of those matters don’t look so important to Ladra. “My objective is to ensure that the public has a number of ways to access the April 7, 2020, County Commission meeting without compromising their health and safety.”

Tuesday’s meeting may be viewed at https://www.miamidade.gov.webcasting, or on Miami-Dade Television. The public may participate in the meeting by utilizing the following methods:

Call (305) 679-0007 no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 6, 2020, and leave a voice message which will be played during the Commission meeting.
Send an e-mail to bcclive@miamidade.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 6, 2020, which will be read into the record.
Call in live to the Commission meeting at (305) 375-5777
Or register online for, and log on to a webinar which can be accessed at https://tinyurl.com/BCC2020Apr7.

Voice messages, or e-mails once read, shall not exceed the two minutes given the public in person. Anyone who uses voice message or e-mail must include their name, address and the number of the commission agenda item or items they wish to address. Only the first two minutes will be played or read into the record for those items subject to a public hearing or the reasonable opportunity to be heard.

Just be heard. One way or another.

Audrey Edmonson, coronavirus, COVID19, Miami-Dade Commission, public hearings

Miami-Dade commission’s first post COVID19 meeting is virtual, very full added by Ladra on April 6, 2020
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