Is Miami-Dade trying to sneak stuff by at Tuesday’s mammoth virtual meeting?

There’s something wrong about these virtual government meetings allowed for the COVID19 state of emergency. And, no, it’s not just how our esteemed electeds stumbled with the technology, dropping off and muting themselves and conversations overlapped.

The problem is they seem to want to use this excuse to sneak some shenanigans by while the rest of us are busy surviving.

Take, for instance, Tuesday’s virtual Miami-Dade Commission meeting, which has a mammoth bigger-than-usual agenda that includes 17 public hearings and votes on items that really could and should wait until citizens can participate in person. Ladra knows that it doesn’t say anywhere that the governor’s waiver of the public place requirement and in-person quorum was meant so governments could only deal with emergency items that can’t wait. Still it was understood that it was not for them to take advantage and pass items that might get more scrutiny if we weren’t so busy dealing with a national life and death pandemic and economic crisis.

Like the six “confidential projects” Miami-Dade County commissioners could approve for a total of more than $1.1 million out of the general revenue funds to support local “target industry” businesses who promise to create jobs. There’s no way that it’s a coincidence that six of these — whose details are deliberately kept from the public — are coming up at a virtual meeting where citizen participation is limited.

Or the application from Lennar Homes — whose executives have contributed more than $80,000 to the congressional campaign of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez — to create a Westview North Community Development District so they can have their own mechanism to tax property owners for the 750-unit residential community (80 single-family units, 346 villa units, and 324 townhome units) they want to build on the Westview North golf course for the associated roadway improvements, stormwater management system, wastewater collection system, and water distribution system, estimated to cost more than $20 million. So Lennar is passing the buck to the property owners on this development rather than paying for the impacts themselves?

Or another item on Tuesday’s commission agenda which would extend the agreement made almost exactly a year ago with a development investment group that includes the mayor’s other son, Julio Gimenez.

Commissioners already voted in May, 2019, to sell 123 acres of county-owned land near Homestead to Julio Gimenez and his partners at Miami-Dade Steel for just under $17 million. That’s less than $140K an acre. Miami-Dade Steel says it will build a $300-million steel mill to convert scrap metal into rebar and other building materials. The project, they add, will create more than 200 high-pay jobs. Mayor Gimenez said he “recused” himself from the process and had his deputy mayors handle negotiations, which is pointless because they are negotiating with the boss’s son. But he did ask the commission to give his boy $5 million in economic incentive funds last October.

The commission in May gave the firm 18 months to raise the money and obtain permits, but that means a November deadline. So now Commissioner Dennis Moss is asking his colleagues for a six month extension “due to the interruption of business activities and the current turmoil of financial markets caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.” And, frankly, that seems does seem fair. The extension, that is. Because the original deal stinks to high heaven.

And it is downright outrageous for commissioners to vote on any proposal to change the county code on the calculation of impact fees paid by developers, which is sponsored by Commissioners Audrey Edmonson and Jose “Pepe” Diaz or modify the reporting requirements for the Public Health Trust, which is sponsored by Edmonson. Or Commissioners Rebeca Sosa and Edmonson’s ordinance to make “technical changes” to the bid protest process.

Really? Tell me that’s not trying to slip something by?

As if what they’re doing isn’t obvious enough, there’s even an ordinance that would waive the 3-day and 4-day rule on “emergency and time sensitive” agenda items, so we’ll have less advance notice on these “important” matters to be discussed virtually.

There are also no fewer than 17 public hearings on Tuesday. That is not a typo. Seven. Teen. One is on the approval of a line of credit not to exceed $150 million for Wells Fargo Bank to provide to the Public Health Trust, which may or may not be related to COVID19 response and expenses but seems like a good idea right now anyway.

Other public hearings include taxing districts for street lights and road closures and plats and waivers of plats that all may or may not be good ideas but not right now for sure. We’re all, or most of us anyway, are still in a stay-at-home mode. Residents are financially strained. The meeting is still virtual. There are people who can’t or don’t want to participate electronically.

It is unfair to even consider these items.

Of course, there are emergency or COVID19 related items that need to be discussed. Like how to address a reported spike in domestic violence — and Ladra hears in child abuse, too — due to the coronavirus stay-at-home orders forcing families together longer and economic pressure, a discussion requested by Commissioner Sosa. That is time sensitive. And there are resolutions on creating financial relief plans for park and airport vendors negatively impacted by the novel coronavirus crisis, among a minority of other items that can’t wait.

And they need to talk about money the mayor’s office apparently must go after now. We don’t want to miss out on:

Up to $100 million from the Florida Department of Transportation’s 2020 New Starts Transit Program for the planning, design and construction of the South Corridor Rapid Transit Project — whatever that ends up being.
A retroactive approval (?) for a grant from the federal Department of transportation for $9.5 million for park-and-ride facilities for south transit.
County incentive grant funding in the amount of $1.25 million for the Golden Glades Bicycle/Pedestrian connector to the Sunshine State Industrial Park, a People’s Transportation Plan project.
An $8 million grant from the Florida Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged for EASY cards for targeted transportation disadvantaged groups
A $1.5 million grant for “the Underline” linear park project (rendition, right) between Southwest 42nd Avenue and Granada Boulevard.
FDOT County Incentive Grant Program funds in the amount of $178K to finish the preliminary engineering and environmental studies for the Beach express South Bus Service project.
More than $22.3 million from the U.S. DOT’s Federal Transit Administration to leverage other transportation development grants.

Okay, those and an update on U.S Census efforts may be things commissioners need to discuss right away, although Ladra also realizes some people could want to be included in those conversations. But there is no way that they should vote to spend $700,000 of our tax dollars for spy equipment, um, Ladra means cellular tracking gear for the county police department.

And why are commissioners scheduled to talk about things like the reduction of gasoline consumption, a quarterly fleet status report from last fall, and an update on the compressed natural gas program? Aren’t those things that could be put in a mayoral memo? And is now really the time to create a brand new interfaith advisory board? Or do they know something we don’t?

Why would commissioners consider the expenditure of $600K for maintenance and repair of physical fitness equipment at multiple departments when we’re not supposed to use common area physical fitness equipment because of COVID19? Aren’t we planning for a new normal? Shouldn’t we wait to make expenditures like that until after we figure that out?

Then there’s the ordinance to require the mayor’s office to, upon the naming or designation of a county building in honor of anyone, to create pamphlets or “fact cards” with details about the individual’s life, which would be made available in the public area of the said buildings. Really, Commissioner Barbara Jordan? Really? Now?

But these things seem harmless compared to the six “confidential projects” — with gifts that range from $39,000 to $491,000 — probably 16 of the 17 public hearings, the Lennar ask and the ordinances on the impact fees, reporting requirements and bid protest process are definitely things that could and should be put off until people can comment to commissioners’ faces. So commissioners have to see the people in the audience.

There’s no way to communicate a sea of colored t-shirts and waving arms online.

Unless, of course, those limitations are exactly what the mayor and commissioners want.

Carlos Gimenez, COVID19, government waste, Julio Gimenez, virtual meetings

Is Miami-Dade trying to sneak stuff by at Tuesday’s mammoth virtual meeting? added by Ladra on May 5, 2020
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