Miami’s $450M ‘Safe & Ready’ bond heads to commission with positive poll

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Just days before Miami commissioners are set to decide whether to place Mayor Eileen Higgins’ proposed $450 million “Safe & Ready” public safety bond on the August ballot, a brand-new poll has magically appeared showing that voters apparently love it.

What incredible timing.

According to the survey commissioned by Higgins’ political committee, nearly 68% of likely Miami voters support the bond after hearing all the wonderful things it promises to deliver: upgraded fire stations, a shiny new public safety headquarters, a modern 911 center, emergency preparedness, safer neighborhoods, faster response times, happy children, cleaner air, probably world peace, eventually.

Read related: Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins wants a half a billion dollars for public safety

“It’s clear that Miami residents understand that this public safety infrastructure crisis puts their homes, their families, and their neighborhoods at risk. Keeping our community safe means making sure our first responders have the facilities, technology, and infrastructure they need to do their jobs effectively,” Higgins said in a statement, and a preview of what she might say Thursday.

“It also means more local fire-rescue stations so response times meet national standards in every neighborhood. The Safe and Ready bond is about life-saving public safety, emergency preparedness, and delivering the infrastructure our growing city deserves,” she added. “This is a crisis — residents want a city government that solves long-ignored problems, invests responsibly, and keeps them safe.”

Key word: Long-ignored.

Before hearing the sales pitch, support supposedly stood at 58%. But after respondents were told about crumbling facilities, emergency response needs and the “modest cost” to homeowners, support climbed. Por supuesto.

Amazing what happens when you read voters the campaign brochure before asking the question.

Also, notably, the support climbed among the undecideds. There were slightly more people against the bond (read: tax) even after all the pretty words.

Now, Ladra is not saying the poll is fake. Campaigns commission polls all the time. And to be fair, this is probably one of the easier bond proposals to sell politically because nobody wants to be the person publicly arguing against firefighters, police radios and emergency response centers during hurricane season.

But let’s also not pretend this thing landed organically from the heavens.

The poll dropped Tuesday, two days before commissioners will weigh whether to send the borrowing plan to voters after some people have expressed nervousness about the speed of the rollout, the city’s existing debt, lingering distrust over the infamous $400 million Miami Forever Bond, and the idea of asking taxpayers for another nearly half-billion dollars before the city has fully explained what happened with the last giant pile of borrowed money.

Nobody can even tell us what the Bayfront Park Management Trust is spending month to month and they want voters to write a half-a-billion-dollar check?

Read related: From reformer to operator? Miguel Gabela starts to look like the old boss

Sources told Ladra that commissioners have gotten some answers about how much of that honey pot has been spent, how much is committed to projects and how much money is being held hostage by state or federal grants for projects that are not yet fully funded. One example: A drainage project estimated to cost $40 million. It has $8 million earmarked from the Miami Forever Bond and a grant awarded for another $10 million. But the project still needs $12 million to get completed and the $8 million can’t be used elsewhere for another project because the city would lose the $10 million grant.

That’s only one reason why the earlier bond — approved by voters in 2017 with lofty promises about resilience and infrastructure — has become a political cautionary tale in Miami. Delays. Confusion. Questions about spending priorities. Missing timelines. Endless consultant reports. Residents hearing about “transformational investments” while driving around potholes big enough to qualify as wetlands.

Which makes Higgins’ position here especially interesting.

As a candidate, Higgins herself questioned the handling of the Miami Forever Bond and called for more accountability and transparency. Now, less than half a year into her administration, she’s asking voters to trust City Hall with another $450 million.

To her credit, the city’s police and fire infrastructure problems appear very real. Officials have described leaking buildings, aging fire stations (read: trailers) and emergency facilities being held together with duct tape and bubble gum. The proposed bond would reportedly fund several specific projects:

• A new consolidated public safety complex near Freedom Park,
• A Category 5-ready emergency operations center,
• A new 911 dispatch facility,
• Upgrades or replacements for neighborhood fire stations.

That’s serious stuff. But so is the money.

Read related: Billions, bonds and builders — just a casual Thursday in Miami, Miami-Dade

And once commissioners approve putting a bond on the ballot, the feeding frenzy begins. Architects. Engineering firms. Consultants. Construction companies Lobbyists. Bond lawyers. Political vendors. Everybody in Miami’s professional influence ecosystem suddenly develops a deep passion for “public safety infrastructure.”

Meanwhile, critics continue asking uncomfortable questions about how quickly this proposal is moving and whether voters are being presented with the full long-term financial picture.

Because in Miami, bond proposals are always sold the same way: This is urgent. This is responsible. This is overdue.

This is for the children. This is for los viejitos. This is for safety.

And somehow the tax impact is always described as “modest.” Until years later when residents are still paying for projects that are never finished and that nobody can fully explain.

Thursday’s commission vote now shapes up as the first major political test of the Higgins administration. If commissioners approve the ballot language, Miami voters will likely decide in August — after what promises to be an impressive PR campaign — whether City Hall gets another massive borrowing authority.

And if the poll numbers are as strong as Team Higgins claims, commissioners may decide there’s little political risk in saying yes.

After all, when a campaign-funded poll says nearly 70% of voters support your proposal, who could possibly resist?

This kind of independent, government watchdog reporting is crucial to transparency and democracy. And more so every day. Help shine a light on the darker corners of our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.