[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] yeah [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] please take your seats the meeting is about to begin please stand by we are going on air in 5 4 3 2 good morning and welcome to the hybrid commission meeting of April 3rd 2024 sorry everyone for the late start but let's get right to it I'm going to ask our city clerk Rafael Granado to provide the zoom information any other information thank you may good morning everyone during this hybrid commission meeting the city commission is physically present in the temporary commission chamber located at Miami Beach Convention Center 1901 Convention Center Drive meeting rooms 222 through 225 in Miami Beach Florida members of the public who wish to attend the meeting or provide public comment in person may appear at the temporary chamber at the Miami Beach Convention Center or they may participate virtually during the meeting by doing as follow you may join the meeting by visiting the Zoom app on on your smart device or on the web at zoom. us the telephone numbers to call are 3 52241 1968 or tollfree 888 47544 N9 again the toll-free number is 88847591 the webinar ID is 813 928 576 71 pound again the webinar ID is 813 928 576 71 members of the public wanting to speak virtually on an item during the meeting must click the raise hand icon if using the Zoom app or press Start nine on the telephone to raise their hand thank you mayor thank you city clerk we're actually going to take a couple of ceremonial items uh important ceremonial items before we get to sutnick I'm going to ask father Juan Sosa from St Joseph to give the invocation from where here please okay well the the mic that would be from the mic yes yeah good morning yes to be back it's good to have you with us thank you there's always a time to open our hearts in Thanksgiving during this time for the favors God showers upon us our families and our neighbors the call of Ramadan Passover and Easter by the way are the best times set aside for believers to appreciate God's Everlasting Gift of Life of peace and companion ship as Psalm 47 reminds us God Reigns over the Nations God sits upon his holy Throne so the Christian Community for instance recalls what St Paul wrote to the community of Philippi a community he knew so well in Asia Minor quote the Lord is near to all who call upon Him have no anxiety but in Everlasting by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving make your requests known to God so the question is what is our request during these times we pray this morning as we Echo the judeo-christian roots of our community Almighty and eternal God you have revealed your glory to all elected officials and their assistants who strive to guide the people entrusted to their Care by working together for the common good of Miami Beach residents in peace and Harmony assist them with your spirit of counsel and fortitude that their work may be conducted in righteousness let the light of your Divine wisdom direct their deliberations and strategies in all their proceedings so that as they seek to promote peace and safety in our community and our streets with all of its diversity they may continue to guard our welfare and build up a better future for all residents aware of your powerful protection enable them to continue to discharge their duties with honesty and visibility and keep them safe from all forms of hatred or Prejudice from misunderstanding or the poor use of authority so in a very simple way during this time of Thanksgiving we lift up this prayer to you who are Lord and God of all forever and ever amen father Sosa thank you so much for your powerful words of inspiration we're going to do the Pledge of Allegiance now um I'm going to ask our city manager Alina Hudak to lead us but we could all recite together to the flag of the United States of America Amica stands indice good job city manager I only gave you one minute's notice too so I'm glad I didn't forget it exactly um I'm actually going to turn the floor to commissioner Tanya bot we're going to have a uh celebration of women's month and the floor is yours well thank you mayor um this this is very quick and very happy making at the end of uh as we have come to the end of March um and uh have had a safe and successful March um March was obviously also in addition to being March Madness and spring break it was also women's history month and um women obviously make history every day but we wanted to commemorate the work that was done by the um women's committee um led by Dr Lynette long and done with the help of uh the amazing Monica Mato Selenas who is commissioner Alex Fernandez's Aid um and led by or with the the support from Miami Design preservation league and Daniel Caldo and his team um there was a beautiful installation in lumus park celebrating female superstars not figuratively but literally actually performing superstars who have a deep connection to Miami Beach um there's a link to it on our website um it's something we hope to do continuously in various forms um but that's another topic for another time but in the meanwhile I invite you to take a look at the monitors and watch the video commemorating the event and enjoy we we tell our citizens and the rest of the world that we value women but that's not exactly true the image of elected officials I guess on behalf of the men of the Miami B City commission first and foremost to congratulate and honor the incredible women with whom we serve we have become a city that is really welcoming and inclusive for lots of different people we've only had one female mayor in Miami Beach and now we have three Commissioners and we have our first female city manager happy International women's day to every mdpl really took this project under their wing they did an amazing job with this um Art Exhibit and just behind you all is the memorial to our founder Arbor bear Kidman whose Vision to preserve protect and promote the art deco lives on today but last year we put up an exhibit harist worked with 10 Florida history makers and the way you can celebrate these women is take their pictures take the posted it posted on Facebook saw that people all over the world see what Miami does it deposited Legacy for our city and it also says we do care about women and we are eail trendly city thank you very much enjoy the [Music] show and to to end on a positive note uh late breaking news uh the exhibition has actually been extended through the month of April due to popular demand so if you haven't wandered by yet please do so not today not now but after the commission meeting or anytime throughout the month of April thank you thank you commissioner bot that was very nice um let's start the sennik hour yes mayor everyone's going to have two minutes uh when you come up up front please state your name and address please go ahead I'm going to start with with you please hello good morning my name is Nicole Morse and I live in West Palm Beach I want to speak today to the item on the agenda about the behavior of public officials I'm especially concerned about the behavior of the mayor on March 13th at the meeting here um where the mayor leveled baseless accusations at people uh attempting to speak and also called for the extrajudicial extra legal arrest of individuals who had not broken any law it's extremely troubling for a public official to do such a thing to urge the police to arrest people who have not broken the law to call for extrajudicial extra legal arrests of individuals um and this is especially troubling because these statements were false um they also appear to be part of the mayor's Personal Agenda to advocate for the interest of a foreign government and I know this because I was was one of the three people who purchased a ticket to see Alan dtz speak at Temple Emanuel in February and when I heard the things that he was saying urging for increased violence against Palestinians to increase the deaths in Gaza I was not able to stay quiet and I did speak up in the meeting I mean in the event and I was removed no laws were broken by you could have been arrested no laws were broken you could have been arrested the police in their discretion I believe I'm speaking to uh and I have 33 seconds left so no laws were broken it was also not a prayer meeting it has been described as people being at prayer instead people were rallying around a warmonger who was calling for increased violence I I am not pray meeting by the way you've broken the code of conduct you've criticized me you've now criticized a a speaker a well-renowned person I'm criticizing your behavior because there's an item on the agenda about the behavior you can talk about that but I'm not going to allow you to denigrate people here publicly it's just that's not the way we do things I'm not going to allow you to do it I'm going to say one more time that I think any public official calling for extrajudicial extra legal arrests of citizens to urge the agenda of a foreign government is inappropriate thank you thank you we're going to go virtually this time we're going to go to Johan Moore Mr Moore state your name address you have two minutes Johan Moore 717 Jefferson Avenue I will repeat the text I just sent to the mayor and the email which I copied some of you on which read shut up I called to support items c7g and c4g one of which is in fact sponsored by the mayor and I would caution that abandoning one of the two slopes of our moral High Ground that is our democracy and dangers the other I hope the mayor and his ideological companions get my point you may not undermine the US Constitution you may not act as a foreign agent without registering shame on you for politicizing from the day and violating the Constitution with that being said I want to thank all the Commissioners for all their good work recently despite the mayor's repeated distractions from our tasks at hand thank you thank you sir name address you have two minutes ma'am my name is Donna Neville and I am a resident of Miami Beach I would like to speak to the agenda item about civil behavior of public officials at the last meeting I was one of the people treated extremely unily I was yelled at and had the mic shut down and had lies screamed at me and the tape of the meeting proves that when the mic was shut down I had been talking about the importance of of protest and said that I wish there had been more protests when my people the Jewish people were being slaughtered by the Nazis and I wish that more than you can imagine I continue to believe from the bottom of my heart grounded in the values I learned about what it means to be Jewish that political protest is critical that calling for justice is an obligation and that never again has to mean never again for anyone and that is why our right to protest at this moment is more crucial than ever so we can say loud and clear to Israel and all its supporters stop the genocide against the Palestinian people you keep doing it you just can't help yourself you just cannot help yourself this is a nonpartisan commission that's exactly what I said and you know what it's funny how you saved it for last and by the way I didn't say any lies I just stated the facts I think we have a caller on Zoom Ralph yes sir thank you our next speaker is State Rep Randy fine Mr fine please state your name address and you have two minutes hopefully you can hear me I'm state representative Randy fine I live in Melbourne Beach Florida and I've never done something like this um and it's I've never called into a city council meeting ever but I was asked to do so by commissioner Suarez or councilman Suarez and I'm glad I'm not there because it looks like you've got a covid problem in the room based on what I'm seeing from some of the previous speakers you must have an outbreak down there that we don't have anywhere else I don't know about the Civil behavior that you're talking about but I was sent a video um of crimes that were committed um targeted at Jewish people um outside of a synagogue several weeks ago and as the sponsor of a bill that we passed in the legislature House Bill 269 I wanted to let the city know that you have an obligation to arrest charge and prosecute people who Target other people based on their religion the video that I saw clearly showed that and every person involved in it this didn't happen in your chamber I'm not sure what people are talking about there but this video that I have seen showed people who should have been arrested and should have been charged with either first-degree misdemeanors or third deegree felonies when we pass laws in Tallahassee they aren't optional to be enforced and that happened here and Jewish residents of your city were safe and I just wanted to know let you know that we take that very seriously and we expect better moving forward in the future I'm happy to answer any questions if anybody has any thank you sir next speaker please state your name address and you have two minutes my my name is Ken Barnes and I live in North Miami a few weeks ago I came before you via video to express my views on a subject on which I feel quite passionate the war in Gaza shortly after beginning my talk mayor Miner abruptly and heatedly interrupted me and said I was being anti-semitic to me this was not helpful and surely didn't Foster communication and understanding I was just expressing my views which are a right in a Democratic Society in fact freedom of speech and expression as you well know especially about political and other public issues is the very lifeblood of our democracy for democracies to flourish the many voices expressing different or even contrary ideas and opinions must be tolerated and listened to but beyond the content there was the issue of how I was treated in the ordinance before you today it states that elected officials are expected to treat the public with respect in any inter any interaction including during public hearings to let you know I felt disrespected that you were not giving your full attention to me but simultaneously thinking of what you would say to me because you were offended at the same time you could not have been actively listening in the true sense of the word listening as you were in your mind preparing your own remarks in essence I believe you went outside the professional bounds of your role as mayor and commissioner and I repeat listening communication and understanding go a long way towards our respecting each other thank you thank you sir thank you our next speaker is virtually it's Robin rosenbom please state your name address and you have two minutes please go ahead uh good morning mayor and Commissioners uh I'm longtime resident Miami Beach resident Robin rosenbalm from 921 uid uh I am calling in this morning to speak in regard to item r5p which is in regard to the charter boats and watercraft on the Indian Creek Waterway uh I'm speaking on behalf of Miami Beach Rowing Club an amazing in institution that's been here for many years on the beach at 6500 Indian Creek Drive um many of it know it many of us know it as the Shane rowing Center that was established 30 years ago uh by Dr Ronald Shane and like many Miami Beach families um I'm very privileged to have two kids that have been in the program for many years uh we have uh every day they are rowing in small boats uh on Indian Creek and it's beautiful to watch it's an amazing program for not just uh school kids um that are in middle school and high school but adaptive rowers with disabilities and I'm speaking about the personal experience of seeing um how unsafe it can be for our kids our Miami Beach residents to be rowing in small rowboats um practicing for competitions on the weekend and every day after school with um really large watercraft that are not obeying the the rules and regulations and swamp their boats and conc capsize their boats and I've even been a marshall at some of the races on the weekends and seeing how boats don't slow down um you know and I've also gone to pick up my kids um in the evenings or on the weekends from practice and seeing the charter boats tie up illegally behind much ma'am appreciate it next please state your name address you have two minutes sir good morning my name is Alan Lavine I'm a resident of Miami Beach I'm speaking to uh two items on the agenda the first is the civility ordinance let me say first of all the idea that an ordinance has to be passed in order for the mayor and the Commissioners to know that they ought to treat people with respect is is rather laughable but in fact you don't know your responsibilities because the last time you were so terribly abusive to me and other speakers and you did it again today Mr Miner you did it again to miss moris you did it to miss Neville you shouldn't be interrupting people you're supposed to be listening to people secondly you have an item on the agenda about hiring security Personnel one of the duties that you purportedly hiring them for is to handle protests protests involve serious issues of criminal law constitutional rights those should be handled by sworn police officers you should remove from the duties of the security guards that you intend to contract for the obligation to handle protests thank you thank you so much our next speaker virtually is Andy Andy state your name address and you have two minutes please I my name is and Andrew dley from the Sunset Harbor boers Association and today I would like to Echo the concerns about the behaviors of public officials I'd like to talk about commissioner Suarez's behaviors towards the voters by the way just going to interrupt it actually is a violation to mention Commissioners or electeds by name so okay I I apologize I apologize the the person who I'm talking about um used a drone and instruct his wife to use a drone which we have on recording to harass the boers in the bay if violates laws of voyerism it violates laws of harassment it violates FAA part 103 about hazardous operation of an aircraft and yet this Behavior continues one of our members of our community was assaulted by one of the condo owners and violently pushed off the dock at Maurice Gibbs park we have it on video and that individual is going to be in court and going to be prosecuted and in the process of being prosecuted and furthermore this I would like to say that we have a First Amendment right that we need to protect so that we do not turn into communist Cuba like Fidel Castro where we have little dictators um trying to push people around and intimidate people and take people's rights away we need to protect the First Amendment right before anything else and furthermore these commi these Commissioners these individuals can say all these lies about the voters they get to disparage us at these meetings and you're saying we can't we can't re rebut that we can't fight back and name them they should be publicly named in this form because this behavior is not acceptable from a public official and what this what this individual has done to contact people's employer he I've had multiple voter thank you sir your time is up I appreciate it state representative please state your name address and you have two minutes welcome uh representative basabi thank you for being here thank you Mr Mayor good morning members of the commission Fabian basabi 9 Island Avenue um first I came here to tell you guys what an amazing event yesterday thank you so much um I think that yesterday's event was a a real um just proof of what a real partnership can accomplish um and also thank you for acknowledging the Readiness of the state and how willing we are to partner with you on all your endeavors um you guys are a great team and I really I really am honored to be working with you guys um I am going to come back at a later date with a legislative update because we're still waiting on some things to be officially signed off by the governor so I don't want to break it off into pieces I am going to add something though and I do appreciate representative fine being here I am a proud co-sponsor of HB 269 um and I'm so sorry for we're dealing with in this city and I thank you all for your patience and welcoming everyone's voices but at the same time laws will be enforced public disturbances up to the discretion of officers and um the state fully backs any initiative that you put forward um I also came to just make sure I've spoken to some of you individually but I wanted to make you all aware of something that I was dealing with uh with a local organization uh Miami Beach Pride has precluded me from registering and entering and marching in their parade um I I don't know where you stand on this I just wanted to make sure you were all aware of it I wanted to know if you support the decision made by them the president or the Chairman's uh Mr horwich's quote was his number one priority as chairman is safety and the parade at the and at the festival the board decides who can be in the parade which is everybody as long as you're not a threat to Spectators and other participants I realize this is a you know something that it's a a violation of my civil liberties and I just wanted to make sure you're all aware of it and get engage your your responses of it and you have so much more work to do than this so I appreciate your time anyway good to see you all thank you for being here and we look forward to the legislative update our next virtual speaker is jelle cement Mr cement you have two minutes go ahead sir state your name and address morning everybody heel cement 4333 Adams Avenue just wanted to take a minute um unlike surprisingly a lot of the other speakers that we heard from today uh to really thank our entire commission for thinking about the actual residents um of Miami Beach you know we uh certainly speaking as an orthodox Jew have felt you know somewhat unsafe based on the recent tenor and uh of the conversations and the protests happening in the city um so thanks to the mayor thanks to the commission for taking a stand uh and really standing up for what's right you if you look around the country you look around the world there are a lot of uh elected officials who don't have a spine or backbone can't take that stand so thanks to you all uh and you really are kind of setting an example for the rest of the country and world so thank you all keep it up uh and and have a wonderful day thanks so much thank you sir next please say your name address and you have two minutes sir uh hello my name is Dexter Milton uh eight-year resident uh Miami Beach West abenue uh member of the black Affairs committee want to say first of all thank you to the commission for all of your support of the black Affairs committee I want to say thank you to the Miami uh Beach Police Department for their work this year with spring break uh things were much better uh thank you Chief Jones uh thank you uh commissioner Suarez uh for appointing me commissioner magazine um uh also I wanted to just uh basically touch on uh um um the outstanding job that like once again that uh uh the police department did this year it's it's that was really U important to me because being an eight-year residence here I've seen uh how bad spring break had gotten and uh to see the way that uh uh the chief and and and the police department has reigned it in and and and just has it more uh civil and safe for tourists and and uh uh uh uh residents alike I just wanted to say you know once again thank you thank you sir our next virtual speaker is Linda D Linda please state your name address and you have two minutes yes hi my name is Linda diamond and I live in Miami Beach um calling in regarding topic the4 V relocating cats from the dunes um couple things there the uh it's been accused that the cats are causing issues with the Dooms um as a matter of fact they aren't they help keep away rats and roaches and so forth um I know the city has been working on getting some invasive species out of the Dooms which I believe is causing some of the perception that the cats are causing damage but they are not the city's environmental resource manager has been working on the Dune area um also there are thousands of cats that cover the Dune area and my question would be where would you move them uh the only answer would be into residential communities and thousands of cats being moved to residential communities would not go over well I can assure you um also it's illegal Florida statute states that you cannot relocate or abandon cats in other areas the 82812 and 8 to 8.13 for more information on that um also it's not effective it's pretty much impossible if you move a bunch of cats from an area it now becomes an open territory cats bond with their territory they will come back they will find a way to cross a busy street to get back to their territories then youve run the risk of causing car accidents killing more cats and in addition other cats will move in so the the plan to relocate does not work as a matter of fact back in March of 2022 this was also brought up to potentially remove cats from one of the parks and after the presentation and facts were presented this um was withdrawn because it's it was deemed as ineffective would be very costly and at the end you would not get the result you're looking for uh so thank you that's all I have to say thank you Miss Diamond uh we have 10 minutes left so the the lady who is the last one there with with the mask you're the last one on on uh and virtually I'm going to call everyone with their hands raised so please go ahead sir state your name address and you have two minutes hello everyone Mike Simpson 925 West 47th Court uh Miami Beach Florida also uh I represent biscan Lady venan Lady yach Charters my business I've been a resident for 17 years on Miami Beach and I come today to ask respectfully to defer this item um I feel that this item has moved very fast um I I believe there's some you know some necessary understanding of some of the the the facts that that have taken place and that are happening um and I totally agree with all the concerns from the lady with the rowo to Mid Beach neighborhood associations um it has been out of control and most of the talk is about the illegal operators about the illegal pickups about the illegal dockings um I've had a BTR with my company for 17 years my family's been operating in Indian Creek for 60 years um we're federally regulated vessels we have licensed crew licensed captains um so I respect ly asked for deferral to to discuss this and try to find a happy median to allow us legal operators to to continue to do our business and support Mii Beach support the tourism um so thank you thank you our next virtual speaker is Anna Gala Miss Gala state your name address and you have two minutes please good morning from Mayer I'm calling with leard I'm resident of Miami Beach North Miami be to be specific and I'm calling in with regards to the cup removal from the dunes as my produc speaker Linda mentioned it is proven to be ineffective um and it's sentencing basically the cat for sure death and they will return to the area as they are territorial animals the only way we can control the cat population is by sponsoring programs like trap not and we would like to request for that help to the numerous volunteers that do this work and the volunteers that feed the cats daily the cats are healthy they have care and they have support that they need right now moving them there's not enough sanctuaries and shelters in the city and the area to handle that amount of cuts and as spoken before it will be ineffective and it will just bring disturbance to the resident that will end up poisoning them we deal with that every day everybody who is on the ground and doing all the volunteer work thank you for your understanding thank you so much sir go ahead state your name you have two minutes name and address please my name is Alexi afonin 1661 West Avenue first I want to thank uh Commissioners and Mr Mayor for doing a good job on spring break and Ultra Festival I barely noticed them um now I understand we have a problem uh in Sunset Bay there are too many boats and uh some of them almost a half of them are abandoned neglected der elect but some of them maybe 15 20% are uh liveaboard and those are good boats I get compliments on my boat I'm one of those live Bo how beautiful my boat is and um we take care of our boats and they're fully functional um now now let's uh uh deal with this problem in civilized manner uh cutting access to Shore that started restricting it greatly about 3 months ago while this is going on uh it doesn't seem very civilized to me it's very cruel inhumane borderline barbaric it's um it sends the message that these people are animals they understand only Force we're not animals we're human beings were proud American citizens and hardworking tax pay Miami Beach residents thank you thank you so much our next virtual speaker is Wayne Roberts Mr Roberts please state your name address and you have two minutes good morning ladies and gentlemen um Wayne Robert southa fif um I want to commend uh the commission for protecting the residents um the Jewish residents from um the screaming in their faces of Shame Shame Shame shame or uh you know that's not protest that's that's um harassment it's um it's uh uh it could be viewed as anti-Semitism and I want I want to set the record straight that um Israel defended itself on October 7th that um Hamas Hezbollah Iran Russia Assad killed 600,000 people in Syria her mostly citizens mostly just women and children bomb the hell out of them bomb their hospitals and they would have done the same to Israel if they had the chance and God God protect Israel God protect the United States and and they have no right these people these terrorists are not um genocidal uh Wayne I I I had interrupted another speaker on on on talking about the political aspect so I'm going to I'm have to be fair I want to thank you I want to thank you for protecting Jews in the United States have nothing to do with the war especially elderly Jews from harassment thank you very much thank you sir sir state your name address and you have two minutes please good morning Martin Smith general manager of Eden Rock noou Miami Beach 4525 Collins Avenue I'm here to speak about Amendment wd1 while we acknowledge the community's valid concerns regarding noise traffic and illegal operation ERS We Fear this ordinance as currently proposed May excessively impede the operations of establishments like the font and blue and enrock which have been been pillars of the community for decades I respectfully request that today's hearing on this matter be deferred instead I propose convening a meeting with the relevant stakeholders to comprehensively address the community's concerns while preserving the ability of longstanding operators to conduct business respons ibly thank you for your time thank you so much our next virtual speaker is Rael Pacho Miss Pacho state your name address and you have two minutes hi good morning uh Raquel Pacho Miami Beach resident um don't know where to start I just want to say that my heart is broken to watch what's everything that's happening here from the attacks on the drummers to the attacks on protesters and the language that I'm hearing coming out of this day is you know um there seems to be no problem with you know elected officials taking to social media and demonizing people and name calling people but yet when when the residents when the public comes here to address you specifically we get shut down furthermore I'd like to bring your attention to the fact this is is the United States of America protest is enshrined in our Constitution and we have a legal right to free and open speech the fact that the Jewish Community some Jewish community members feel threatened or unsafe um is really un unfortunate and I'm sorry that they feel that way way but that should not impede on the Public's right to express themselves legally through the act of protest so I just want to say I want you to please pay special attention to that uh I know Mr Miner Mr uh mayor Miner has said that this is a nonpartisan but yet it seems to be completely partisan when it comes to his initiatives and his agenda items um he said specifically at the last meeting that that his resolution had nothing to do with Israel when in fact it was the word the this the Israel was mentioned within the first two paragraphs so just want to point out to the hypocrisy and I want to tell the people of Miami Beach that you need to pay particular attention to this commission and I want to say shame on all of you up there who are not standing up for the rights of every resident under the United States Constitution thank you thank you sir go ahead state your name ju just for the record the last the resolution that we passed last time did not mention a uh any country thank you good morning good morning my name is Jose FAS I live in the marina town housee the B uh the Jack CL porino uh I'd like to thank all you uh mayor and all the Commissioners for all um the staff and the police department for all the great great job you done to keep the our city safe uh especially David Suarez because uh he's taking the lead on the all the Marine issues that we've been uh having for this since since Co um uh as a resident of the Marina Bay walk I walk every day the walk uh starting at 6:30 in the morning um unlucky my family is lucky that is not here on my funeral because what happened last uh Sunday early uh it happened just right past my my apartment where my dog and I will always walk uh we we fortunately that is no anybody funeral uh um I addressed this problem before uh all all it science all over the Baywalk um nobody enforce all electric vehicles or any vehicles that goes in there and he just it's just it's just it goes no nobody nobody cares um I have a I have a right here I have a i i gu to to you guys it was a hammer two and a half years ago on the Baywalk and I wrote this two years ago after after an afternoon of a Char customer when they pick their car from Marina public park in jao porino made the Run turn to exit broke the chain of the ja Club North Side Ali without no inance and continue on the marina Baywalk they were lost okay so here it is uh the picture of the H it's a police report on that so about thank you sir you're out of time I'm sorry please go ah good Jose why don't you just finish up 30 more seconds thank you about three years ago um um former commissioner Victor Diaz was advocating for the community since the covid um the last communication with Victor Diaz was uh I asked amongst all a lot of things you know all the song of the staff were involved uh Commissioners uh police uh chief of police and and all the officials um and this CH of emails and then in in this email three years ago it's called May 10 to to 2021 I asked what about speed bones to avoid accident before it happens and he answered to me but that was 3 years ago that would require City and Marina to care they do know that was three years ago they do not even enforce cor restriction I have fight with code enforcement the Miami Beach police and the marina security and don't try to fix the problem I gave him up I gave I gave him up up hope of any solution no no one cared so sad remember that was three years ago well I thank you very much our next virtual speaker is Carolyn Carolyn state your name address and you have two minutes Carolyn please unmute yourself so um again just like just like the other speaker was talking about Linda I think it's actually cruel those cats I don't know they're not bothering anybody those cats are fed by soie cats they have their feeders there's really no issue to relocate them we have fural cat problem a they can't be taken to shelters because nobody's going to adopt a fural cat they're unadoptable B we have this problem because of Miami Beach introduced cats in the early 1900s to get rid of the rats so I don't know why this item has come up now because really the cats are not endangering any plant or Wildlife they're controlled they're fed and as previous speaker said relocating them to wear cats are very territorial you take them a mile West and they're just going to try to come back to their Dunes with their used to that's going to cause a whole bunch of accidents cats are going to get run over on the streets so really it's just an item that I don't know why because there's been a successful TNR program in place for many years now and as long as we have the cat colonies under control there's really no reason to do this those cats everyone is clipped on the beach they're not bothering anybody they come out at early morning and sunset to be fed there's really no need to relocate them because there's nowhere to relocate them to nobody wants them and there's a lot of haters out there and if they're relocated to the Miami Beach neighborhoods their fate would be a lot worse so thank you very much and hopefully consider this amendment thank you please state your name address you have two minutes sir good morning Seth fer 13:30 West Avenue um mayor Commissioners Madam city manager Chief Jones thank you all you guys all the department heads um for changing the conversation for spring break we won this battle and we have lessons to learn I trust everyone knows and believes this is not the Miami Beach we want in March I'm hopeful that in the next few years the conversation changes and to one that is a lot more business friendly today I would like to say a special thanks to Madame city manager Alina hudek I've for all of your efforts passion and diligence I've been a resident of Miami Beach since 2003 and a business owner here since 2004 in these 20 plus years and involvement with the city and Community you're the first manager that has earned the respect and byy in from the department head city employees i' all the ones that I've spoken with you're widely respected by so many of the residents and business owners of the community and it's been a pleasure to collaborate with you each and every time I've had the chance to do so you all know me as a happy go-lucky guy who cares deeply about the city and happens to sell our amazing real estate but in my past life I was a Management Consultant for the likes of Royal Caribbean KPMG and arston young if I were to put my consult consultant hat back on and look at what you've accomplished I would fight to keep you in the seat you are in today it's the right thing to do when looking at CEO qualifications and accomplishments it's a whole lot smarter and easier than finding another candidate to fill the Deep boots that you're leaving behind thank you guys all for your passion your ears and what you're doing for our city thank you Seth thank you sir our next speaker is John John state your name address and you have two minutes sir yes good good morning my name is John maida mid my address is 2555 Collins Avenue Miami Beach very quickly my concern may be a new issue and it relates to the safety of drivers with the Advent of motorized scooters that have a tendency to weave in and out of the traffic patterns unlike bicycles but also any motorized vehicle uh be it a bicycle a motorized two uh two two wheel vehicle of in form of a bike or a scooter that clearly violate vehicle laws when riding through the community and endanger themselves but more so Place danger upon those driving wishing not to hit them may end up hitting someone else all I ask is to the board in their time when they're able address this problem and uh and and try to preserve the safety of our community and hopefully prevent someone from being killed sooner than later thank you thank you sir go ahead please state your name address and you have two minutes hello good morning greeting everyone my name is Luigi Mary uh resident of Meridian Avenue myam Beach Flora uh the purpose of this communication this morning is uh a message of thanks I'd like to piggy back off of the invitation uh given by uh father Sosa this morning so uh we do have many issues which are highly sensitive topics and uh let's take this opportunity to thank the commission starting with uh Mr Granado Mr P commissioner Suarez we definitely do uh appreciate uh I personally do appreciate everything that you've done for Public Safety and we also appreciate uh the issue which is a sensitive issue with the voters um and uh I'll leave that to others more involved in that argument uh thanks to commissioner Dominguez bot mayor Miner commissioner magazine I definitely thank you for your service and appreciate you commissioner and Professor Rosen Gonzalez we thank you we admire you commissioner Fernandez and city manager HUD so with that I uh advise everyone to just take a deep breath this there are I mean this is what this is what government is about you know we're not always going to agree um and sometimes uh this is how the sausage gets made but let's just focus on that end product and continue to make Miami Beach a wonderful wonderful city thank you all thank you commissioner Suarez thank you uh commissioner magazine thank you all and thank you for your support of the black advisory uh committee uh we do appreciate all the support there and uh we thank you for supporting the uh Department of uh ISM and culture as well thank you so much for your support we do appreciate you and let's keep moving Miami Beach forward thank you thank you sir our next virtual speaker is Alan Alexander you have two minutes please state your name and address please good morning Alon Alexander 34th Street in North Meridian a I just I couldn't help myself but call in after hearing a lot of the negativity earlier I just want to say thank you to the entire commission and the police department for a great job on spring break really bringing Law and Order to our city Also regarding the harassment at the Jewish institutions I'm all for Law and Order and not for this harassment that is disguised as protest thank you thank you sir go ahead please say your name address and you have two minutes hi my name is Geneva Claus and my address is 50 biscan Boulevard as a resident of my Mid County I'm extremely concerned that the city is taking measures to criminalize and qu free speech given the December resolution which reads whereas the city recognizes the importance of fostering strong and peaceful international relations by supporting Nations that share these values including the state of Israel these ordinances are targeting protests are not neutral but are rather targeting community members for standing against genocide I'm a Jewish woman who was in attendance at the event at Temple Emanuel the only laws broke in the synagogue where when another attend attendee was violently pushed pulled and hit after speaking up by a man upset that she was simply talking it is not against the law to speak out these anti-protest ordinances need to be revoked to uphold our freedom of speech and lastly as others have said it is absolutely pathetic that this commission and mayor needed an ordinance to treat people of this community with respect thank you our next virtual speaker is Laura Laura state your name address and you have two minutes good morning everyone uh my name is Laura Miller 7728 Callins Avenue um the I'm going to be talking about the item c4b of the potential relocation of cat colonies or register feeding activities um it will be a terrible unnecessary radical and extreme decision as it would be cruel and it will be the same as killing those cats the colon the colonies are currently controlled wellfed in good health these cats will be lost forever if they get relocated those um cats communities have been on the city since 1912 when our first Major John uh brought them into with help with the rat control on the island and that has been like still the cats still helping with the same um R control uh since then and nowadays um this is part of the Miami B culture at this point and they are also residents and they should be respected um relocating them is is like the sentence of death for these cats um the only thing that I want to add and one of the reasons why they want to relocate them is because they claim that there is trash on the dunes because of them which is totally a false statement the only people that is leaving trash behind on the dunes are the homeless and the drug dealers that we have on the city um they are currently High intervention dies on the dunes and I currently think that politician like the politics should leave the cats alone and actually focus in these um microt trafficking and homeless uh growing communities that we currently have on the city going on so like if we're going to put any efforts let's put them towards things that are are hurting everyone and not towards the cats that are not hurting anyone they're just having a healthy happy life in the in the dunes just that's my point leave them alone please thank you so much our next virtual speaker is Miami Beach Boat Association state your name address and you have two minutes yes um my name is Carlos Leon I'm the president of Miami Beach boers Association I'm very sad that the commission and the mayor when one of the Commissioners in December said that they wanted to cut food and water wanted to make us criminals wanted to cut our access to land you guys said let's do it without knowing now you you still know now you know all the information and you keep the harassment the harassment is so much that I have one commissioner's wife flying her drone to my house and taking pictures okay I I can't sleep I can't I have I have paranoia I have to go to the psychologist now because of this problem because of the city just harassing and nonstop it's you guys need to reconsider stop following one commissioner stop it's not doing good you guys are following a harasser and the harasser name is David Suarez okay commissioner David is the harasser so please stop stop doing this to people okay so reconsider we sat down for three hours you guys were trying to do something illegal towards us we denied it okay and now you want to cut our our our our dingy for the 20 minutes that you want to cut it for nothing like how how can you how can you sit there and just just like accept this and vote with one commissioner please please reconsider thank you so much thank you our next and last caller is Patricia rapon please state your name address and you have two minutes hi good morning to all my name is Patricia rapan I am a Miami Beach resident for the last 22 years I live in 1900 meryan Avenue and I'm here to speak about the item uh c4b reloc colonies away from the Dooms I want you to know that I am a participated of a Miami Beach register feather programs and I am also a register cut Trapper and I participated in many TNR programs and events um I want to request all Commissioners and the mayor to withdraw the initiative to relocate the bwalk cats away to another unknown location the cats living at the Bor work do not impose any threat to the public to their environment and or to the dunes the cats were part to a TNR program run by the city of Miami Beach during the last years and now all of these cards are monitored by volunteers cat feeds and are healthy and friendly a few facts about the relocation relocation of cats are ineffective they are also considered by Miami day County as animal cruelty because the cat will be lost and considered abandoned and they will try to come back to the dunes and get killed in the way so please do not relocate the cuts also instead if you can allocate funds from the city to the TNR programs we need pay Trappers we need pay V VDS in Miami Beach so they can help soie cats control all the cats in Miami Beach thank you so much thank you so much vice mayor the snic period is over is there anybody else waiting that would have wanted to speak I'll take another call until the mayor comes back then we'll take iPhone 14 iPhone 14 state your name address and you have two minutes yeah hi my name is B Davidson and I'm a resident of Miami Beach I have my boat that I look after and I've had it for a couple of years in Sunset Island and now they're removing voters rights by not allowing us to get to my boat get my boat back bring my kid out enjoy the waters and the environment that we have in Miami yeah by the city David SZ who taking away people's rights this is unconstitutional if you have a boat you should be allowed to be able to get to shore yeah if you have all the proper documents and your boat is in working condition I don't understand what's going on here by the city thank you so much and mayor all all the original individuals who had their hands raised have been called okay thank you everyone uh we we extended the time because I think it is important to hear from people so thank you everyone who spoke and and partook and before we get to the first item I want to acknowledge every four months we have a rotating vice mayor position uh thank you uh commissioner Rosen Gonzalez for your service and we welcome commissioner Laura Dominguez who will be serving as vice mayor so congrats so I'm going to call the first item we might as well get right to the heart of it our uh city manager position uh if you want to call it up Ralph we'll do that and then we'll do the oh we have to do the consent agenda I'm sorry I apologize so just a couple of announcements the following items were separated from the consent agenda and they will be heard in individually mayor minor separated c7g C7 L c7m and c7n as a Nancy everyone has a list of these pulled items c7n was not included there so please add it so again c7g c7l c7m and c7n commissioner bot is separating C7 y vice mayor Dominguez is separating the following c7i c7z C7 y C4 v as invictor and C7 AC again c7i c7z C7 y c4v C7 AC commissioner Fernandez is separating the following items c4g C4 Q c7v as in Victor and C7 AB C7 AB was not on the list originally so you may want to add that to your list so again c4g c4q c7v C7 AB commissioner Rosen Gonzalez is separating c4v as invictor and for the record the mayor has approved the addition of one addendum item that is R9 AO which we'll be hearing next but the following items and the addendums will be heard after 5 o'clock and will not be considered as part of the uh consent agenda when you vote they are addendum one c7a in addendum two C7 AB in addendum three C7 AC C7 a R9 a in addendum four R9 AQ so with that may we have a vote on the consent agenda excluding the separated items and the addendum items that were added after the agenda printed motion to set the agenda so the agenda has been set may we have a vote to approve the consent agenda I'll make the motion so commissioner bot makes a motion to approve the consent agenda excluding the separated and addendum items May I have a second second commissioner Fernandez all in favor I I it carries unanimous 70 the consent agenda is approved okay may I call the next one please uh next item is r9o discuss take action selection of a new city manager and commissioner Suarez had a a standing item that's been deferred should we call that up as well withdraw it okay that item would be withdrawn so first of all Madam city manager Alina thank you first of all for an incredible spring break I mean just truly every Saturday night that I was standing out there with you and our police chief and so many others from our city who were there by the way if anybody ever a questions the dedication of our team and our staff just see on a Saturday night and I know it was probably Friday night and Sunday night and Thursday night as well that everyone was out there um it just shows you the dedication that that people have and obviously you led you led the charge and every time I sat out there I was actually thinking like in my wildest dreams like I could not have painted a a better picture our city was busy there were there were people out and about um and but yet things were calm safe smooth our residents are extremely appreciative almost every business is extremely appreciative and obviously with you at the helm um I I can't thank you enough for for doing that and everything you've done for the last couple years but there'll be time there'll be more time for that um so I want to get into uh the item and basically the selection of city manager which we will discuss today and they're literally other than the elections that the residents vote on as a body this is literally the most important item we will consider as a commission it's our CEO our chief executive officer of the city and the stability that that position provides I can't even overstate its importance it is it is imperative and that's why um and I'm going to give you my opinions in a moment we are literally at a crucial interval in our city um we have multiple positions to fill director positions to fill um there's been some rumors that additional positions and I think part of it is you know s of somewhat of the unknown um people people have to provide for their families and they want stability they want to know where they stand from one day to the next um um and now that we we have uh a a decision and and our our city manager uh has officially has has resigned on an extremely high note um but we the uncertainty that surrounds us needs to come to an end and we need to stabilize um our city and by the way I haven't thankfully most of the people who have resigned are still here um they were near in retirement um so you know I things have gone smoothly but at the same time the risk that we could have some sense of destabilization is is there and I don't underestimate it so just to be frank I I believe that our Deputy city manager Eric Carpenter should be our next city manager and um we should do that today and I'm going to give you my reasons why he personally but also why a delay is a risk to our city and government so I have to I don't want to be too long but I think it's important to mention that a couple year when did you start a city manager Alina I came to the city in February of 2020 and I started as city manager April 2021 okay thank you and at the time many of you recall I'm sure you will recall I wanted a national search I actually pushed for that there were there were multiple Commissioners that uh knew you well from the county that knew you uh and obviously your time here I didn't have the opportunity to work with you as closely uh be before you became city manager I'm glad to say and proud to say that we got to work very closely the last couple of years but we did a national search and uh we got we got some good candidates I don't want to denigrate anyone but I it did not re it did not yield the level of U robust interest that I would have expected and anticipated my other concern is and I've actually done some research on this and I'm not going to name any municipalities what happens when you go outside of city and bring in people from the outside now sometimes it can work well I'm not going to say it doesn't but oh boy you can look at examples there are many examples where the culture is not right it's just not a good fit um there there can be certain issues but and also you have to look at why someone would go outside your own City I mean you have someone and Eric that has been uh literally served in every role how many years have you been here Eric Mr Mayor next month will be my 11y year anniversary just give us your quick uh resume uh if you can sure so in the time period that I've been here um I have served originally as your Public Works director uh then it started in May of 2013 in August of 2015 I was promoted to assistant city manager while still retaining the Public Works director role served as assistant city manager and Public Works director until April of 2018 at which point I was made a assistant city manager solely and handed off the Public Works director hat um and then in 2021 thanks to the city manager uh when she was promoted to manager she made me her Deputy city manager so in the past three years I've served as your Deputy city manager I've at this point had portfolios that included almost every Department across the city um I've worked closely on the geobond programs um and I've worked closely with each of you and many of the residents throughout the city thank you so I don't want to embarrass you but I think it's I think everyone will admit this this part um you are extremely respected within the city hall within the Departments um and when I say respected I use the word respected you're liked as well but respected means that there's a sense of uh Authority accountability and um you have that and you have it outside of City Hall I've never heard anyone say a bad word about you which is pretty hard in this game of government to have someone who is not uh uh critical so thank you for that but here here's my concern and and and I don't want to embarrass you so maybe if you if you actually uh step down but here here's my concern if we if we let's say hypothetically today's vote and well I don't I don't know how the vote's going to go but um if we do not appoint Eric or someone as the full time city manager and we do interim there's a very good chance that Eric leaves I don't want to give you ideas but obviously you you are and I know this from just talking to you in the in in in in p and you are the sole Breadwinner of your family so picture the situation where we have an interim city manager we're looking for a city manager we bring someone in does the interim city manager survive the cut I don't know maybe hopefully he's very talented it's good at what he does but uh government being what it is not necessarily so does Eric stay we also have six positions director positions that are open right now I'm going to read them because I think it's important to realize we have a building director that we are searching for we have a facilities director a parking director economics development legislative affairs director and procurement director if you're if you're a if you're applying for these jobs and we want to get the most talented people if you're applying for this job are you going to come here if you do not know who your city manager is I don't know maybe but maybe not uh and actually it's you're you're sort of taking a bit of a risk because you're coming you may be uh relocating potentially um but you're coming to a job not knowing where there's permanency I think it's critical that we have um permanency the other issue that I had raised a couple of years ago when we were searching for the city manager that Alina ultimately um uh filled admirably is is the Miami Beach resident now I had been a big advocate of that and by the way I still to some extent am uh but Eric does not live in our city and is is not going to relocate and ultimately it comes down to a weighing of many factors and I look at it is could could our city find someone better than Eric I personally think it would be very very difficult to do that uh you have been personally my go-to guy uh my go-to person uh you get things done you have the right temperament for it um and I think the risk that we do not fill this position and and uh keep keep it open uh risks many different factors losing Eric losing other departments not being able to hire directors um quite frankly I'm concerned if we don't do this today we could potentially destabilize our government I know that's a heavy statement but I actually think it's a possibility I'm not saying it would happen but I think it's absolutely a possibility and interesting in talking to a lot of people and this is not just in the last couple weeks just in general one of the things I hear a lot and by the way there's a lot of improvements that we need to make as a city there's no question about it um that's not a criticism of anybody but it's also a recognition that our city commission has changed dramatically there were items that I've brought personally like that far item to limit the how how much we can increase the far the height and density I would not have I don't believe I would have had that pass at the last Commission I really don't I counted the votes and it was never called to my luck actually when I called it here it pasted 70 with almost little discussion you're seeing from our agenda you don't have half our meeting taking up on land use zoning items resident quality of life items are are repeated over and over and that's what we're spending our time on so our commission has now given a direction and a focus to our city Administration and government is like a little bit like a cruise liner it doesn't turn on a dime but I see our city Administration turning and recognizing that there's there's there's a new game in town and they're making that that change but um it takes time and it's happening and I think we need to continue in that with a sense of urgency because um our residents are demanding that sense of urgency just like we went all in on spring break we went all in I mean I give credit to our entire commission for supporting literally with with very little dissent uh I I had proposed a number of obviously legislative items but many of you came up with additional items that were imper and giving the direction to the city Administration and I think that's exactly what we got to do here just like we did for spring break and we didn't wait we didn't say oh well let's see how it works out let's take half measures no we went all in and it worked and we were successful and I think that's what we got to do here we have to go all in and um and continue the city administration's focus on Resident quality of life and um I said my piece I want to hear from from others as well Mr Mayor commissioner Fernandez thank you Mr Mayor um and I think today we can stand as a very proud City and yesterday we celebrated so so many of those accomplishments thanks to the incredible Workforce of the city of Miami Beach the incredible backbone of this organization it's not us the elected officials it's all of you the valued employees of this organization that come in every single day and work not only around the clock but into the evening and weekends and extended hours so that we all look good so that the organization looks good so that we as elected officials look good and are able to deliver our promises to the residents and the taxpayers who have placed our their trust on us and in all of you and so first and foremost on behalf of the residents who elected me to this city commission who have the honor of representing here I want to commend each one of you and tell you how valued you are as the back backbone of this organization it's each and every one of you so today I want you to know you have a city commission that stands by you that supports you that wants to promote an environment where you all feel valued for your professional contributions to the most wonderful city in the United States and our successes are many but they wouldn't be possible without the Visionary leadership of our city manager of Alina Hudak um your stewardship during our most challenging times from the pandemic to spring break leaves a legacy of service in our city that I think is nothing short of remarkable and it builds upon your incredible Legacy you can't go around Miami day County without having individuals from different municipalities celebrating and touting the great successes of the city of Miami Beach you can't go to Tallahassee without having legislators who know Alina Hudak without having leaders at the state level who know of our our city manager so whether it's from South Florida to our state capital to Congressional leaders who celebrate the work you do for our residents I think it it speaks to to to to to your dedication that is reflected in our City's fiscal health I think we stand in one of the strongest Financial positions we've been in a very long time I believe the strongest reserves in our City's history the infrastructure resilience that we've been able to advance on the cultural projects the trust that we've been able to to to to advance on because you are focused on not just working with all of us as the elected officials but you've reached out to the community you've engaged with the residents you've engaged with with the businesses so I want to extend to you my heartfelt thank you for your wavering unwavering commitment to our city and commend you for for the indelible Mark you've left on Miami Beach and I'm very grateful to that I also believe that our city deserves the greatest city manager in America we should be recruiting to be the the city manager of our Paradise we have an incredible City we have 2,000 incredible city city employees who deserve nothing short than the very best leader in this country to lead the best city in the United States we have not only A1 billion budget but two general obligation bonds big public private Partnerships a strong cultural scene billions of dollars in Investments flooding into our city by prominent de developers looking to invest in our historic districts and bring to life what Tallahassee is trying to take away from us private dollars are coming in by the billions and Daniels are nodding his his his head because they believe in what we have to offer and I think certainly we have great talent within the organiz ation that should be competing for this but I think we owe it to those who in our own competitions for elected office shows us we owe it to them to say we engaged in a rigorous National search to find the very best that we could deliver to you the taxpayers of this city to lead this organization with vision with dedication with the highest level of integrity and commitment that align with the values of of this city and I I agree with the mayor on on his points having to to to do with with the national search when it was done when we were selecting the city manager during the last process but I also recall that was during the pandemic it was a very different time in in our society and in our city it was we were engaging in a national search um when it was a very difficult time um for for for not only our city um but also for for for for our nation and so you know I believe in the incredible Talent we have in our city and I believe that from this incredible pool of talented individuals individuals should be competing to be our city manager but our residents deserve nothing short than the very best that in this country and I want to see us engage in that in in in that search I feel more comfortable today uh you know engaging with with an interim city manager an interim city manager you know to preserve the fairness of the process an interim city manager that perhaps wouldn't agree to compete in that in that National search a placeholder for for for the seat guiding the ship while we determine who is the most qualified National candidate to lead this city a worldclass city deserving of a worldclass city manager and uh and that's what I'd be willing and able to support today thank you Mr Mayor thank you commissioner magazine Madam city manager thank you from the bottom of my heart I ran on a message of change accountability but I was clear from day one that I thought there was a very capable team in place and whoever shared in that Vision was welcome along for that ride that certainly included you and I thank you for your dedication your hard work and your sacrifice to our city I mean that from the bottom of my heart thank you I look at our city and I see it as a drastically different place than it was just six months ago and a large part of that is because of the strong leadership of my colleagues uh both those that remain and those newly elected but also so much of that credit falls on the hardworking City staff that we have in place 2600 employees led by our deao CEO and her administrative team in place and when I look around being part of large organizations some of the most prominent prestigious uh multinational corporations in the world the one thing that is commonplace in all of that is rewarding hardworking talent and letting your own people know if they work hard if they perform hard there is a place for them to move up to be rewarded that they can ultimately work hard sacrifice work long weekends take time away from their young children dedicate their time in their lives during spring break during weekends during holidays and when they're called on and they're doing that because they love our city but it also has to be because that they know at the end of the day that hard work in sacrifice and that dedication will be rewarded it will be recognized and acknowledged not just through praise but through the trust that we put in them I ask myself what message you would send to our hardworking staff our 2600 people to come and dedicate their lives take time away from their families if we wouldn't sit here and say we are in a great place as a city we have a great financial position we just came off our best spring break over the past 10 years so much of that is because of the hard work and dedication of our city manager but over the past 10 years I've also seen one person many people but one person in particular that has been there every step of the way and that is Eric Carpenter who I the support for our full-time city manager when we talk about our national a national search it sounds intriguing but again my first thought is to reward the hardworking talented staff that we have in place especially today when we are dealing day in day out with some of the most Florida specific and Miami dat specific issues that our city has ever faced what we hold near and dear to our city the character the identity of our city is being challenged not at a national level every day but from Tallahassee and what better person to sit there and join us in that fight than somebody that's been here through the ride there was a Miami Beach resident that has worked hand inand for the past 10 years trying to preserve that and fight for us while there could be a time where I'd be intrigued by going out finding a young upcoming Rising superstar in neille or in De Mo I want somebody that knows the ins and outs of our city right now to provide stability to provide stability because we have seen a lot of turnover and we need to stabilize the ship and assigning an interim tag in my 20year corporate career there's nothing nothing worse as an employee than that uncertainty not just for that specific specific person but for every single person in that organization and I don't want to discuss how we got to this point but over the past few months that is hung over a lot of our employees and we've seen how they've reacted to that and that is leaving for other pastures it's not lost on me that there's four or five prestigious openings across our region just our individual region the latest coming yesterday the city of Fort Lauderdale losing their city manager so the top talent in Miami Beach is going to be getting calls every single day and those calls are going to ring louder and louder if we don't provide stability and fortify the ship stabilize it that's why Eric it's not only you that have my support but it's also a nod to support the 2600 men and women to dedicate their time behind you because we're all in this together so Madam city manager thank you from the bottom of my heart and I really look forward to writing this ship thank you commissioner Dominguez thank you uh thank you Madame manager for all of your hard work and Service uh to our city the last few years I know that in the year that I have been a commissioner I was able to go to sleep at night knowing that you did everything ethically and legally and you gave it your all so thank you for all that you did um um I am supportive of uh commissioner Fernandez's um idea I uh believe that uh if the commission is calling for change then looking at uh from within or the same people is not going to bring about that change and I think it's important this is the most important position in our entire city and to not have a national search um is a disservice to us and if it ends up being that somebody from within is the one that's qualified that's terrific but we owe it to our residents to do our due diligence thank you commissioner Suarez you know uh we a lot of us three of us or four of us ran ran this last year on change and and change is finally here um you know we when we talk about how we have coffers that are in the best position ever um and we are we are in the best position right now as a city financially we just got over spring break we should be capitalizing on that on on the on the on the on the employees that made it happen and Eric was right there he's the one behind the scenes making those things happen and I give all the credit to Alina obviously for for doing a fabulous job over the last three years um but let's let's not lose sight of the fact that you know it really takes a team effort to make Miami Beach amazing and it is amazing and that's because of the staff that that we have there right now um you know we have an opportunity to hire someone highly qualified and experienced in the quickest and seamless way possible and so um you know I I've as someone who's very critical of City Administration you won't find anyone who's more critical than I am you know I I think you know all the points that mayor Miner just pointed out really ring true and I'm going to be fully supported of the mayor's position on this I can't you can ask but she doesn't have to go next I'll say something actually as we uh as we figure out there's two two Commissioners haven't spoken yet um I spoke plenty so I'll just be brief but just to pick up on what my colleagues uh just said um it really is and and I and I've looked at this issue it it it can be demoralizing when a city has a qualified it's one thing if you don't have a qualified candidate um but to not promote with with from within and it's not just the city manager but that's obviously the uh the literally the the figurehead of the city Administration but other departments when you have a a director position available um do you promote from within sometimes yes if you have uh sometimes you do if you have a qualified candidate if you don't feel you do then you then you look outside but it's so important to reward and I'm echoing what what commissioner magazine said the other thing I'll say about Eric is he literally answers every call I have never I one time he called me back after didn't pick up and I was almost surprised and he uh he calls me back a minute later apologize literally less than a minute but by by the way but it's not just me you can say well that's an elected I've had every person who's told me they try to reach Eric that they reach him and it doesn't matter what time um and I'll just say again I was a big promoter of the national search um uh three years ago I was I pushed hard and I'll even say if we go back and look at those meetings that we might even not have had a national search had I not pushed so hard obviously I needed some of my colleagues to join on but I was insistent on it I just don't think I really believe uh strongly that that is not the right move at this time um I mean even if we found someone who was really qualified they're not going to know Miami Beach we have such critical issues that we are dealing with and I say I use this the word urgency it is urgency our residents are demanding and rightfully so they demanded that we address spring break we did it but they're also demanding that we address the traffic issues continuing on our police and and Law and Order ways on the infrastructure issues that we face it's going to take at least six months to bring someone in if we went outside and is that person going to know the ins and outs of Miami Beach they're not I mean there's going to be a ramp up time and then of course there's the risk that that person is not the right fit culturally or whatever or what have you um here we have a person who we know know is the right fit and answers the call literally and figuratively every single time I I actually think this is a no-brainer of no-brainers I I and and and this is again that's why I keep saying I go back to three years ago because I was adamant that we do a national search then and I think that would not be the right move I actually think it would be a major mistake at this point in time don't hold back may tell us how you really feel well I'll speak again and tell you how I really feel commissioner bot okay so when I ran for office I did not anticipate having to rebuild the city from the inside out um but here we are I I want to Echo everything that my colleagues have said about our fabulous city manager Alina Hudak um who is unflappable in the face of incredible storms I've said to her a number of times I don't know how that you haven't reacted um in the face of what you're handling and it you are a mentor to to me in managing my lack of a poker face so thank you on a personal level for that I I don't need to reiterate everything that has been said it's been said very eloquently by many but you know how I feel about you and I think it's bittersweet that we're having this conversation um you know an hour or two after we just had a lovely video commemorating women's History Month it's not lost on me um when I ran I did run on a platform of change and accountability and I ran on a platform of transparency and process and I won with 60% of the votes so I think that's a pretty clear mandate from the residents of what they expect me to do on their behalf I have a long working history with Eric from when I was just a gnat in the ointment of City Hall as a young activist and he was always gracious and patient as I learned my way through all these very complex things um I I can't reiterate strongly enough the things that the mayor has said about you and I Echo those um but at the end of the day this is arguably the most important decision we collectively can make as a body and we would be remiss in defaulting to what is known and comfortable as spectacular as you are in many many ways without putting together a national search I will say that the last naal National search was Guided by a very different commission and I don't know um what the qualifications and the parameters were but this is a different time in our City's history and it's a different composition of people engaged um I I hear the concern and I share it to some degree about the continued instability and the fact that it will take a little bit more time um but I also know we have a very deep bench in the city we have well over 2,000 employees and you know dozens of very experienced highly trained very knowledgeable senior staff and God willing they're not all going to walk out the door on the same day but um you know we we will we will rely on them to keep us all together over the next couple of months as we go through what I believe is the best and correct thing for the city which is going through the process and I hope that Eric is one of the people the final contenders um in that process and um if it turns out that he is indeed the best choice for the city then we will all know that he has gotten there through a transparent process which is what the residents have asked me to do on their behalf so Eric from a from a friend please know that this is not a reflection on you at all um and I look forward to keep to continuing to work with you for years to come one way or another and um I just feel like it is critical to us as a city as we make Embark upon the most decis the most important decision we can make right now is that we do it through the correct open and transparent process commissioner Rosen Gonzalez commissioner bot I love to hear that word process because it means that we stop we reflect um and we do what's right and transparent for the community mayor I deferred last to you last month when you decided to have a closed proess for our City attorney and not open it up to the outside world uh today we will be choosing one a charter officer a City attorney and that process was not opened up to anyone else it was an internal process and I agreed to that but I cannot agree to not opening up the process this time too because these jobs do not happen um all the time and really uh we need to have some Community meetings um all of the candidates are going to have to go out there and uh meet the community go to those neighborhood associations introduce themselves gain comp you know gain compliance uh explain what their vision and what their plan is and how they plan to change the city and uh and and I feel very strongly about that um I would encourage and I hope um Eric that you know in the application process for this job uh you know that that you're the candidate you know and I would encourage um whomever applies to live in the city of Miami Beach why do I want somebody who lives in the city of Miami Beach or is willing to relocate to the city of Miami Beach let me explain why when you are invested you own a property you live in a city your actions your actions affect you not just you you don't leave at 5 or 6 pm and go home and say well you know they're stuck in traffic but you know over here Dave we you know we can we can get around just fine so it's important it's important um I would even I would I wouldn't I would wouldn't even have an issue if we purchase some sort of home that could be City manager's home moving forward and that person could kind of occupy that City although it wouldn't be the same I would really like whomever takes this job to want to live here want to move here want to have their children in our schools and drive our streets and walk our sidewalks and feel what it's like to live here and it's a very different experience when you leave every day that said Madam manager we have really benefited from your service over the past three years because from I would say from Tallahasse all the way down to Key West the State of Florida knows Alina Hudak they do she's ran the county for how many years 3 well I didn't run the county for 35 years but I I worked for the county for 35 years 35 years and as the top dog for how many years um two years two years billions of dollars budgets relationships at the State uh County uh Federal level we have benefited from that uh we have seen millions of dollars in grant funding come in we have seen relationships with f Dot and things put in place I have also watched you and I've been in politics now for about eight years I've kind of extended this whole thing a little bit longer uh than it should have been but I've been here for a long time and one thing that I've watched over the past few years that um ala that you've done that nobody else has done is build these pools of different contractors and started all these projects across the city that I think we're going to start to see our infrastructure is you know being upgraded these are wonderful things you put in motion and I would hope that as I look at you know the different directors of our Capital Improvements projects and you know overall our finance director that we really make sure that um that all of these projects uh come to fruition now what some people worry about I kind of see as an opportunity because when we get this new person um they're going to have to build a team okay and that team is going to be pivotal to their success and we do need a new head of our building department how many positions I I know that um Virgil possibly our fire chief is going to be leaving but there are so many good people um in the city spring break was Testament to that I would like in the interim so that Eric could apply for the position and not feel any pressure um I would like our interim person to be somebody who is currently serving in the administration that would not like the job of city manager and and recommends that they will not apply for the job of city manager while we go through this process that way Eric can continue on as our Deputy manager not have any conflicts um apply for the position focus on winning us over and going through this process and winning over the community um and you know and and making some hard hard felt decisions about possibly moving to Miami Beach because I really think Eric that that is pivotal I really I don't like when I see our directors leaving the city at 5 o'clock as if you know okay I'm punching out and I know that you work over time and I know that you care about the city and I know that you love the city but I will say that there it does make a difference when you're actually invested in the city so that is where I stand I'm kind of counting the votes up here and it seems right now that there are four votes for a search um with potentially um an interim person to placehold and and um so my motion would be in honor of women's History Month that just passed that we choose one of our assistant city managers Rael Williams to potentially take that position as an interim placeholder if you would I'm asking for your hand should I get down on one KNE if you would consider doing this job um in the interim as we go through this very very important National search process for transparency for process for the City of Miami Beach for stability for a process that we can all wrap ourselves around it would be my pleasure to have as an interim a woman and a minority I think that's a huge statement and um that would be my motion I don't know if there is a second for that motion but that's how I feel at this very moment is there a second for my motion I would second that okay then I think we need to call the question commissioner bot had asked to speak I just want to say for the record um I I was going to speak on one thing but I'll make a quick second comment as well um I don't know that any directors leave City Hall at 5 o'l or senior staff at 5 o'l unless they're leaving for a doctor's appointment so um while I share in the wish that um we had more of our colleagues living in the city don't please don't first second think that we actually think you leave at 5:00 we know from firsthand experience you never leave um I I apologize I thank you for writing my wrong the the other thing I will say is that I do support Rael Williams assistant city manager Raquel Williams as our interim if she's willing to do it um specifically because she is um a very strong candidate to f this interim position um there are a lot of qualities that she shares with both Eric and Alina um most notably being responsiveness um wildly well informed on almost any topic you throw at her pop quizzes have become apparently my specialty when I start thinking about things outside of the box um and I ask questions are slightly off topic and and uh she always has the answers at hand um tremendous work ethic and being unflappable so I think our city would continue to be in very good hands as we embark on this search go through the full transparent process with our residents and um together um hold things steady as we move forward together as a city Mr May by the way I'm going to speak call I'm no I'm I'm going to speak call the question Mr attorney if I call the question does the vote have to happen you could do that you could do that with any it so nobody's allow to speak you're going to call the vote questions okay okay Rael I think the world ofel but I feel like this is a joke I have not even talked to Raquel about this position I haven't even consulted with her about it didn't even know she was interested and I'm I'm supposed to sit here and vote and select her as as much as and highly as I think of her I mean we're really playing politics up here we're playing politics with people's lives because we're dealing with someone who's going to have to control our Police Department Public Safety on on our on our building department I really am not pleased what's happening up here on this day right now we are playing politics with our residents lives this is not going to end well the way we're going today Mr Mayor Mr Mayor I think we commissioner Fernandez thank you thank you Mr Mayor um listen I and I think we we have such a great pool of talented individuals that is the benefit of where we're at today we are in a position where in our city we have strong leadership of individuals that are constantly as we've experienced over over the past uh few months individuals who are being recruited out of our city and being offered better opportunities in other organizations because they are incredible leaders certainly Eric is you know one of these great leaders that we have in our in in our cities someone that I think should definitely be competing but I do I do agree that in the interim role as we did last time and the time before last it should be an interim manager who is not competing for the permanent manager position to preserve the Integrity of of that process um and I and and I think we owe that we owe that to to to to to our residents and I'll tell you I for probably about a month I've been getting phone calls from lobbyists and from developers asking me to support a candidate and that's fine they're stakeholders in our community they're important stakeholders in our community and we listen listen to to them and we and we engage with them and you know it gave me a sense of unease and I thought about this a great lens last night it's part of the reason why I want to process because the individuals who I haven't heard from at all in this process it's the residents I haven't heard from the residents for a month I've been getting phone calls from every single powerful individual in this city the most prominent lobbyists the most prominent developers and the ones I haven't heard from are our residents and I can't sit here today and say that I can make this decision just like that just without you know having engaged in a process and without having given the opportunity for the residents to chime in and to speak about who is going to be at the head of the organization that manages their tax dollars and for me that is that's that's so important um I've seen that there's aemotion and a second and and and words made in in support of Rael I you know Raquel I and I you know I don't mean to put you in the spot but but but your name was was raised um and we really haven't had the opportunity to speak about this um is this something that you would be interested in doing as an as an interim position if if if you do earn the support of this commission today to guide this ship continuing to move forward our our city while we engage in a process perhaps in you know convene a committee and engage in a in a in a national process would you would you agree not to compete in that process to allow for that the Integrity of that process to to move forward good morning honorable mayor and Commissioners Raquel Williams assistant city manager apologies I'm coming down with something so I'm a little raspy this morning um I I do want you to know that I'm very proud of the opportunity that I currently have to serve the city of Miami Beach and that I'm extremely supportive of our Administration uh the city manager Alina Hudak who gave me a tremendous opportunity and interested me with a lot of responsibilities and our Deputy city manager Eric Carpenter and our Collective efforts to promote continuity and stability within the organization um it has always been my mission to promote the best interests of the city and to that end I defer to the mayor and commission as to the next best steps to um promote that stability in a uh seamless and responsible Manner and so um if it was the will of the commission to move forward in that direction as has been discussed I would not apply to uh be the city manager thank you thank commissioner magazine assistant city manager if you could stay at the podium um you're our assistant city manager and you have been here through some pretty up and down times and you have helped write our ship you have helped to lead Economic Development efforts you have been on the front lines of spring break you have helped as our assistant city manager put us in the best possible position financially on a global scale and PR OTE the best brand for Miami Beach you have been a testament and an example of all things right for our city and if we open this up to a national search and I saw your resume and names were removed I would have every expectation that you would be a for at the Forefront of that decision and I'm actually shocked and taken aback the people didn't even ask or consider and perhaps they did when they said Raquel you be the interim because we're going to preclude anybody that wants to be the city manager and I can't believe the position people put you in saying except this is the inter manager but that means you can't apply for the job you have every single right and deserve every bit of support if we're going to open this up that you would be right there with the most highly qualified candidates across the country and you are here in our own backyard so the fact that people would just sit there and take that for granted and assume that you had no interest in this position and say I'm going to nominate you because we want somebody that won't be our permanent city manager I uh that that deeply upsets me that deeply upsets me if we're going to open this up I want you to apply because I think the world of you I don't know how I'll vote on this because I feel as if that's taking away some of your options thank you assistant City Manager for all that you've done because everything I've said about Madam city manager and Eric every single one of those gratitudes that extended to you thank you thank you commissioner commissioner Warz um through the chair Madam city manager um you've heard the discussions today you know if you had to choose who the assistant city manager would be and you have to make a decision and you can't say that it's up to the commission but you know you personally Lena Hudak who would you want to see uh us move forward forward with to to to to us Steward our city in the time being Mr Mayor I I you know I resigned on Thursday and I feel like I'm gone I hope that at some point I'm going to get to thank all of you and and that I'm going to get to say some comments about you know what I consider to be truly outstanding um staff I will tell you that um you know all the accolades that are that are being shared I I certainly am enjoying um because it certainly hasn't felt that way for the last four months and so um I I'm having a a great moment sitting up here right now listening to all the accolades for our outstanding outstanding staff and I will tell you that I chose Eric to be my Deputy city manager we were competitors we um both wanted this job um three years ago um we competed with each other and the moment that I got appointed we walked out of the hallway cuz we were in our covid moment and we were watching we were interviewed on a screen and we gave each other a hug um together with the remainder of the office and we celebrated together and I appointed him Deputy city manager a few months later and we have um become the best of friends um family and have shared really just an incredible um three years together I promoted Rael um because I and actually Eric and I coincidentally were on the panel that selected and hired Raquel when we first hired her and Mark was as well um we were extremely proud of that appointment um she went through a lot to get appointed it was not an easy process she had two interviews before this commission she we we almost called her and said run you may want to reconsider this um and she didn't and she was an outstanding um addition to our team from the moment she got here and I felt very comfortable in a very short period of time I saw her great confidence I saw and I've and I saw in her truly the future of the city and the future of any government so I will tell you that I believe that they are both incredibly outstanding and this is really a decision point for all of you where you have to decide what your vision is for the city you have to decide you know between the difference between uh a tremendous tenure and and great wisdom and the experience that comes with many years of dedication to our city and and um and really an interim situation that um has great competence and I'm not about to sit here as your city manager choosing the next city manager or the interim city manager I think that I've earned the opportunity to not answer that question thank you um so you know I I think there was a willingness to either appoint um Eric Carpenter or Raquel for an interm basis and you know I believe you know commissioner magazine hit it on the head you know I don't think we should put Raquel in a position to to to not want to not want to apply I think I think that's disingenuous um you know I think if we really want to if we really want to say that we want to give everyone an opportunity um you know I'm going to ask through the chair mark taxes to come up and say hey look I think everyone loves you Mark um I I I think I mean I've asked you I don't think you you particularly are interested in a permanent city manager role I think if if you can come up and you can say look you know I definitely don't want to be uh city manager I can I can hold on to the chips until we we decide one and we can allow Rael and we can allow Eric to apply and along with go on and go on with a search I think that would be the best candidate if if that's the uh the argument being made because uh look I I kind of agree that you know if if we if let let those who want to apply within the city apply and let's pick a very uh you know someone who we both we all know that doesn't necessarily want to uh take the job as as as permanent city manager so through the chair if you can bring up Mark if that's okay sure I don't know um specifically what the question is uh I am not interested obviously in the full-time city manager position I've been here for 11 years I love the city um and I'm here to support the city in any way that the commission would would want me to participate okay well with that being said I'd like to make a motion for um Mark taxes to be assistant City there's already a motion in a second oh okay that's all right there there there's a motion and a second um somebody else could make a second motion and and there could be another second and we'll take them in turn but if you call the question which was uh something that was suggested earlier um that calling the question also requires a second and what that does so everybody is aware is that it ends debate so that the motion is heard immediately but then that requires five votes um for the for the motion to pass so if you call the question on one motion on the the the item on the floor that has a second that would require five votes but otherwise you're you know there's discussion is continuing and and anyone that is speaking can make a motion so you still have the floor commissioner so I would like to make a motion to make Mark taxis assistant um interm city manager and and and and I I would welcome Raquel to apply for for full-time city manager um commissioner Rosa Gonzalez so I understand I I I view this very differently Rael is um fairly new but when Alina came to the city how long were you in Miami Beach before we appointed you city manager Madam manager nine months nine months and how long has Miss Williams been here I believe now almost three years four almost four three years um I would like to keep the applic the applicants out of the interim process because I think that it creates an unfair um playing field um raal that is not to say that in the future you will not be appointed by the new city manager as Deputy or Eric who I'm not sure where this is all going but um she did agree that she would um comply with the will um of this body and I know there are some motions that we need to vote on and um I would suggest that we just do a vote right here on who uh would be the interim we just write down a name and uh and let's see what um let's see where that where that goes that that would be uh my idea right now to do this uh fairly quickly um not be labor at this point we love um Mark Eric and Raquel um it's very uncomfortable to have to you know choose anybody in the process but um I think that I feel fairly confident um given everyone's capabilities here that this is a the right way to go like I said Mr Mayor I deferred on the City attorney and we kept it internal but this has to be a national search and by the way Mr Mayor you were always the process guy what happened to the process just throw it out the window toss it away no more process Mr May if I could if I could we'll we'll look back on this day in a year from now and you'll tell me and our residents will tell us whether this was a colossal failure of government I I I don't say it easily because maybe I'll be proven wrong and I hope I'm proving wrong this is this is almost a a a effort to destabilize our government this is how poorly I believe this decision is I cannot overate this is not a matter of process and by the way we hear terms like well if the person is the interim we shouldn't consider them for the full-time position because that wouldn't be fair I mean Fair we want the best person let's say we get somebody who's coming in here and hitting 400 and hitting Grand Slams all over the field are you going to say well they filled in for an injured player so we're not going to keep playing that we're going to let the injured players hitting 220 to play I mean we're going to pick the best people for this job so I'm hearing these terms thrown around that don't even make sense to me I mean this is about picking the best person of the government by the way commissioner Fernandez mentioned he got all these calls from developers and lobbyists evidently they don't like me because I haven't heard from anybody saying oh we got to pick Eric Carpenter I mean this is a matter of people just saying that they I've SP I've actually spoken to Residents who speak very highly of him this is me seeing day-to-day being a an elected official for four and a half years um the work that he does so I am a process guy and I went through that process of national search and commissioner FES you raised a decent point about that it was during Co but I also saw that that process didn't work the way I thought it would I've also done the research and seen when you bring in people outside that it it is often I don't want to say more often or not but it is often a big failure and I'm not just talking about well it didn't work out so well major failures and we hear from the corporate world and we've seen it too interims and this is government but it's the same concept interims when you bring in someone from the outside it is taking a major chance listen I I I just think um I'm all about change too I'm constantly pushing I think our commission is a change commission but this is a change that we're risking a de stabilization of the government and and I hope that's not the intent Mr Mayor commissioner Fernandez thank you Mr Mayor um and I appreciate your position and I respect you very much and your experience as well um perhaps I'm taking the position that a commissioner minor had at one point you know commissioner Miner fighting for there to be a national process um when I ran for the city commission there was one thing that was very clear to me there would be no no decision more important than the decisions that we make with our Charter officers it is something that to me is sacrosanct it is the selection of your city manager the selection of your City attorney this is what will outlive our tenure of service and Define the legacies and so for me I've always been of conviction that this is a position when I ran for office someone asked me specifically about this if you were to have the opportunity to select a new city manager what would you do and I've always been very clear about it my preference will always be for there to be a national search Madam manager how long you've been the city manager for how long three years this month three years it was a prom promotion from within you know when we hired our former city manager it was a national process but he was really included outside of the process he was nominated from the deis but the time before that we had a national process 25 years ago when we selected a city manager that came in from Alexandria and that served our city for over 12 years and you know and at the time I pulled up the minutes and and the notes because again this is something that last night I lost sleep about this because it's that important to me it's nothing to do with the fine individuals we have serving in the city manager's office I trust our Deputy city manager Eric Carpenter and I trust our assistant city manager Mark Taxas and our assistant city manager Rael Williams we are very fortunate but last night I lost sleep thinking about this specific decision about knowing that in my heart I can look beyond my tenure of service if it's at the end of these four years or whenever it be and be able to say that in in my heart I did what I felt was the absolute very best for our city and you're right Mr Mayor you know I have spoken actually to a few residents kind of like the kitchen cabinet the residents who I have spoken to have told me that they want a national search that's what the residents have told me and so and so I feel I don't feel bad in in saying if we you know have an interim city manager that that interim city manager um not apply for the position of permanent manager it was a motion made by commissioner David durmer when before he became mayor when we engaged in the National process that led to the selection of George Gonzalez as our city manager and the motion made at that time was to have an they called it an acting this would be an interim City Manager for no more than 120 days and that the acting city manager cannot apply for the position of permanent city manager that was what was done last time when George left and Kathy Brooks was selected I was here as City Hall when that decision was made and it was the same situation Kathy stood up Kathy said I'm willing to do this but I won't apply to be the permanent city manager and it led to the selection of Jimmy Morales who served our city for eight years and then again with with with the last selection I think I think there's precedence for it uh but beyond the Precedence I feel I feel it's it's the right thing to do I believe in this process and I'm sorry Mr Mayor that we deviate uh in this um but but um but in my in my heart it's the right thing to do is what I deserve is what our city deserves uh to to to have this this National process and I would and I would just move as was done back in 1999 when we engaged in in the process in the National process that led to the selection of George Gonzalez that we have an interim City Manager for no more I would say you know this is an extensive process for no more than six months and that this interim city manager cannot apply for the position of permanent city manager and i' put that motion on the table Mr Mayor if I could through the chair commissioner magazine um I am glad that we are all committed to full transparency I am really glad not only for this Personnel decision put it for everyone that we're going to make up here today and going forward and you have my commitment we will get full transparency Mr I have a question though care to elaborate on that no no I'm to he we've all we've all spoken about it right so I am glad that this is being played out in the public because one of the things that makes it difficult is making these decisions on the fly without being able to talk to our colleagues due to Sunshine so one of the things I would be supportive if we want to essentially preclude the interim manager from applying but I do think it is unfair we putting Miss Williams in this position this is a career decision for her she's worked every day of her entire professional career and we're kind of asking her on the Fly do you want to be city manager or not because if that is your Endeavor stepping up to the plate and serving as our city manager precludes you from pursuing that rightfully earned goal and dream if you want to say unequivocally you know what that's not something I'm interested in then I would join my colleagues in voting for you again I think it's unfair for you and if you want to say you know what I'm actually not 100% certain I'm happy to defer the decision for our interim manager we will maintain Miss Hudak right um and if I'd be fine with I'd be excited with Miss Williams as our interim city manager but I I have reservations that we're putting you on the spot saying as we're opening this up to a national search now you can't apply um Mark seem comfortable doing so but uh if that's something that you're sitting and again I hate putting you on the spot but uh assigning voting on you to be our city manager without actually asking you uh I think would be even more unfair there so I'd love to retain manager Hudak as well if she would want to stay um it has been a pleasure serving under her leadership um as as mentioned before um that is not a a step that today I am saying that I would want to take and so I would agree to not apply for the role as as stated before Rael if I if I can commissioner magazine mentioned a few times that it was on the Fly I mean did you know coming into today that you might be nominated for interim manager so the Commissioners that have mentioned me as a potential candidate have not approached me uh for the interim role I have had opportunities to interact with all of you on different occasions about uh everything happening in the city including this transitional process that we're in I I will say in I don't think you and I have had that conversation actually well I I guess you would be excluded from that that group um but I think everyone has talked about where we are today as a city and where things are going I have listened intently to the discussions from the de I have seen the items on the agenda I have uh read the various emails and so I have no um there it's no mystery to me that we're here today and that um we're at this place at this time so I will say that commissioner uh Fernandez did reach out to me last week after the city manager announced her resignation and I did uh have a conversation with commissioner Fernandez in that uh he wanted to sort of pick my brain about the future of the city and who I thought might be great uh moving forward in the selection process and I've always maintained my support for manager Hudak and for Deputy city manager Carpenter I've also uh recommended others uh that might be great uh professionals to step up in a leadership role if not uh as a future ACM or future city manager and so I did share that with the commissioner those of my colleagues that I felt were uh outstanding and high level professionals and I I'd rather not share their names today uh but I will will let you know that I did share that with commissioner Fernandez thank you and same question for Mark Taxas did you did you have an understanding that you might be proposed as an interim city manager going into today I just want I'm trying to get a sense whether this is like literally coming out of the blue to you or out of the blue okay no idea okay thank you Mr Mayor I second uh commissioner Magazine's proposal to defer this maybe you know we should possibly defer this for another month we are fortunate to have Miss udak for the next 90 days um and and you know maybe we need to call a special meeting to to with the assistant city managers and get a better feel for what they want because it is it'll it is it is odd that we're putting them on the spot right now and I think we have plenty of time to make that decision we have 90 days Mr Mayor Comm Fernandez thank you and then commissioner Rosen Gonzalez and and just and just for purposes of you know of being fair um last week I reached out before before there was the announcement of the of the city manager I had a meeting uh with Deputy city manager Eric Carpenter in in my office um I've had conversations with assistant city manager Mark taxes um certainly conversations with uh with with repel uh willings as as well U because I value them the reason why I reach out to them um they're in that office they see the work of of the city manager day in and day and day out they're the most qualified people for me to call and to speak to and to guide me uh as to as to what they see the future um because there are stakeholders they're are employee stakeholders and their feedback is so important for for me uh I also look at history and what history has yielded and city managers who I respect who have done good for for for our city and last night um I was speaking with with a resident and and the and the words that I told the resident was like how did mayor Casten feel you know after he left office after the selection of George Gonzalez how proud was mayor Casten or or Jose Smith or you know or or Simone Cruz or matd Bower you their sense of accomplishment when they left office and leaving someone uh of of that caliber there and I was there so much of the history that you were leaving out it's unreal but continue please if you want to chime in please I I don't because I don't want to call people out and I'm not going to do it but you're you're giving such a one-sided view of of the history of our city that's uh I don't I don't believe fair but continue well my my my point to that Resident was that when I leave office I want to have the same level of of pride in the selection that we do in this in this process um and so and so I think you know the most important thing is that if if we do this we establish a time limit for it um and that we and we do what was done back then that we establish a committee of leaders you know there were individuals like Kathy Fernandez Rundle and uh and Meritt starheim and these High Caliber Community leaders who sat in a blue ribbon committee vetting these National candidates to bring forward to the city commission back then the top three and I think we should engage in some sort of a process like that so that so it's not a political decision but a decision uh that that that that yields just the very best uh at the end at the end of the of the day and uh you know Mr Mayor if you feel like what I was just saying was opinion it was not history I was saying you know the level of Pride that they must have felt when they left and and I'm citing opinion that I want to feel that way too looking at history because these are individuals who I respect um and you know I'm not trying to say this is an accounting of history but if you want to fill in and and leave anything that you feel that was left out or unfair please feel free fre to correct me I ultimately just want to do what I feel in my heart is the best for the city I know you do as well Mr Mayor and if we deviate in our position on that that is the greatness of our democracy and the greatness of being of being elected officials and being able to disagree on one issue and agree on the next issue that we have to tackle uh and so but if you feel you need to correct me on on the history I I'm certainly open to that thank you guys commissioner Rosen Gonzalez so we're all kind of belaboring this without realizing that what we're doing right now is we are going to a national search okay what we are doing today is an interim and it is a placeholder position and um I I do take a little offense of certain members of this body saying that by hiring a woman who's already an assistant city manager is some sort of like d stabilization of our government if she were not a woman or not a minority if she was a white male would it be a destabilization mark taxes was also proposed I'm being interrupted right now and I wouldn't want to be interrupted okay so um I take offense to that I take offense to that because Raquel Williams is a capable strong woman who came into the city as our economic direct economic development director okay and in short order impressed all of us so much and by the way the first time you impressed me you were actually arguing against me on the Lincoln Road lot but your presentation was so perfect and it was so detailed and it was so well researched and it was so professional that I was blown away I was blown away and so I feel very confident right now um in Raquel taking this position as an interim and I did not reach out to you I didn't because I think that in order to keep this process fair I had to kind of keep my ideas close close because there were so many lobbyists and special interests um you know that that just want closed process and we want to open it up and everybody's afraid of change I think we should just hug and embrace this change and go out and let's get uh the best city manager we can now I don't know what um the details of the search process are but what I would say embedded in all of this is as we appoint the interim that we hold another special meeting so that we can come up with the parameters of the search process so I mean today we we have two different motions and two different seconds that need to be voted on um we need to move forward the longer that we wait um you know in the search process uh you know I don't think that that's a positive thing to try to you know uh uh defer or Kick the Can down the road um but I do think within the next few weeks we need to meet come up with a search committee and I want to see a robust process I want to see all the applicants out there in the community um and and and we're going to do something very Community Driven and hopefully we will get uh made the best candidate um win this position okay let's vote well which one mayor so there's a mo there's a motion in a second for the interim appointment of Raquel Williams but there was a motion by commissioner uh magazine to defer that was seconded I don't believe sorry Mr City attorney I don't believe I made that motion I asked about it okay so then there was then then commissioner Suarez seconded a motion so that would be treated as a motion to defer yeah just going back I I told Miss Williams if she was interested in applying I would be happy to defer to give her the fairness and respect um but she made clear that she was not interested in applying so there wouldn't be a motion to defer Mr Mayor I just just just for clarity because before we vote I just want to know because I want to give I want to be fair I want to know from uh from assistant City man Mark taxes are you interested in being considered for the interim role as well I would leave that up to the commission I'm I'm here to serve this this government however you all see fit okay thank you so so then if there's not a a second for commissioner Suarez's motion to defer then there was only one motion that had a second which is before you for um uh the appointment of Raquel William I'll second it seconded so provided that that she would not apply for the permanent position um and and you know as part of this motion there there are a couple of elements that we just haven't gotten into number one um we have traditionally the interim city manager and the city manager have had a contract and so we we've traditionally ref deferred to the finance chair to negotiate the terms of the interim U employment agreement and to come back to the city commission so if there was a motion for Raquel then that would that would be part of that motion then the second is um manager hudak's departure date that even though she has provided until June 29th I think the manager has has spoken with you all about a request for a departure date of May 3rd um provided that her contract would be honored uh with the severance payments that she would be entitled uh under the contract and and then the the the third element would be to do the search um and we can come back with you at a special meeting or at the next meeting with um you know with with the the details of that we'd have to hire a search firm and that would be the first step so the motion to defer would come first if there was a a second to commissioner swarez can I second it you you can second I'll second it okay by the way I'm gonna I've said it before I'm not going to uh support uh the interim not being able to apply I don't I don't I don't see that as if the person is performing well whether it be Raquel whether it be Mark whether it be Eric I don't see why they shouldn't be considered so I'm gonna I'm gonna literally vote no on that I also haven't I haven't had and I think the world of every person that we've mentioned but I haven't other than Eric who I have had discussions with with about I I I didn't know others were being considered so I haven't even talked to Mark or recel about this and obviously would want the opportunity to do so just just commissioner Suarez thank you thank you Mr Mayor again I I I I welcome Raquel to to apply I I I don't think we should be putting it in a tough spot right now to say we you know you you can you can run the city for the next three months but after that you cannot apply in the meantime I I just that's just so odd to me that we would do that to her um and you know because what if she does a great job in the next three four months and we say hey look you know maybe we found our our our person so um you know I think if we're going to be doing look what I I think this National search is going to end up being everyone from our city already in government I think that's what's what's going to yield the results so I I don't want to I don't and former people from our city yeah I don't want to preclude Raquel from I mean she's saying it now that she doesn't want it but you know maybe maybe after this meeting she she's like H you know I should have never did that I don't think we should be putting her in that position so you know I'm I'm hopeful we can move this along um possibly just one more month and and and then let's let's have a real discussion with Raquel and Mark to see what their propensity is for for for for for moving forward so motion a second so there's a motion in a second to defer the vote on the interim city manager call the vote take a roll roll call this is for May 15th correct the next commission meeting correct so commissioner bot to defer no commissioner doing vice mayor Dominguez no commissioner Fernandez no commissioner Rosen Gonzalez no commissioner magazine I guess ask a point of clarification I've always just heard it as uh mentioned by many when we say uh the motion to defer takes presidence what does that mean that's right that it's being heard just as it is now before the the motion on the floor um no commissioner Suarez yes mayor Miner I'm sorry what's the question to defer to defer to May 15th oh sorry I thought I had voted already yes so motion fails so the main motion is back before you can you just repeat the motion so it would be for an appointment of U Raquel Williams as interim city manager would be effective immediately or beginning tomorrow with the request that the chair of Finance would uh would negotiate the interim employment agreement terms uh it would provide for a 30-day transition period for uh manager hudek uh through depart through May 3rd um which and for then for manager hudek to then receive the severance payments under her contract and for HR to commence the search process um and and you know um and develop an RFQ for for a national search firm to come back to you for further you know uh development so a couple of questions based on what you just said so uh our city manager Alina would effectively leave the city on May third on May third I I would I would not support that I think if we have an interim city manager I alen's contractually uh give 90 days notice and I would I would ask her to continue on okay the other thing are we are we stipulating whether the interim city manager can then apply for the city manager that was part of yes and that was sorry I missed that that was part of the commissioner fernanda's um original motion um that the interim would not apply for the permanent position and that the search process would take no longer than six months okay so I have two two issues one is I I would want our city manager to stay on longer than May 3rd uh as contractually required and and I I don't as I've said I don't agree that the interim should be precluded from applying for the full-time position Mr Mayor may I just clarify I just want to know what I am during that 90day period so once we appoint an interim today what am I so if you an interim today manager Hudak is is a city manager but the you know through your last day which you have said in your letter is June 26 um but the in the interim city manager would assume the the the duties of of city manager in in this period so a transition period of 90 days yes okay we're going to call the question call the vote V mayor it's called a vote as stated but with but with the manager's departure data as provided in her letter of June 26 so is she acting city manager she would be interim city manager WEA no Raquel okay right effective immediately in Trum City but Alena leaves when would she be June 26 when her her her date and her letter so Ju Just Just to be clear what role would Alina have if she's no longer city manager to provide support to to the interim city manager and the manager's office during the transition commissioner bot um I I value the offer that was made by the city manager to stay through her contractual date and I do very much value um having you stay for a period to um make sure that everybody's comfortable and that you're available for for support as needed but I would respectfully suggest to my colleagues that um perhaps we can find a happy medium between May 5th and June 26 or whatever it was so that you know Alina can make sure that everything everybody can make sure that we're all feeling comfortable with the way things are proceeding and and and um Elena is here to to to be there as needed but as um Raquel moves into the role and gets her footing um that perhaps we find a date that is maybe at the end of May or beginning of June to um proceed that way yeah I think you know from my perspective again and and I I hope Mr Mayor that at the appropriate time I get to to thank everyone appropriately um you know for me it's it's very important that the city have clear leadership there are major decisions that have to be made um there are major Personnel decisions we are I I would have been scheduled next week to be in budget meetings 20 plus budget meetings that have to be held that I always attend personally in preparation for your budget Workshop in May there are you know Memorial Day is around the corner um there are major things collective bargaining has to kick off and so it's very important that our city Administration that our city that our res residents that everybody knows who is the city manager and so I think we need clarity as it relates to that and as much as again I have no agenda here I don't have a job waiting for me I resigned um it was my personal decision um but I I do think that we need Clarity and we need to know who's in charge of this city and I'm happy to stay for as long as any of you want me to stay and I'm happy to once I'm gone be a part of this family because forever it will be a part of me um but at the same time I think it's very important that it's very clear who's in charge and who's the manager commissioner Rosen Gonzales so how would this sound I agree with um commissioner bot's proposal to find a happy medium how would we feel if this decision becomes effective tomorrow with a 30-day transition period would that be okay with you yes okay so with 30day well okay I have the floor so it would be in this motion effective tomorrow morning um so today would be our last that we're going to let you speak and thank all of us I promise um and with a a 30-day transition period unless you would like 45 days we can hear from my colleagues to hear if you prefer 30 45 but I mean uh Miss Williams would be the interim manager as of tomorrow because I agree that somebody does need to be in charge and think if you stay on it would be the perfect support and transition that she might need um over the next you know month we are literally making such critical decisions like literally like on the fly like whatever comes to our head now that's where we're getting to that's the point we're at at this commission like literally people just throwing things out these are major major decisions for our city the most important position of our city the city manager this is not a good look for our city if I could Mr Mayor um while uh happy to accommodate uh our admirable city manager not staying until June 26th I I I don't think we'd be setting our city up for uh the best path forward if we wouldn't at least ask that you uh remain until after our next city commission meeting um Miss Williams I think this was uh I don't want to say derogatory but sprung on you today you know uh you probably didn't realize you were getting into this so all of a sudden being um I want you to start tomorrow agree with my uh colleague commissioner Rosen Gonzalez I would just ask if uh she would have the appetite uh as with the rest of the body to request that our city manager at least stay on uh after the next city commission meeting so she could serve in an advisory role for uh Miss Williams first uh commission meeting and I and I continue to to we are contractually paying for our city manager for 20 weeks uh through June 26 and then she would be entitled to Severance payments after that and I'll continue maintain it should be through June 26th so can I say something commissioner Rosen Gonzalez well if if if we're paying you till June 26th and Raquel becomes interim city manager tomorrow you could just serve as an ADV would you would you agree to serve as the advis in an advisory capacity through June 26 if we're already ready I mean I'm sure that you do that even if we weren't paying you I'm perfectly okay with that I'm perfectly okay with that not happily but I unless unless I got another job I am available okay so we um so we have the motion and the second um with the terms that you're saying um Miss Williams we're calling a vote on this right now I'm very excited for you can we at least have come up would you like to come up Mr Mayor you going to call this vote please yeah I've called it already we already and just for the record since the motion has been changed commissioner Rosa Gonzalez you still make the motion and doing vice mayor Dominguez you still make the second yes okay so I'm G it's a roll call I want to go alphabetically commissioner bot yes commissioner Dominguez yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner Suarez yes mayor Miner no motion carries Miss Williams is appointed congratulations thank you mayor and Commissioners for the recognition and for the trust and thank you manager Hudak for agreeing to support I congratulate you Miss Williams I look forward to working with you I think the process we it's funny we talk about process this was a completely flawed process but I do congratulate you uh you're a very talented individual and I look forward to working with you I look forward to it as well and would love to have some time with you oneon-one thank you uh let's call we have a couple of time certains we're a little behind uh I think the the Redevelopment agency will be quick and then we'll have The Pedestrian uh hardack sandunes next yes sir um we so we're reconvening uh the city commission meeting and convening as the RDA uh the first item that we have is RDA 1 approved settlement agreement Amendment two with kuich 105 chairman and members of the board um we have negotiated a settlement agreement which entails an amendment to the existing lease with kubicha 105 and we've followed the direction provided by the board during our executive session um I guess in February um key terms involve the um there are two different options one would be exercisable in the end of 25 and the other one at the end of 30 and then the lease terms provide for um lower minimum rents but higher percent man M Vice chair of the board oh wait we don't have a quorum I didn't realize he was OST just okay I guess we got to take a short recess we lost Quorum so we we could um you could discuss but we need five votes for this item and five members present Madam Vice chair perhaps we could uh take a short recess of the RDA board um while we just wait for a quorum to come back to the DAT so five minutes read yes 5 minute recess yes thank you oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] my High [Music] take [Music] n High [Music] me me [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] please take your seats the meeting is about to [Music] begin [Music] [Music] [Music] please stand by we are going on air in 5 4 3 2 1 Mr welcome back we took a little break to make sure we had Quorum okay we are on you want to announce the item again uh Ral yes sir we are continuing in RDA 1 so we are convening as the city's RDA agency uh this is item one approved settlement agreement Amendment two with kubicha 105 Mr chair members of the board following the shade session that we held with you all on February 22nd the the staff of the RDA engaged in Communications with Council for the tenant kubicha 105 and we negotiated over the course of about a month terms that were consistent with the direction provided by uh by the RDA board um sort of some highlights here as I started to mention previously there are um two extension terms remaining one which will commence um beginning January of 26 and one that will commend if if the tenant is is not in default at any point in time uh in January of 31 so the the the lease will extend as as late as 2035 um consistent with discussions uh we have improved on the percentage rent requirements as um sort of as a boost for some of the term some of the rents that that we have uh that we have forgiven pursuant to the settlement agreement and then the settlement agreement itself is a fairly straightforward for settlement agreement with mutual release of all claims by both parties um we're here simply to obtain the board's approval for the settlement agreement and the amendment number two to the lease consistent with the terms that I just mentioned Mr Mayor I move the item we have a motion I'll second Jinx call the vote it is a Voice vote so are all in favor I I motion passes we have commissioner Higgins is absent and commissioner sarz is absent also thank you great let's call R9 AE yes sir R9 AE is discuss take action pursue pedestrian only path hardpack sanddunes uh I am the sponsor of this item we have a couple of co-sponsors as well uh commissioner Fernandez commissioner bot and commissioner Suarez anybody want to be heard or should we take the vote well Mr Mr Mayor I think you've initiated something great here clearly one of our greatest successes is our Beach Walk uh and it's such a great success that it's been a victim of its own success and obviously over overcrowded over over capacity uh and I think certainly um you know pursuing this this hard pack idea that you've brought forward uh to provide uh more safety facilities safe facilities for pedestrians uh it only makes sense so I'm happy proud to support you on this thank you for your vision on this and I'm happy to move the item yeah thank you so yeah as you mentioned we got a I do and I'm sure all of us here get uh many complaints about the unfortunate aspect of the success we've had that our beachwalk is so popular uh we have one aspect we have motorized scooters at times going on there which is illegal so and I know our police is uh uh and park rangers are addressing that you have bicycles that are permitted and uh because of State funding that we got we uh can't preclude that but some of the bicycles do go quite quickly and there have been unfortunately injuries so this has become a victim of its own success so this was a an idea that um that I had to initially I actually had done it where the bicycles would go there but then working with the community the mid Beach neighborhood association which has been extremely supportive of this item um it did make more sense to uh to flip this and have the pedestrians where I think the the path will continue to be bike pedestrians but this would be another alternative for pedestrians to be in an in a in a in a lane where no um no bicycles would be would be coming commissioner bot um I am so excited about this I'm very happy to be supportive of it and we second the motion um as a both professionally um and personally I use the walk extended up to uh government not government cut um the hall over cut um and in Bal Harbor and Surfside it is that elevated hard pack and it is really fabulous for many many reasons I won't waste our time but and I know Amy I'm looking at you because I know this is going to be difficult and complicated and um for my colleagues on the finance committee I know it's yet another thing that we're going to have to figure out how to to afford but I really believe that things that are worth doing don't come easily sometimes and um it will be a great day for the city when we celebrate the ribbon cutting for this event so I'm very happy to to uh second this and support it commissioner Rosa Gonzalez um I love this item I would like to add myself as a sponsor please and um I had a few questions how long will it take once we start the we have it once we start the regulatory process how long do you anticipate sure um well good morning Amy NES Chief resilience officer apologize came in a little late for this item you know we had recommended two different options a feasibility study as well as you know we had some an estimate from Capital Improvement projects you know on the amount and I think because this is something that is it's very unique it's obviously a lot of challenges and we provided the state statute we're going to have to take some time to come up with a creative approach to get the state to a yes because right now you know there are you know a lot of barriers here um so I think it will take some time um we would have to go through the you know the submittal process it depends on their Staffing right now it can take a few months even to get an approval for a special event permit so we can report on that as it gets closer um but again the beachwalk itself did take quite a long time so it's a lot of back and forth the beachwalk took us like six years maybe more eight years it was a long time in coming but I hope that because we're not building we're just compacting sand that it might not take as long so I think this was just a really brilliant um decision and it solves a problem because I get those I don't know about you guys but I get the phone calls all the time about how dangerous it is we can't enforce it and it's very frustrating so this is a great idea um vice mayor I believe you're you're on glad that okay um so I think uh it's time to call the vote on this item may I speak to this Mr Mayor yes um even though it's not public comment I know you've been very involved over the years uh not just this item so uh with with The Pedestrian walkway so yes I'm happy to hear uh from you thank you Henry thank you Henry Stoller 1500 Ocean Drive I woke up this morning with the enviable and inviting task of trying to convince you to cease pursuit of an item which has five co-p sponsors so I'm going to give it my best shot anyway uh this is a staff report which tells you the kinds of hurdles that will need to be overcome and success is highly doubtful uh there's extensive statutory requirements that must be satisfied there is the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission that needs to be satisfied there is a state Coastal Construction line program the cclp program needs to be satisfied the same group CCL program uh must approve this as a new activity uh sea turtles someone's going to have to satisfy the sea turtle Regulators under the federal Endangered Species Act that a change in the quality and feel of the sand will not impair the migration of the sea turtles uh there is in this estimate of 3.7 million nothing for required mitigation or regulatory consideration ations there is a recommendation that maybe finance committee should spend $100,000 for a feasibility study to see if this is even feasible to pursue so all that is highlighted very candidly and openly and directly in the staff report Mr Mayor may I have another minute or so yes thank you U there's a whole second group of reasons for stopping consideration of this matter and that is in my view it is not a good idea uh there is a notion or concept here of a proposed separate but parallel pedestrian only path now matters are not going well on the beachwalk as it is simply because there is a lack of enforcement and the numbers show it I would think that we would learn something from last month's Collision on kisc between a revered 66y old woman on a regular bike and a 12-year-old on an ebike that resulted in the woman's death how appealing is this uh Pathway to someone who wants to be The Pedestrian on it unlike the beachwalk it is completely exposed to Sun and wind and all the elements unlike the beachwalk where there is some protection so casting out pedestrians from the beachwalk and exiling them to a separate path is going to place them in even greater Jeopardy we will need to double the number of enforcement personnel and resources now devoted to the beachwalk because there will be violators there as well we live in a community where when you move here as I did 20 years ago you're told that here a red light is considered a suggestion so that's the mentality and that is what I encounter two or three times a week on the beachwalk uh in addition to doubling uh enforcement resources we will double maintenance and repair requirements this is a different set of materials nothing in this climate goes unrepaired without damage and finally we are doing even more damage to the environment through this idea the last thing that we should be doing is damaging this incredible resource the beach we have seen this movie before a huge wide swath of dunes and vegetation was torn out in order to build and extend the beachwalk from Third Street to Fifth Street so once again we're attacking our natural environment through this I hope you will move on to other and I think more compelling matters thank you very much thank you for having me eloquent as always let's call a vote so all in favor I motion passes unanimous 70 it's a good time to break for lunch why don't we uh come back for senic hour at 1 p.m. thanks e e e e e e e e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is oh oh me High me [Music] [Music] yeah [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] e e [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] my oh take [Music] High take [Music] [Music] up [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] please take your seats the meeting is about to [Music] begin please stand by we are going on air in 5 4 3 2 one okay welcome back we will start the sutnik hour even though it's the snic half hour but uh my as well is that a motion uh rapael yes sir uh good afternoon everyone we're going to go first virtually our first caller is Greg Greg please state your name you have two minutes name and address please and if anyone here in the audience wishes to speak please approach a Podium uh yes my name's I'm from Miami I live in uh the mid Beach area uh I I guess my comment is about the uh City manager role uh I'm happy to see that uh the city is is is moving on uh one thing I I hope uh is that the city will consider uh requiring the next city manager to become a resident of Miami Beach it's important as a resident that we know that the city manager lived with the same rules and regulations and decisions that he or she makes uh and is subject to the same whereas a a city manager that lives in another do missile basically makes decisions and then leaves um I think it's very important uh for the residents City of Miami Beach to make sure that that requirement is met that's my principal uh comment today thank you thank you so much go ahead please state your name address and two minutes please good afternoon I'm Matthew ganof and I reside at 125 Jefferson Avenue first I want to acknowledge the outgoing city manager and the steadfast and professional operation she led during her tenure and also I want to congratulate the new interim city manager who and how you select the next city manager is extremely important for the future of our city as former mayor gelber often would say we the voters elect seven part-time board members to oversee the professional government and I want to thank Miss Hudak who even though progress on many items that were many that were very important to people such as implementing the bicycle pedestrian master plan fell short of goals she led a Professional Organization full of many talented dedicated and extremely responsive employees so that brings us to the selection for the next city manager next month is Natco which is the National Association of city transportation officials they're holding their conference in Miami where leaders all from throughout the country will be gathering for the yearly Gathering now that you all have Law and Order under control perhaps you can expand the focus to a leader with a proven track record in planning and urban mobility and how to elevate the dense Urban vibrant historic environment similar to Miami Beach with a nearly 1 billion budget we have the resources this would be a dream job for many conduct a national search and also make a splash at Natco and begin the recruitment there there'll be many highly qualified candidates personally I'll be hosting two workshops and I'm excited to showcase the city and what makes us a desirable place for people to live work and play once again thank you Miss Hudak for your professionalism and congratulations to the new interim city manager thank you our next virtual speaker is Johan Moore Mr Moore please state your name name address and you have two minutes thank you Mr city clerk um uh Johan Moore 717 Jefferson Avenue um I'll actually begin by also thanking the city manager uh for uh as someone put it and it's a bit blunt but a corruption and Scandal free time in office which is not necessarily the standard here uh and much professionalism beyond that uh and congratulations to the interim city manager I want to put detail of the Back Bay project before you with some degree of urgency under the obligations uh oppos imposed by Congress on the US Army Corps of Engineers uh such projects uh include an obligation to conserve cultural resources if in fact our city finds that elevation as the only failsafe elevation of our uh federally defined historic district as the only fail safe uh in the face of rising seawaters and Storm surges uh is the way to go we have a deadline of the 2028 Congressional funding request and I will probably run out my time by briefly putting that calendar before you if that goes to Congress in 28 we all know Autumn of 28 is a congressional is a presidential election it will need to go to uh the government to uh Congress by uh Autumn uh by Spring of 28 meaning the core will need to have a year or two to digest this so it needs to go to the core by 26 or 27 at the latest our Ascent should we think it a good idea uh comes presumably before the County's Ascent uh and that would get the county to 25 and you see now the urgency of dealing with this I would argue by October at the latest I would recommend that you put this on an agenda for one of your commission committees uh I intend to present it sustainability committee with a request that we put it on our agenda uh so we can do some of that digestion as well thank you Mr thank you very much thank you so much next please state your name address and you have two minutes sir uh good afternoon my name is David fiello I live at 2740 old Alton Road Miami Beach Florida we are our family has both a single family homes and a couple of condos on Pennsylvania Avenue I'm a native Floridian and I I love our city first of all thank you to all of our electri officials for the public service that you give and protecting and promoting this fine fine city um I'm a retired person hence a very silver hair and I am a registered feeder for soie cats um I'm not the strange cat man at my age but I'm a person who loves our city and respects all animal life uh we have a very dedicated team of people that volunteer we provide our time we provide the food WE Network every day on what we are doing and report in and out when there is a health issue we take care of it ourselves we go fund amongst ourselves the cats are neutered they are spayed and we took take care of them each and every day when you look at Smitha molinsky The Jetty the dunes people come by when we're feeding and they say what are you doing or these are your cats they love them uh people that are tourists cannot give us any more praise when they see what we're doing I do honestly believe that these cats are not destroying our Dunes if anything cats have a natural ability to hunt and to take care of the rodent population so um I think it would be cruel it's not necessary to relocate any of the cats within uh soie uh within the soie cat organization last year I think you made a proclamation for one of our leaders Holly whan she's probably here today on her efforts with soie cats please let the people that are here to run the organization please let the people that are volunteers to continue to do what we do and here's a visual this is Buddy snowball and Tux they all live in the dunes they're beautiful cats and we have some that only live together they eat by themselves we tear care every single day we ask that you protect them and let them be thank you thank you so much our next virtual speaker is Meredith seler Elizabeth go ahead please state your name address and you have two minutes hi my name is Meredith singer and I live at 12697 Street and I'm here as a proud parent of a high school student who is a member of the Miami Beach Rowing Club he's also a leader of the Miami water Keepers and he unfortunately couldn't be here today because he's schol but I'm here to express our family's concerns about the increase of commercial traffic in the Indian Creek Waterway um what we're observing at the moment um is currently the commercial boats that are using that Waterway are exceeding the speed limits they're traveling on the wrong side of the Waterway and they're leaving large weights that bounce off the seaw walls which really threaten the safety not only of our rollers but the coaches that are trying to manage the situation um we're also seeing charter boats that are illegally dapping um in the parking lot adjacent to our club on 65th Street and they're picking up and dropping off passengers and they're tying up to trees and electrical boxes and they're really prohibiting our rowers from being able to dock in the club um I think that um the charter boats have you know the ability to use other other waterways um you know for their customers I think that it's also will create a lot more traffic backing up onto the 63rd Street Bridge with that bridge opening and closing more due to commercial traffic um and lastly I just think think the presence of more commercial boats are contributing to the water pollution which is an issue that the city is already you know challenged to to take care of so I'm really urging the commission to take action to Reg um the activities in the Waterway to prioritize the safety of our kids and to protect the environment thank you so much next please please state your name yes name address and you have two minutes yes hi my name is Kristen Reinhardt I live at live at 110 Washington Avenue in South Beach and Mr Mayor commissioner thank you for your time today I come to you today to speak about the cat the cat build to relocate the cats and I'm going to say right now I'm a relocated from New York State and from New York City I think when I speak now I speak for myself I speak for everybody in my building I speak for all my friends that I know in the Continuum and the Pino and South porn Tower and the apley and Ronald Grand and all the buildings and all the condos down in South Point because they're all my friend many people are my friends and they know people and I've spoken to most of them we know that there's a lot of dog lovers in Miami Beach correct well a lot of dog lovers also have cats in their house and they're also cat lovers and I see the dog lovers walking the dogs in the morning and I talk to them and we talk about cats and they're huge supporters of the cats on the beach and I want to put a context here you're going to hear later about uh soie cats and all the services that they can provide and so on but for you to have a context of a city is judged by how they treat their denisons and how they treat their animals and I think in that view of History we're going to look at this and say Miami Beach treated their cats well now we need to take care of problems and we're working on it and soie cats has over 400 to 500 volunteers that work for free for soie cats that's a huge number of volunteers I've worked for nonprofits my whole life and I have never seen such a ground swell of volunteers to come and give their free time it shows how much they care about the cats all of these people will be affected all of Miami Beach will be affected and now I'm going to say something that's going to sound really pretentious but everyone knows Jane Goodall and how she helped the chimpanzees well she's gone down in the view of history as being a hero practically a saint for how she treated these animals you're running up I think if we just step back a little bit think about approaching the problem again with some more resources I think we can have some good success thank you for your time thank you our next virtual speaker is Mel Rothman please state your name address and you have two minutes hi my name is Rael Rothman my address is 3235 noreast 21 Terrace in Aventura Florida um I Echo the sentiments of Merida singer who spoke earlier I'm also a proud parent of a child that is in uh the Miami Beach Rowing Club um there has been a disproportionate increase on on the Waterway of um chartered um uh boats um creating hazards for our children um contributing to the pollution not paying attention to the way that the proper way to use the Waterway is illegally docking at the 65th um seaw wall and uh uh people approaching um to board um to board over their um vessels and and uh to drop off people there as well um it proposes a really a big danger to our children and to other uh our our children aren't the only ones that are using the waterways that are um un motorized vessels um but the Quakes that are created by some of these charter boats that are not paying attention to what the rules are and there's really no enforcement out there um on a usual basis these these people are you know using the waterways um at their at their leisure and there isn't any any real enforcement to um protect the people that they're affecting and so I would um greatly um request that um the charter Bo not be allowed to continue this um illegal use of the Waterway and that shouldn't be expanded it should be um prevented to um prevent you know a tragedy that could happen and I thank you for your time and I thank you for um taking a look at um how you can increase the protections that are on that Waterway thank you thank you so much sir go ahead state your name address and you have two minutes uh yes good afternoon my name is alexe a phonin I'm uh I live on 1661 West Avenue and I'm um a retired captain and still have the captain's license 50 ton Master's license and an actor um in 1973 at the age of 16 um my family came from Soviet Union to United States uh the reason was that my parents wanted to make sure that my brother and I live in a country that exercises democracy um now this this situation I live with my wife on the boat in uh Sunset Bay and um I didn't feel didn't think I was doing something wrong because as I understand by state of Florida we're perfectly allowed to live underw in that particular area now uh the city of Miami Beach uh restricted access to shore um and uh completely uh thinking of cutting off access to shore that's kind of a make me making me feel that I'm doing something wrong and uh I can't believe that the United States of America the land of the free and brave just exercises such a rude and way of dealing with the problem yes there may be too many boats there and uh the Marine the moing field is probably on the way but meanwhile don't treat us like that it reminds me of Soviet Union really thank you thank you thank you so much our next virtual speaker is Mir kovas hi uh my name is Mera kovic and I live on Venetian Causeway I've been a resident of Miami Beach since 1990 and on my uh out of my own uh initiative I feed cats on the beach behind uh from 21 to um to to Carlton and um I'm greatly uh disturbed by uh this proposal about removing cats because that's a dead sentence for them um also I just wanted to remind everyone that what's going on on dunes currently it's horse races so in the face of that this accusation on cats is absolutely ridiculous because cats are not damaging doomes events are and I appreciate I really appreciate the opportunity to talk and be a voice for uh my dear friends from a beach and uh I thank you all for listening to me and I hope that you're going to take in consideration the Ridiculousness of this proposal thank you very much thank you sir go ahead state your name address and you have two minutes sir good afternoon I'm John bradam I live at 3737 Collins Avenue and I would like to comment on the proposal to relocate the cats I think it would be a terrible mistake and frankly a disaster most of these cats have lived on the boardwalk for years it's the only home they know they cannot live in cages they would be terrified if you try to trap them and move them what will happen is you will have many frantic cats and cages by the boardwalk many of whom will be injured trying to escape this is what your constituents and your visit ERS will see and where would you put them if you try to move them to the already overcrowded shelters most of them will be killed euphan for lack of space the chance of a feral or semif feral cat being adopted is demous and if you try to relocate them and move them to another area many of them will try to return to the only home they know and they will be killed on the highways and the roads there secondly this is totally unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer money these cats cause no harm to the dunes they are well monitored care for cared for trap new to release Colony they're fed twice a day this is a well accepted and proven way of caring for feral cat colonies third these cats are a well-like feature of Miami Beach people like cats and harming them will not be well received I see your constituents on and visitors on the boardwalk every day they take pictures of the cats they pet them they ask questions about them the children in particular love them and some to move these cats would be cruel unnecessary a waste of taxpayer money and it would detract from not add to Miami Beach thank you for your time thank you our next virtual speaker is Andy Andy state your name address and you have two minutes hi this is Andrew diely 1661 West Avenue uh I would like to thank first the city manager for her exceptional service and also the police chief of Miami Beach for his exceptional service especially during spring B Break um today I want to talk about the behavior of a certain public official who has publicly attacked our residents and the boat specifically but not just that at his first city Commission meeting he attacked a city manager which I found very distasteful because he had only been in office for two weeks and I would say sit down shut up and listen to the experienced folks in the room attack people who have been here for Years also at the last commission meeting he attacked the police chief which I found very distasteful because the police risk their lives every day to do the work that we are not a able to do as Citizens so I I thank the police chief for that furthermore uh I think it's very ridiculous that we have to have a bill to talk about how public officials should act harassing voters via text social media harassing voters with drones and using his wife to take pictures of people multiple police reports filed against him threatening voters in person which you can look up and it's public video and I would just say to everybody on this commission you need to control this guy because everything he does is also your responsibility and the city is going to be liable for his actions furthermore what you're doing is illegal at the expense of the personal freedoms of the voters and the condo owners do not own the water I remind you of that the city of Miami Beach do not does not own the waters those are federal and state waters and finally I would like to assert my first amendment right to say stop harassing and attacking people Mr David Suarez you should give a public apology and mayor minor I'm asking you to hold David hores accountable for the attacks on citizens our next virtual speaker I'm sorry in person uh state your name address and you have two minutes please before I start though I I don't want use my time I I want to thank the police and I have a check here for $5,000 that I made out to Miami Beach Police Athletic Association which I think does a fabulous job I go to Flamingo Park and I see the wonderful work they do and I want to present this check to the chief of police and yes the police in Miami Beach do do a fabulous job thank uh Wayne Jones police chief uh for the city uh Jamie thank you for this really really thoughtful and generous um donation to the kids uh over our city that attend and participate in all the programs to police atletic league has to office so thank you very much thank you sir job well done now my name is Jamie Losi I live at 321 Ocean Drive in Miami Beach and I am a concerned citizen I would like to say that I'm honored to be here to speak on behalf of Miami Beach residents and the Jewish residents of Miami Beach Miami Beach is a great City with Visionary leadership passionate leadership great people working in the Parks and Recreation Department and probably the best police force in the entire nation um that said as a lifelong Jew I am sickened by Jew hate and anti-Semitism especially when it's carefully disguised I understand that many non-jewish people do not understand our particular life experiences the hate the Dem the pain we feel and uh how we were taught to ignore it all our lives I just can't ignore it though um it's become normalized because as a minority 1% of the population nobody really wants to do anything everybody wants to sort of look the other way and talk about it but at the end nothing gets done so um you know as a child in Canada I experienced violence discrimination constantly the police did nothing there was no iPhone and we had to live with it we had to ignore it just like our grandparents ignored it when Hitler came to take them away to the gas Chambers um so here I am 50 years later in Miami Beach and recently I've been experiencing and I know many people have the same pain the same fear and I kind of feel betrayed in some ways um a few months ago I have a video of it there was a huge Riot on Ocean Drive the police were there I thought they did a great job corralling the riot but in the end these people were in front of 321 Ocean Drive for hours and it lingered on all afternoon I have a video of it which I want to play for you guys so you can maybe just hear it that's from my balcony there are at least 500 to a th000 demonstrators very organized signage leaders you name it they had it so it wasn't like just a bunch of kids and one lady was screaming Hitler should have finished the job and there's 16 million Jews left in the world and she's screaming on Ocean Drive I don't know what the purpose was because there's we can't fix that situation we can't fix Gaza on Ocean Drive and you know it was very uncalled for now now again the police were there they coralled them there was a very large police presence I thought it was done professionally in that way but I don't really know why they were there I don't think they should have been there at all so that said um I agree with free speech and according to law this mob was spe spewing hate speech and according to the Constitution that's unlawful we don't have to put up with it thank you why do we allow these activists to take away our rights of residents and taxpayers blocking access to our homes blocking streets harassing people it's not right it's not acceptable tolerance is very nice but it sends the wrong message and it destroys our society these people see Miami Beach as a weak city they're coming back okay I'm almost done I have a lot of stuff here but I'm almost done they have websites it is organized and the thing that happened the other day at at the temple Emanuel that's a Miami Beach Landmark that was on TV Nationwide they saw these people harassing Jews on the sidewalk they saw them inside the temple and I don't think anything happened to those people so that sends a a message that it's acceptable in Miami Beach and they're laughing at us and they're getting likes on Instagram and they're thinking about it and you know this weekend they were in the the Catholic church in in New York St Patrick's Cathedral didn't the same thing thank you sir so the message is if we don't get tough this is going to be going on and on and on we got Passover coming and I wouldn't be surprised if if they were in front of the temple and trying to break in the temple again and so it's a warning and I think we should take it seriously thank you very much our next virtual speaker is Casey Casey please state your name address and you have two minutes please hi everyone my name is Casey fom I live at 6770 Indian Creek I am here in opposition of relocating the beach cats I have been privileged to be a volunteer feeder for the 69th Street um route in addition to a volunteer at the so Camp Kitty campus the cats are well taken care for they're neutered they're friendly and they're an overall net positive to our community I think it would be incredibly cruel for reasons that multiple people have stated to relocate them it will lead in deaths and it will be very disappointing to know that it was our city that was responsible for this thank you thank you so much all go ahead please state your name address and you have have two minutes please hi I'm Ruth PR 6900 Bay Drive I thank you all for giving me a chance to express myself I just want to support with all the previous speaker talk about relocating the the cats I've been uh uh registered feeder for over 12 years and work very closely to most of the feeders and I want to thank all of them for the what they've been doing incredible and I also want to explain that I work at an animal clinic where we provide the Spain UD the program and we do about 50 cats a month most of them is from Miami Beach area and a lot of the feeders not only trap them bring them over spend their money with gas and if the cats have any additional problems they end up paying for the bill additional to this pain U some of them take them home even though they don't have enough space including me and um to force them and then help them either be um adopted if they are friendly or put them back and to remove the cats from the dunes like they had done in the past at a certain area of the park they all end up dead because they were put in an enclosed area and then they remove we don't know by whom and they disappear so this will be repeated again and this is considered animal cruelty so I'm totally against this proposal and I suggest that the officials maybe set up a meeting with us because some of them already did in the past follow through learn what we do and how can this be solved without killing the cats because that's what it's going to end up being killing the cats thank you thank you so much our next virtual speaker is Pam ith hi uh how are you uh can you hear me me yes go ahead please okay great uh my name is uh Biz and uh I live at 1260 97 Street in Bay Harbor Island um I am a owner of M of several marot hotels and also my son is a part of um the um Miami Beach roing Club I'm I'm calling on be um in the session on behalf of uh Miami Beach Rowing Club because I've seen hand what's happening there and how um uh dangerous it is for the young children there and I think that it's time that we do something before someone gets hurt um and more so you know um I want to give you my expertise in tourism and Hospitality ownership uh despite what people say even from you know the hotels there um no one really books a hotel based on a uh you know commercial charter boat that they're going to get people come to Miami Beach because they want to come to the uh services that that hotel offers and uh what so there's a lot of locations in which these chartered boats and motorized Sports can happen uh there's in Miami Alto together so there's no no reason why we have to keep them there uh so that's you know business-wise speaking uh yes is it easier for people to come across the street you know uh potentially during the day or at night drunk uh going in and causing issues and causing problems with the police yeah it is easier um and would they book more services while they're at the hotel yes they would however there's no way that anyone is not going to Eden Rock not going to noou not going to fountain blue because those uh boats are not there that is a falsity so um you know that's what I want to tell you I think at the end of the day thank you so much sir thank you I appreciate it sir your your next two minutes state your name and address and the young lady at the end is the last person here in the audience and anyone with their hands raised at this point will speak go ahead sir good afternoon uh mayor and Commissioners uh thank you so very much for your time today uh my name is dlon white I'm actually not a Miami Beach resident uh I represent uh crgo Foundation of Homes Incorporated we are a nonprofit organization out of Honolulu Hawaii uh we have a uh what we thought was a charitable solicitations permit to solicit the public going to Miami Beach Boardwalk uh to raise money for kids to attend college for the marine biology sector of the uh education program that we're sponsoring um we were submitted by uh the Department of Tourism and culture uh the permit uh that was signed by a Marcia monserat this is the official offal permit here that we were uh given and her uh signature is on the back of here as the person that approves this permit according to the permit itself uh it says that uh the permit uh shall not be valid unless approved and executed by the city manager uh which is I Believe Miss Aluna Hub nice to meet you today uh the problem that we're having is that uh we've received three of these permits uh these permits for us last about 3 months a piece uh we started started with uh the city back in August of 22 uh all the way into uh June 30th of last year uh as far as having the paper uh permits uh each one of them was signed by Marcia monserat and uh on its face it appears fraudulent uh the problem that we're having is that the police has uh shut us down uh again uh since March 8th uh we did not have a permit uh because we had submitted renewal packets uh from June 30 last year to the department and uh we were unable to receive a physical permit from them um so I'm asking for help uh we are a 501c3 public charity and we also have a state permit as well uh we'd like to have the city permit uh but there is a part of the city code that says that uh that we can be exempt because of the fact that we are a charity and we are uh licensed through the Department of Treasury Internal Revenue Service uh if one of the commissioners could help us and maybe particularly Mr uh Fernandez uh I believe that one day you were on the uh 43rd Street uh with a number of officers including a sergeant I wrote you about that uh and this Sergeant uh actually approached me I uh uh displayed to him the last permit that we had received which was as of June 30th and uh he did not shut me down the officers did not shut me down and actually co-compliance came out and they didn't shut me down uh so I was under the understanding that because we were exempt thank you sir would be able to operate but we have not received any help and we're just crying out for help for one of the Commissioners to help us and we appreciate it thank you for your time okay U thank you Mr city clerk uh given that we've already gone over the half hour let's give the remaining speakers one minute each thank you uh the next speaker is Wally Moran no keeping good afternoon Mor from Melbourne I'm the president of the bres rights network of North America I want to address agenda item R5 AA the city of course as those of you up front know has been advised by the Florida Inland navigational District that you cannot restrict the use of the docks without violating the grant conditions that Florida Inland navigational District put in place when the city was given the money that's approximately a quarter of a million dollars uh is Miami Beach prepared to uh table table the agenda item or do they intend to continue on with it and find a quarter of a million dollars that a Miami Beach taxpayers will have to pay in their continuing attempt to get the bers who are legally anchored out of Sunset Harbor that is my question and I would appreciate an answer and I think the uh city um City taxpayers would appreciate that as well thank you thank you next please good afternoon my name is Dana Stillman I live at 3015 North Bay Road I'm here to talk about the potential relocation of the boardwalk cats as I like to call them I'm a registered feeder with soie cats for over seven years now and Linda and expensive recently an elderly woman next to me died next to my home died and she was a feeder and I have tried to move seven cats 30 feet it's never going to happen they just don't move um so I have an alternative for you besides just complaining outside um in Atlantic City they have the boardwalk cats that even have their own Trip Advisor page and they're it's actually a tourist attraction and it's hugely popular they have a place where people can donate to the feeders you're welcome thank you apologize our next virtual speaker is Kim Saia you have one minute please go ahead yes hi um I would like to also say that re relocating uh Community cats is not only is it cruel but it's ineffective it doesn't work more cats will just uh F that you know more cats will be dumped and need to be spayed and neutered the solution and many Studies have shown this the solution is spay and neuter spay and neuter and the cats that are there will hold the territory so no new cats can come in and eventually the overpopulation will decrease I know that Linda diamond and Holly they are the experts and they've um provided the links for the studies that show that the the only effective way to reduce the population is spaying neuter and that removing them it just doesn't work more cats just come in and that is a so it's ineffective the cost is and it's not practical it wouldn't really be doable as the last speaker said there's nowhere to take them to the cruelty issue is just one of many but I'll I'll appeal to the taxpayers for practicality it doesn't work appreciate [Applause] it hi there um not to sound like a broken record uh sorry my name is Cassandra agalia I live on 16th the Meridian I am a voter um and uh not to sound like a broken record I also would like to oppose the proposition of relocating the cats uh I'm mostly here just to show the amount of support that we have uh the amount of people that put effort into the community and how much we care about our community and want to make it better uh we want to eliminate the C population not we're not part of the problem we we are trying we are neutering we are taking care of them and giving them medical treatment uh and largely out of our own Pockets so uh please consider not uh voting for this thank you thank you so much our next virtual speaker is Miami Beach Boat Association sir state your name address and you have one minute hello I'm Carlos Leon I'm the president of Miami Beach voters Association I'm just calling because I'm very how I said before very sad about how people are treating other people I'm a boater I live on a boat since three year years and a half covid made me move into a boat I lived in Miami Beach 10 years prior to that and it's very sad to be treated worse worse than than than animals okay I see everybody fighting for Cs and I'm with the cat situation and it's and it's crazy that we can put voters in that conversation and it's the same thing you guys want to relocate us cut our access to food and water you now you want to cut the only way that we have legally to get to land to make us criminals I'm very very saddened that one commissioner is pushing everybody to do this and the common threat is that they're scared of him why because he's a bully thank you Mr Leon uh the next caller is Daniel Grimes sir your name address you have one minute good afternoon everybody I am Daniel Grimes I'm a 24e resident of Miami Beach in the lake view neighborhood I'm a father of a Miami Beach Rowing Club member and I have a suggestion for an immediate solution for this discussion related to the waterways I don't think it's realistic that we can seize all commercial operations but I think it would be difficult and argue and would cause a deferral but a decision I do think you can make today would be immediate accountability for the Boat companies um and enforce Law and Order and effective immediately using the budget surplus we have today and get some policemen out there as of tomorrow thank you sir our next caller is Janessa Strode state your name address and you have one minute okay hi uh my name is jasa stroe I live at 52579 Street and I'm calling also to oppose the bill for the cat relocation it's just not an efficient way to solve the problem if there's an overpopulation issue the only solution to that is the tnvr which is trap neuter vaccine release the cats and eventually you know hopefully it will solve itself however people will always be the problem people abandon cats they leave them where they go so even if you want to get rid of all these cats more cats will appear because people will always litter people will always abandon their animals because that's the unfortunate circumstance so I oppose the rule and ask everybody to possibly do more funding for programs like that and for bulls that actually are uh dissolving the recyclable thank you so much that's what I have to say thank you mayor that concludes snik okay great thank you so much uh let's call uh C7 y c C7 Y is direct Administration to explore construction of new theater Jackie gleon site C7 y was separated by Commissioners bot and Commissioners doing and commissioner Dominguez C7 y who wants to go first commissioner bot thank you um we um once again have an opportunity to do something potentially transformational for the city um in regards to the um the existing film War theater if you haven't been in it for a show I suggest you go because it's a great small venue um but it is a venue that and obviously um it has a just a wealth of History it's called The Jackie gleon because Jackie gleon moved his Showdown here um when the show opened up um the the video montage was a zoom in from the water over the buildings of Miami Beach all the way to the theater so you know we've had performers of every imaginable strip performing there from people's kids in ballet recital or camp activities to um the leading luminaries of the artistic world this theater is in disrepair um the building is in reasonably good shape the structure it just passed its 40-year recertification the innards are being held together by bailing wire and bubble gum so the $30 million that we have um could be used to get rid of the theater and build something new in conjunction with a partnership of um um Live Nation or AEG or whoever might come um and put forth the best proposal and that might be a reasonable way to go um there's an opportunity if we go that route to potentially use the land um that the theater is currently sitting on when it gets relocated and use that that it's it would get relocated to the grassy part if I'm uh not mistaken and then you would then free up almost 2 acres of land that could be used for um housing for the missing middle in the middle of our city which would be a great spot for that kind of um housing there's another way to go also which is to do a full gut rehab so the structure could stay intact or elements of the structure could stay intact um but the innards which are the things that are being held together by bailing wire and bubble gum for instance we um have to rent a lightings a lighting rig for the theater because even though there are lights built in um only half of them work and you can't advertise to touring acts as having a lighting rig if it doesn't work and there are no pieces available for it to make it functional again so we have to rent one at the cost of I think about 20 grand a month so before we direct um our Sal and our staff collectively all to move forward in One Direction I would like to have a brief pause so that we can get some additional information which might best inform the direction that we take um you know the the theater was originally built as a basically a copy of the um I won't I don't think I'll get the name right but the Miami Dade Performing Art Center or Miami day County Performing Art Center um built by Russell pancost noted Miami Beach um um architect the theater today does not look anything like that original theater I mean not a wit um another Miami Beach luminary architect Mars Lapidus did a renovation on the theater um another current luminary um is Ira Giller he's an architect and the son of another famous Miami Beach architect um did probably the most recent um architectural renovation so so there is a lot to contemplate in this and I would just like us to before we move inextricably down One path because we know that that has gotten us in trouble before I would like to um encourage my colleagues to support me and asking for the staff to do a research report to identify um exactly what if anything can be salvaged from the Integrity of the building structure itself understanding that the iner are probably not salvageable um understanding what remnants might remain of any of the um architectural significance um there is an opportunity to reimagine the inside of the building to make it feel as swaggy and shagadelic and swingy as the 1950s and 60s were so when you walk in you feel like you're going into this fabulous theater that exudes that era which it doesn't currently there are a lot of different opportunities that we have and I just feel like before we March along this one path without all this other information to help us make the best decisions possible that we should take a quick second and um have our staff do the excellent research that they do to give us all the information that we can collectively use to make the best possible decision Dominguez uh thank you so the only thing I will add to uh commissioner bod's item is to also uh for the city Administration to get community input uh because when I read this item and I started seeing different uh items come up in email to me and also throughout social media uh the community is um pretty passionate about keeping this building and rehabbing it so I want to make sure that the residents are heard and their opinion is taken into account as well commissioner Suarez uh through the chair um you know I'm I'm going to be supportive of um waiting another month but I wanted to ask commissioner bot you know I think recently there has been uh a change in historic preservation where replication is a form of historic preservation I wanted to know what your thoughts on that are um that's a good question I haven't contemplated that in great detail so I don't have a very well thought out answer but um I'm not sure if replication would be the best way to go um or if if um we can save what's there and just do like I said a gut rehab if replication would be necessary or if there is nothing that can be saved um do we have an opportunity to inform the design of whatever is new um to both on the inside and on the outside take its cues from the original um Architects motifs and again without doing the um without doing the research I don't know what of those things would be necessary I mean the building as it stands now is a bit of a hodg Podge um and so I'm not against it for sure uh I just I without having more information I don't know so um the only reason I asked that is because if Elizabeth miro's here I know she's here through the chair um you know we had a discussion at fin right about the the Jackie gleon the Filmore theater and we have I believe $20 million to 30 30 to repair um if you can just real quick what what's the funding that we have to repair the current uh good afternoon mayor Commissioners Elizabeth Muro interim director for facilities and Fleet Management we have approximately $29 mil10 th000 okay and so that is to repair the Jackie gleon it is to make repairs um it's a Capital C capital projects it includes some of the ask that we had from the tenant as well but the majority do come from the MC hering Associates assessment report and I think at the finance meeting you said that the 30 million wouldn't wouldn't be enough to really repair this building it wouldn't be enough to do a state-of-the-art building as has been conceptualized by life Nation okay well funding beyond that I think is will be required okay um so just I just want to make sure that we're we're all on I you know I thought at the finance meeting we were we were in supportive of this um I think commissioner bot was in on there I'm I'm again I'm I'm okay with just a referral or or deferral um but you know I think if $30 million can't even make a dent in this building as far as repairing and making it a a a real venue um and that's why I ask if if replication is um is on the table so um you know because if we're if we're going to you know if we can if we're going to have to tear it down and then rebuild it in the exact way I don't know if that is going to make a difference as far as building a world class uh venue but I'm certainly sensitive to the fact that this is a beautiful building and and people really do care about the historical architecture of it but I just wanted to I want to throw that out there to see if you know if we can rebuild it and and in its exact shell instead of keeping the shell and then doing the inside so commissioner bot yeah I'm not I'm not opposed to that in theory I I just feel like we don't know yet we don't have enough um tangible information about um what is salvageable or not salvageable and what the compelling architectural details are and I think that would be a big part of the um Outreach to Residents as well to help them understand um you know this can work this could work that can work and and give them some options and give them an opportunity to have input into the direction I mean one way or the other we're going to get a new state-of-the-art facility whether it's replication whether it's a gut Rehab on the inside but protecting the existing structure on the outside or building something new so that is good news for everybody so so again that's why I'm just asking for deferral for a month um hopefully that would be sufficient time for our staff to pull together a you know a thorough um uh compendium of information that we can collectively take and inform ourselves and our residents with and then have a conversation about what's the best way forward to try to make everybody happy I second that [Music] motion um commissioner magazine thank you madam vice mayor that has a nice ring to it especially during women's month um yeah I'm I'm supportive of this uh wasn't specific for this item but I have a little note that I scribble in front of me I said I always trying and follow remember uh it's not personal just trying to do what's best for the city uh right I I think so many times we over complicate matters matters Let's uh ask staff to come back and deliver something very simple two proposals a rehabed gut Renault of the existing structure and a new structure and for both of them say here's the pros and cons of a here's the pros and cons of B and we can have a Full Slate of here's the different directions we can go in the one thing I would suggest or maybe even urge is involve the operator with that because it's not just okay how can we rehab the building but it's also what types of events would we be able to host in the existing facility under the existing structure versus if we would create a new structure and that's important because we can't just think okay what what do we want the building to look like we also need to think about what do we want the building used for and there could be a totally different set of events performers uh attractions that we're able to attract in a new building so let's just have that very simplistically gut rehab here's the pros and cons new building pros and cons and we can all collectively engage our community in a very easy Manner and then we sit here and make a decision I I think we can really use that model for a lot of different infrastructure projects that we're looking at thank you so there's a motion to defer and to prepare this report and it's been seconded theor yeah I I mean I I picked this up as a sponsor because because it it was uh sorry through the chair uh being you it was being heard at Finance uh in the previous years and I wanted to pick this up uh continue the conversation I didn't want just a simple change in uh City uh electeds to completely derail uh months or even years of progress that we had um but I I don't think uh we're not going to stop Live Nation in their tracks of you know preparing their designs so I don't really look at this as some sort of waste of time uh let's just have City staff work with uh work with the operator of the building and say here are different options available to us well I'm glad we're proceeding uh I took a tour with my team of the facility it's uh it's not in great condition we have a report from the consultant MC Harry it's pretty much tells you where your eyes see so um definitely uh we definitely need to do something there so glad to see this moving forward call a vote so all in favor of deferring this item with a report upcoming to the May 15th uh commission meeting uh please say I I I any Nays motion carries 70 the item is deferred c71 let's call R9 AG R9 AG is discuss action selection of City attorney R9 AG so rafhael big shoes to Phil you've made your mark here in just a couple of years uh some people get to spend uh decades in a position uh we didn't we weren't as fortunate to have that long with uh with you but you definitely uh made your mark and it's uh I'm proud to proud to have worked with you and call you a friend you know some people you you know that's probably the last time you're ever going to speak to them other than running into an event and I have a feeling you and I are going to be uh continue to be friends so uh I look forward to that why don't you set the uh posture I mean basically we're down to we we had agreed to call uh an in-house position whoever applied and we have two candidates but I'll I'll turn it over to you that's right thank you mayor and thank you for your your kind words and um at the last meeting the city commission directed HR to post an internal recruitment in view of two very strong internal candidates who had expressed interest in the position uh that posting happened and was closed the two applicants you know the two candidates applied um you've all had opportunity to interview and meet with them and uh they're here before you today and and so hopefully um with feedback from from you know the the body um hopefully you'll you'll have broad consensus and and thank you both for applying it's uh I said this last time it's never easy to put yourself out there uh we're in obviously a very public forum so you take uh there's a level of risk from a public standpoint putting your name out there so much appreciated and no matter how this vote goes today um I hope and I believe my colleagues agree with me but I'll let them speak for themselves that you are both valued members of our of our city and our city attorney's office which is a I I've said this our city attorney's office carries way above its weight uh in the sense volume of work that's that's done out of that office with the amount of people is absolutely staggering and now we're even uh we're even seeing more and more of our uh city attorney's office doing the arguments and oral arguments so we're saving a tremendous amount of money and not having to go outside legal fees and doing a great job very well prepared passionate persuasive and we're winning a lot of these cases so um just just a thank you to to both of you and however way this goes please you should hold your head up high and and and you're and you're an incredible asset to our city Mr Mayor commissioner Fernandez thank you Mr Mayor um and I want to Echo so many of your of your words uh because our our legal team is one that I think all of us uh City commissioners should be very proud of the the change in this office from years ago to today um it's it's incredible the strength that it has the respect that it has pass uh seeing seeing this legal team perform in court during spring break it truly was a privilege to sit in that courtroom you never want to be sued but if you're going to be sued you want to be well represented well represented with the very best and I was so impressed by you Mr attorney um by the work you've you've done over the years leading an incredible team uh and bringing and and and emerging from from that team of of individuals to incredibly talented individuals um who who who really have dedicated so many years Rob uh Rosenwald uh I've known for so many years has dedicated uh you know so much to to to important fights in this in this in this city uh and Rick dopo who who brings more of an outsider perspective uh to to to our city but um still very skillful very strong uh as as as a c candidate and and the highest level of of integrity and so I want to thank the office uh the entire office you all represent us uh from the city attorney down to the par legals and the secretaries all of you represent us uh with with great honor and I'm proud to be working in a city that's represented by by by all of you um Mr Mayor you know I really I really think think we need a tough negotiator in this position there's so many uh projects in the in the in the pipelines uh someone someone who's a strong leader someone who's who's diplomatic uh with imp impeachable character and who who is able to hit the ground running from day one on some of the major complex matters that we have on on the table I really think it's without question to me uh the ri dopico has risen above uh in in those categories to to to to hit the ground running and I think we'd be very well served uh by having his talent at the helm of this incredible uh Legal Office of the city of Miami Beach and I'd be honored to to to move his appointment to be our next City attorney anybody want to be heard anybody want to second the motion commissioner Dominguez uh thank you uh first of all rapael pause you have been absolutely amazing and uh we'll miss you tremendously um and I think I better take a breath if not I'm going to start crying uh but you are absolutely terrific and um I have had the opportunity of working for the past year with uh both of the candidates and I've interviewed them and had uh separate conversations with them they are both outstanding attorneys and uh they have terrific skill sets and and um either one would serve our city well um at the end I uh am with commissioner Fernandez I think that with Rick dopo at the the top um giving an analogy of what mark would say uh he could see all the chess pieces and know several moves ahead and um I think that will work well um but I also think that Rob is terrific he's authentic he's compassion and uh he's been great at his job and will continue to to be that way as well absolutely commissioner bot um I think it's a testament to our City attorney that we have such a tough choice to make um you know I've learned through as we all do the Hard Knocks that we go through in life that every unfortunate circumstance has a silver lining and getting to know you Raphael was the silver lining of the doville debacle that's where we first met and uh we've been pretty darn good friends ever since and it's a thrill that not only have we become friends but I got to be your colleague as well for not long enough in my book but but it's a testament to who you are and your leadership um that we have a you know this torturous choice to make of two excellent attorneys and good people who have been serving our city well in their respective capabilities um I've also spent a good chunk of time talking to both of you um work well with you both like you both as people and um am AED by your knowledge and skill set um I guess what it came down for me was um the breadth of experience in terms of different legal disciplines because what the what the City attorney has to deal with is the most head spinning range of legal matters and um and so for that reason um I I'm going to be supporting Rick um to to be our next City attorney and Rob I'm going to continue relying on you for your excellent guidance and deep Dives on the most Arcane subjects and um your commitment for to doing what's right um in the most compassionate way and so I look forward to continuing to work with you both commissioner magazine uh first and foremost rapael thank you um I will miss your legal presidence uh I will miss your friendship uh one of the things I've enjoyed most about my time here thus far is stopping in your office not just for legal advice but just contemplating what's going on in the city what's going on in the world I think the world of you so thank you so much and thank you for leaving this department in such good graces evidenced by uh we are left with an incredibly tough decision uh I won't Bel this but last night I I ironically I found myself watching one of my favorite movies as I Was preparing here that that's Gladiator and as uh Marcus aelius uh says to Maximus he says Maximus I want you to be the emperor of Rome Maximus says Caesar I cannot and Marcus raelia says that's why it must be you and this applies to the earlier talk as well with Eric and Raquel and Mark it applies to Rob and Rick none of you despite all this staff turnover has orchestrated in the background for your own benefit you haven't lobbied us and say hey it must be me in fact these two great candidates we have here to be our next City attorney they both came to us and said we're going to support the other person no matter who is the choice this is a team effort and we're going to support the other person and if one of you would have came and said' it must be me that would have given me Pauls but you both said this is about the office and this is about the city and that's a testament the type of people that we have working in this incredible City uh I'll be joining my colleagues and supporting Rick um but that decision was also helped along knowing that Rob you're going to be an integral part of that team and I look forward to working with you to elevate your status and and your contribution to the city because we are blessed to have had that over the years and we're even more blessed that you're committed to remaining as a critical part of that team so thank you all okay I um thank you for courting Gladiator great movie uh you're motivating me I may watch it tonight but uh yeah was uh in in meeting obviously we work closely together um a lot Rick and Rob but it was interesting that in the meeting both uh made the pitch for their own merits but also spoke very highly of the other which is uh which is a testament to their individual character and um I think sort of what we're trying to build here in Miami Beach so um I'm comforted by that should we take the vote so there's there's a mo a motion but no second that's right and I'll second and if I can just maybe clarify with the motion would include um so it would you would be what you would be doing today would be You' be appointing Rick too as uh acting City attorney uh effective immediately uh or tomorrow U with Rick to assume the duties of permanent City attorney upon my departure uh you would also as we have in the past um uh have Rick meet with the chair of Finance to you know negotiate the terms of his employment agreement which will come back to you on May 15th and um and then there's the question of my departure dat U which I've know I've spoken with several of you and and my ask would be that that my departure date be May 3d um but I would like to um to continue to be available to Rick and and uh to provide advice support every single day and to be able to take unpaid leave from my new um employment whenever I need to um to get you to get Rick through the the June and July commission meetings um so that would be my ask to have a set a departure date of May 3rd um but to continue to receive my contract payments through the the July meeting if if that is something that you're amendable to Mr Mayor I amend my motion as stated I think it's a value added to have Rafel with his institutional knowledge guiding our new acting uh City attorney uh so I amend uh move as amended as stated by the City attorney and I'll second and just so you know this is something that um the prior commission did for rul agula that I found extremely helpful because there are a million questions random questions that come up um every day um and and I want to be able to to you know help Rick succeed commissioner Rosen Gonzalez so there's a lot of people that um might not understand exactly what we're doing right now appointing our City attorney Miami Beach has a strong manager form of government so this board right here we appoint a CEO who runs our daily operations but there are three Charter officers these officers are voted on by the commission and those officers are four Charter officers thank you Eric who's the fourth the Inspector General oh got it okay so we have the Inspector General the City attorney the city clerk and the city manager so these are very important positions and really this is one of the most important decisions that we are making because uh as you can see we get thousands of pages of documents that we have to go through and we constantly have to call on our legal team especially the City attorney who's going to represent um all seven of us he has seven and none of us are easy and all of us want certain opinions and and and and the City attorney is the one who will facilitate uh our legislative priorities policies that we set for the city agenda Raphael you've been you've really been wonderful you know when I first started out um in when was it 2015 many moons ago um I would propose something legislatively and everybody would look at me like I was a nuts but over the years I've figured out a little bit better how to navigate our system it takes a very very long time to understand our city Charter how it works with the Committees getting the votes how many votes and you have always answered your phone when I've called you and you've never baned when I've given you the crazy craziest legislative ideas ever things that we thought you know could that that wouldn't we wouldn't have been able to do and you have just uh gave me a wonderful team um that you've built of lawyers and I'd like to say you know thank you to to Rick and F roia and and everybody who's been writing you know the resolutions for us tirelessly uh many times um some of us might write our own resolutions but it's very hard you know and and and and and they have to navigate all of us and many times none of us agree on anything at all so uh you know you have to navigate all of these different personalities and um as I've been through this process I like Rob I've worked with you for many many years and and Rick uh recent you know more recently uh you you know you joined the city team from the private sector and uh both of you are wonderful candidates um you know and it's these are huge shoes to fill because he has really done an amazing job so much so that I think we burnt him out we burned we burned you out with probably getting phone calls at like 6: am I've called him on like a Sunday at 7 p.m. and I guarantee you that's probably the last phone call he really wants on Sunday at 7 and many times it's with a crazy idea so thank you um hopefully um whomever uh you know uh becomes our next City attorney um you will realize that you know we're all up here doing the best that we can to create policies that are fair to everyone fair and Equitable to every single person uh in our community that is not always easy to do uh we do our best um Rick I'm going to I'm going to vote for you today but Rob I really enjoy you know the working with you too and um I have hold both of you in such high uh esteem and um and I look forward to working with you and uh please continue to to say yes when we propose something legislatively even though you think it might be a reach because there are so many things in this world that we need where we need to take stands like like Jamie lki said about protecting our community there are so many times um that what Miami Beach says really does make a difference it makes a difference in the State of Florida because we are one small small island but we are a Powerhouse we are internationally renowned and when Miami Beach speaks people listen so please continue uh to say yes and to facilitate all of our legislative needs and um I look forward to working with you thank you maybe we could have Rick come up for the vote V I wasn't saying to speak just when we call the vote so we have a motion do we have a second we do take the vote roll call or Voice vote let's do voice a roll call I think it's going to be roll call commissioner bot yes commissioner Dominguez yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner Suarez yes mayor Miner yes motion is approved 7-0 congratulations [Applause] conat [Applause] thanks to each and every one of you I'm honored that you have selected me to serve as your next City attorney especially since I had such a formidable competitor as Rob Rosenwald so I know that it was a hard decision to make i v out to do everything that I can to continue to provide the same level of Excellence that you have become accustom to thanks to the incredibly talented and Unstoppable legal team uh including attorneys and support staff that my predecessors have set up and I will do everything I can to help you all Implement uh collabor in collaboration with the administration your policies for the welfare safety and general well-being of the residence so thank you and I look forward to serving you thank [Applause] you two of our most important positions all discussed in the same day so it is definitely a time of change we have a 230 time certain so we're a couple minutes early but um let's try to knock out a couple second reading items they they'll probably be quick let's do r5a r5a is an ordinance of the mayor City Commission of the city of Mii Beach Florida amending chapter 7even of Mii Beach resiliency code and to zoning districts and regulations Article 2 District regulations division 4 rm1 residential multif family low intensity section 7.2.4 point2 uses rm1 and amending division 5 rm2 residential multif family medium intensity section 7.2.5 point2 uses rm2 to adopt hours for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages on premises at alcohol beverages beverages establishments on Bell Isle providing for repealer catification severability and an effective date this is a second reading public hearing the item requires a 57th vote it is item r5a um Mr May uh if through through the mayor commissioner Fernandez thank you also sponsored you are the sponsor and co-sponsored by commissioner magazine thank you um this is uh my my uh my my legislation it's not my legis it's our legislation um but it's a legislation for the roll back of alcohol hours uh in B Isle we've uh slowly been been doing this in different different areas of our city where we want to preserve the residential quality of life and and prevent uh for to to change the character of those areas with extended our alcohol sales uh for un premised consumption at these locations it's a very direct item I'm sure my colleagues you're familiar with it so I moved the item I have a question um I'll go ahead and and speak uh when this item came on the agenda I got a message from uh Sean Patrick of the bile residents Association and I had been under the impr he was going to call you and ask for it to be deferred he had questions on it did you hear from from be I got an email yesterday through through the chair through the mayor of course I got an email from from from from B yesterday um about it um if if it's the preference to have this deferred um I'll be happy to defer the item just for the record this item started as a referral June 28th 2023 for a year we've been working on this on this legislation but of course uh I'm I'm H if if it's the if it's in the interest of better policy and to better protect the residents of of B A who we represent I'd be happy to defer the item I'd make that friendly uh suggestion only because I think they have more things they want to discuss with you on okay uh they should reach out to me uh they and call me uh and I'll be happy to to to defer the item so we can incorporate their suggestions with that Mr mayor I I do a motion to defer the item to the next meeting May May I just because of the fouryear cycle that we have for zoning amendments it would get it would have to be deferred to the July meeting unless uh declared an emergency by the city commission with a 57s vote then I defer it to the July meeting okay the other the other suggestion is if you wanted to call Sean in the interim we can call it later I don't see any emails from him on this issue but yeah um well if you don't mind yeah U maybe can we continue it to a little bit later in the meeting uh maybe call it up a little bit later in the meeting to see if if I can hate to wait uh 3 months if we if it's not necessary but thank you Mr Mayor I appreciate that sure we have uh let's call one more item before our 2:30 time start r5b R r5b is an ordinance of the mayor City Commissioner of the city of Mani Beach Florida menu chapter 7even of the Mani Beach resiliency code intitled zoning districts and regulations article two District regulations division 4 rm1 residential multi family low intensity section 7.2.4 point2 uses rm1 amending division 5 rm2 residential multif family intensity section 7.2.5 point2 uses rm2 amending division 6 rm3 residential multif family high intensity section 7.2.6 point2 uses rm3 amending division 11 cd-2 commercial medium intensity District section 7.2.1 111.2 uses cd2 and amending division 15 performance standard District PS section 7.2.1 15.3 commercial performance standard District CPS to adopt and or amend hours of for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages on premises and alcoholic beverage establishments in the a area generally bounded by biscane Bay on the West Lincoln Road on the North Fifth Street on the south and Lennox Court on the eastern boundary line of properties fronting the east side of Alton Road on the East and providing for repealer qualification severability and an effective date this is a second reading public hearing it requires 5 s's vote it is item r5b commissioner Fernandez thank you Mr Mayor this is companion item to the other piece of legislation uh finally our alcohol roback legislation uh for for for Alon Road and West Avenue and West Avenue just creates a hard stop at 2 a.m. preserving this very residential uh uh Corridor in our city preserving the quality of life for for for for this very residential Corridor in our city and then on Alton Road creating parody uh on the east side with the west side on the west side we already had a prospective uh uh rowback on the west side and now it creates parity on the on the east side uh as as well for any existing establishment or or or approved land use uh uh order uh but it it establishes the same prospective uh policy on the east side of Alon Road um um with that Mr Mayor uh I'd like to uh move the item with the amendment that's been distributed by the City attorney commissioner Suarez um thank you mayor uh can you explain a little bit more commissioner fernanz about the it says or an approved land use order yes in other in other words they've been granted already uh the the uh the the legislative approval uh either by the planning board uh or by or by one of our classi judicial boards uh in order to be able to establish they just haven't opened up yet uh and so and so they have their approvals they've gone through the process uh they've you know hired you know the attorneys done all the paperwork participated in the public hearings attended the qualy judicial hearings uh that are held here and the public hearings that are held at the planning boards uh and they've earned uh a land use order approval and I don't know if Mr attorney like to add anything to that yeah so unless you have a board order or a BTR then this this new ordinance applies prospectively and would would prevent any new 5 AM establishment right so this would be just for the people in limbo or that already have already been approved that aren't operating right now yes yeah they that they've been approved and they just you know they Haven that's fair yeah light on commissioner Dominguez so it's a it's perspective so it wouldn't affect the bikini host well this is on Alton Road is perspective so so and that's that's the parody that we're creating it already exists on Alton Road it's just that the east side doesn't have it it's on the west side and now we're creating disparity uh to treat uh give give the same protections on the east side because we do have residents who live east of Alton Road uh on Lennox Avenue uh up up and down in our city and we have to make sure that we protect their residential quality of life as well okay I move I move the motion I move the item it's been moved so I'm going to make you a second as amended as amended yes yes and I don't know if Nick Nick I don't know there's anything else that you'd like to say about this of alcohol roback legislation mayor if I may the uh just to respond to commissioner dominguez's question please the the portion of this ordinance that applies to both sides of West Avenue would apply to both new and existing establishments so so the bikini hostel's um liquor license for 5:00 a.m. would go away this this who else would be affected there are there are three mandre Barton G and Bikini Hostel and have they been notified through the through the standard processes you know the constant contact that's done for all ordinances but I don't believe they've been specifically contacted and and if I may through the chair this has been again in in the works since January 28th 2023 uh when it was initially placed on this agenda then it went to the planning board then it's had first first reading uh all of these require resident right to know notifications mail public hearings I I believe and newspaper uh notifications so there's robust Outreach sent uh to the different stakeholders or affected parties throughout the legislative process is that correct Mr attorney that's correct thank you and this is consistent with the policy the commission has settled on that in residential areas 500 a.m is inconsistent with the character of those areas and certainly West Avenue is far more residential than than you would see along the Alton Corridor so that's uh part of the basis for for the the legislation commissioner magazine I'll be supportive I I don't love taking existing rights away but the one thing I I really think we should collectively talk about as a body is that notification process um these are people's livelihoods right and um it's it could be a fundamental part of a a business model and that's not to say we don't do it but gives me great on EAS sitting here saying okay we're going to remove um a critical part of somebody's operating business and maybe they were notified through the newspaper or by reading an agenda on Miami Beach website um I don't like that uh I'm going to be supportive of this I I know my colleague has worked incredibly hard on it um I think probably Through the Grapevine the three impacted establishments I would guess have been maybe unofficially notified um but going forward if we're going to have such impactful and Lasting legislation uh it's incumbent upon us that we firm up that notification process and Mr Mayor commissioner Fernandez thank you and I and and I completely uh agree uh and uh and I commend uh you as well as commissioner bot I think both of you are working on legislation uh having to do with this the more notification we provide uh to the public certainly uh I just want the record to show uh initiated January 28th it first appeared on the on the agenda as a as a resident's right to know item then again the planning board heard it on July 25th 2023 receiving a favorable recommendation by the way of the then planning board um including some of our colleagues and thank you to my colleagues that were sitting on the planning board at the time you get to vote on it now on the city commission um and then and and then uh and then again it appeared on an agenda with uh with notifications um on January on February 21st that appeared uh for first reading on the agenda with now this public hearing before us um throughout the process I just want to confirm there's been mailed notices is that correct emailed notices I don't know that a mail notice would be required for this item but there was email notice it would have been published in a newspaper we would have sent Constant Contact and it's been on all of our online agendas perfect and we'll continue working on making it even more robust mail notice is only required when it affects an area that's less than 10 acres this affects a larger swath of land that's over 10 acres so we do those other mail those other procedures Nick said Thank you in 5 seconds through the chair uh commissioner F you did everything uh perfectly it's just uh the process that we we can work the firm up so thanks for your commitment especially to my neighborhood on this take the vote it is a public hearing I have one person on Zoom Gail Durham M Durham please state your name you have two minutes please oh hi there my name is Gil I was the president of my neighborhood association here in West AV for 12 years and I also served on the planning board where we voted unanimously to pass this and there was no push back from the planning board it pass we've been working on this for like five years maybe even longer so I think there's been a lot of notice the notice has been perfect it started with commissioner Joy Malikov when she uh restricted alcohol on the west side of Altona Road um I just wanted make sure everyone was clear that most of the venues that have a license or can have 5 a.m. alcohol they choose to close at midnight for example you know go on the website or go visit Barton G you know he closes at 10 o'clock during the week and by midnight on the weekend um same with most of the other venues so this isn't going to harm anyone it's only going to help the neighborhood thank you very much thank you is there anyone else here in the audience seeing none we have no one else in Zoom let's call a vote so it is a roll call commissioner Magazine on r5b as amended yes commissioner Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner Suarez yes vice mayor Dominguez yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Bach yes mayor Miner yes motion is approved the item is approved as amended before I call the next item I just want to acknowledge uh Nick ceris come on up yeah we're seeing a lot of change in this meeting and we're you're one of them uh we're we're losing you unfortunately your last meeting um and I think you've done one or two alcohol items in your career here I've lost count multiply that a bit I've lost count you've lost count but really it's much more than that we we joke about this item but so many different zoning and land use items uh it's tremendous you know there's there's obviously a lot of things that we all do as electeds uh we're constantly working and you know this is the once a month meeting but you know you're a perfect example pick up the phone and you literally have an answer at your disposal on on very difficult intricate questions and um and then obviously answering emails about different zoning and land use items so it's a a tremendous tremendous asset we're losing but we're obviously happy for you and your uh your endeavors thank you mayor Mr Mayor yeah commissioner Fernandez I want to Echo your words uh because I got to tell you first as a resident then um as an aid at a certain point and then as an elected official it's been in every you know step of the way it's been such a privilege to work with you um I think I remember actually the first time I interacted with you and you were you were reminding me of the other day there was once this idea this kind of controversial idea to bring to host a Cuban Consulate in the city of Miami Beach and at the time I was the chair of the city's Hispanic Affairs committee and um of course that wouldn't be a controversial issue that we would discuss at the Hispanic Affairs committee and I wouldn't place it on the agenda um of course I did and um and Nick was there guiding guiding the process making sure everyone uh got a fair hearing guiding me making sure I handled L everything accordingly and from there on I saw in Nick you know someone that not only is a great attorney a dedicated public servant but someone who really cared about the community about the citizens even volunteers on a committee that really had no power No Authority but making sure that acting on behalf of the city we did everything legally and properly and and the way that it should be with utmost of respect to to the public I then had the opportunity uh to work with you when I served on the charter review task force and yet again you are a bookworm you know you knew that Charter inside and out and you know quoting parts of the charter without even having to look at the charter and yet most impressively on the planning board oh my goodness I don't know how you know the Our Land Development regulations so way that you do um but thank you thank you because I think some of the most important pieces of legislation we've worked on over the past few years including today um you've been a force behind it together with our esteemed City attorney and I'm so proud and grateful and so sad to see you leave but I'm only proud because you're going to go work uh at a great place at Miami day County and I'm so proud of you congratulations thank you for your service thank you so much thank you and I just wanted to Echo everyone's comments you are a true professional and it is a huge loss to our city and I have always enjoyed enjoyed our meetings and discussions and you're always spoton with anything and everything land use I appreciated your guidance and I wish you the best with the county thank you commissioner you know if we keep this up we're going to lose people just so they can hear how great they are commissioner bot Nick is this because I've asked you about a moratorium once too often um you know I I first met you when I was appointed to the planning board and um for as much as I thought I knew about how things worked I knew nothing about how things worked and you were a stalwart guide on how things were supposed to work how things could be made to work better um how to take rough unformed ideas and make them into good policy and that is a role um that you have continued um to um perform for my benefit and for my colleagues benefit as well um all the way to today and it is a thrill to have gone from planning board to Commission um with you as an able and fabulous and advisor and remarkably wonderful human being and um just because you're not in the same building doesn't mean you're not still going to get calls so I wish you very well I wish we could change your mind but onward and upward so go get him tiger thank you but now Nick doesn't have to answer those calls um commissioner Rosen Gonzalez I'm so proud of you I mean I feel like you started you were here when I first got here eight years ago how long have you been with the city about more than 10 yeah more than 10 years and I feel like uh we've gone through this whole process together over many moons and helped me so much and been supportive uh you know even when it was controversial and um I'm really going to miss having you around Nick because you're like one of those people I'm like I like him not so you are and uh you're so talented and um not that there's people that I say no I don't like you but no um but really uh we're gonna I don't know who else will understand our ldrs like Land Development regulations like you do and uh yeah we probably still will be calling you when there's a question so good luck at the county we're sorry to be losing you but you are on to uh bigger endeavors and uh and I think you had great training here with the team in mining Beach so congratulations I sure did thank you congratulations so Nick should I let your boss uh Rafael P say something here it comes here it comes so thank you mayor and Commissioners for giving us this moment to be able to recognize uh Nick um for his years of service um we started on the very same day on October 1 2014 and it's you know we started this thing together and and you know it's fitting that that we're finishing it together um Beyond land use Nick has been a steady hand in nearly everything of importance that I've ever had to deal with uh We've drafted over 50 ballot questions together all of the when you were all meeting during covid every single day seven days a week by zoom and we had to draft those uh covid orders emergency orders with far-reaching implications U Nick was there for every single one of those and we drafted all of those together uh he has drafted all the alcohol hours legislation and and if it feels like we've been talking about alcohol hours for for the last 10 years um and forever it's because we have so PJ could you please pull up my r5m so this is a young and fresh Nick ceris on December 9th 2015 presenting an alcohol hours ordinance um and I just want to show this because if there's any question about whether this man has given his Youth and his best years to the city this picture leaves no doubt uh so I just want to thank you Nick for for everything that you've done for me and for uh the city and the office um we wish you the best thanks so much thank you all very much I appreciate it if I could just say one thing there just how how eternally grateful I am am to to the city to to the City attorney to Raphael and to his predecessor RS who's my mentor and to my friends and colleagues in the city attorney's office and and the administration um I you know I I will I will miss the city very much but I know that the city's always home and uh and and thank you [Applause] all okay thank you again nick uh C4 V c4v is a referral to Public Safety neighborhood quality of life committee relocate cat colonies a away from Beach stunes it has been requested to be separated by Commissioners Dominguez and commissioner um Gonzalez Gonzalez Rosa Gonzalez yes commissioner Dominguez okay um so I separated this item because instead of a referral to Public Safety uh would I would request the sponsor is to take this item to the Animal Welfare committee and have a conversation with uh that group and give your ideas and opinions and all of the uh great items yeah I I don't um because I pulled it too uh and my suggestion would be to I like sending it to the Animal Welfare committee could we also send it to finance at the same time because I would like to get more funding for cat Trappers and I yeah we know that the we know that this needs I know that we got an additional Trapper and it is such a small drop in the bucket and um we know that we have a a huge population of people who love cats I have a cat from the kitty campus and every time I go back I end up with another cat so I can't go there anymore I can't and um and you know so I I feel the love I do and I think that this body here um and I think this body here is ready to to make a commitment and um I know that commissioner Suarez was probably shocked by the response to his you know to his item on on the cats and we understand how important those colonies are and how many people love them and feed them and you know and and and that there are some residents out there who are not comfortable uh with the cats and mistreat the cats believe it or not and are Terri so I think we're all committed to to to to funding more solutions and getting the colony um you know um in check so I would say that if we go to animal rights could we also go to finance so we get some extra funding so that maybe we can get some Trappers and have a dual conversation I don't know how you feel about that because it's his item because it's commissioner Suarez's item uh commissioner Suarez y first of all I want to say um I'm I'm a huge animal lover okay I would I would never be in a position where I would intentionally want to harm any animal I don't even like killing cockroaches to be honest I usually put them in a cup and I throw them outside um but uh you know I I'm let's I just want to start start there um you know I have three dogs I I raise clown fish as a hobby so that pet stores don't have to buy them from Indonesia and and and Source them over there and bring them here so and I give it away for free um and on top of that I I donate 100% of my salary to Pelican Harbor I I I'm I'm a huge animal Advocate um but you know I I think I think there there's definitely a growing issue right with u the number of cats that are breeding and and getting larger and larger as the population and I I had a great conversation with Linda last night and you know to my surprise there's 25,000 feral cats in Miami Beach that's a lot you know and and in three years that's that's going to be over a 100,000 easy um and you know what brought me to to this item is uh there there have been reports of of cat feeders going into the dunes uh and and leaving you know garbage uh in the dunes and you know I think we can all agree that that's unacceptable I don't think there should be anyone that goes in the dunes to feed the cats and I'm hoping everyone can agree on that and um but I think you I and believe it or not commissioner um Gonzalez you know said that we have you know she would like to do something I I actually put that on the May agenda to put serious funding toward spaying and neutering every single cat in Miami Beach over a six-month period and and that's gonna in all honesty from what what with the numbers show that's going to take millions of dollars and I'm ready to I'm ready to put an item forward about that uh at least whatever staff decides to give us and it's going to be an all hands on deck with volunteers private agencies uh the county and the animal services and doing whatever we can to hopefully find them a home first of all because I don't think cats belong in Dunes I don't I don't think that's the that's their habitat I don't think that they I think a much a much more Humane solution would be finding some a home for these cats um you know I um I have you know I I I did a little research on the issue and in 2011 and 2012 there were dozens of cases of hookworm okay uh in Miami Beach and that specifically came from from cat poop because that's where hookworm originates it it starts in in in cat poop and it's it's transmitted by skin contact so you know you can imagine that if you have a cat colony in a dune and there's really no there's no litter box let's be honest and and there could be poop anywhere Wind Blows and then there's cat poop on the on the sidewalk someone steps on it there's a real chance of getting uh of hookworm and back in 2011 I believe there were only a couple thousand cats correct me if I'm wrong um but now we have a situation where in a couple years we could have over a 100,000 cats and and I don't I I I'm going to stand firm I don't I don't believe that a dune is a proper home for a cat um and so you know when I looked at the FWC uh guidelines you know and and they they they much rather have local governments handle this and which is what we're going to do um but you know this is straight from the FWC it is the policy of FWC to protect native Wildlife from predation disease and other impacts associated with free ranging cats according to FWC feral cats prey un common and rare species of native wildlife in Florida including rare species listed as threatened and endangered by state and federal government cats can be detrimental to Wildlife populations they recommend humanely working with local animal control authorities and human rescue groups to keep feral cats out of remove from public conservation as humanely as possible however the dunes are not technically public conservation lands with the state and FWC would not come down to implement this policy here they preferred it to be handled at a local level U you know so look um I I think we really can't put our head in the sand no pun intended to to to to this issue because it's just going to grow and you know I I had when I spoke to Linda you know we have a full-time Trapper that full-time Trapper can maybe catch and and and spay 500 um cats a year still need to sign off though yeah and and so what what I'm saying is that's not that that's not even going to make a dent in the program now and the number of cats so uh you know my item in May is going to specifically ask staff what can we what what is it going to take funding wise to spay and neuter every single cat in Miami Beach over a six-month period and you know as far as the dunes as long as we can come to an agreement where that that program is successful in in six months time every single cat in my beach is is spayed and neutered and we cons and we we stay on top of the program um then you know I think the Dune situation will naturally resolve itself over the next decade and and I'm totally okay with that so um that's why I put this item this item wasn't a dis this item we were not going to take action today this item was just a referral to neighborhoods um I don't I don't mind doing a dual referral to Animal Welfare committee but I certainly would like to continue the discussion at at at neighborhoods um and and we can have an honest discussion about this because I don't think that um this this problem is going to get any any better and so um I'd like to hear what my other colleagues commissioner Fernandez thank you uh and I was just going to suggest that perhaps a dual referral would would be appropriate because we do have this great committee they do such incredible work uh but I do agree what is you know to the ultimate long-term solution and that's what we have to be looking at what is the ultimate long-term solution to control um to control the population even even even further uh and certainly funding I think uh commissioner Rosen Gonzalez mentioned that I'm glad that you're working on an item yeah about that that way we don't have to do a separate referral to to finance you're working uh on that already on an item for for next month so I'm happy to second your motion so there's a dual referral to the neighborhoods committee and to the Animal Welfare committee because we're not really taking action was just referring a discussion to see how we plan forward how we move forward how we handle humanely uh this this situation um we all love animals I think up here uh I had a cat till last year uh and she passed away unfortunately but but uh but we all uh we all love animals and we I think we're all working towards the same end goal and mad respect for you guys I see you guys out there feeding feeding the cats and um and not everyone really is that caring that loving of that goodness of heart to care about um about homeless animals like that and I really have great respect and we love your feedback when it goes to your committee commissioner bot thank you oh sorry commissioner bot thank you um so I um I've lived here for 21 years 13 years of those 21 were in Bay Shore where a lot of the feral where plenty of feral cats made their way over um and my girls and I had a little cage that we would trap them in and we' bring them to whichever vet we could beg to give us a good price for a a neuter or spay and um you know we did a fed them and they were extended outdoor family I will not ever be supportive of trying to relocate them I think it's it's not a thing that can that's reasonable or not not reasonable it's just not realistic it doesn't address the issue TNR does um and that is really the only way to move forward to address this issue and is I love cats I had cats way before I had dogs and the only reason I don't still is because I became wildly allergic when I hit puberty so that was fun um the um I would actually recommend a triple referral I don't know if that's a thing that we can do but I think we do need to take um a a hard look at the numbers because we are collectively adding a lot of dollars to our budget for next year where's Jason who's probably fainting um but but it's another it's an expensive project it's an important project for the you know the well-being of the city and um we need to figure out how to do it in a responsible way in addition to all the other factors um let's not forget that we have multiple vets in our city and maybe there's a something we can do to um incentivize let's say 100 spays a year spay neuters a year um for each of those veterinarian offices I don't know what what the issue is but um we've got to find Solutions where the net result is is mass TNR um if we want to get a handle on this okay thank you um so we're going to get ready to call for a vote so we can move to the next item oh uh commissioner magazine when uh when we heard the exciting item earlier about the hard pack sand bike path uh my biggest fear is the cat Lobby was going to come out against it uh we got 500 emails uh uh probably in the last 24 hours so up until this point this wasn't really something that was on my radar but I'm a elected representative and I've heard loud and clear how many of my constituents that this is important to which by definition means it's now important to me um so happy to support my colleagues and you know where we're moving with this and be supportive of these items and can I make a couple comments before we close it out and I'm not going to be repeater Rita I know you guys have heard a lot of this already um a few things hookworm is actually spread by eyes primarily it's not a cat thing cats bury their feces um homing feral cats is not possible they will rip your curtains down they will it's just you can't so they have to remain outside Linda I'm sorry can you state your name just for the right oh I'm sorry Linda Diamond I'm I'm on a 400 Alton Road is where I live I'm the president of soie cat spay and neuter also Kitty campus um also on the anal welfare committee volunteering on both of those and this is lovely Holly whan program coordinated for the city the very first ever so um so a couple things I wanted to point out it it's not just a matter of do we need more Trappers absolutely but there's also shortage of veterinarians so our Outlets to get them trapped and actually fixed is difficult you mentioned going to veterinarians there is Miami vet Foundation that gets grants we only have one vet on the beach that will do the spay and neuters we have a truck that we just got in our yard um that is run by darbster they can't even get enough vets to do they used to do uh spay neuters two days a week now they do it one because they can't get veterinarians out of the blue animal services will close down for two days because they don't have enough fets then it's difficult to get the people to do the trapping it has taken us two years to get this position approved finally we got someone picked and we still haven't gotten it signed off on for the salary it's sitting on someone's desk out there I don't know who's so um we have an offered we want to put out we need to get that done so it's a two-sided issue Trappers and also actually having the surgeries performed um another thing I wanted to point out is the maps of where the feeding stations are have been carefully picked with the city over the years this is pages and Pages really 50 pages long so um if the cats were going to crush the dunes they would have already because they'd been here for over 100 years when they were brought here by mayor Lumis in 1920 so um I don't want to blame anything from the cats and the dunes um there also have been a aggressive uh I guess approaches to cleaning up the dunes because of homeless living in the dunes because of invasive species of plants living in the dunes so I think that needs to be looked at some of the dunes are Lush some of the dunes are not and so I can't think we can blame that on the cats um I also wanted to point out that this commission and mayor have been phenomenal about this cat proog program we have been approached by best cities for pets which is a a National Organization to do a case study just on the city of Miami Beach's program that's number one number two Jackson Galaxy if you've heard of him he's a world-renowned cat behaviorist you may remember him from his uh show on Animal Planet called My Cat From Hell he approached us her in particular at uh the Humane Society conference because he heard about the city of Miami Beach cat program he invited us handpicked us to come to one of his conferences to be a part of that also we we have been reached out and done presentations for even the city of Honolulu who wants to hear about our cat program so do we have a lot of work to do absolutely covid crushed us spay and neuter clinics were closed down those cats were not told they should stop procreating because it was covid so after covid the problem got exponentially worse so we do have an adoption facility for those cats that are adoptable that's also brand new we've had it for 3 years we've almost had 1300 cats put up for adoption meaning they're not returning to the streets at all primarily kittens so we're trying to get them out and we're trying to get the ones we can fixed the best situation for any neighborhood is to have a lot of fixed cats and they will keep away their rats so thank you so much let's work toward that together and I'm happy to meet with all three committees and make it happen the motion on the table is uh triple uh referral one to neighborhoods one to finance and one to your committee um uh Tanya made that motion is there a second second okay uh Mr city clerk please call the vote well could I have a question since the dunes involve sustainability maybe we can send it to the land and sustainability committee I'm just kidding no I'm kidding Drupal referral no I'm kidding how many committees do I have to meet with now all all the Committees meet with everybody hardly wait triple referral uh all in favor I I any opposed passes 70 the items are the item is referred to Public Safety finance and Animal Welfare thank you very much thank you great job uh vice mayor Dominguez it's called R9 Q r9q is discuss use of pastel colors pallet on city building it's commissioner Rosen Gonzalez's item r9q thank you I'd like to call up uh Miss Hulan Nikki we have with us an international style and design icon I was just reading I was just looking at your book from a to Biba Biba of London we are so lucky to have Miss Hulan Niki as a longtime Miami Beach resident she was pivotal in the Aro movement of you know uh coming to South Beach and renovating these beautiful hotels and working with uh you know Craig Robbins and Tony Goldman and all of these real estate developers to really realize the Renaissance of South Beach and when I ran in to miss hulanicki one was this a couple of months ago she said I have the best idea for South Beach to reinvigorate South Beach it's not going to cost um it's not going to cost a lot of money and it's going to inject a lot of life into our historic district I said you know let's meet I had the privilege of going to her Studio which is a really wonderful place and I know that we have a deck and presentation um and I'm very excited about this item we're have some te technical difficulties PJ are we setting it up so that Miss Hulan Niki can um can can can present um I'm going to turn it over to you but you know the way that this is is working right now is we will be uh repainting um several buildings uh starting off and uh and then these are public buildings we're going to start with public buildings and hopefully uh we can expand this program after get a paint sponsor start to offer to paint the private uh buildings as well and I think as people see the historic district begin to pop with color we are going to get some wonderful positive press and at this I would like to turn it over to uh Barbara Hulan Niki I'm so happy thank you so much for coming here and waiting and we're I'm very I'm looking forward to hearing your presentation thank you that's that's wonderful to talk to you but um in shock about the cats it's terrible because it's an island yeah this is an island isn't it and there too many I'm sorry cat films on Instagram cats dancing I mean I'm sorry I must stop I agree I get them on my feed too yeah they make me laugh my husband and I came here like he he's not with us anymore but um like 20 30 years ago and it was magic and it was a direct flight from London and we were completely um enthralled by this this U this part of uh Art Deco because we don't we didn't have Art Deco in England and uh my my idea of of it's just to to try and get a bit of color back into the buildings who are so fabulous um and I know we have a presentation are we working on I'm sorry we you do have we have your presentation deck oh here it is right here yes yes the idea is that you keep the uh building as it is base base so you're not spending few huge amounts of money but just do all the detail color detail on all the uh to bring out all the lovely lovely work on on the buildings and that you know it could it would look very lovely slowly but surely and maybe maybe the people would help you with the doing The Umbrellas the right colors to oh matching umbrellas I had I hadn't thought about that but I know that we are moving forward this first item we are going to repaint the colony theater with you as an advisor and we're also going to repaint the lifeguard station um on is that 10th 10th Street on 10th Street these are two iconic buildings I think that once we do this we're going to have a better idea of what the cost is to paint a building which was the best uh paint that we should use uh you know I think we directed the administration to also reach out to these companies to see if a paint company would like to sponsor this and we're going to issue some press releases and we want you to pick the colors of course because you are the ICONic designer and um I'm very excited about this item this is not an item that costs a lot of money but the impact is going to be tremendous and we need positive impact you know when we first came here there were Leonard horich was doing this beautiful colors very gentle very very pastell but the paints didn't last very long in the Sun and I think that's that's why that broke away that maybe one we could get a paint company to do something because it's very important that could be really beautiful commissioner Ros see moving the item um yes I was waiting for are they are they in the bathroom I guess they in the bathroom I I would rather wait until everybody's here for it but commissioner super super cool idea awesome um I would say let's even think grander uh think of really really innovative ways to even further this and maybe there's sponsorship opportunities outside of even paint companies where it could be a social media campaign with uh social media influencers that could go viral and we could get funding opportunities uh way to think outside of the box thank you well it was actually miss Hulan Niki's idea but um and she has amazing idea you know in some of the on some of the streets she even said you know maybe like one block should be like all pink pastel and the next block next block should be all yellow pastel and when we start to make these bold statements we're not only going to show our appreciation of ourco architecture and how important it is to us historically and to our anthropology and history and who we are as people so thank you for um your support and not everybody's here I think you have the votes so okay so I'm going Tove if you don't I'll wait but I think you do okay I'm going to with that I'm going to uh move my item and I'm very excited and I guess Debbie are you going to be working with Miss hugan Niki to make this happen I just want to make sure that everything is set yes uh through the mayor yes absolutely we look forward to it and I think it's it's exciting project okay so I look forward to seeing uh the colors that we're going to use on the first building and our ribbon cutting when we have a beautifully vibrant Colony theater uh freshly painted and also the Lifeguard stand so this is just a start okay so the motion is for Colony theater and the Lifeguard stand yes okay this is consistent with the uh the memo correct yes just a question um since since the colony theater isn't a historic district does it need to go through HPB anything at all it relates to that just want to make sure I understand and that process yeah through the mayor um thank you for your question commissioner Fernandez um the paint colors can almost always be approved administratively through that certificate of appropriateness process yes wonderful thank you and by the way I I fell in love with this idea um after commissioner r Gonzalez brought this up you know walking Ocean Drive and and Ocean Drive what's the beauty of Ocean Drive is the buildings but you really get to see the details of the buildings you I think of the lesle I think of of the Breakwater and so many others um the penguin um there's there's just so many others that they really are beautiful because their their architectural features have been accented with with the colors and it' be great to uh see that bleed into other parts of of the cityal we have a motion in a second happy to Second the item thank you okay call a vote favor all in favor anyone opposed no and I have commissioner B she she said yes when she stepped out is a yes thank you and hopefully this is the first of many buildings that will be painting around South Beach great thank you let's call r7a and B budget items yes sir uh r7a is a public hearing adopt third amendment to fiscal year 2024 operating budget r7b is a public hearing adopt Fifth Amendment to fiscal year 2024 capital budget welcome Jason and tamaa thank you uh good afternoon Tama Stewart budget director uh this is the third amendment to the Opera budget it contains five items and recommends an increase of 577 th000 to the operating budget the first item is additional support for the City commissioners this item was approved at the March 13th commission meeting and it would allocate $120,000 per year for rated for the remaining 6 months of FY 24 for a total of $360,000 the second item is for additional allowances for members of the city commission uh this also was approved at the March 13th commission meeting prated for 11 months back to November of last year for a total of $91,000 the third item is for a constituent services manager that was requested by the mayor's office and this would be a full-time position to help but proactively addressing constituent concerns returns and this will be paraded for 6 months of FY 24 for a total of $56,000 the fourth item is a Miami Beach Public School graduation sponsorship of $50,000 that was approved at the March 13th commission meeting and the final item is the security camera pilot program that was also approved at the March 13th commission meeting for a total of $2,000 it is a public hearing I see one hand up if you want to call Rosen Gonzalez we'll go I have a question on the constituent service manager services manager I mean we all do constituent services does this mean like at the front desk everybody's going to be directed to I mean to whom I don't really understand how this is working what is that Mr Mayor is this your item the constituent services manager I was asking you a question yeah it's um it's a position to uh help me and and our office with uh resident Outreach the volume is uh in a good way I think when you're very responsive to Residents as I am and I know our commission is we get more people reaching out and the volume uh is actually quite intense and I think is uh is requiring additional resources Mr Mayor okay and that's consistent I think with the item that we approved last time that was more for the Commissioners to uh I think that's you're about to say to uh approve additional resources for the Commissioners to be able to bring uh on additional uh people to help but commissioner Fernandez yes and and I want to thank you for for for leading with us I think um you know people demand a lot of the office of the mayor I know you dedicate so many hours uh to to to to this job and with passion um uh and we dedicate so many hours to this as well there's Great Expectations from us uh and some sometimes it really is hard to keep up with everything that people ask of us and it's around the clock and so anything that helps us improve the delivery of service to the residents that elected us to these positions uh if it means that that that the office needs an additional position so that we can be more responsive to the residents I'm fully supportive thank you commissioner bot just um I think it sounds like a great idea I'm just trying to understand how it would work like I mean we all get copied almost always all of us get the same email at the same time from the person who sends us a well-founded inquiry about something so would the idea be for us to forward any of us all of us to forward that email to this person to respond or how what how would that work well potentially but I actually I would disagree with that because I was commissioner for four years and I could tell you you the I get a lot of emails that are that nobody else has copied on it's just the nature that people will reach out to the mayor so I do get a lot more emails than I did as commissioner okay no I'm not I'm not questioning that I'm just asking it I was just trying to understand um you know because we all get emails that are just to us I'm sure you get way more than all of us um but in theory would would this be something where the desire would be to have them all go get funneled through this person or for us to handle them individually or you're saying there it's really overlow I think it's it's a little bit of both I think each commissioner has their own has their own way of doing things I'm not going to direct anyone to I I it almost sounds like that I'm telling people or Commissioners how to operate their office we're each independent offices no no I I please don't mistake what I I'm just trying to understand what your vision for this role was if it's predominantly because you're you know you're completely under you know inundated because of your your role cool if you had a different idea for it cool I just try to understand yeah and I think it's somewhat flexible depending on the needs of the entire the mayor and commission's office I could tell you that we are literally maxed out I mean my myself and my team and we're working around the clock weekends uh late at night early mornings um it's we've we're at Max Capacity I I get we talk about we joked around somebody joked around that Raphael p is burned out I get I get concerned my team is going to get burned out and we're only four months in yeah okay thank you commissioner Dominguez uh and and when I read the item I also um was confused about it and what had come to my mind is that we oft times get the same email and then the seven of us are sending the same email to code uh or a different departments in the city and they're having to respond to the seven of us and so the thought that I was thinking was similar to what commissioner bot said do we all send it to this one person so that the city Administration is only getting it one time but that could be a conversation for a future sure by the way it's not just emails let me just uh be be clear there there are meetings that residents ask for and I try to take every meeting that's requested of me but whereas I used to be able to schedule the same week now there's a backlog because I just there's only so many hours in the day there are residents who bring up issues and they want me or someone from from the mayor's office to come out and see an issue whether it be a traffic issue or um there's a public works issue there's just a it just it's constant and and we we just right now I'm I'm I'm short on the resources to be able to to comply with every request we're getting and I think that's what we're in the business of constituent service um and if someone and and and I'm finding that the requests are legitimate these are not people asking unreasonable requests there these are legitimate issues that we're trying to address in our city and I'm trying to meet that demand Mr Mayor commissioner Fernandez thank you um and I I want to say you know part of part of the reason why I support this as well is because I think you are a fair director of our office because you are the director of The Office of the mayor and City commission and I think you've done some great additions you you've made some great hires to this office and I trust your judgment that you're going to continue bringing in the caliber of individuals that you've been bringing and one of the things that um that that resonates with me is that what I've seen with with the offices like for example the Georgie he's the marketing director or the graphics person for for our office but you don't keep him to yourself he's a resource to all of us and I'm grateful for that or uh even uh Chris our new Public Safety adviser you hired him as a great position but he's offered to make himself available to all of us your Chief of Staff Veronica uh that has such great institutional knowledge and she's been a good sounding board uh and that's something that I value very much um and so and so that makes me feel comfortable that yes they report to you but I know that you're making a hire that is accessible to the entire office of the mayor and commission uh and so and so I want to thank you because you've been very good about that and I trust that that's going to be the same with this position you're bringing them in as a resource for the entire office and I'm grateful that you've taken that approach to to the office and how meticulous you've been about your hiring and I know you've been very precise about the positions that you hire no and thank you for that and and I'll just throw in again you mentioned Danny summer as well the senior policy advisor obviously always available to anybody as well we had a caller we no longer doe uh is anyone in the audience and there's no one in Zoom seeing none we can close the public hearing if you wish call a vote so this is both for item r7a and r7b may I have a motion I'll make a motion thank you commissioner bot second by commissioner Fernandez if so uh it is a Voice vote all in favor I I anyone opposed an addendum item so mayor are you adding the item C7 AB uh yes I'll add it commissioner Fernandez thank you Mr Mayor and I want to thank you for bringing this this item forward uh I think certainly we all share in in in the desire uh to see increased uh police visibility to see increased community policing efforts um I just have a question about this because we're we're we're we're asking uh the police to implement a strategic plan that prioritizes foot patrol bicycle Patrols uh and other forms of high visible police presence certainly foot patrol and bicycle Patrol is something that I think we all support um I would love to see more of um since I would imagine I I know we're down 28 cops in in the department is this to bring back a plan like to bring back a plan before it's implemented and tell us you know where are the bodies coming from for this because I know your intent and I agree with the intent and I think we want to see officers on foot uh on bicycles engaging more with with with the community with wrest with the business with the with the businesses um but I don't want to take away from investigations or I don't want to take away from response times and so I just want to see they have a better understanding how we're going to expect our Police Department to accomplish this if it's going to be through more funding or through more hiring of cops or they're rearranging certain certain POS certain positions so that's my question here so I I I did make it fairly broad as you see the item and it's uh all encompassing but I if I had to narrow it down and simplify it it's having officers um out of their cars I think it's something we've discussed and by the way as as you know I'm I'm extremely Pro law enforcement I don't think anybody can question that um and and I and I do see a lot of good officers out and about I actually just saw the other day there was someone actually acting erratically and before anyone had a chance to even call an officer there was an officer on a bike Patrol a block away saw it came over uh within seconds but not every area has that and it's actually one of the biggest issues we hear residents raise is that they're not seeing the officers they may see the car roll around but the windows are tinted which is for the officer protection I'm not questioning that but it's difficult to see the officer I mean one of the things that I I literally I I always Envision and is if the officer's parked and literally just standing right outside the car what can you imagine that was happening now I understand there are times they're writing reports there are things I get that but literally just standing against the car that would allow residents to engage with them to have a conversation with them to tell them things that they see but also that visible president presence it's it's it's unquestionably the biggest deterrent that we can have in our city and it's something that we've talked about for a long time it's something we hear our resident say it's something we hear our commission say it's something we hear our police Chiefs I say chiefs because it this predates uh Chief Jones talk about but it never happens but the reason why I brought it now is one it's extremely important to me and our residents but I also feel we have the commission now to get it done yes I think this commission can force the issue and say now it's time this is a game Cher it literally I I could not think of another thing we could do that's more important than our city that if police officers literally stood on the sidewalk and again one of the issues I hear is that well if they're too far from their cars you don't even have to be that far from the car just outside the car thank you Mr Mayor and I completely I completely agree with you 100% agree with you um I'm just thinking about you know some of the Dynamics often times our officers are not parked they're often times s they're driving through neighborhoods or they're driving from point A to to to to point B I think it's probably the minority of the times that they're parked uh most of the time I think that they're uh patrolling uh most most of the time um I think I think I'm I'm going to support obviously your your your resolution I think it send the message the message of the expectation the expectation is as you well stated if you are parked be out of the car be accessible be approachable be vigilant be able to respond react and be there to uphold the safety of our community and not just the uphold the safety but understand the Dynamics of of of the area 100% on that I think to achieve what the expectation that we have I think part of the message has to be to the police department what are the resources you need to accomplish this and that's where I think Mr Mayor you're right about this being the right commission for that uh because I think ultimately they would probably be doing this if they had the sufficient resources to do this I think I think you have been such a strong leader for this you've been asking for it you've been fighting for it you've brought it to committee so many times you brought it to the commission D so so many times but the reason why I think we don't have it is not because they don't want to do it just because we don't have the resources for it so together with supporting your item if if you allow uh perhaps just an amendment asking the police department to come back with a recommendation as part of the budget process of how to fully roll this out even if it's not all completely within the next fiscal year even if it takes several fiscal years but to see that plan and so that we can build up to the goal to be able to truly have what you're asking for um because I think it's ultimately going to be a matter of resources and I think you are 100% right this is the right commission to support it and to and to dedicate to it the resources it's going to need and so that's the reason why I P I want to support it I want to support your item but I think it's I think we also need to ask them what are the resources you need to truly implement it to the way you envision it to be yeah I mean I think they're two different issues quite frankly um and as you recognized early in your comments there's 28 vacancies right now so that we have that and I'm going to call the chief up uh I mean we have 28 vacancies that I believe are budgeted so uh we got to fill those positions before we even talk about increased budgeting um welcome Chief thank you uh Mr Mayor a Wayne Jones pleas Chief City mine Beach um so so just give you some historical perspective 30 years ago then um President Clinton had uh this this idea to put 100,000 police cops on the street to do community policing uh many of uh my senior staff today including myself was hired during that period so we're all trained in the concepts of mity policing we're all expected at the time to go out as new police officers to apply those those Concepts and today still we train all of our new hires in community policing um so we want officers out of cars as much as reasonbly possible um right now we have walking beats and bike beats in the city uh North Beach for example business business district daytime a walking beat 41st Street has a walking beat Lincoln Road walking beat bike Patrol um on on and around Entertainment District and Ocean Drive and so to the extent that you're asking cops be a car we're practicing that right now we'd like to do more of that obviously but it does come out of cost um in terms of call for service terms of response time and so to offset that um reduce or extended time in terms of uh CA for service if you want to have more people just walking period not have not having to respond to calls for service really just sort of walking our business districts walking our neighborhoods meeting people residents business owners then that would come out a cost in terms of expanding the department Workforce you know and I and I get that I guess and we've had this conversation many many times um I mean quite frankly I think you you share my belief I don't want to speak for you but uh I mean is there any obstacles I and I've given this example before and I'm going to give it again when uh there was an officer there was in an event and the police were kind enough to send an officer they didn't have an event it was uh it was a a non-for-profit many people were there the police sent the car to keep everyone protected there was hundreds of people in the in outside by a parking lot and the officer literally all he did was get out of his car and stood at the entrance of the parking lot and I can tell you it was a game changer it was a game changer everyone saw it every when I went over to the officer and thanked him and it was a level of protection that whether in reality or just the perception sure it just seemed much safer because you saw you saw the physical person but that um again we there there are a lot of off I don't want to make sound like because I see a lot of officers who do it um but there's a lot of officers who don't and that's what I guess I'm getting at I mean I I don't see see why that's a resource issue I don't even see why that's an issue of getting a call for service the officer was literally within 10t of the patrol car yeah he can answer pretty or she if it in this case it was he can answer very quickly yeah yeah I I think we're saying the same thing um with through exceptions uh mrir uh for example June daylight hours daytime and now now that we have extended daylight um durun evenings when the son is out um it's really easy to see a police officer walking or in a bicycle or in at TV obviously at night time the Dynamics changes quite a bit and so at night what what is preferable from me and from the police department is cops in Cars cruise lights on um so that folks can see them from a distance away bad guys or people um intend on doing bad things our residents can see a police officer from a distance away and maybe think of not do do those bad things our residents our visitors can see cop cars from a distance away and think hey I feel safe because I can see cars so uh I think we're saying the same thing I do agree with you um that having cops outside of cars interacting in the community is a good thing for us so how that that's and that's my item but it doesn't it's not consistently happening it's I'm hearing from residents all the time why don't we see more of the officers out of their cars so you we're saying we're in agreement but it doesn't seem to be happening well I'm sure we can do uh some more work on that and do better with it but I think to that extent of your item yes we can do a better job with that I think more broadly speaking I thought you asking something a little different the way the item reads am I confused about this but what do you think my item reads just um just comprehensively across the board um having uh beat officers 247 seven days a week is what I sort of gather from it well it it it is I mean it's a it's I wanted you to come back with a uh with a with a comprehensive plan because I I I personally again I I don't have I don't have GPS data backing me up that's a that's a different item but uh I don't have GPS data backing this up it just seems like the presence is not as robust at night yeah and I I don't understand that because the shifts the numbers are the same but it just doesn't seem like we have the same uh level of Patrol presence that's my perception yeah yeah so so at night you won't see a whole lot of cops on bicycles or walking that is true but even cars I don't see as many cars well we've and I've shared that with you as I drive around the city I'm just not seeing it yeah and and and I yeah and we we've talked quite a bit about this and I I think I made the analogy um not to be funny about it Mr Mayor that the cars are there um that's where you have the cruise lights on and so people can actually see them um it is possible to miss them because they're patrolling you know all through the city um so I'm not I'm sure you're not seeing seeing them as as you suggest but I'm telling you they're they really if I if I had to narrow it down to one word what my item is visibility understood it's it's in cars and the individual office understood and I support that Mr Mayor and I'm fine with that and even if it was more than that I would be fine with more than that too I just if there's resources involved then I would want to see what that is but I fully support your item the intent of the item the idea of having having you know more more more visibility out there and certainly since we have the chief in front of us you know ultimately I think it is the desire of the community to see you know more officers you know engaged on foot patrol bicycle Patrol and certainly as we go into the budget Pro uh process you know just just do realize that this is a very supportive commission and if you do need more resources but again to the mayor's point we do have 28 vacant spots um but you know if there is a need for more resources to be able to accomplish this and more you know this is the commission that wants to back you in that and so and so with I thought I read the item differently Mr Mayor and uh that's why you know I wanted to ask a question because for me I didn't see it was just about enhancing the visibility it seemed to me it read as you know Implement a plan to put more bodies out there and so for me I'm you know wondering okay how do we accommodate those resources we certainly want to see that but how do we accommodate that in terms of resources but I'm happy to support your item okay thank you and I and you're not wrong I'm sorry Chief you're not wrong it is a more comprehensive and if for example if there were some administrative roles that could be out on foot on foot patrol I mean that's something I'd want the chief to come back with so yes you're you're right you read that correctly but uh but ultimately it's a visibility item however we get there yeah and and also by the way off duty one of my frustrations is sometimes when you drive around the city you'll see officers and even sometimes it's not our agency sometimes it's outside agencies that they're doing you know an off-duty detailed you know Manning traffic because there's a construction site it'll be great you know in situations like that they can be outside their car because the whole point of having a police car at a construction site for example is to help you know navigate reroute traffic and that type of stuff and somehow we need to work on that a little bit better um but my answers my my questions were answered and I appreciate the chief for answering them sir appreciate your support sir um happy to come back with something for you okay thank you yes sir so do we need to move it I do believe we need to move it since it's been pulled I'll move it call the vote so uh so I have Motion in a second all in favor of item C7 AB I anyone opposed item passes 70 commissioner bot was the maker of the motion commissioner Fernandez seconded C7 a uh commissioner Suarez asked me to call an R9 ah 9 a is discuss take action require electrical outlets in public public rways by covered locked secured be covered locked and secured R R9 ah commissioner Suarez so we had a um discussion item to uh have staff come back and uh enhance our electrical outlet situation on Lincoln Road and um the was the Lincoln Road bid is here I'd like to before you guys you Ladi speak I'd like to have Elizabeth Muro uh present some of the findings that she had in analysis she um she spent a couple months on this and you know I reviewed it with her um I believe there's three options for us to consider um and I think some of those options we can mix together but I I'll let you uh te it up for me uh good afternoon again uh so we did look at the options within Lincoln Road originally Lincoln Road had about 220 electrical outlets Through The Years many of these have been kept off and right now we have approximately 120 active electrical outlets these are used for the markets um for special activations and events and also for the um restaurants who have an outdoor cafe or concession agreement uh what happens is that the outlets where the concession Agreements are are typically active all the time what that does is most people try to plug in their telephones and what we're trying to do is try to discourage that altogether so in review of that what we did is that we mapped out all the circuits and we found two proposed Solutions one of them it's probably um a long-term solution it will be to use Smart panels this allows us to control um each of the circuits programmatically as we need to or on demand we can also see energy consumption this is a very um Innovative technology but it does offer the most control okay the second one has to do with installing electrical timers again this allows us the ability to program on schedules so we can turn off these um outlets on the times that the the restaurants are not operating the first option is a little bit more cost prohibitive um and because it is new technology um and does require some additional you know uh infrastructure um it probably would be best to do this specific option when we upgrade Stu fiber optic okay and then the second option is a little bit more um immediate we can probably deploy this within a few weeks both options have been provided to you as exhibits B and C respectively vice mayor uh did you want to address so U yeah can we bring up the Lincoln Road bid please to the to discuss the issue hi yes we are definitely supportive of any measures that can help minimize oh I'm so sorry rapael Annabelle yopi executive director Lincoln Road business improvement district CL a dragon I work with the Lincoln Road bid thank you so you know when this opportunity came to our attention we feel this is a great um way to minimize what possibly you know can help with people coming to the road and plugging in their laptops and their phones and you know um I think there's a that will help tremendously with that initiative commissioner yeah um so look you know we I think every Outlet on Lincoln Road has has been tampered with and broken into right and it's just a freefor all um you know Lincoln Road is our sort of our Crown one of our crown jewels and we want to make sure that it we we can do whatever we can to enhance the quality of life on Lincoln Road for not only the residents but our tourists and so Elizabeth if you can give over the numbers for options A and B and there was also another option which is a little bit I guess more tangible where you can put a a real cover with stainless steel and yes but it's $600 I think that's a little too cost prohibitive obviously but if you can give the the two main options what the price is and and I'd like my colleagues to understand that the what's what's in front of you is sort of very short term it can be up and running in a couple weeks um but the long-term solution would be something where we can control for the next decade I mean we we can you know I I believe a lot of these Cafe stands rent out or the city rents out outlets to the to the outdoor cafes and I think we just charge like a $20 flat fee but what this program would do it would we would actually note the actual percentage uh consumption for each outlet and so um whenever shows come on it can it can be program for it I believe from an iPad um and so so yeah let's uh what are the prices for certainly okay so the first option let me go backwards so the first option which is um the smartboards the smart panels that's approximately $217,000 it does require to install nine panels throughout city um sorry through linkoln Road um we have again mapped this is also an attachment on on the specific area the 400 600 um basically the whole entire Road okay so that's $217,000 the other option the probably the the most um immediate option if we wanted to deploy that is approximately $64,000 okay okay so uh colleagues what you have before you uh we got two options I'd like to hear your thoughts on this um and and see where we can land this thank you commissioner I have a question is this for the 2025 budget cycle or is there a line item uh or do you want it out of this year Well if we go with the the less expensive option we can decide on it today because it's less than $75,000 and when we would have an immediate solution in a couple weeks uh the other option would be we can either vote 57 on it or we can bring it to um I guess the 2025 budget cycle so but I I yeah I I wanted staff to bring it up today and see what the pulse is from my colleagues colleagues I would be comfortable with the immediate one um because it would start uh working on this issue right away uh but I'd like to hear from my colleagues as well uh commissioner magazine thank you madam vice mayor uh I like that uh I I agree with you that's uh a solution I think Lincoln Road bid uh is asking for and is very in supportive and let's move uh with immediacy okay I think we have uh um I I have have no problem with this I do know that we are in the process of upgrading we're going to be upgrading the electric all up and down Lincoln Road as the first phase of this Jame is it it's not James Corner who is the architect it is James Corner yeah okay hold that um so I you know listen what I what I'm wondering is as we upgrade the electricity and we're actually going in and changing these lines Why are we not doing the outlets at the same time more David question David I mean we're open up the lines David we need you to implement this technology because otherwise we're going to open the street twice doesn't make any sense uh through the mayor uh David Martinez Hep director uh commissioner the the scope of work that we have for the remaining linol and road work phase two and phase three does not include replacing the electrical infrastructure along the corridor so what are you replacing I think I think this is what the item is for it's we ask well I've had an item about you know where we are in the Lincoln Road process on the agenda for probably like six months now I mean I probably pull it up I right now and just get get rid of it um very quickly if you guys would agree to hear it so just so that we can understand where we are in in that project I know that it's a $60 million Capital Improvements project I know that we're starting phase one uh this has been in the pipeline now for 10 years 10 years um yeah but that but my big concern is that we're gonna you know we're going to do this with the outlets fine I'm on board I'm supporting you today but what if we just add it to the scope that he's doing and get the best technology at the same time you can't just add that to the scope David uh again through through the mayor if I if I can phase two which we had out to bid we received bids yesterday MH phase two was for the reimagining of uh Meridian from Lincoln Road 17 Street it was also for the conversion and P westernization of directional Avenue uh bids came in one bid uh almost double and that's just phase two and we still have to uh continue working on phase three so that that's what we're what's happening in the industry so we can add anything you'd like uh but something else would have to come off the list of the scope that we have to do something is wrong with the way that we're doing these bids there can be I find it very difficult to believe that we just we just added an additional $20 million to this project to make it $60 million and now you're saying that the bid that came in has come in a double I've never I mean I I understand that we have inflation there's construction costs but what are we doing wrong in this process something is not right and at this rate now that you just got a bid back that was double does that mean that we need to add more money to that project and and or n narrow the scope of the project or do we even have a Lincoln Road Project because this is very key because in the interim over the past 10 years we have seen the decline of our greatest pedestrian um district and we're sitting there we're you know waiting for this project to happen it's not happening and I think that this is one of the most important things that we need to take care of it really is um so so phase one was what and did you do phase one we did phase one phase one was changing all the fix light fixtures and luminares along the whole stretch including the the high mast lighting to improve you know with modern fixtures in phase two you got one bid in it came in at what price the the construction estimate was about $16.5 million the bid one single bid came in uh at over $28 million one single bid and what is phase three phase three is everything else which includes restoring the Lapidus Foles it includes the street End security botherers it includes uh signage at both end on Alton and Washington Avenue uh it includes fixing all the trench drains along the way it includes the uket oval construction it includes a the water found at the 500 block uh several other things and we have the money to complete phase two correct even if it's budgeted 16 million it's 28 million and you have that and you got thetion B I'm sorry commission u i again through the mayor it's a little tricky because the way that Lincoln Road is funded that we have certain money that has to be used on Lincoln Road based on the RDA and some on What's called the connectors which would have been Meridian and drexal so we have to figure out how that works in terms of we you know mixing the different funding to uh to deal with uh the different parts of the scope will you be bringing this to us soon I'm going bring an item in May saying that we need to really prioritize this construction of Lincoln Road like make it a top tip top uh priority I would even make a motion right now even though this is your item on electricity and I kind of merge my item with it um yeah I think well you'd have to call your items uh as well if you're going to make a motion but well um um as part of your item like can you just push this through just add add the phase two to your electricity item and make it all happen together and you do let's spend one time but let's spend on the better technology and let's use some of this money through the mayor getting the best commissioner Suarez through the mayor so um it looks like we have support for the the much less expensive option you know Lincoln R bid I I think I think if we you know when you look at Lincoln Road now it it doesn't look good and what I don't want to happen is we get Meer down in a process that could take another 10 years unfortunately um but you know I think when when you look at the cost and and what it's going to help for Lincoln Road I I think that's the values there um I'm certainly open to exploring the more enhanced option as part of the bid but if you're telling me it's going from 16 million to 28 million I know it's just one bid but you know I mean that now it's going to be 28 million and a quarter million so I think that's going to be a longer discussion um I certainly didn't want this to to get into that discussion uh and and take away from the need of what Lincoln Road wants or needs right now so why don't we call your vote on your item sure we have a motion in a second I have a motion I don't have a second yet I'll second so this is a motion on Exhibit C after the fact resolution short-term immediate solution $64,000 I have a motion by commissioner Suarez second by commissioner Rosen Gonzalez all in favor I I I I any opposed the item passes 70 R9 ah and after the fact reso is needed Comm mayor do you mind just calling that item that's been there six months we already did most of it anyway yeah so we are talking about item R9 update discuss update on Lincoln Road master plan R9 very briefly because I know that you know what's going on sure so I I covered most of it already just just for the record uh phase one was completed it was recently was done as phase one because it was a the proverbial loang low hanging fruit it was something that was relatively simple to do which was all the the light fixtures along the corridor uh phase two which as I mentioned was uh put out to bid uh came in yesterday I personally myself have not even looked at the bid forms on on the bid this came that that one bid that came in it just happened yesterday afternoon so all I have is the information on what the dollar amount was we will have to um analyze that uh I already discussed briefly with the procurement director this morning and probably set up some industry meetings to understand why because there appeared and I don't want to speak for the procurement director but there appeared to have been a lot of activity with interested contractors but yet we receive one bid um phase three which is uh what I was mentioning earlier is the the remainder of the work that would happen mostly on the actual Corridor in the mall itself um includes a lot of different sort uh different Scopes along that that uh addresses uh elements at every at every block um in theory that we were that that's a larger scope of work in which the our cost early cost estimate is is uh approximately 24 million again it's a cost estimate uh the idea was to have that out to bid by the end of this year 2024 but now we have to Circle back and understand what's going on with the market and with that one bid that you got I mean are are you considering accepting that bid will you put it out to bid again is uh commissioner to be honest again it since it just happened we we first have to understand that number what why that number is what it is um I don't know that I'm prepared yet to recommend that we accept that bid I'm I'm certainly not comfortable with it um for whatever reason uh I think that's something that we may probably be able to come back next month and explain a little further what uh what we have found out what Happ thank you David I would just like everyone to know that I really think we need to make this a top priority with the new Convention Center the hotels are under construction right now uh you know the businesses are suffering uh our capital investment is going to be pivotal I think to just creating a buzz something exciting something new so I'll bring an item next time to prioritize like at the top of our Capital Improvements and start this and and I think mayor you know as part of your Administration you should really take the lead on getting this done because 10 years has it been more than 10 years or 10 years 10 years probably started in 2015 something yeah 2013 so it's we're now going on 11 years I think is um unacceptable to to to redo the road so um I will bring that item hopefully you guys will support me on this and I'd love to you know hear your thoughts about getting going and and it's very frustrating to get you know only one bid yeah and I and I support your efforts on that and I um we it'll be your item but yes I will be pushing this along as well I have some theories and I share your concerns about the lack of bids on not just this but on other things I have some theories why that may be but uh I'd like to move this along but I don't want to okay I couldn't agree more with both of you this should be of the highest and utmost priority um though I will say when we start talking about $20 million uh financing gaps we have to think of a way to be more Innovative um perhaps go out and look at public private Partnerships uh and things like that because um as much as we would all joke around with uh the previous Finance chair about having a secret money tree uh you know we need $20 million here $20 million there these are real tangible numbers that just can't be plugged overnight and but that is also at odds with needing to move expedien um and prioritize this so we may have to really put on our thinking caps and one prioritize moving forward but also be more Innovative uh about the way we go about that so I I'll be happy to support uh your prioritization of this commissioner Rosen Gonzalez but I also think that we need to uh widen that net about how we move forward thank you yes and then we'll we'll wrap it up I know I know Rush um David if I passed a resolution that we need to prioritize prioritize this and that we want to see phase two moving within you know I don't know six months okay started shovels in the ground is that a possibility um commissioner what I will tell you that that is absolutely my priority also on this project uh that was a whole intent uh we were basically very you know put off by what we saw yesterday with the bid uh um that is my absolute goal is to begin Construction in less than six months so I guarantee you that that's the intention okay all right thank you thank you thank you David um I see our police chief is still here I wanted to call Item R9 AI R9 AI is discussed implementing star Chase GPS tracking darts pilot program R9 AI yeah so I and thank you CH I just wanted to get an update I brought this initiative uh in lie of high-speed police chases that can get dangerous a new technology GPS DS that can be launched either handheld or from a vehicle that can track a uh a fleeing vehicle good afternoon again Wayne Junes please Chief uh Mr Mayor this is one of the things I'm actually really excited about to be honest with you um uh because you know uh this is one way of using technology to work smarter and not harder and and really sort of keep people safe not only the public safe but police officers safe highp speed tra chases can be quite dangerous um of asked major mallos to sort of do all the leg work for this and and got gather all the information so he's here to answer all detail questions you may have about it we're excited about it we're looking forward to entering the a pilot program if we can um it would be an unfunded cost normal cost for for the time that we'd uh enter into this pilot program for but um like major I'll sort of talk you through what that would look like what we'll be getting if you want to move forward great thank you good afternoon Mr Mayor Commissioners Madame manager uh Daniel morgalo of the support services division um so I first want to thank the mayor and the commission for asking us to look at this technology I had first looked at this technology when I was a sergeant in training about 10 years ago when it first came out um and it was very new and it was very impr proven uh looking at the technology now there is a very viable opportunity for us to make our officers safer and make our officers more effective and at the same time not demoralize our officers by having people flee from us and not be able to catch them it gives us a mechanism to utilize our real-time information center and other electronic resources that we have in the city combined with the star Chase technology to make us more effective at catching individuals that want to flee from us using technology great what's the next steps so the next steps um really more than anything else we would be the the first agency in Miami day County to deploy this technology um talking to the vendor within the State of Florida there's several agencies that use it but south of Palm Beach County we would be the first um what we're proposing is to initiate a pilot program to see how viable this technology is for use in our city and how effective it can be and that would give us basically five units permanently attached to different Vehicles it would provide the training it would provide the training for our staff or our upfitters to install this equipment in vehicles gives us unlimited GPS darts uh for the duration of the pilot program and it gives us a handheld deployment capability for our undercover units to use as well so F five for the car how many handheld one handheld five for the car unlimited darts all expenses are covered for the duration of the three years in that um proposal and then if at some point we want to expand beyond the five we can absolutely speak to the vendor about doing that and when would this start as soon as the commission appropriates the funds we could contact the vendor initiate the procurement process and then it's a matter of policy and training I would say probably within a couple of months two to three months we could have this out and what's the funding you need it's about $62,000 for the three years Mr Mayor City attorney can we approve that now yes excellent do we need to vote on that yes would need a motion yes motion I'll make a motion to um approve the 62,000 immediately and move forward with the program but if it looks like a spidey sense thing where it shoots I want to have go at it you have to do training first I will definitely do training thank you you have a call the vote so I have motion by commissioner B second by commissioner Fernandez all in favor I thank you so much on this one so r9i needs an after the res I'd love to come see uh See the training once we get it in sir that' be great thank you why don't we go back to r5a r5a we I had read the title already we were discussing whether to defer the item to May July or hear it now commissioner Fernandez Mr Mayor I'm going to move the item so motion to approve the item by commission Fernandez I think I heard Comm vice mayor Dominguez yes and it is a public hearing I see no one in the audience and I see no one in Zoom may I call the role yes commissioner Suarez yes commissioner magazine yes vice mayor Dominguez yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner bot yes commissioner Rosen Gonzalez mayor Miner yes motion carries the item is approved that was item r5a if we can go at that speed the rest of the agenda will be in good shape uh r5c r5c is an ordinance of the mayor and City Commission of the city of Miami Beach Florida amending the Miami Beach resiliency code by amending chapter two entitled Administration and review procedures Article 13 entitled historic preservation section 2- 2.13 point7 entitled issuance of a certificate of appropriateness certificate of of dig the certificate of appropriateness for demolition by amending subsection 2.3.7 C entitled review procedures to establish an administrative review R process for accessory dwelling units and providing for codification repeal or cability and an effective date this is a second reading public hearing the item requires a five SS vote It is r5c Well we have uh commissioner Fernandez and then five we have five sponsors and co-sponsors in that spirit I move the item Mr Mayor a second call the vote it's a public hearing I see no one in zoom and no one in the audience that was a motion by commissioner Fernandez seconded by VI mayor Dominguez commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Suarez yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner bot yes vice mayor Domingas yes commissioner Rosen Gonzalez yes mayor Miner yes the item is approved that was item r5c r5d r5d is an ordinance of the mayor and City Commissioner of the city of May Beach Florida amending chapter 2 of the M Beach resiliency code entitle Administration and review procedures article two entitled General development velopment application and hearing procedur section 2.2.4 entitled public hearing by amending subsection 2.2.4 point1 entitled public notification to establish a notice procedure for certain discussion items that are scheduled by land use boards and provided for qualification repeal or ability and an effective date this is a second reading public hearing the item requires 57th vote is item r5d sponsored by commissioner bot co-sponsored by commissioner magazine commissioner bot Joe do you want to take it um I don't think this is very controversial uh in the spirit of residents right to know um spearheaded by the late great Mark samin and Miami Beach United and residents all over the city and uh the Commissioners seated here and many of the Commissioners in our previous um compositions you have a second we want to give residents more opportunity to be better informed about things happening in their neighborhoods um even if they're just coming into the discussion on land use board so we have a second so you're moving the item second oh second third okay so take your pick Rafael I got I heard commissioner Fernandez I saw his hand okay so commissioner bot moving it commissioner fernandz second yes sir you get the next one it is a public hearing I see no one in Zoom I see no one in the audience okay take the vote commissioner Suarez yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner bot yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner Rosa Gonzalez yes vice mayor Dominguez yes mayor Miner yes motion carries the item is approved r5d good item uh r5e it's yours r5e is the Nance of the mayor and City Commissioner of the city of Miami Beach Florida amending the Miami Beach resiliency code by amending chapter 7 entitled zoning districts and regulations article 12 entitled District regulations at section 7.2.1 17 CCC Civic and Convention Center District modify the height limit for hotels and providing for qualification repeal or cability at an effective date this is a second reading public hearing the item requires a 57 vote is item r5e I'm the sponsor commissioner B dingas Suarez forend is co-sponsoring we have five I move it second call the vote it is a public hearing I see no one in Zoom I see no one in the audience commissioner bot commission oh sorry yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner swarz yes vice mayor Dominguez yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner Rosa Gonzalez yes mayor Miner yes motion carries the item is approved r5e r5f one two three four sponsors r5f is an norance of the mayor and City Commissioner of the city of May Beach Florida amending chapter amending the M Beach resiliency code by amending chapter 2 entitled Administration and review procedures article one entitled land use boards section 2.1.2 entitled planning board at subsection 2.1 2.2 entitled membership and appointment section 2.1.3 entitled design review board at sub at subsection 2.1.3 point2 entitled membership and appointment and subsection 2.1.4 entitled historic preservation board at subsection 2.1.4 point3 entitled membership and appointment to provide that the water management extra position on the land use boards May alternatively be occupied by a person who is a resident at large as set forth in the ordinance and providing for codification repeal or separability effective date this is a second reading public hearing the item requires a 57s vote it is item r5f um I don't think I need to explain it again um so I second the item can we call the vote it is a public hearing no one on Zoom no one in the audience commissioner Suarez yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner bot yes vice mayor Dominguez yes mayor Miner yes motion carries the item is approved that was item r5f um r5g the sponsored commissioner magazine mention he wants to defer it I second the deferral to May 15 perfect I wouldn't have come around if that easy May 15 work yes perect may r5g is May 15th deferred by acclamation r5h is open and continued um r5i one second please r5h is open and continued to July 24th 2024 R5 I hope so yeah um r5i give me one sec r5i is in Ord of the mayor and City Commissioner of the city of Mi Beach Florida amending chapter two of the May city code entitle Administration by amending article three entitled agencies boards and committees by repealing division 14 entitled next gener next Generation Council providing for repealers of ability qualification and effective date this is a second reading public hearing 5 I sponsored by me and commissioner Suarez uh commissioner magazine wants to speak thank you for this uh I'm going to go along with the will of the body here um you know we talked uh at length last meeting about the importance of getting young people involved in our city and I remain very adamant about that um I understand the burden on staff uh that incremental board uh positions can have and um I I think there's some innovative ways to get younger people involved if a year from now it seems as if we have a good momentum in getting younger people involved and we could resurrect this that's fine but I know several of my colleagues have been out uh things like the Miami Business Club and some uh extracurricular activities that are focused on getting younger people involved so there's other ways to do so just besides the City Board I'd like to move the item a second commissioner Rosen Gonzalez so are we are are we repealing it and what about the members of the committee they're just done right now there's no quarum by the way partly why I brought this item was I'm not looking to necessarily disband it if we can get the interest in in having it I'm I'm happy to continue it it's just the the I don't think there's been a quorum in two years or so and I just think if we're not going to have it then disband it if we can get interest great by the way we could always bring it back I mean the thing is is I I I like these committees because it represents resident participation and I do think that we have a new commission if everybody appoints somebody to the millennial Council they're going to attend the meetings and if you have a liaison and commissioner um magazine said that his office would be the liaison then we'll have a quorum as soon as they as soon as everybody appoints a member and by the way it gives you the opportunity to meet young leaders in the community and appoint young leaders and have conversations with them so I would suggest that we don't do this that we each appoint somebody to the millennial committee and that you schedule the first meeting and that you will have a quorum at that first meeting and that we move forward and we encourage our Millennials to get involved I mean I think that that's what the whole idea of these resident committees are so um I I mean I'm a no I but I want to be a proactive no I don't want us to just say disband the young people you know it doesn't make sense it just doesn't you know yeah I mean just make your appointment and and schedule a meeting and you'll have a quorum what's the big deal through the chair perhaps we defer this for three months and in the interim we'll try and put it together I'm okay with that yeah okay and could could I Fernandez thank you Mr Mayor perhaps maybe we could refer this to one of our committees because maybe and just sitting here I got an idea of perhaps how we could still keep the council but perhaps we restructure how it functions perhaps rather rather than meeting as a body we can each appoint individual young members uh of our community to it uh that rather than meeting as a body each each one of our appointees almost serve like almost an intern or advisor to to us individually volunteer people that you know to get younger view on things I I can think of a few young people in our community that have given me insightful views uh on on some some of the issues actually U last week I was working out and um and and I was speaking with a young person that actually read the entire bar clay item for me the entire bar clay item you know this is someone that's 27 years old that is you know in in ftech stuff and and that type of stuff and he took an interest to to in the finance agenda and he read the entire uh item and was giving me his perspective on it and I think there is a role for young people in our in our in our city to be involved and be to be giving us their feedback on stuff perhaps it's not as a council giving us recommendations as a body but perhaps if we referred this to committee we can come up with creative ways of still us individually having having this board but the members providing us more direct feedback individually to us as as Commissioners so I'm just uh motion yeah I'll I'll support the deferral for but maybe we can send it to neighborhoods so that we can further review this committee on neighborhoods commissioner Ros Gonzalez I would say that is the committee full have we all appointed somebody to this committee I did okay so I saw I saw the you in in Amber congratulations Amber new member of the millennial committee um what I would say is why don't you uh host a gathering at um for the members of the committee um if you like some place like the r room I don't know if we can ask them to do that and have a little social but in these first 90 days with all of us and the young members of the committee and at that little you know social at the rum room will'll just say to them hey guys we're about to disband this committee we need you to show up Quorum and I think that now that we've made these appointments it's just a question of scheduling a meeting because what had happened was the liaison was uh Ricky iola's Aid and he had kind of toward the end wasn't even there because he had applied to the fire department gotten accepted and he wasn't even really working so they lost the liaison which is why they had no meetings they had no liaison they switched the meetings to orderly meetings and nobody was excited about it but I guarantee you um we'll we'll fix this and um if they don't want to host the social where's your Aid who's going to take over this Louise Louise schedule a little uh cocktail thing for the millennial committee and I will make a commitment to show up and if you wanted to even I would I would host it at Cafe Bernie if you want to have it there or if you want to do it at the Run room find a place alost we could even give them a little bit of a budget like $5,000 so that they're excited and their IDs though okay make sure they check their ID these are millennials they're I think we're all in agreement okay so good good good okay I know we wanted so 90 days from now and let's try to revive this and it's actually good for us especially old ladies like me who really want to reach out and meet the young people in the community get them excited get them activated and and it's good stuff I just like commissioner Fernandez's humble brag that it came while working out I noticed that as well by the way so did I I will I I held back so but uh well I by the way I don't I don't know all the details so uh but I'll defend Eric here because I think there wasn't at any Quorum so I'm not sure it was his fault actually I think Eric was such a great you know Thea on to that committee and hats off to him because I know a lot of people celebrated the good work he did there okay thank you so is that a motion in a second for Eric yes so so my notes reflect that this is a deferral for three months so I'm bringing it back for the commission meeting of July 24th Y and there's also a referral to Public Safety neighborhood quality of life committee prior to that acclamation may we defer it yes so done that was item r5i great R5 J yes sir R5 J is an ordance of the mayor and City Commission of the city of May Beach Florida amending chapter two of the man Beach city code entitle Administration by amending article 3 entitled agencies boards and committees by amending division 21 entitled Marine water from protection authority by amending section 2-19 0.49 thereof entitled powers and duties by creating subsection 4 thereof to authorize the marine and waterr protection authority to make recommendations to the city manager and the city commission regarding potential suspension or revocation of business tax receipts btrs for commercial Charter operators that engage in nuisance or habitual unlawful activities and providing for repealer cability qualification and in effective date this is a second reading public hearing it is item R5 J Commissioner Suarez I move my item I I would actually um like to through the mayor I may yes commissioner bot um sorry wrong item never mind I'll second it it is a public hearing I see no one requesting to speak in zoom and no one in the audience call the roll mayor the call the rooll commissioner magazine yes commissioner Suarez yes commissioner Fernandez which item is this R5 J empowering the m mwpa to revoke btrs yes commission this is this is the one that relates to to the Marine Authority yes committee yes yes commissioner bot yes commissioner Rosa Gonzalez yes vice mayor dingz yes mayor Miner yes motion carries the item is approved R5 J r5k six co-sponsors on i5k so hopefully this one goes fast r5k is an nor of the mayor City Commissioner of the city of B Beach FL amending the code of the C beach by amending chapter 106 entitled traffic and vehicles by creating article 12 entitled school zones and speed detection system by creating section 106 495 thereof entitled speed detection systems and school zones to authorize the placement installation and operation of speed detection systems on specified roadways maintained as school zones established traffic enforcement procedures when speed detection systems are utilized for school zone speed limit violations and create hearing procedures related to such school zone speed limit violations providing for repealers have ability clarification and an effective date it is item r5k second reading public hearing sponsored by commissioner Fernandez and co-sponsored by Commissioners Dominguez magazine Suarez bot and me and I'm going to move the the item and it's in general it's going to potentially uh improve safety for for for students um walking to you know uh South Point Elementary uh Miami Beach Senior High U Miami let's see here um North Beach Elementary uh nalas the Hebrew Academy so anything that we can do to improve the safety bis Elementary bis Gan Elementary as well uh and and other schools so anything that we can do to improve the safety of of these kids walking to school or bicycling to school using technology better leveraging technology I'm all for and I'm glad that we're doing this so thank you to all the co-sponsors and for you Mr Mayor for for calling up the item I move my item second commissioner Rosen Gonzales my I believe in in policing the school zones but what I would like is a few text messages out to the electorate letting them know that we are going to begin to enforce this so that we don't start you know I understand that you have to enforce in order to change behaviors I think that most people speeding through school zones don't do it on purpose I think they have you know like a little so just how can we educate people to let them know before we start you know ticketing everyone I I just want like everybody to say hey heads up we're going to start ticketing you so I don't know if that's a marketing thing or do you have text message capabilities through the transportation department what can we do morning that we start this just a couple text messages I would do it like every single week for several weeks we're going to be ticketing you um you know please do not speed through our school zones something we have the capability commissioner and just for the record um this will not be implemented until we procure the the actual cameras which was actually the the advertisement was on this agenda so um that's a a point that we'll certainly um prepare for so these will be a red light cam in school zones they're not cameras they're not they're just speeding cameras in school zones this is to give a ticket to anyone that is speeding what is it over 10 miles more than 10 miles or more during school periods and anyone who is speeding over 10 miles during school period in the proximity of these schools should be ticketed and we shouldn't have to rely solely on having a police officer are there if we can leverage smartly the use of technology to create a safer environment for children or walking to school or bicycling to school and not just children even the teachers even the parents they to serve a fa a safe environment and and I'm sorry if you are speeding if you're going above 10 miles an hour shouldn't even be 10 miles an hour if you're going above the speed limit but this goes you know if you're going above 10 miles an hour this is one of the great tools that the state legislature has given us to make our communities safer and by the way it not only makes things safer uh for for for the kids going to school this this has camera technology that can be used later on uh as part of Investigations uh or to be able to catch individuals that may have committed crimes uh in the in the adjacent neighborhoods and so there's an added Le level of Public Safety resource here that we're putting that will make our our neighborhoods uh safer uh so yeah it's not a red light camera this is these are people who are speeding through school zones those evil people um okay I listen I hate cameras like this I hate titing people I going to have seniors coming to me on fixed income saying this they can't buy their Med medication because by mistake they sped through a school zone I think it really punishes um low-income people but I understand the need um the camer I me my turn Ros Gonzalez okay okay we just finished my thought I really I really do despise red light cameras and frankly I think we finally got rid of them um on Miami Beach so I hate the idea of putting them back I wish that we could just change Behavior by having some officers there at the beginning and talking to people do we have the red light cameras didn't we finally Abol well they stopped I haven't I mean like I not that I used to get them all the time of my house but I haven't got one no it used to be really really horrible you know and it was expensive violation too and like how much it was so obnoxious like $157 and I can't stand the camera people because it's really about making money rather than enforcement and uh and I know this because in the campaign they donated $25,000 to a pack because they were so mad at me because I was trying to uh remove them in some areas of the city seriously the red light camera people so it's a it's a it's a money gimmick um I just hope that look we want safety in our school zones I just you I I I can't vote no against it I can just Express the fact that education surrounding it yes uh Chief Jones I see that you're there on the Red Lake okay it is what it is I guess we can call Mr Mayor and you know don't speed through the school zones even if it's by mistake can we Mr Mayor you've recognized me right I don't want to cut you off commissioner but we we have the votes we have the vot but I just want to say I find it so highly offensive to say you know that it's that it's poor people that are going to be you know getting these tickets it's it's it's anyone it's anyone that is speeding through the whether you're poor whether you're rich don't speed the laws apply to you as well regardless of your income level laws apply broadly ac across you know people's people's income and and and to say that because you know someone is poor well you know if there everyone should be observing the law no one should be you know getting a hall pass on following uh speed zones in schools uh if based based on their on on their income level and I get the I get the concern about someone of lower income getting this ticket being and and you know their ability to to to to make ends end ends meet but the reality is cripples cripples people for the month I mean they get that ticket and then they're really in trouble and I just hate doing that especially to a senior who maybe just sped a little I had the floor but imagine imagine a child imagine imagine a child imagine imagine a child or or or or pedestrian getting hit and killed in a school zone that is that is you want to talk about crippling that is worse listen I know I I don't I'm going to support it I'm going to support it I just I think we're going for the world record for six sponsors and how long we can discuss an item commissioner magazine ironically my seven-year-old child that goes to South poror Elementary came in in the middle of this and ran up to Huger dad I would much rather get a call from somebody saying they got a ticket and they're pissed then get a call from a parent and say they don't have their child anymore so I I hope we can move forward with this and I'll make a motion a second and commissioner Fernandez is a good item um it's why you have six sponsors to it uh call the vote Yes sir and originally I had a motion by commissioner Fernandez and second by commissioner bot there is no one on Zoom requesting to speak no one in the audience commissioner bot commissioner bot said yes yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner sorz yes commissioner Rosen Gonzalez yes vice mayor Dominguez yes commissioner magazine yes mayor Miner yes motion is approved r5k r5m r5m is in Ord of the mayor and City Commissioner city of man Beach for amending Chapter 30 of the man Beach city code entitled code enforcement by amending article three entitled enforcement procedures by amending section 3072 thereof entitled conduct of hearings by creating subsection C allowing only one continuous for City and one continu for the alleged violator except in exceptional circumstances providing for repealer of ability clarification and effective date r5m is a second reading public hearing sponsored by commissioner Dominguez co-sponsored by commissioner fernandz commissioner Dominguez thank you mayor um so this is the second reading it's uh intent the intent of this ordinance is to improve our special magistrates office and with that I uh move the item call the vote so it is a public hearing I see no one in zoom and I see no one in the audience a motion by commissioner Dominguez seconded by commissioner Fernand commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Rosa Gonzalez yes commissioner Suarez yes commissioner Bach yes commissioner magazine husky commissioner magazine yes vice mayor Dominguez yes mayor Miner yes r5m is approved for commissioner B yes and welcome Rick too to the uh to the floor thank you um r5n is commissioner Bots item she stepped away for a moment so we'll we'll uh we'll skip over that why don't we go to r5v sorry r5v is in Ord of the mayor of City Commission of the city of Mii Beach Florida amending the chapter two of the code of the city of Mii Beach entitle Administration by amending article one entitled in general by creating section 2-2 thereof entitled alternate publications of legal notices online to provide that in accordance with Section 50 D 50.0 311 Florida Statutes wherever the city code request a legal advertisement or publication in a newspaper of General circulation the city may use publicly accessible websites H hosted by the counties as an alternative mean of publishing notices and advertisements except where the newspaper notice is otherwise required under the city Charter County Charter or county code and providing for repealer sub ability codification and an effective date this is a first reading item r5v commissioner Suarez thank you Mr Mayor um so I I I would like to have our city clerk tee up this item because he has a presentation um for for everyone thank you sir uh on the on the screen we have just as a recap section 50.0 311 of the Florida Statutes allows cities to post their uh their public their publicly notice uh publicly notices advertisements on a county hosted website so two things have a couple of things have happened since we last spoke on this item next slide PJ yes yesterday the county approved an ordinance allowing the county to do the same thing in other words the county will now be publishing its publicly notice advertisements on a website so the county has taken that step Additionally the county next slide please the county adopted a resolution directing the mayor the county mayor to look into the feasibility of creating this website if it is economically feasible less expensive to advertise on the County website versus a newspaper the county mayor has been directed to establish this website within 60 days now we anticipate that it's going to be less expensive to advertise on the County website than it is in a it's in a newspaper of General circulation the cler clerk of courts right now advertises in such a website and they charge $50 per ad unlimited time span so that next slide PJ in addition to that the charter Review Committee passed a motion a unanimous motion supporting uh for cost savings purposes supporting this initiative in addition since the charter requires that ordinances be advertised in a newspaper of General circulation the charter Review Committee also proposed Pro uh suggesting to this commission when it when it provides its recommendations to change the charter to allow ordinances also to be advertised a publicly noticed noticed website next slide PJ since we last talked on this item The Herald has increased its advertisement rate for the Neighbors it has is increased the quarter Page by 10% it increased the the half page by 11% and the full page by nearly $100 more at 12.24% so in general all advertisements in the neighbors are now 11.5% more expensive uh the neighbors ALS Consolidated from four regions to two which is actually what concerns me the most uh since I've been city clerk here in the city The Herald went from uh two Publications on the neighbors one on Thursday and one on Sunday to just one on Sunday it has now gone from four regions to two so this city was very lucky uh recently when the The Daily Business Review no longer prints uh the city all all the larger cities were using in the Daily Business review because it was more economical than advertising in another newspaper such as such as the herald when that when that went away they've been forced to either advertise in the herald in the main section which is which is quite expensive or adverti in other free newspaper circulations there's only one other approved which basically has zero circulation as far as we've concerned uh so next slide PJ at the request of commissioner Suarez we did a study of how much money we spent from March 2023 through the end of March 2024 on the different types of notices for meeting notices we spent close to $49,000 and resolutions we spent close to $122,400 for meeting notices in Spanish close to $3,000 on election ads in English $20,600 election ads in Spanish change if we would had this opportunity to advertise on a website out of out of the 178,000 almost $179,000 that we spent on advertisement between March and March of 2023 and 2024 $137,600 would have been eligible for the website so it would have been a significant cost savings next slide PJ says well mind you I can't tell you that that would have been the cost savings because we don't know what the County will be charging but for instance right now if the if the clerk of the courts the website they use is $50 a pop one ad in the Spanish Herald cost $3,000 I would have done what 60 ads so it is it will be a significant savings if we go there mind you we still need the county to create that website and even if we pass the ordinance we still need that step to happen so we will know more in 30 to 60 days where the count is going to do it but all the clks have been asking the county to do so U I'm going to co-sponsor by the way okay thank you if on the last slide we asked the herald in February what was their uh their circulation in the city as far as on Sundays which is when we adverti in the in the neighbors what was their circulation physical newspaper deliveries to homes is 1,354 and the digital circulation is a 1062 I'm not sure if there's overlap if these are the same people would even if we assume we're not out of a city of 880,000 people roughly a little less 2,500 are getting the newspaper either digitally or U or on on print so the other advantage to the website which is once the newspaper publishes on Sunday that's all you get the website you get it for two weeks you can go at any time on the website uh we are required to publish at least once a year and notify people that that we uh are advertising on the website and we also have to give the the residents the opportunity if they want to receive email notification of the ads or mail notification of the ads so um through the chair um yeah okay so just to reiterate a couple concerns our clerk has mentioned that you know if the neighborhood section is removed and we are I guess basically forced to do to to publish the the notices on on a physical newspaper I mean that's going to what would what would that do to our cost Rafael if if the neighbors no longer yeah it would be I don't know in other words it would be roughly between 1,500 to $3,000 per ad our most expensive ad right now is $800 so it would be significant if that was yeah if that was ever to happen so this was so concerning to the to the Charter review board that uh when I brought it to their attention that they actually gave a favorable recommendation to put this on the ballot for the charter for a charter Amendment for us to consider so um I mean you I think you saw the slide only basically 1300 people in Miami Beach get a physical newspaper and only a thousand people subscribe and I believe that's an overlap because once you get the newspaper you also get the uh digital print so um you know I I this was handed down to us uh from the state county adopted it unanimous correct um and I'm being proactive I'd like to save as much money for the city as possible um and I'm even willing to when when I when I was discussing this with the clerk is yes there's definitely a concern for um our senior citizens who may not uh who just who read the paper uh and we we have an option for that U so I think every week when we post our resos or our meeting notices or in election time uh for election notices the clerk's office is willing to go to all the senior centers in Miami Beach and post it in in the in the in the the community room in the lobby so that everyone sees it and and to be honest I think that you're going to get a lot more visibility that way than um in a newspaper so um I'd like to hear what my colleagues have to say about that Rafael quick question before we get um you don't usually hear someone in your seat ADV you but I can tell you feel very strongly about this I I do uh I am scared that something may happen and we'll have no fallback uh so that's one uh which has happened now in most other cities who were using the Daily Business review and I've been talking to my colleagues and meeting about this and there we've been very fortunate um I think what putting them on the website allows us much much more flexibility to a put them when we basically it's if it's the same website that the the clerk of the court uses is within seconds you post it you can amend it at any time there's many times where we spend money because there's an error in the ad because something has changed so I'm not advocating it is a policy decision but it would be very C significant savings and it would be much easier to operate at least as far as we're concerned again this is dependent on the county saying yes to it we hope and we think they will but again that's the extra step that we're missing understood and it's important to note that you know the process that we do now you have to prepare what two weeks in advance and and if if we adopted this it would you could do it in a day right an hour it's the the the one we've we've been shown is basically seconds it takes takes minutes uh it doesn't happen often it has happened in the past where the herald does not publish an ad that we sent so that we're scrambling so that's why we published so early because if something happens we need to have a fall back got it okay just call a vote I need a motion in a second I move the item I'll second commissioner bot yes commissioner Rosen Gonzalez yes yes vice mayor Dominguez yes commissioner Suarez yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner magazine yes mayor Miner yes motion Carri second reading public hearing is May 15 go to r5n as in Nick R lerg r5n is an order to the mayor City Commission of the city of Miami Beach Florida amending chapter two of the Miami Beach city code and tile Administration by amending article three entitled agencies boards and committees by amending division 33 entitled North Beach Community red velopment agency advisory committee to amend section 2-1 19.151 thereof entitled composition knowledge and expertise to add a representative of the Normandy Fountain Business Association as a non-voting ex-official member of the committee and providing for repealers have ability clarification and an effective date r5n is a second reading public hearing uh the item requires uh 47s vote r5n commissioner bot um so this uh this item is intended to ensure that the Normy Fountain Business Association continues to be represented on the board the person who had been um representing them and who's been instrumental in revitalizing that area of North Beach um is now on a different board and so um is no longer able to um um operate as a voting member so this would be a non- voting member um but still be able to advise and participate in the discussions and I think it's having been a North Beach for close to 7 years now the transformation in that time has been and continues to be remarkable and a large part of that is due to um the Normy Fountain Business Association and David seon's efforts and I think it would be a loss to the community and to the city as a whole if we lost the services um as an adviser so I hope my colleagues will support this I second it call the all it is a public hearing I see no one on zoom and I see no one in the audience I had a motion by commissioner bot seconded by commissioner Suarez vice mayor Dominguez yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Suarez yes commissioner Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner bot yes mayor Miner yes motion carries uh second reading motion carries the item is approved r5n we made it easy for you recel r5w w r5w is an ordance of the mayor City Commissioner of city of May Beach Florida amending the code of the city May Florida code entitled fee scheduled to standardize and simplify certain parking rates and clarify an inconsistency in the fee for removal of a parking space and providing for catification repealers have ability and effective date r5w first reading um commissioner bot thank you mayor Miner um I'm going to not even try to explain all of this because it's very convoluted but the the intent is to streamline and codify um parking rate increases which we're required to do to make them um manageable so that they don't become excessively expensive so they happen on a um a predictable schedule with predictable increases in a manner that is compliant with the law have at it Monica good afternoon mayor and Commissioners Madame manager um so you you summarized it beautifully that this is I'm Monica belan by the way parking director for this month and um you summarized it beautifully and that's all it does this this is really to change the language in the code so that when we apply the CPI which happens um every five years and it's cumulative so that when we apply the the um the CPI the rates are consistent additionally we used to have four rate structures and currently and we're changing this to two one for Mid Beach 40 42nd Street Garage and then all the garages in South Beach and that's what it does addition there's also one change and that is that the permanent space removal was uh codified to be to be subject to CPI how however um the code reads also that the space removal shall be equivalent to the um fee in Le of parking which is not subject to CPI so to remove that inconsistency this is what this um item does thank you thank you you could have done that yeah she did actually we got a second you moving it I'm moving it we've got a second call the roll so Fernandez second commissioner bot made the motion commissioner magazine yes commissioner Dominguez yes vice mayor commissioner Suarez yes commissioner bot yes commissioner Fernandez I'll take that say yes commissioner Rosa Gonzalez yes mayor Miner yes motion carries r5w second reading public hearing is May 15th thank you Monica thank you r5x r5x is an ordinance of the mayor City Commission of the city of man Beach Florida amending Part One subp Part B article 9 related special acts of the b beach city code entitled pension system for disability and retirement of members of police and fire departments by amending section 62 definitions relating to Actuarial assumption rates amending section 66 service and disability benefits generally related to implementing the the conclusive firefighter cancer presumption established by section 112. 1816 for the statute amending section 884 secure act 2.0 Provisions providing for repealer of ability codification and effect effective date r5x is a first reading welcome hello I'll turn it over to you Sonia walow good afternoon mayor Commissioners and city manager this is an item for the police and fire pension plan that uh makes three changes it uh includes language for the firefighter state firefighter presumption for cancer um it just adds the language to their Pension Plan number two it changes the age for distribution of benefits under the pension plan from 72 to 73 that's a a mandate by the federal government and number three it changes the Actuarial assumption that was uh produced by the actuary for the fire and police uh fire and police pension plan to 7.5% I'm sorry to 7.2% those are the three changes that are being made to the uh fire and police pension plan and the last part about the uh percentage is that mandated uh it was something done by it's the percentage is not mandated that was something done by the actuary for the actual pension plan so that's not a mandate on the recommendation of the fire and the pension board as well car right that's it those are the three changes okay we have a motion I'm we have a second I'll make a motion okay motion by commissioner bot second by commissioner Fernandez call the RO commissioner Ros commissioner Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner bot yes vice mayor Domingas yes commissioner Fernandez commissioner Suarez is abs commissioner magazine yes mayor Miner yes motion carries second reading public hearing is May 15th that was item r5x R5 y R5 Y is in ordinance of the mayor and City Commission of the city of man Beach for amending chapter two of the May Beach city code by entitle Administration by amending Article 2 entitled City commission by creating section 2-16 entitled code of professional conduct to establish the code of conduct for interacting among elected officials administrative staff and the public and providing for repealer cability codification and effective date R fivey is a first reading thank you this is my item I put it on even though it encompasses many different aspects it's how elected officials deal with the public with each other with staff um I put it on the Genesis why I reached out and discussed with the city attorney was I was hearing from a number of staff that they felt um they felt they were sometimes under attack uh by the electeds and uh obviously there's there's a lot going on government um you know we want to be responsive to our residents but I also want to make sure that morale stays stays high and that's why I put the item on it's a set of guidelines and sort of instructive there's nothing mandating it um I thought it was just a good good code of conduct policy to have I think every government should have it and and uh I'd love to see the support and hopefully we can all live by it commissioner magazine get it started I I'm actually curious to hear my colleagues take on this uh I I don't come down immediately one way or another I do believe that we should be operating with a code of decency decorum and respect um I also believe each of us has 87,000 bosses that we are ultimately accounted to and if we do not conduct ourselves uh with that decency decorum and respect uh we will be held accountable by them um so I I I don't have my mind made up here I'd like to hear where my colleagues take this well I will I if I could just comment and I'll call in you in a moment uh you know a lot of this goes on behind the scenes where residents don't see the interactions and so that's that's really where this where this comes from so I don't know if people would even know um and it's again it's just I think it's it's a good outline and guideline for how we should conduct ourselves and and uh that that was the spirit of it commissioner Rosen Gonzalez so when we are sworn in we all take an oath of Civility we all take this oath uh very seriously think we we try to be as civil as we possibly can um I don't think that this needs to be codified because I think that as a leader you should try to intrinsically motivate us instead of this somewhat punitive what I see as uh being overarching and heavy-handed and autocratic and everything that is not what a democracy really is all about I would like to see um a leader who inspires us bya example a leader who inspires us um you know I without uh creating a unnecessary uh code I I think that we're adults I think that we will be held account accountable by the electorate um I'm not uh I'm not going to support this today you know when I when I look and all things created equal I mean when I look at my items we have something called the consent agenda and we put items on this consent agenda okay and I look at this here and these are the items that we we pull we have these items and if you if you if you're against somebody's item you can pull that item and then we have to really wait for the mayor to call that item so when I look at our consent item sheet and I see that uh mayor Miner has pulled all of my items but not called the single one of them it gives me great pause because I don't feel like I'm being treated uh with with the civility decorum I think I just I think I just proved my point why I have this code of conduct the the point is is that all things are not created equally and I think that this could be punitive if you don't agree uh with the mayor and you know and and I don't think we need it I don't think we need to be guided by this so um I'm not very supportive of this today but I am supportive of being civil um I would I'm using this moment to to to ask you to please call my items that you've all that you've pulled you pulled no one else's items except for mine so I am feeling discriminated um against right now and all I would like is that you know equality fairness um nothing punitive based on other things that have occurred today I would like my mayor to be a mature Fair mayor you got one anybody else want to be heard commissioner Fernandez thank you um Mr Mayor I'm not against this I I think anything that we can do sometimes even even you know stating the obvious you know it's good um you know it's good to hold ourselves to a higher standard of the Quorum of conduct uh when we are engaging in our official uh business uh when we're sitting on the Das or or engaging with our very valuable uh City staff um there's nothing wrong with uh with with setting this clear for ourselves for future bodies um and so I I don't I come professionally I come from a place where rules and procedures and decorum uh exist they're codified uh and they're and and they're practiced to ensure um the Civility and and the proper decorum that the public deserves in the public discourse uh so I'm not against this um I and I and I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that I I I usually like anything that that establishes a procedure a standard um you know that keeps us in a certain ch and balances uh and it applies to all of us and it applies to Future uh public servants and I don't find the funds with it thank you thank you commissioner bot um I I think it's it's a little bit sad that this is where we are um I think going back several commissions um there have been episodes or individuals or groups of people who have not upheld their Oaths of Civility going back to you know a decade or so when I started really tuning in I was shocked then and I've been shocked in my tenure as an elected official by things that I've seen happen either in public or um in writing um so I think while I wish we didn't need this um it is obvious that for years we have and that to me is sobering and um sad frankly um I ran on a platform one of the biggest planks of the platform was collegiality and collaboration and um treating each other with respect because no one no matter how much they like each other or how aligned they are on so many issues will agree on every item and so um I I'm very sober minded about this my question and I don't want to get into overreach but you know there there are good guidelines in here about how to proceed and how to conduct yourself and how to speak with dorum and how to not insert yourself into staff meetings where you're not part of the staff meeting and you know lots of things that don't seem like they should need to be said out loud or or codified in our city code which is sort of mindboggling at the same time though there's no consequence if you do and so since you're a lawyer and you wrote this this is your item I just uh I want to hear your thoughts on that and how how you think this serves the greater good which your goal is and I understand and I respect that well it's it's a reminder to to everyone and again by the way there was there was some discussion about actually having some forced to uh apply these um which I wasn't comfortable with I pulled back and made it a guideline as opposed to something that could literally have some teeth in in in respect but I people that I had when I say people staff that I had worked with for four years were telling me that um they felt the level of disrespect um and and uh email EMS and certain comments that were being made to them that were they found highly offensive and impeding their ability to focus on the task at hand I made the decision that I felt as the mayor that I wanted to at least bring that out and try to remind people of what our because you know we're and I could be I'll tell staff if I disagree with them as well but and I hope they don't disagree with me I I do it professionally and you know we'll have disagreements and and I'll and I'll be very firm in how I feel and if I think something should be done but there is there is a there is crossing the line and what I was hearing from staff was that the line was being crossed and a lot so that's why I brought this item I'm not calling anybody out I'm not mentioning any names uh but that actually might violate the code of conduct that I'm proposing but I'm just it's a reminder to everyone to adhere to it defish yes so um you know and it's not this commission's exclusive uh purview or that's the wrong way to phrase it it's not just this this uh commission that has had concerns I've you know like I said going back a decade at least I've heard stories or witness firstand um conduct Unbecoming um so I think you know it's not my normal inclination to do this but I do think I'm going to support this um in part because there are no penalties it's just you know it's Rules of Engagement and I would add um because if we're holding ourselves to this as we absolutely rightly should I would suggest um that the public in their passion and fervor for what they think is right as well and as pissed off as they get with us and that is absolutely their right um it would be nice if they could separate some of their vitriolic rage and professional Behavior towards my colleagues um or towards me as the case may be um and try to just say there is an issue it's not being handled well what are you going to do about it that's pretty directed um so I would say it does cut both ways um so um in a surprise move to everybody including myself I think I will support this Mission Suarez yeah look I I think the pink elephant in the room is me um and look I I I think I came out of the gate swinging um but that's not warranted it wasn't unwarranted it wasn't that I just decided one day that I want to go up and and and rattle the cage of the administration you know I I knocked on over 5,000 doors I spent a year of my life campaigning because of May quality of life issues in Miami Beach and there were some serious inefficiencies in our city government and and and and and I am just the messenger of of the electorate and you know look you may not like my Approach you may not like me okay but I wasn't elected to uh to be friends with staff I wasn't elected to go to the parties I wasn't elected to cut ribbons in fact I've never been to a ribbon cutting I was elected for serious business and my Approach in my opinion is needed right now and you know I might have a a colleague up here that ran on collegiality and and playing nice that's not me I got elected in group five because of what I campaigned on on accountability and better government and so I I I think that you know I I I applaud the mayor for listening to to City's staff but you know where where do we draw the line when the next commission meeting we could have penalties for this and and you know I I wholeheartedly agree with Kristen commissioner Gonzalez that you know this this is it's a free speech issue you know I got on here I have a certain approach and and in my opinion I think it's working I think by and large Miami Beach is a much better place than it was before November okay I mean everyone is reaching out to us about spring break quality of life issues on the Water Public Safety and and to say that hey look you know we don't like your tone commissioner Suarez look I I like I said I was elected in group five there were many people in group five when I started my my campaign but they all moved and they all move for a reason so I think that this is uh I think this is UNC uncalled for I think this is sets up a slippery slope on on on on our Effectiveness as elected officials and and let's be clear you know we are the board of directors we should not muzzle each other on on what we think is right I may not agree with my colleagues but I will never ever tell them how to handle themselves that is their responsibility they are adults as am I don't need we you know I don't I don't think we need uh a a parent on this commission we are all grown-ups okay so um I I think you know I think we are we're setting ourselves up for for uh for things that we can't change in the future if we really want to speak our mind I mean look I I don't I I haven't even read this code of conduct but I can tell you one thing as long as I'm not name calling you shouting down to you or interrupting to you or interrupting you that's my code of conduct thank you commissioner Suarez by the way you're not the only one that I've heard uh um comments from staff about and and by the way I take it uh you know I I don't want to just say that I I heard it you know once or twice um it just it became a thing and here here's here's my concern nobody on this de can do anything that we vote on and approve legislatively we are a legislative body but we are not going to make an arrest we are not going to draft the contract we are not going to be issuing code violations and if we and I'm not saying we're at that point but I'm hearing it a lot from staff that they don't want to work in a hostile environment and ultimately there's there's a measure by the way your items are outstanding I think you you will see we're aligned on almost everything I and I'm not questioning that and you have an Effectiveness so I am not questioning that and I'm not looking to muzzle anybody that's not the intent of this but I do have a concern and if you're asking me I am the mayor of the city and I am if you want to say I'm the leader of the city as as you as you mentioned commissioner Rosen Gonzalez I do have a responsibility to make sure that we have the staff and the in Administration in place that can do the things that we're asking them to do and I just think if we keep going down this road where we embarrass people where we humiliate people where we PE have people fearful for their jobs constantly I mean there's one level of accountability there's another account where people don't enjoy going to work that's not a healthy environment um we're we're we're going to be in a lot of trouble because all the good legisl and I think this body by the way is passing some really good legislation I mean the last four months I think we could all be very proud of what we are doing as a body but if we lose all our directors and and middle level staff then nothing's going to happen commissioner Fernandez thank you Mr Mayor I think this is a good discussion to be having it's a healthy discussion to be having um it's actually the type of thing that sometimes it's even better to have it in a workshop or or in a retreat but I think it's a good conversation to be having our colleague commissioner Suarez mentioned something that does resonate with me he knocked on 5,000 doors he was elected by by the voters um I take a different approach to things I think we all are very unique in individuals and we and we take different approaches to to to the way we handle issues uh and the way we communicate our concerns and the way we engage with uh with City staff I think perhaps you know being that this doesn't have any teeth the purpose is being achieved we're having a conversation about the Quorum we're having a conversation about engagement with City staff about the words that we use the tones that we use the boundaries that should exist um and I think out of trust and respect for each other as as not as not only as colleagues on the Staters but individuals that were elected by the voters perhaps let's consider deferring this item and I put that out there respectfully um I don't mind the item I I I don't mind governing myself under under under these rules I think they're they good rules it's the obvious um but at the same time you know ultimately each one of us were elected by the voters and they knew our style and they sent us you know on a mission we don't have to agree with our with with uh with the style of someone sitting on on the de but we have to respect the fact that the same people that elected us elected our colle colleagues and so the intent is being achieved we're having a conversation about it if this passes and there's a violation of it nothing can come of it but the real meaningful substance of it is happening right now this discussion that we're having the the the conversation being more attentive to to to the work environment of our of our staff of the men and women who represent us in the community working on behalf of of all of us uh and so and so I would I would perhap I would offer uh to support a deferral because the real substance of this of this is just happening right now is having this conversation uh and so and so I would say let's trust each other uh to hopefully grow from this experience be better uh in in in perhaps our Communications sometimes it's hard entering uh public office I know when I got elected there were times I had heated discussions with individuals and I didn't mean to have heated discussions with with with individuals but there was a lot of tension and we grow from experiences and we move from them and hopefully this can be a growing moment uh we go through Growing Pains uh as and as any other organization uh does and hopefully we can grow from this commissioner Rosen Gonzalez if you do a six-month referral I'll second that would you make it a six-month referral and we'll revisit it in six months that would be my if you make that your motion yeah yeah exactly until November 3rd 2025 a six-month deferral I mean I I mean deferral takes precedence over my vote I would just say vote if it gets it it gets it like you say it doesn't have teeth and by the way when I worked with legal the original draft did have teeth to it I actually took it out um because we are independent by the way and if the person wants to share that it was I don't like to repeat conversations uh but but I'll repeat the substance of it without mentioning who but somebody mentioned to me about a year ago like because I was expressing some frustration I had on C some things and what have you and they said why don't you express that more at the commission meetings why don't you and I'm like well I kind of do and I gave examples um of items that I brought I said you know I try to work behind the scenes but I didn't get it done so I brought it to Commission and then we got it done well he's like why didn't you go like I'm like because what does that accomplished first of all I don't want to embarrass anybody but secondly you're going to lose people you need you need the the the different the city manager the the different directors because again without them we're just P we're just pushing paper it's important paper it's legislation But ultimately gets implemented by the city staff the person actually said to me recently like you know I understand what you're saying I understand what you're saying because you know if you if you turn away someone uh you just you may not accomplish the goal it's it's it's a fine mix it's a fine balance and it's a constant balance that I find that I'm that I'm weighing um as well because sometimes I'm very a lot of times I'm very pleased the way things got done most of the time but sometimes I'm not and you got to weigh that balance we all deal with it we all deal with that on on an everyday basis and ultimately I felt at least what I was hearing cuz most of it I don't really see I'm hearing this anecdotally um some of it I I I do see in in some of the emails I felt it had gotten to the point where it was detrimental to our city where we're trying to accomplish a goal But ultimately if we're losing too many people then we're actually going to flip the other way and that's why I brought this item simple as that commissioner Rosen Gonzalez you know it was interesting this morning during the snic hour I feel like the only person who violated the code of Civility was the mayor I was actually surprised you waited that long to say it I thought you'd bring that up because uh there was screaming and there was snarling and there was uh cutting people off and there was everything that was completely un civil but you know what I'm I understand that you have your thoughts and I would never try to codify you or silence you I mean if if if that's how you're going to behave I mean you were elected by the electorate and I guarantee you that they will our personal people know who we are they personalities um come happen and and it it's not my place to govern you because the only people that you're accountable to is uh is the electorate okay and uh you know and it's been a slow burn taking away of our freedoms the first it was uh you know we can no longer the meetings can't go longer than you know 700 p.m. said fine we used to go to like some vot I voted against that item I'm being interrupted see this is a violation right there of your code because I'm am being interrupted when I have the floor and that is not right okay um it was a slow burn first then you limited the amount of items that we can bring to each agenda and I found that egregious too because sometimes I might get residents well then maybe we should reverse all of these things and that I'm being interrupted a second time okay um violation of the code all right imagine if it had teeth Okay the third thing now now um you stopped us we can no longer speak more than five minutes I've never in my entire life my 10 years in politics I have never seen an elected official not be allowed to speak more than uh a certain amount of minutes this is our floor we work very hard we knock on thousands of doors to get these jobs and sometimes it takes a little bit longer than five minutes and I don't want to be cut off if I'm doing some very important work it might not be important to someone else okay it might not be important uh to to our chair but it is important to me and and my constituency and I guarantee you thousands of other people so as you limit our freedoms uh we are entering a very slippery slope our right to Pro you know uh our first amendment rights even here on the dasas and I think that I I would challenge you um I I would challenge you Mr Mayor to to inspire us through action and not this uh punitive codification Mr Mayor Commission Fernandez thank you I you know our colle speaking of time uh let's we should try to move this item on yes I probably violate the five minutes all the time yeah I don't think I've ever enforced it actually you have not you have not thank you uh listen I I made a motion to defer our calling suggest the six months I think you know we don't need a time you know six months or three months or or whatever I think this I think we can defer the item I think we can I think it's healthy to have this conversation it is healthy uh and I think we need to trust each other because the voters have trusted us uh and so we've had this conversation and hopefully we can grow from this conversation I'll tell you there's not an elected officials school I pride myself I try to pride myself on my the Quorum and my conduct but I've had the privilege since I was 15 years old to have models in public service um that held the Quorum and civility to very high standards and I learned from from them and uh is why I always hold the pencil people make fun of my pencil because I try to remind myself of the specific elected official who always had a pencil rapael is laughing because he knows I'm who I'm talking about um it is this is for me the reminder of being civil um and so I think we all grow from this we can learn from each other I can sometimes learn how to be stronger from some of you sometimes how feel I'm not strong enough on some issues and I learned from some of you how to be stronger on some issues and how to be perhaps a little bit more more more thoughtful about the public under other circumstances or in other circumstances be perhaps a little bit more mindful of impacts to business we learn from each other and perhaps one of the things we can learn from each other and grow on is on how we engage with staff with our residents with others and we can learn from each other and grow from this moment uh and that's thanks even though we're deferring the side item you took the leadership to place the item to touch a sensitive issue uh and and just that in itself that we engage in this conversation like adults and public servants it places us in a very good place and I thank you for having uh brought it up thank you commissioner magazine Mr Mayor uh your grown man family man man of Faith uh also the mayor leader of our city so you certainly don't need me to carry water for you uh but when we're talking about being an example um you're an example to me uh I think you're principled I think you have a great deal of Integrity I know during your campaign you would actually say uh at an mbu form there were six candidates that were asked which public elected official would you most model yourself after and maybe four or five of them answered you so uh I agree this is a healthy debate but when we're talking about maybe you should set positive examp Le in my eyes I think many in the city do so thank you thank you I appreciate that um to the chair commissioner Suarez yeah last time I speak so um look you know I I think I think this is a learning curve right and I believe this is the fourth or fifth commission meeting and we're we're all sort of getting our we're all getting settled in the three of us and and like commissioner Fernandez said you know he he maybe he perhaps needs to be a little stronger and perhaps I need to be a little bit softer and and look I I I'm not going to take away from this discussion saying I'm going to be even more abrasive that's that's not my intention in fact you know since the last commission meeting when when when we when when I was in interacting with with the chief you know just the other day we sat down for two meetings and and and and hashed things out uh in a very amicable way we we you know we we Shu we shuck hands and and you know we agreed to to to communicate which is very important and and kind of put down this like arms race um and so look I I and this is to all City staff I think the world of you okay I I um and the more I get to know you you know I I re you know I see how hard you work can there be loow hanging fruit that you guys do better of course that's my job I'm here to do that and and I'm going to do that for the next four years in fact I'm going to run my first four years if it's my last four years I'm not going to worry about a re-election campaign I I didn't get elected to try to get reelected I got elected to make things happen that's better for the city and so um I'm not going to want to I I and I won't support a def a deferral I think we're here now we had this great discussion I think we can all move forward and say you know we're we're learning where where we are and and and we're just we're going to be better elected officials moving forward and so um I think that's I think that's the more appropriate move forward instead of kicking the can down the road on this and so let's you know we've already had this almost hour discussion let's just vote on it now let's see let's see where we're at I'm fine with that okay well there is a motion in a second to defer which takes precedence so you'd be voting on that first okay so let's vote I do agree with you commissioner Fernandez though I think in large respect I'm very comfortable with the way this conversation proceeded and I think it's sered its purpose would you consider withdrawal I'll I'll I I'll I'll actually unilaterally defer the item thank you indefinitely Or to a certain date uh indefinitely thank you thank you but doesn't mean I won't bring it back if I feel it's necessary sorry I think I think the point's made uh we have a Time certain for R5 yes sir R50 is an ordinance to the mayor and City Commission of city of May Beach Florida mending the Land Development regulations of the city code by amending chapter two of the resiliency code entitle Administration and review procedures Article 13 entitle historic preservation section 2.3.9 entitle historic designation of subsection EI entitle historic preservation sites HPS by designating the Collins Canal located between biscane Bay and Lake pan CO as a historic site to be known as Collins Canal as more particularly described in this ordinance providing that the city's zoning map shall be amended to include the Collins Canal as a historic cite adopting the designation report attached here to as appendix a providing for inclusion in the land of vment regulations of the code and providing for codification repealers have ability and an effective date this is a second reading public hearing the item requires 57s vote R50 W up yes good even uh Mr Mayor members of the commission um this particular uh Historic Site designation was initiated by the historic preservation board um they were presented the designation report and unanimously recommended uh adoption of this um by to the planning board and to the city commission the planning board also reviewed the designation and unanimously recommended in favor um staff is supportive of the designation the Collins Canal is a is really a historical element of our city that has quite the history it is um the oldest man-made structure in the history um I think it's important to note that this particular Historic Site designation does not include any privately owned property um it also does not include the seaw walls or the the bridges uh there are two existing sections of the Collins canal in in uh the section in Palm View and the section north of 23rd Street that are already located within a local historic district so those sections already have oversight by the historic preservation ordinance and and historic preservation board um I'm more than happy to answer any other questions you have um debie I have a question um the Palm View neighborhood voted against it but it sounds like all of the other uh places that this item went was supportive um did they reach out to you at all I I have communicated with the Palm viw neighborhood association I advise them um that their properties are are not really impacted by this whatsoever um because the portion of the canal that abuts the the Palm View neighborhood is already part of the Palm View historic district um I think they they saw some redundancy to this designation um and were questioning the reasons behind the designation um I I can only speak to the reasons outlined in our historic designation report which staff prepared in terms of its satisfying the criteria for designation which uh we have concluded that it does satisfy ify the criteria um again this was initiated by the historic preservation board who really I believe from my experience with the board and from their comments wanted to really just celebrate the canal and and potentially open up some enhanced funding options that may be available we have not identified any um we do know historic sites throughout the city do have typically a um a higher degree of funding available to them since there are state historic preservation grants um that are mandated uh by the state to to allocate every year so it's it's really a celebration of the oldest man-made structure in the city and in our Rich history thank you debie I just worry that the neighborhood that has uh this in their backyard is not in favor and they wrote all of us that they were against it they didn't initiate this so it makes it hard to support um um you know shoving it down a neighborhood's throat um I I would I was going to call you vice mayor uh commissioner Suarez thank you Vice thank you Vice Madame vice mayor that is a nice ring down to it um I I'd like to make a motion to defer this you know and and let the Palm View neighborhood come forward and and and and bring what they um and bring forward their their grievances against this and so um I don't know how the rest of the commission feels about this but um i' I'd like to defer the item and give an opportunity for Palm View to come forward I'll second that great colleagues okay to defer the historic preservation um board recommendation of the Collins Canal Palm View was against the item can we do something could I I mean deferral takes precedence but I certainly it this this hasn't stalled by land use I think would rather than deferring it you know why don't we discuss it at land use uh have have a proper analysis vetting of it if the residents want to come Express their their their positions on it um would want to give the historic preservation stakeholders an opportunity uh to do this so perhaps instead of deferral perhaps the body could entertain a referral to land use where we can further vet this is that a motion uh I I'll move that but I don't I'll second that okay and I'll withdraw I'll withdraw my item and I'll I'll I'll third that ITW the deferral ask a question you know this a second reading and um I'm a little bit surprised I mean it sounds to me like Debbie has addressed a lot of the concerns that were raised I I'm very respectful of neighborhood resident um input so I'm not going to do rail a a referral to land use but I I I am just really disappointed frankly I'm looking at you I don't I'm not disappointing you Debbie has nothing to do with you even I'm looking right at you um that that we're you know five seconds away from passing something on second reading that has ample time has had ample time to be vetted and for neighborhoods to speak out about this and um um I just don't understand why this why now when the the concerns raised by The Neighborhood were address but um if it in the long run gets us to where we want to be I'm very willing to move this I I would request that it gets moved to since it's practically done um gets moved to the April what month read in April land use meeting since I don't think staff correct me if I'm wrong if anything really needs to be prepared for it other than changing things so and you know letting the stakeholders um in the neighborhood come and be noticed so that they can come and um from from mdpl and it can get hashed out once and for all and then we can come back in May and hopefully move forward and I'd be happy to prioritize through the chair through the vice chair I'd be happy to prioritize the item the way that I work the land use agenda uh to avoid new items going to the bottom of the list near items go to the top of the list so I always start with the most recently referred item which are usually the most relevant items uh so certainly happy to uh disc discuss it uh at our uh next uh landu meeting through the chair yes my my notes my notes reflect that there is no April meeting is that correct or am I wrong for for land use I believe there is an April meeting I'm I'm not sure but um whenever the next land use meeting is I'll be sure to prioritize the item we we're asked not to hold up the process of its consideration whether it's April May whenever the next 9 meeting two March meetings when is it May 1st May 1st is next thank you commissioner let's call the vote so this is in L uh this is a a referral to land use sustainability Committee of May 1st may we do so by acclamation no but it's this is a second so we asking a question is this for the referral yes yes yes uh I'm okay with that so for the referral by acclamation 70 it's a second read so should speak I have a motion by commissioner Fernandez second by commissioner Dominguez yeah and um middle Mr city clerk yes sir there is a public uh that wanted to speak we could do so just for the record since there is a deferral there is no public hearing but you may do so thank you everyone Daniel serado with Miami Design preservation League um yes I mean this has been beted for actually more now it's the third year that it's been going through all the required processes I also got a copy of a very short letter from one HOA along there with all of their concerns and it's fine to hear everyone's concerns but it's very clear that this doesn't even impact their water their neighborhood at all because it only applies to the Waterway uh the Collins Canal just like the Venetian Bridge were the two things that the Collins family did which really got Miami Beach going and so my concern is hearing some comments that if one neighbor doesn't like something we're no longer going to follow the code of the historic preservation Board of the planning board of our city I don't think that sends a message that we're trying to send that we do support historic preservation in the city particularly for a city-owned uh Waterway we were very interested in the environmental benefits of having the first Waterway designated there are concerns about pollution in the canal we think we can work on that so we hope that it can be a quick stop but that we can't have veto Power by one one or two or five people just because they don't like it when you know there there are properties that are falling apart in that neighborhood that I think we need to look at without derailing the preservation that is such a core and as someone that was there in Tallahassee I take this very seriously I came back understood I think this is just a flush out uh some items that came up at the last minute from a neighborhood group and then we can move forward okay thank you so much thank you Danny vote call the vote so back uh all in favor of deferring this item not deferring us refering refering referring this item to the land use committee uh next meeting which is May 1st respond I I no one against it gets uh it's 70 the item passes it's call R9 AF r 9 AF discuss action discuss take action the future proof conference in March 2025 R9 AF Mr Mayor if if if I may um the Rowing Club is here and there was a time certain for 502 um I don't know and there there's children in here they may have to go somewhere I was wondering if you can call that this this should be a very quick item then I'll call your item next yeah and I'm hoping it is because we we've already heard it uh we've discussed it at Finance uh we have Matt Middleton who has made the rounds to various um HOAs uh neighborhood associations last this March we declared to the world what we do not want to be for spring break and what we do not want to be as a city and now it's time to say what we do want to be um and what fills that void uh Matt puts on a tremendous conference out in Huntington Beach called future proof and this is essentially a networking event for uh Finance professionals so um I think collectively we all just got together with uh our electeds our city staff to talk about the great job that was done in March of this year and uh taking that one step further of something that fills that economic void but no way uh overwhelms the city and this is a midsize event it's not going to be overwhelming or strain resources or infrastructure or staff uh I believe uh the thought is he'll about have about 4,000 attendance um high-end uh business conference and we've uh flushed this this out at FK so this is just giving direction to staff uh so they can lock in a date for next march this isn't a high impact weekend this is actually uh goes from Sunday to Tuesday I believe it is uh is that if you wanted to speak 30 seconds or if we're comfortable enough given that this has been vetted uh and various neighborhood okay perfect I thir the item uh so uh move that to call for a vote so all in favor of giving direction to staff I I anyone opposed I'm I'm actually opposed and the reason is um we March is very tough and whether it's daytime or nighttime or not a high impact weekend um this year was very fragile and stressful but we had agreed the year before not to have any activations in order to have all hands on on deck and changing the course I think could change some of the outcome but it sounds like an amazing conference and for any other weekend except March I would love it so that's why I'm an not Mr Mayor May commissioner Fernandez thank you on that uh just because I just want to clarify um the action that we took last year as it related to activations it referred to City activations um I don't think we took a formal action on private activations but um but we didn't take action on private activations you're correct it it was it was on city city programmed activations and we and we in fact defunded uh City programmed activations and we said we didn't want to fund anything special during during that period of time that's what we did uh that's the action that we took last year for this year we still we didn't say we didn't want any private um uh act special event uh and so I just wanted to clarify that well you know and I will um respond to that the cre Fest wanted to do it in March and they were told no activations allowed in March and that was a private event I with if I may through the chair yes um the creel F Festival was in Chate was going to take place in chelate I think they came they met with a number of us um it didn't require a city special event permit or it did uh but but but but it was mainly within chto mate and I met with them as many of us did and when I met with them I pretty told I pretty much told them you really may want to consider changing the date of your event I don't think they were necessarily denied anything but but um but I I see LED probably wants to clarify what I'm saying but I did encourage them give even what was going on I encouraged them Hey listen you may want to go to a different date let let us tell you what you're going to be experiencing you're going to be experiencing closer closure of parking garages increased parking raids barricades uh no sidewalk C face in certain areas of our city LPR details DUI checkpoints 600 police officers from 18 different agencies closures of the beach and all this other stuff um but let said it seems if I if I may through the chair because it seems like you want to expand on that uh thank you commissioner through the chair Lisa arante director of Tourism and culture of City of Miami Beach uh to answer commissioner dominguez's um uh inquiry with the Creole Festival they were requesting uh road closure and it was high impact so we recommended a different date just because we wanted to have the city clear of any road closures with a street festival in the middle of what private activations did we have during March if you could remind me in March we had had private activations for Mi music week so all the hotels you know they celebrate all of that so that happened um that's inside the hotels not on the streets of our city exactly and so that's the only we never denied their permit we just as commissioner Fernandez said we suggested giving all the different elements that are happening during they wanted I think March 18th so we were just giving them recommendations but we never denied their permit so uh commissioner bot thank you um so I actually would like to put a motion forward to defer this to next month I I think the the program is a great concept um and I would like to see it come here successfully um but I have an item which I hope is going to be heard before 7 o'clock today which is to have a town hall Forum so that we can all hear feedback from Spring Break um from this is something that I vetted with uh with the chief of police with the chief of the fire department with the man uh with Madame manager Hudak and of her staff um looking to do it in the second half of April once um commissioner Dominguez is back something that um at various points since March 4th when I've been asking for the special meeting five of my colleagues had been interested in supporting but we are not there yet so I'm hoping to get that support today when the item is called but once we have that meeting we will have a much better understanding of what pieces of this year's successful spring break worked or didn't work and we will will also have a much better idea of where we might have some tolerance you were great when when we met um talking about being flexible potentially on the dates or potentially on the location and I believe that if we have this conversation so that you can move forward in in the next month we will have a much better idea of how to make our city work with you to make this a great experience for the visitors who come and so to me it feels premature to vote on this today um um until we have that discussion as a group where we have all of the information from staff from visitors from businesses from residents who have something to share with us thank you commissioner bot commissioner Fernandez thank you madam vice mayor um I 100% agree with commissioner bod it makes sense it makes sense to have this decision take place after we determine which of these policies are going to continue uh for next spring break I don't want to jeopardize something that could potentially be good for our city uh do you think you can wait I guess about a month um yeah unfortunately no basically this takes about 12 months typically it's a multi-million dollar event so if we to were to defer it I wouldn't close the door but I would have to look at another city as a location for 2025 so we're up against a tight turnaround time from a business standpoint now understand all the concerns here so if that is the situation I respect that but yep I I would need I mean we're right now at the point where we would need to announce that soon thank you and where and where is it again that that you that you are seeking to activate so we're proposing between 14th and 11th Street on the beach front on the beach front so not on Lumis Park actually on on on the beach front and this is a fenon area it's uh it's it's a tent yes and we bring our own security and everything you provide security of course I'm sorry I didn't catch your name uh it's Matt Middleton CEO of advisor ccle speak uh Vice May Vice chair commissioner Suarez thank you thank you uh Madame vice mayor um you know one one of the look we had a great spring break and you know all and for all intents of purposes it was very successful um and and you know I I think you know I I had an an item on the on the consent agenda for staff to discuss a or explore a Fitness Wellness event such as CrossFit or like water paloa across the bay maybe perhaps bring it here I I I'm fully in support of of future proof I I understand there's a tight deadline the fact that he has they're bringing their own security it's on the beach it's not in Lumis Park um we want to we want to encourage good events like this to come to Miami Beach I I don't think slamming the door in their face uh in in an attempt to kind of slow down the process uh is the right message that we want to send to Future vendors who who come here who spend a month of his time you know meeting engaging with us only to say all right we're going to put you in in a bureaucratic process that's going to that that that it's going to be mired in in red tape in more time and so I think if the issue was of public safety's concern where they bring their own security it's on the beach it's tented up I think that pretty much solves 90% of any concern on spring break you know our spring we're going to eventually need to fill this void of spring of spring break and you know what a better opportunity for us to at least dabble in this with this event uh and and tell the business Community who you know who who have had criticisms of our efforts on spring break but now we can say look we're we are pro business we even want to bring a business event to Mii Beach during spring break I I think I think that should be championed and I think we should encourage more of that not not discourage that so I'm going to be a firm yes on this thank you commissioner bot Matt um you understand where we're going with this we like everybody loves the concept I think it's Innovative having sat through far more conferences than I care to remember I would have loved to do a conference like this um would you be willing to work with us after we have this meeting which hopefully we will agree upon today in short order um that if it's determined that we love this event but it really needs to happen on a different foot print you know further north in Collins park or you know someplace it'll still be South Beach you know we're not going to put you someplace where you can't walk to restaurants and bars and stuff like that after the sessions the breakout sessions are over would you be able to be flexible that way I mean ideally the Lumis Park beachfront area is conducive for the setting that we have which is a large footprint year one we're calling it The Future prooof Citywide with the goal that this has Ambitions to be a long-term partnership this isn't something that we look to go and sell to the next city every year and so the identity of the event as you saw with the pictures and examples I've shared you know the city becomes synonymous with the brand right and so the look that we are going for is very similar to what we had in Huntington Beach so again from a business standpoint our ideal scenario would be that space of course as I mentioned we are very flexible okay we would love to call Miami Beach home understand everything that's going on and appreciate everything that has happened over the last month I look at this as like an opportunity for all of us to come together and grow together and so uh again from a business standpoint I unfortunately cannot wait another month um for 2025 so yes always open to flexibility I've spent you know uh commissioner Suarez mentioned it I've been here eight out of nine weeks uh you know I live in Massachusetts so I spent a lot of time speaking to Residents a lot of time a lot of time speaking to business owners trying to understand what it is that is concerning what it is that is a value ad when events come in so I'm certainly not looking here to come into a city and maximize my business interest I'm looking at this as saying what needs to happen for this to work and so we could have a mutually beneficial partnership and I think I've done that with the resident committees they've all mentioned to me that they endorsed this I believe they've all reached out to you in various situations there were some concerns about locations in terms of where north or south of 10th Street and again I'm flexible there but from what I've gathered the local community was endorsing that space that's not a problem okay so I um I will withdraw my my motion for a deferral I will support this but I will just ask you that depending on what we learn I mean what we learn might have no bearing on what your needs are but I would just ask that if we go forward um that you are as flexible as we need you to be and like I said it would still be in South Beach it would be a matter of 5 10 blocks here or there whatever but it would all still be walkable and you know if if you're let's say uh for a lack of a better term the anchor tenant if you will for the new month of March in Miami Beach and you get in on the ground floor and we all grow and we succeed and we learn what works you know as you said it's mutually beneficial for everybody and that's what as my colleague commissioner Suarez said that is what we're trying to to do we want visitors in Miami Beach we want people to enjoy everything we have to offer and if if you're a part of of helping us um redirect in in that in that uh Direction then um I will with your cooperation and flexibility I will be supportive I appreciate that than you vote commissioner Dominguez um I just have a question for Led actually um in the past we've had meetings with neighborhood groups um where they've begged no activations north of 12th Street and then this one is going to be between 14th and 12 that's correct why can't it be south of 12 um they actually have received a letter of support from the Ocean Drive Association in mat andare he has already met with the different neighborhood associations and they have uh provided support for this particular event I'm getting text saying no from the organizations uh from individual residents and I if I could just add regardless that the event has security through our special event vetting process all our city services provide feedback including our Police Department so events don't just have security they are required to have uh PD Staffing depending on their recommendations thank you and then commissioner Dominguez if if I may I'm we're not beholden to that location so I've heard the similar you know concerns about well where does it have to be and I understand that 10th Street is you can't kind of divide that and so if we need to go south we're absolutely happy to do so and remind me from our conversation um when we met your event is daytime it's a daytime event yes so it starts Sunday second half of the day and we run to Wednesday yeah can we call the vote um commissioner Suarez just I was going to say can we call the vote on what's what are we uh Rick what are we exactly voting on what's the what's the action item f is to give direction to staff to proceed with this if I may add due to our special event guidelines uh any new events that are coming uh between the month of March and the first two weeks of April require uh commission approval so that's why we're here okay let's call the vote so I have a motion by commissioner magazine and a second by commissioner swars if so all in favor I anyone opposed direction is given 70 thank you call r5p as in Paul yes sir r5p is an norance of the mayor City Commission of City mayam Beach FL amending the Miami Beach resiliency code by amending chapter 7 entitled zoning districts and regulations Article 2 entitled District regulations Section 7.2.2 entitled WD Waterway District that's subsection 7.2 21.2 entitle uses wd1 to prohibit the rental of watercraft and sub and at and at subsection 7.2.2 5 entitled additional regulations wd1 to clarify existing requirements for legally non-conforming watercraft rental uses and providing for codification repealers have ability at an effective date this is a second reading public hearing the item requires a 57s vote it is item r5p commissioner Suarez thank you mayor uh we I I believe we got almost as many emails as the as the cat emails on this uh on this topic uh it's it's neck and neck um so what this item does again this is second reading what this item does is it codifies the language that was a little bit unclear um in our city code that that the intent was to limit the the charter activity to the three hotels operating on Indian Creek Waterway to hotel guest only another facet of this piece is it prevents the expansion of of additional boats um and and operations uh Al with these three specific btrs um you know one of the biggest threats that these charter boats have is is they they they pose a threat to our school children um and and the the Miami Beach Rowing Club came to me and was very supportive of my item along with the mid Beach neighborhood association um where you know they showed me videos of of charter boats that go by and their their their boats almost get tipped over um and we're talking you know anywhere between 12 year olds to 18 year olds um you know this Rowing Club you know they they they I I believe they turn out one of the more IV League school uh participants than any other program in my Miami Beach um and and look I I I I I full-heartedly believe that the residential Waterway of the of the Indian Indian Creek Waterway it it's it's never meant to be commercialized um not to mention the traffic that that happens because of the 63rd Street Bridge because it it can continues to open um our school children are on the Rowing Club noise issues and and this is a step in the right direction for Miami Beach to be a resident Centric town and we need to move away from the party scene especially the party scene on the boats and so you know the Indian Creek Waterway it doesn't have parking it doesn't have bathrooms it doesn't have uh a dockmaster uh assigned to to the whole Waterway um there might be a dock m that's paid for by the hotel at individual Docks but I've certainly never been seen any um Hern and our code director I don't know if he wants to speak to that and say I don't think he's ever seen one it just seems that there is a free-for-all there and we need to really reimagine our waterways as not being a can't just put the party from a club onto the water so um this is a second reading as you can see the people behind there they're all from the roaming Club um and when it's public comment I I definitely invite you guys to speak and and before that I'd like to have Nick uh clarify exactly what the language is because there have been many emails going around where it's unclear of what exactly this does um so maybe you can help clear that Nick uh and and and help shed some light to to my colleagues thank you Commission Nick cerg thank you Madame vice mayor um this ordinance does does two things it amends the wd1 district regulations to list watercraft rental establishments as a prohibited use um and the second thing it does is is clarify existing Provisions in the wd1 district regulations um which which require that any watercraft rental establishments in this area must be associated with an Upland Hotel of 350 units or more so that that's the that's the requirement before this ordinance and it's it's the requirement after this ordinance what the ordinance does is um is clarify that those existing Provisions to say that uh that the rental of of um of of watercraft shall be shall be limited to Hotel guests only it also provides that all existing legally permitted structur shall meet all applicable building fire and property maintenance standards um so so upon the favorable recommendation of the planning board in in February of this year um this this ordinance took effect as to uh zonian progress took effect and and and this this ordinance is now being enforced and and through the chair M yes thank you um you know there's already been like half a dozen operators that have been requesting btrs but since the planning board unanimously approved this it was zoning in progress it was able to stop that and that's that's significant because that's going to mean you know that could have meant more charters on our on our waterways oh I'm sorry commissioner Bob go for it commissioner bot thank you Madame vice mayor um commissioner as farz I applaud you on this effort um I have been working on trying to address the draw issue with staff since the day after I was ele elected I think or the week after I was elected before I was even sworn in and it is a slow and cumbersome process you have to request the logs and then you have to get the logs and then you have to analyze the logs and then you have to talk to the Coast Guard and you have to beg them to pay attention and take your needs seriously when they think their needs supered 880,000 residents traffic in school and and doctor's appointments and you know it's in process but I think this is a great um a a great effort my one request because what we what we're learning you mentioned before it's a learning curve um and I think sometimes in our um Zeal to make things better we um do things that have unintended consequences and I don't I don't want that to be the case in in a situation that we do harm while we're trying to do good so so if my colleagues would be amendable to this I would love to refer this to the May 1 land use meeting to iron out any um implications for existing businesses it's zoning in progress so no people can get new btrs but the people who exist it will give them time to wind down their businesses and figure out what else needs to happen to make that um not a you know like a you're just running into a wall effective at 50:1 today or 601 whatever time it is and um and then it could come back um to the presumably to the May 15th commission meeting and we could vote on it on the second reading at that point do any other colleagues want to be recognized uh commissioner magazine yes I I could entertain this uh commissioner but Nick do you want to jump in and clarify that because um 100% support of your uh measure David and even if it's deferred these people took time out of their day to come and be heard and I want to give them that opportunity even if your motion does pass uh although I'm neither the mayor nor vice mayor so I guess that really doesn't matter um but Nick could you clar something before you actually make that yes yes um I'm just saying can we get further clarification from uh Nick um how many businesses are impacted what is the extent of their impact where does this go is there a cuto off of some sort if you can just really get into the granular details so I can tell you that that the the only three properties in the WD there there are only three properties in the wd1 district that could qualify because they have um uh Upland hotels with with 350 units and one of those hotels is is not currently operating so it may actually only be two properties that are eligible um the other thing I can tell you is that in order to be exempt from from from from this ordinance a watercraft rental establishment would have to be legally established so what does that mean we look to see if they have you know a city issued uh uh certificate of use or or or BTR and if they do not then then this ordinance would apply to them and through the voem and commissioner Suarez is that your intent that the ones that are operating two three I know we heard the general manager from the Eden Rock right so let's just say it's two is the intent that they'll continue to operate with these parameters that are in place and this prevents any further um proliferation of a system that has seems largely to have been abused up on Indian Creek so commissioner thank you um vice vice Madame mayor Madam vice mayor my intent is to to make our our residential waterways residential i i i there's I I don't look I mean I don't see the need to go to a committee I think we're all here I think we can all speak our mind and let these and let the hundreds of people that have emailed in and know where where we stand I don't think we need to flush this out my intent is clear I want to remove all commercial activity from the Indian Creek Waterway mid Beach neighborhood association unanimously approved this we've got hundreds of emails that have been in support of this if we are going to rip off the Band-Aid and really change our brand as a city from a party town to a residenti residential Centric town you know this these are the these are the the wins that we need to make and I don't think that sending this to a committee is going to solve anything I think right here right now we have the decision to make whether is that the kind of city that we want to be and and look I mean that that is my intent I I I I'm not I I I I I feel my heart goes out to the two businesses that are there but right now if we don't pass this you know they they can potentially get more btrs under or more boats under their BTR and that's something that I want to I I want to avoid and and sure we can it's zoning in progress now we can send to planning board but at the end of the day let's have the courage to make that decision right here right now while everyone is watching us and and see what what this Commission is made of are we going to be resident Centric or are we going to are we going to cater to the lobbyists that promote a party town and so um you know I I think I think we we don't need to do that deferral I think we just like make a decision and if and look if I if I don't get the votes I don't get the votes that that's that's fine that's look that's my vision for Miami Beach um I may not I may not have the same vision as anyone else up here um I understand the unintended consequences I don't think there're are unintended I think they're very intentional of of what my intentions are so I'd like to hear right but commission sorry it if I could just because it's kind of I guess that's what I'm I'm simply looking to clarify I don't disagree with you right but I'm not sure if I'm fully understanding the ordinance so this is just uh somewhat of a so Nikki Nick or commissioner SS we mentioned okay these two hotel properties applied it'll only apply to Hotel guests but then I'm also hearing well we're removing all commercial activities aren't those two things mutually exclusive so I I have another item that was passed to explore the uh the amortization of all commercial activity along Indian Creek Waterway I believe planning board Nick can also speak to that that's a separate item this item here kind of puts commercial activity stops it in its tracks and so allows the current BTR holders to operate now just to clarify what this does is it just clarifies the language of what we already have on the books so if our City attorney wanted to to file a lawsuit to to to enforce what's already on the code we could do that but this just clarifies that the charter activity is only limited to the hotel guests at that hotel so that means that no one from any anywhere in the tri count area that isn't staying here in a in those hotels gets to book a room so uh and it also prevents any expansion of their current business so if they wanted to let's say build out their more or add more boats that prevents that as well I have a question thank you uh yes commissioner Fernandez okay and I'm you know this is a water related item and I'm not an expert on water related matters I'm not a voter uh so so here's my question my birthday 711 if on my birthday I want to go on a boat to celebrate my birthday um you know Robert and I want to go on a boat and um I won't be able to go anymore that's to to to to you know get on a charter on on Fountain Blue or edenrock because I'm not a hotel guest is it yes please I I want to know the answer to that what the law what the law is before this ordinance is that watercraft rentals only allowed if they're associated with a hotel this ordinance clarifies that requirement for for you know non-conforming watercraft rental establishments to say um they can only be rented to Hotel guests only to Hotel guests right okay all right so then so then unless you really unless you own a boat then I mean where where where would someone be able to go to in Miami Beach let's say someone in Miami Beach you know they want to enjoy the waterways and they're not wealthy and they don't own a boat like me I don't own a boat I live on the water but I don't own a boat and so and so I want to go on a boat for for celebrating my birthday for three hours yeah where do I go then in a situation like that if I if I can no longer do that let's say at the fountain blue or Eden Rock because now it's limited only to their guests so so the code did have an exemption for Lake pen Coast uh Lake pen Coast was the only area on the Indian Creek waterway that was allowed to have a a Yacht Rental that was not associated with the hotel and I believe there is one BTR there for uh for a boat rental and so you would be able to go there uh to that location as well as any other location that may exist at the Miami Beach Marina where they are where they are legal there and in Miami Beach Marina I think uh we just directed staff today on the consent agenda to work on further limiting that I think to 10 uh uh commercial chart Charters um but on Lake pan Coast how many commercial commercial Charters are allowed on Lake pan Coast there to my knowledge there's only one operator right now one yeah okay I just want to be you know I want us to be mindful of that because you know I'm not a wealthy person I don't I don't have a boat I don't have a yacht you know um you know I live on the water but I live on the on the poor man's side of of of the water um you know I I think I think those are the type of things we have to be you know mindful of you know when we say listen there's a spa at the fountain blue there's a spa at the Eden Rock it's not limited only to their guests um live live at the fountain blue live is not limited only to their guests the restaurants uh en large part and not limited only to their guests so you know I get the intent and I think the intent is good and I trust in going this direction especially when I see so many important stakeholders here who are concerned about the safety and on on the waterways I just want us to be you know mindful of unintended consequences that limit uh limited limit our own residents ability to enjoy our waterways and so I just you know encourage you to consider that as well thank you commissioner Rosen Gonzalez through the chair um oh I'm sorry I just I just I'm gonna be so Qui just okay know I'm GNA be very quick with this I just I know that it sounds Draconian but unfortunately we've gotten to the point where it's out of control and we need to take measures um we own Cafe Bernie we see them going by Indian Creek all the time at 5600 Colin so I know what's going on and apart listen apart from the horribly egregious it used to be such a calm Waterway you know and it's just noise pollution light pollution um dangerous uh it's and the bridge I mean I have gone out to the Coast Guard now twice I've met with two different uh Admirals in succession and and I've been unable to solve this problem so the fact that commissioner Suarez figured it out and said let's just ban it look do I love shutting down businesses none of us love shutting down businesses we understand people's businesses and the right to make money but it's out of control and and and I I see I'm so excited to vote for this today and if you want to rent a boat you got to go to the Miami Beach Marina and go out on the open water but we're taking back our Waterway and uh this is the only way to do it you know so if you are a guest at the fountain BL Eden Rock you will be able to go and maybe in the future maybe once we get this under control we can allow for people we can shift change that language once we solve the problem but for right now I think it has to be all hands on deck and we need to do this um and and I'm fully supportive of you not only am I supportive congratulations for solving a problem you don't know what we've gone through commissioner bot said it with the logs I mean Mickey Steinberg we changed the hours of operation for the bridge so these businesses are impacting tens of thousands of residents blocking up our traffic awful so um you know I am completely supportive of this and um and I understand why somebody might not might not want to support it but I would ask I would ask us to unanimously get behind it thank you commissioner thank you very much Vice Madame mayor um just just to be clear commissioner Fernandez it's it it's roughly anywhere between 10 and $40,000 per boat session so by no means is this a um a poor man's Leisure boat ride I mean that's that's how much these Charters are charging um the one on P Lake pan Coast that's I I'm not sure exactly I think it's more of like a kayak and paddle board operation but you know again that's not really the Indian Creek Waterway is not outfitted for a commercial use Miami Beach Marine is so if if you wanted to get a boat and they have all sizes uh to choose from as far as a cost that would be um that that would be and and and by the way if if if a resident concern is is the issue I have no problem amending this to also allow residents to use uh along the Indian Creek Waterway however like I said I mean the costs range anywhere from 10 to $40,000 thank you um and before commissioner but I'll just wait say one thing I do worry about businesses that are good operators because I think the reason why this all came to a head is because of illegal Charters that were in the waterways and not following the law but if you have two or three existing businesses that were following the law and you're worried about additional btrs or boats being added can they add a covenant that they wouldn't do that because it it's really uh Troublesome that if there's businesses that have been doing uh good to the city and not violating anything that we're going to put them out would you be open to a covenant and before you you can think about it commissioner bot thank you um vice mayor that that's precisely why I wanted to have um whether it's at a at a committee meeting in in a couple of weeks or here on the day I wanted to have this conversation about what is the best way to go about this be and I also want to correct the mischaracterization of my intentions because everybody who has emailed me has gotten a response that I maintain that I am in favor of curtailing this activity I rode myself when I was in high school School can't wait to get back to it um being on the water in a skull or in a shell when those wakes come by can be terrifying um as a driver when people just pull over their SUVs and start unloading or loading in um it's it's very complicated there are a million different reasons why this has to happen I am not for a second suggesting it should not happen and I am certainly not beholden to any lobbyists I want that to be clear because that is not the case I just want to do this the right way the suggestion to make um this open to Residents through the hotels I think is a good suggestion um vice mayor Dominguez makes a valid point about the BTR that's the conversation that I wanted to have again whether it's at land use or here so we can get to What the residents need what our children collectively need and what our people who are trying to drive to and from places need with a bridge so I just want to be crystal clear on that point because I think my intents were mischaracterized Madam vice mayor uh yes commissioner Fernandez thank you and I actually and I want to build upon dis ordinance because in my opinion uh for example I know the residents of Helen Mah residents at the Helen marah uh have complained to me uh I see them at 24th Street by The Lifeguard stand all all the time and um and shout out to Susan over at the Helen Mar uh who who has complained to me a number of times about the noise and the and the impacts from actually from the watercraft rental at 24th Street yet we're going to allow that one to continue and grandfather that one in you see to me that one's a concern uh because that one is a buing you know multif family a very residential area I get concerned about about the Aesthetics of it the cleanliness of it uh I whenever I go by there I always feel that there's code violations there and the residents of the Helen Mar have complained to me actually about noise there and so you know in tweaking this orance one of the tweaks that I would actually like to see is you know why would we accept Lake pan Coast they're not rich people you know the residents there you know but their quality of life matters you know they complain about about about situations there uh and and so we're going to you know prohibit in other areas they're not excluded it says except for uses adjacent to Lake pan Coast eligible watercrafts rental shall only be rented uh for for hotel G it's my understanding at my at my uh review was that that was excluded so so the pro the prohibition on any expansion or any new watercraft rental establishments would apply uniformally throughout the the entire wd1 district and that includes Lake Panos but by operation of law like with any other zoning Amendment this does not apply to establishments that are you know to businesses that are legally established so prior to the adopt if this was not adopted if we if the code remained as is the code required that the hotel be that the Yacht Rental be associated with an Upland hotel with 350 rooms except on Lake pan Coast where they were just allowed where they were allowed and that's the thing they on Lake pan Co they don't have to be tied to a hotel correct they there is like anyone like any any establishment and and you know I do think perhaps those that are tied like for example to the fountain blue or to the Eden Rock those perhaps are going to be held to higher standard because they're Associated to brands that are very meticulous about about the quality that they associate themselves with I get concerned that now this this creates an exception for about an in an area that I've got complaints and concerns about and that there is not going to be Associated to it doesn't have to be Associated to a hotel it's a freestanding operation not associated to anyone else and there's there's no one that's not correct Nick it doesn't create an exception it it the proabition applies uniformly the issue is the operator at 24th Street is legally esta as far as I know is legally established it's legally established the the only part of the ordinance that doesn't apply is that it be related to that it be limited to Hotel guests because it's just not tied to a hotel all right okay we're running out of time and uh our commission meetings end at 7 there's a lot of people here waiting to speak what we're going to do is take five speakers for each side so five Pro five con you'll have one minute each um so decide amongst yourselves how you're going to go maybe the podium on this side is uh uh Pro for the ordinance and then the one on this side not for the ordinance and we'll alternate in between uh one minute each state your name thank you very much we'll do five online so and we won't know who's Pro yes good afternoon Kent Aguero we are the charter agency and in charge of the fom blue Marina and uh I've heard everybody and um I feel like we support uh Mr schar efforts H we've been trying to do this for 10 years we just don't want to switch the lights off on so many families overnight and so many people that are attached to these uh to these operations and to the point of Mr Fernandez the operations on 24th Street is a huge problem for us we're yelling at them every single day for making wake because these individuals that rent there don't have the education background to be conducting these watercraft and they come in at high speeds with jet skis pontoon boats Etc and creating a bigger problem to what we have already um in regards to the rowing uh Community here we have a sports division that does Sports Camps all over the nation and we are very much in favor of supporting count on us to help them clean the channel and try to get this ordinance in a way that is favorable to the the business operators thank you now we'll hear from the other side hi I'm Roy Samuel I'm president of the board of Mii Beach roaring club and I've stood behind this uh in front of your predecessors years ago where unanimously everyone came out and said the safety of the Waterway for our club which uh as Mr Suarez had mentioned is one of the amazing programs for youth as well as the Adaptive program that sends our par Olympics to the Olympics um the safety is ridiculous so to defer this any further is just pushing it again years later what's going to happen unanimously we agree and nothing happens because we're going to wait for something to happen to either a child uh par Olympian or an adult who's on that on that road on that stream so please pay more attention to the the here and now um as opposed to pushing this off again um to the future of how are we going to put the words as Kristen Gonzalez said let's put this in place and we'll fix and tweak later what needs to be fixed and tweak later thank you now we'll take a phone call our first our first virtual speaker is one virtual B da please state your name you have one minute thank you so much I'm a I'm a Mii Beach resident I live on Indian Creek Road just two quick comments one is uh the Rowing Club I'm next building to them and they start at 7:00 a.m. and obviously they're they're practicing and we wake up every morning between 7 and 8:00 when they have the practice with their megaphone so if it's this if it's a noise disturb disturbance that that Mr Suarez is really concerned I I I want to draw his attention to this then this needs to be fixed they could they should practice on normal business hours um second thing I have a family comes in here I mean I think you Mr so is labeling all charer bolts as a party boat but I have my grandparents came here we took a I watch from my balcony there are a lot of families with kids sitting and enjoying the Waterway and thirdly when my parents come I have a small apartment I put them in the properties or you know close by and affordable so what I'm hearing if you don't have money which he labeled as a party boat thank you if you have money hello Mike Mike Simpson 925 West 47th Court uh biscane lady y Charters been doing business business on Indian Creek my family for 65 years I just want to remind everybody that by the Metro Dade mop there's only 15 boats allow and the snapshot that we've been talking about I mean maybe we could hear from code enforcement on how great of a job what they've done the last two weeks to eliminate all the illegal operators and sort of evaluate the situation on his hand because as Commissioners you've mentioned there's a lot of things that I don't think we understand and how it's collaterally affecting businesses like myself that is legitimate I fully support the rowing and parents my wife just brought the rowing information home yesterday for my kid for Camp um but I believe there's some misunder understandings I don't believe everything's being captured truly and and you know on point of exactly what's happening um so I please ask to defer this and and understand it more to to make a constructive decision I'd love to meet with the rowing people myself to to uh you know go over the situations thank you thank you sir hello uh MOS I am on the board of the Rowing Club but I'm not here for that event I'm also a resident we're talking about the Indian Creek Waterway there are plenty of other places to get boats if you don't like the other places you can get on a boat then that's certainly something that you want to address if you don't like the issue with the exemption that's certainly something that you want to address I've never seen anything without unintended consequences if we decided to stop everything because of unintended consequences then as you were stating earlier what are you doing up there there needs to be something done line drawn in the sand and then I think be very receptive to the legal proper organized people coming in and seeking exemptions in the future be re very receptive to them coming and doing it the right way we've tried for I dare say a long time decades to do it the other way well let's just try to stop the ones that aren't good and figure that out I think the Line in the Sand needs to be drawn stop them and then let them come ask permission instead of beg forgiveness because that's what you've been doing for a long time as you've been begging forgiveness thank you we'll pick a virtual caller so our next speaker is VIP Marine please state your name you have one minute hello go ahead sir hi this Vali longtime May beach resident I I want to say thank you you guys did a great job with Spring Break um as a resident and a business employee we love it uh just address a few comments uh there's a lot of misinformation about the boat rentals for instance uh commissioner Suarez said that the boats are only for $10,000 to $40,000 per day which is absolutely false they start at $1,000 and we do a lot of bitzas we do birthdays and like another caller said we do a lot of uh residential I think 70% of our business is residential um the boats that are bless in the music throughout the bay are not captains last thing Captain wants to do is get fired or get a citation or get pulled over by the police a lot of these they're just private owners they take out their boats when they're in town they're visiting once a week so what we're going to do is if you guys ban everything and ban all the legal operators from operating there Bebo Charters which is recognized is not a commercial operation but if we do that the marinas will go back to $300 a month and you're going to have just tens of thousands of Prior boat owners and they will not respect the law thank you go ahead please sir Mr Mayor Commissioners Christopher pelis associate acran l P law office is located 98 Southeast 7 Street City of Miami uh here on behalf of biscan Lady Charters a few points I want to point out and and re refocus the conversation about the regulations on W1 Waterway uh this conversation began because of a focus on illegal operators um and that's where I want the focus to be again we have a community of legal folks who have been operating along wd1 Waterway we're here to work with the city we want to work on a legislative scheme that addresses the concerns the valid concerns of both the Rowing Club and the mid Beach neighborhood association we understand that there are traffic concerns we understand that there are concerns with the 63rd Street Bridge um I just want to point out that this process has been very rushed uh this went the planning board February 27th first reading March 13th and now we're here on April 3rd for second reading I would just ask that before we adopt this we take a second look at this we have a scheme that addresses the concerns of the residents and the community and allows legal Co operat to continue thank you you okay the other thank you hi hi my name is James rhen unlike all these people I'm a coach at Miami Beach drawing club I'm not a lawyer my number one concern is not the little details and the wording of what you're writing it's the safety of the kids as these charter boats come flying down I'm one of those people that uses a megaphone like the caller did I use all my megaphone safety related I call all these charter boats please slow down please don't wake the kids out very often I get a middle finger very often I get sorry this is how slow my boat goes I just want these kids to be safe I watch these charter boats illegally pull up to our seaw wall load people in load people out I'm just concerned about the kids here guys I don't know what you're concerned about that's my number one issue thank you very much thank you sir virtual caller yes ma'am uh the next caller is Clive Pierce Clive state your name you have one minute please good evening Mr Mayor commissioner Madam vice mayor my name is Clive Pierce resident at 6000 Indian Creek I applaud you for being a commission that's resident focus and on quality of life but On Any Sunday afternoon I can look out on the creek as I live on it and I see a beautiful Creek I often see children rowing having a great time and often now I see charter boats feeding down the creek I've gone out and yelled at them and they say this is as slow as my boat go goes I'm sorry why is there even a debate on this forget about the quality of life this is Public Safety the unintended consequence of me living on this beautiful Creek is that it's turning into I95 this has been a long time coming with the party boats on our doorstep it's out of control the noise is crazy I chose to live in a residential area this is not supposed to be a 95 Waterway and please just quit kicking the can down the road thank you very much Mr heckler thank you vice mayor um I think I'm number six so I'm going to speak for just 10 seconds on behalf of found blue Miami Beach U mayor uh vice mayor commission commissioner sarez um we sent in my partner Mike rant sent in a um an email just requesting def ferl I know you're passionate about this I know Public Safety is is why you want to do this my daughter's a rower um we would just ask on the record to confirm that the found blue is grandfathered into this they do have an operating business their operator is here uh obviously sometimes residents may want to go on um other folks that are not Hotel guests so so so you know I do think a resolution can be made uh we did ask for a deferral again not to slow it down we just asked for a deferral to get full clarification I don't need to read Mike's a brilliant legal letter you've all read it we're grateful for it and uh we we obviously just want to make sure our client is protected and I am a m Beach resident I I applaud what you did for spring break I I am not somebody who wants this to be a big party town I don't believe that um having some a few uh limited boats in a safe area as a party town so thank you sir thank you the other side uh hello I'm Vladimir I'm head coach of Miami Beach roing Club and I work at the roing club almost 19 years and Indian Creek was not like this 15 years ago or 10 years ago or five years ago what is going on it's it's Highway on the on the war and it's not safe for the kids not safe for the kids to to go on the war we have kids from 12 till 19 years 19 years old and we have 120 kids every single day we have 100 Kids On The Water we are home place of bar University of and um univ university uh um goes out at 7:00 on weekends we go after them at 8:30 or 9:00 water is not rable after 9:30 we have to move the practices for morning sessions and to overlap with um it's impossible to to practice I don't know if you how much you know rowing that is like you practice basketball and somebody throws the bucket of water it so you have to pick up water there is no there you have to stop the practice to wait for Wake to pass away in order to continue with the practice safety is zero on the water thank you we'll take the virtual yes ma'am the next next virtual speaker is Alicia kasanova M kasanova say your name you have one minute my name is Alisia kasanova I'm representing the mid Beach neighborhood association the MBNA advocates for the safe safety and the quality of life of our hotel and condominium members were not involved in any legal disputes or licensing issues between the hotels in the city but in order to improve the current situation resulting from excessive illegal charters on Indian Creek the MBNA agrees to limiting the rental of Charters to Hotel guests and Conference attendees from authorized properties only the MBNA also urges the city of May beach mayor and Commissioners to consider adopting legislation and procedures that protect the Indian Creek Waterway from illegal Charters pollution excessive noise excessive bridge openings and loud horns blasting at all hours and vessel speeds that are causing large wake and can potentially damage private properties action needs to be taken as soon as possible please thank you thank you now we'll have the last speaker for each side this side that side and the last virtual go Martin Smith general manager Eden Rock noou Miami Beach I would like to thank the coach for speaking he think he summed it Up 5 years ago you didn't have the issue then you had the pandemic then you had all the illegal operators get rid of the illegal operators I have 12 slips eight of them commercial I do less than 50 Charters a year and you're going to shut me down not right let's go and attack the illegal operators get them off the water get them off Indian Creek so the children are safe the hotel guests are safe and all the residents are safe safe but don't put me out of business and the other operators that have been legal since 1955 thank you thank you I think you are grandfathered into this but you're saying I mean Rock and the fountain blue I mean right now you do have the right to operate those Charters we're actually grandfathering you and the fountain blue into this because you have okay I mean that's what this is correct the language is not clear that's why can't you're for right now they have to be staying in the hotel have to be Hotel guests thank you commissioner Mr Hall thank you for the opportunity Glenn Hall president of Loos P HOA black Affairs advisory this has been a problem that we've been facing for many many years I've been working with commissioner Gonzalez I've worked with previous Commissioners on this it's it's out of control it's out of control and I'm a voter and I'm telling you it's out of control people who live in Pin Street Lor they don't even want to go north to North Beach a shop got they get caught going up and caught coming back and the traffic is insane when that thing backs up you have cars backed up literally for miles on Alton Road and in the otherw direction also God forbid there's an emergency to Mount Si so this is a major major problem so I'm glad that we're coming up with Solutions here and and stopping the people who are gaming the system and getting away with it thank thank you thank you now the last speaker will be on Zoom if there's any waiting there are the last individual is Al Porter please state your name you have one minute hi can you hear me yes go ahead sir thank you very much for having me uh I'm not entirely clear that this uh resolution will resolve my concern but let me just describe what it is uh I can't distinguish between boats that come from Eden Rock fountain blue and private operators but the noise continues well into the night I live on the sixth floor which means that that positions I'm right at 6,000 Indian Creek positions me right at the water level so I hear this noise well past midnight and it's loud it's not beov music it's loud music uh one observation about what happened recently was the police enforcement it was very effective that's not a sustainable solution but what does happen is that the boats congregate outside my apartment my building and they're there for 10 or 15 minutes waiting for the bridge to open so the traffic accumulates we're going to have a boating accident there so that's another safety issue so those are my observations I hope you can resolve commissioner Suarez thank you madam uh Vice Madam vice mayor you know uh I I I just I just find it so odd that you know you know when I campaigned I campaigned that I don't I'm not going to meet with any lobbyists and on one side of the aisle you have families and residents complaining that this has been going on for close to a decade and on the other side you have slick talking very well-paid lobbyists that obviously have no intention of of the well-being of of our of our not only our residents but the kids that are rowing I mean how does anyone up here look at what's going on here on both I mean it's clear It's A or B excuse me and C where is this I mean which side do do does the resident Centric commission want to be on do we want to have the guts to say no to the lobbyists or do we want to say yeah we're going to draw the line in the sand for the first time in a long time we're going to say this is for this is a city of residents not charter boats and not lobbyists so I'm hopeful that my colleagues are going to move forward with this and draw and yeah draw the line on the sand on saying what is what are we going to do for for for for residential quality of life let's find out let's call the vote so commissioner Suarez you made a motion yes and I need a second please uh point of uh if I can uh commissioner Suarez we talked uh adding in residents as an amendment to uh the allowable people that can book Charters I'm I'm and I'm totally okay with residents being used because right now residents can be used unless Nick that's a problem or if we can amend it to allow residents well so this ordinance only restricts watercraft rental establishment so it doesn't wouldn't really apply to a a non-commercial use but the operators that do operate with those btrs will can we allow them can we allow residents to use it was the hotels it was residents being able to um use Charters offered by the hotels that a grandfather did if somebody lives commissioner Fernandez and it's his birthday and he wants to go out he's a resident of Miami Beach same with myself I think we'd like to be able to use this as an amenity we can go and book this so same as Hotel guests are able to book I I think residents would actually want this I think the amendment would be on on page uh 787 of your book um number three where it says with the exception of uses adjacent to Lake Panos comma eligible watercraft shall only be rented to Hotel guests and residents and residents I'm okay with that okay I'll move that and and through the chair through through the mayor I think the fountain blue uh I think the Eden Rock um you know I think they asked for certain clarification on on the record um whether whether the current operators would be eligible for a CU is it um is there is there what's the interpretation here based on what's before us so so under under the code whether a non-conforming use is legally established is a determination that the that the that the planning director makes and it's based on you know the evidence provided so it's going to depend on what uh cus or btrs the fountain blue has but I do believe that the fountain blue uh has a BTR for for marine operations and I believe that's the case Okay I I think we should probably know this before we vote on this I mean who can I mean we're V voting on a major piece of legislation it's good legislation but I think we should know we should know what we're voting on and so I want to vote on this today uh but I want to understand you know we have our constituents who are here they want this to pass we want to support our constituents and make for safer conditions on on the waterways we also want to I want to make sure that um that you know we do maintain a certain limited market do away with with the with the legal activity but maintain you know this very limited uh Market tied to to to these larger hotels uh that you know does put a a great Safeguard uh in in place uh so how can we get that opinion today I I through the chair if I may I think a cup would would apply if they they request to operate at a later time or um I mean really that that would be the only I think so that that would be the only I guess reason that they would or allow maybe um I don't know a certain event like maybe future proof comes and they want to and and and they but again they could just book a hotel room and then and then use it again the the the cost for these for these Charters is very high and so I mean if you get a hotel room I think that's that's it's well within the means of anyone oper purchasing these these rental watercrafts so um maybe you can clarify what your question is commissioner Fernandez so right now um you know the current operators um at the fountain blue they have a BTR is that is is is that is that correct to my knowledge that's correct I don't know the exact number of votes that they're authorized for I'm trying to find out that information right they'll be able to continue if they have a BTR they'll be able to continue okay correct all right that's correct and if they don't have a BTR then they're technically not operating okay lawfully correctly lawfully right okay so I just want to and if if I may through the chair I want to recognize I want to just ask I want to know from the stakeholders because we're hearing from our resident stakeholders we want to move forward with this legislation it's important legislation because we've heard from all of our neighborhood associations how important this is and we all get stuck at the 63rd Street bridge and we need to solve this and this certainly is a move to solve this horrible public nuisance that we all deal with uh because of the abuse of our of our waterways uh but uh Mr Heckler you had made a question on place a question on on the record has your question been answered so commissioner thank you for that um I think the concern is the paperwork was in several months ago uh unfortunately due to this process everything is frozen so I think there is not full clarity um so maybe an amendment that anything that's in process for these two hotels continue I'll defer to the other hope that the oper y Mr Mayor Commissioners Chris pelis again it's unclear the btrs my understanding is the btrs for both of these marinas has not been issued um and my concern is that my client does have a BTR he has a BTR that's been issued for his operation and the marinas at both the Eden Rock and the fountain blue do not have issued btrs at this moment in time is my understanding so I go back to my question the current operators which is the question that I have the current operators will the current operators be considered legal non-conforming will they be able to continue operating the these operators that do have their that they they've gotten their CU or their btrs will they be considered legal non-conforming and and I don't want to I don't want to sound like like a broken record but but a business would have to establish would have to show that they're legally established and and that would include a CU or BTR for watercraft uh for watercraft rental so it s it sounds like one or two of the of the operators may not have an issued BTR they they do through the chair they they Eden Rock and Fountain Blue do have btrs I mean I maybe maybe hernon can come up and and and explain because I mean he deals with uh they of course they have a BTR that's how they're operating right if they didn't have a BTR they wouldn't be able to operate Chris and and let me let me hear from Chris because Chris you and you met with me uh with one of our residents a 17-year resident of Miami Beach uh seems to be a very responsible operator that and he has a BTR correct yes he does have a a BTR but but commissioner f is my my concern is ultimately this and this is understand your concern and and I understand your concern and so your operator your your client has has a BTR to operate uh and so and so Nick he has uh his his BTR he operates from The Fountain Blue uh so he would be legally non-conforming that if that's all true yes yes that's correct well if I may clarify my my concerned Commissioners that the the marina itself where they're launching the vessels does not have an issued BTR so while my client has a BTR uh uh to operate the charter vest um my understanding is that BTR have not been issued for those two Marinas right but my understanding is what we're what we are regulating here are water watercraft rentals not marinas is that correct Mr attorney we're are we regulating here marinas or are we regulating watercraft rentals the ter the term in the code is watercraft rental establishments so that okay that you know so that that could include that could include both of those things but but an establishment would need to have or an operator would need to have a BTR you know prior to zoning in progress in order the operator yes and in this case is the marina an operator or is the or or or is the water rental establishment the operator and I need to know I mean these are the nuances that are important we would normally flush this out in committee but we're here you know the desire is for there to be a vote today so I'm sorry I'm putting you guys on the spot but you know this is important the the rental operator would have to have a BTR tied to the site where the marina is located the rental operator okay it's so okay so so so so so so the entity will become legal non-conforming correct correct okay for me rock that I want to be clear I own the marina and I lease the Marine out I'm I'm sorry sir but you need to be recognized by the mayor okay sorry yeah we're going to call the vote okay I believe there's a motion to refer no I don't think so Rick is there a motion to refer commissioner Fernandez made a motion to refer earlier I did not commissioner bot made a motion to refer I don't know if it was seconded it was not okay my my concerns have been addressed if we could if if we can make this open to Residents and if and and if and if you know the questions the ambiguity as to as to the operator as opposed to the marina and which one is legal non-conforming and which one is not legal non-conforming have been addressed which it seems like it's been clarified here on the record then I'm fine um moving forward uh with sure and um I think my um items were addressed too because I worried about um putting good operators out of business and it sounds like uh the biscane lady the fountain blue the Eden Rock those are all fine is is that correct that's correct and we're adding the residents to be able to go rent a boat through the hotels or correct thisis Kan lady that's an amendment yes okay so I second the item as amended thank you mayor let's call the vote actually I had commissioner Suarez with the motion and commissioner uh Rosen Gonzalez uh with the motion the amended motion right correct as amended and the amendment is Hotel guests and residents page 787 I think you reference so if that's the case may I call the RO yes commissioner Suarez yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner bot yes vice mayor Dominguez yes commissioner Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner Fernandez yes mayor Miner yes the item is adopted as amended that was item [Applause] R5 we have a um I have to call c7a as we have a deadline on that one c7a is wave special event fees for Fleet Week Miami Beach Top Gun Beach Olympics mayor you are consenting to the addition of that item yes if so the we the items uh is up I move my item Mr Mayor the r may I call the roll call the roll all in favor of c7a I I anyone opposed approve 70 c7a welcome to Miami Beach Fleet Week R9 AA thank you very much mayor let call it oh sorry R9 double A here we go discuss action schedule special commission meeting spring break 2024 debrief R 9A thank you very much mayor for calling this item um I've been requesting since um March 4th um a special meeting with all of us on the deis with our city manager um with our police chief with our fire chief um with all of our department heads um our Deputy city manager the assistant city managers code um sanitation everybody tourism and culture um um residents who were impacted by spring break visitors who were impacted by spring break who might want to share some input um so that we can all do the very important work of hearing firsthand because as much as we try to be out everywhere all of us we were not actually able to be everywhere all the time but hearing from people who it affected what worked what didn't in context um with the data that the police department and the city manager and her staff will be putting together um in in a time frame when all of us will be here so commissioner Dominguez will be back and the the team will have enough time to prepare all this so that we can all collectively hear all of our inputs as we go forward to make decisions affecting next year and we have all committed to start making decisions for spring break 2025 as soon as possible and not wait till the summer when we don't remember or wait till the when it's too late to do anything so it is really important and I and I am I've had at various times um five of my colleagues supporting of this five of my colleagues supportive of this and I would like to ask respectfully that everybody at this time um gives their support to this call this meeting which would not be something jammed onto a commission meeting with 133 other items that would not be called on a neighborhoods meeting where there are so many items everything only gets a few minutes discussion that it is its own special meeting where everybody can come and be heard I have support from the West Avenue um uh bid from so be safe from the art deco neighborhood association from the ad Ocean Drive Association from the chief of police from the chief of the fire department from the city manager and her staff from the Lincoln Road bid I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the groups who've been asking for this and as soon as we all say yes we can schedule this meeting for the second half of April and so by um the middle of May when we come back for our next commission meeting we can start coming up with ideas about how we want to move forward for spring break 2025 so I am urging my colleagues I am begging my colleagues to support this so that we can move forward and start doing the residents business of planning for next year and I would say before I forget um um everybody said this already but I you know our city staff did such an amazing job of managing the month of March in all of its um idiosyncrasies I don't really know how you managed to make it rain on two of the weekends but whatever that was we're definitely doing that again um so kudos to all of you you've heard it all um from everybody but I wanted to reiterate that so with that um I guess I would open it to questions I'll make a comment um the mayor had a resolution in January that called for an after action so um this is totally fine I mean my thought was to have it just at a regular commission meeting and I would allot a certain amount of time to it I agree I mean are you willing to give it the two or three hours it would need I don't know if it needs three hours but uh I would I would aot a significant amount of time I mean because now it can't go until May the middle of May and I was hoping to do the sooner so that we could start through the chair if I could commissioner magazine uh commissioner well everybody thank you for the leadership here um how I Envision it and I think I'm aligned W with where you're going with this uh commissioner bot is we we have tons and tons of neighborhood association meetings we all attend let's use one of those Monday nights that we would allocate to wav or something like that and get all stakeholders in a room it can be less formal than this so we're not oh commissioner this uh defer to that uh um get business owners residents neighborhood groups all of us in a room less stuffy less informal and really get down to what worked what didn't um and allow it to be messy you know because there's a lot on the line we did a great great job um collectively as a city and uh let's strive to be even better so I look at this as an all Hands-On deck effort and I leave no no stone unturned um it's not that I don't want to follow process or formality but I just think in a more informal setting where we can truly invite in every stakeholder in our city uh that's how we essentially prepare best for next spring break I'm going to be very quick we do kind of need to have a special meeting to go over the parameters of choosing a new city manager why couldn't we just mix that with the spring break meeting and kill two birds with one stone and schedule it for a couple of hours won't kill killer I I mean my in my opinion let's just get it done we want to get this done we have to move forward we got the search to do so if we do both of them I don't know if commissioner bot would be amenable to that but I'm okay with the meeting why not why not just I would absolutely be amendable to that well my experience is there was meetings don't end up becoming special meetings because then everybody adds stuff on and then you have 10 15 items already and it just becomes another commission meeting so you kind of defeat the purpose commissioner Fernandez I think we're going to have a discussion at the April Public Safety neighborhood quality of life meeting um last year we made these decisions at the deas um I think we can bring recommendations from the Public Safety Committee four of us the majority of us serve on the public safety neighborhoods quality of life committee um that's a majority of us you know it it's it's it's the majority of us we can we can send these recommendations to the city commission um and and bet it out here I mean if I don't know that we need a special meeting for this just because last year last year we made these decisions at the days you know at the days as a commission uh we made these these decisions um this year is having first a stop at the Public Safety Committee uh to find tun in a recommendation that can then be considered by the full City commission um I want to I want to respect commissioner bod because I think this is very important to you um and and and so I don't think it's necessary I'll support you in it uh if it if it's that important to you a meeting about spring break not about anything else about about spring break uh because I do have to agree with the mayor the mayor is very wise when he says that in the past he's speaking from a position of experience you know all of the sudden there you know I have an emergency item and someone else has an emergency item and then what's supposed to be a special meeting to discuss something special becomes a meeting to discuss something about everything and it takes away the specialness from it uh and so um and so you know I'm fine to discuss it clear this is a priority to all of us spring break is a priority to all of us looking back the success of this year was because we acted proactively because we started acting last year right after spring break and so it this it this helps with that I'm fine considering that it's very important to you um and uh and you know I'll I'll just say this I'll just say this for the record there is there is a certain level of decorum that we should follow in requesting meetings the mayor has the ability to grant us special meetings the practice has always been we submit requests to the mayor for a special meeting the mayor can grant a special meeting or choose not to Grant a special meeting we haven't been following that and we've been skipping that part and just jumping directly to all of us requesting you know sending out petitions for meetings where then four of us or five of us we might be able to just have a special meeting we would just go to the mayor and ask the mayor hey mayor would you grant a special meeting for something we owe him that deference because the people that elected each one of us elected him mayor and so and so I think we've skipped that process in the past where we've gone directly to the city clerk with our petition for for for a special meeting without first sending a request in to the mayor as has been the practice of the past and so I just would like for encourage us in the future out of deference and respect to the office of the mayor uh that we do that in in in the future I think I think it's just a suggestion that I think has proven helpful in the past and could prove to be helpful for the future thank you commissioner bot so I did not know that nobody mentioned that to me um and I was surprised that I could go put in writing to the city clerk and and do it that way so I did not know thank you for enlightening me I appreciate that um I will um a th% commit that nothing else is going to go on the agenda unless we all agree that it would just be efficient to do the city manager and then that agenda is locked but I will defer to the mayor on how he wants to handle that I will also tell you that the reason why this spring break was different was because last year the commission and staff thought differently about spring break so while in years past these conversations might have happened in different ways in smaller groups without everybody able to hear everything all at the same time I think this is continuing on the the trend that was started last year and I think needs to go forward about how we think differently about the way we work together and the intent is not to not do everything from the deis nor is it to not hear things in smaller groups or come up with ideas in smaller groups the intent is that everybody who has been affected or has an effect on spring break can be in the same room at the same time so that everybody gets the same information and it's not I have to run to the chamber to hear the debrief by the police chief that he's giving on spring break or I have to run to this neighborhood association because the Business Association adjacent to it is giving its input so I am grateful to my colleagues we're going to support this I think it will be time extremely well spent I apologize if I didn't go about it the right way um that was not my intent to step on any toes um and I think this is going to be a great great session for everybody involved and I will work with everybody to schedule something in the second half of April which was a time frame that was vetted with the city staff um and you're going to be back and um so thank you commissioner Suarez my my two thoughts um you know first I think it's I think it's almost hypocritical because I wanted to call a special meeting before spring break to make sure that we had all our bases covered um and and I did that in an attempt to try to really cross our teas and Dot our eyes and you know I I didn't and and I believe it or not commissioner bot decided to pull that back and prevent a special meeting to talk about preemptive measures about spring break thank God spring break was fine everything was great um and and now you know and and I think the reasoning was you know we shouldn't be playing mayor but now that spring break's over and we're winners it's easy to go and say look you know now that it's over let let's have a special meeting but and let's play mayor doing it because right now our mayor has been steadfast on both occasions both pre and post uh spring break on calling a special meeting and so um you know I had a talk with him and he's like look you do what you want to do my position is there's a time and place for this and and frankly as I matured more into this position I agree with him and I think there's nothing wrong with with discussing this at a at a neighborhoods meeting uh where where there's there's an approach apprpriate you know time and place for that um because we are going to set a precedent that everything is special in in reality in Miami Beach and so I I think let's let's stick to the schedule um and and let's not overstep our uh our roles and and I think if the mayor has a strong recommendation to say look you know I'd rather keep it to commission meetings or neighborhood meetings you know I'm going to follow him on [Music] call the vote commissioner bot just again to correct the record I did resend my support for that particular special meeting because it was an attempt to um in in all good faith to try to have one more conversation just before spring break took place before um to see if there's one more or two more things that we can do and at that time I felt that it had been vetted for the better part of the year and to try to change operational plans at the last minute would be deleterious to the end goal this is exactly the opposite I'm not trying to do anything different I am just trying to make sure that we all of us all seven of us get exactly the same information from the people who know it best the folks who did the operations who executed the plan the people who were affected by it because of where they live or the dollars they spent to come on vacation or the patients whose appointments they had to cancel or anything else I'm not trying to do anything I'm trying to give us all an opportunity to get informed by the people who were affected by it directly and that and again I know you had nothing but good intentions but my view was that trying to change the operations plan literally days before spring break started was not something that I was comfortable with and that was the only reason that I that I withdrew that was a good call so um let's call a vote we we need a first in a second can I move so commissioner bot you've made the motion yep and when you say the middle week of April are you talking about SEC somewhere in the second half of April is that the 15th 17th 19th neighborhood so um working in conjunction with the city manager and staff and everybody's schedule sometime after the 17th so that would be the 18th or 19th because according to my calendar Passover is the 22nd onward so that is correct again why why don't we just have it on why don't we have it at the next neighborhood's meeting we we'll we'll all because it's going to it's on the agenda any but it's are you willing to give two hours at the neighborhoods meeting however long it takes you know what we the vote has been called can we schedule the date another separate from being on the days well we haven't we haven't voted to approve it so I have a motion commissioner bot I don't have a second yet we have a second by commissioner okay got it I just want to just want to know just and I don't want to put anyone in in the spot I I sense the mayor doesn't want to have a special meeting and and I don't want to put words in in the mayor's mouth I think you correct you but you mentioned that right you are correct yes I just want to better understand your reasoning uh for it and I I you know I I again I I generally don't like the idea of it and I think we referred this to the Public Safety Committee to come up with recommendations and those recommendations is what the city commission could consider I could see this taking a lot of time in a city commission meeting and so you know I know I'm not completely against a year in advance you know having a special meeting because we're not changing last minute stuff as as our colleague mentioned but I just you know want to understand your position better I did mention um earlier you weren't on the day is but the importance of following a process of you know in the future when we're interested as colleagues in having a special meeting you are the mayor and the respect that the office of the mayor deserves and for submitting a request to your office uh which is something you know we haven't been engaged in recently uh and engaging in that practice but I think it's something we can learn from um before we go and we petition the city clerk uh for it or bring an item to the commission but you know moving past that you know just wondering what are your concerns with having the special meeting yeah and thank you for bring that up and and I and I feel somewhat badly because I know this is really important to the commissioner bot I could tell that this is she's very passionate about this meeting and has been talking about it for quite some time so I try to be differential at the same time I believe that the process that we have set up does work when you have the Committees here items then you bring it back to commission streamlines it and by the way just today I don't want to mention any specific items but there a couple items that took longer because they haven't gone to committee and you could see it's being flushed out here uh as opposed to committee and that's the problem I think we we end up extending these items and uh when they don't go through the the channels that we have set up so I don't I don't see the I personally don't see the benefit to doing it this way and then I think it becomes a fallback because we've noticed already so far we've been able to for stall but there's been a number of items that we said okay let's have a special commission meeting I think there's been been three or four so far none of them have happened yet and this one I do think would have been and I think everyone's kind of in agreement this would have been a mistake our messaging from a body on spring break was fantastic the marketing was fantastic the media coverage was um outstanding and I don't know what would have happened maybe it would have been fine but that special commission meeting could only have gone sideways if not downhill um if something had gone ay so I think I think so far we have not had the special commission meeting on like four different items and I think each one I look back and say it's best that we did not have that meeting and so let me let let me just ask commissioner bot the benefit that you see to the special commission meeting is because of the amount of time it's going to take and so to the chair of the Public Safety Committee if I may through the mayor are you willing to dedicate you know the amount of time this will take and perhaps make make it a public hearing so that so the members of the public can can call in can give their input give it the amount of time it will take uh because I think I think that's a benefit of having these discussions in in committee and perhaps we can find a common ground here we can achieve what commissioner bod is suggesting I'll answer I'll answer your question um in truth I want to support her and if she wants to have a special meeting let's have a special meeting I'm totally fine with that guys guys me bring it into a just have the meeting come on we we spent so much time talking about a meeting meeting for a meeting and I didn't we could have been talking about spring break so I move the item I'll second the item I have a motion in a second by commissioner Rosen Gonzalez oh may I call the rooll please uh roll call or Voice vote I think uh I think it's split enough you're going to have to call uh voice okay so roll call commissioner bot yes can my vote count as two yes commissioner Dominguez yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner Suarez no mayor Miner no motion passes special meeting will be called uh date to be determined by the administration sure that a and I would like to thank my colleagues and I can assure you I don't intend to make a habit of um Amber are you here uh my wonderful Aid Amber Herrera Gonzalez today is her last day and I want you to just come up because we have a little award for you for all of your service I would like to thank Danny summer and Georgie um for for doing this um I Amber came to us from the bass where I stole her a year ago and unfortunately they came back and stole her back at a higher salary um I'm I'm going to miss you dearly your intuitive help uh you are a shining light on the fourth floor you were just appointed to our Millennial committee so I'm sure that we will see you and uh please come back and see us soon and uh you know I'm really going to miss you and I'm happy that we have lovely Jackie buen who will be your replacement but I'd love to for you to come up here and just take a picture with us and thank you for your service Amber thank you Mr have we are Journey the meeting get one picture and is otherwise the county can't do it can can M Mr Mayor I'd like to make a motion to extend the meeting by 10 minutes to 7:30 I'll be I'll be there never good luck to you good luck to you [Applause] ready yeah yeah we're still here M Mr Mr um do we do we still have a do yeah we still have a quum m Mr Mayor I want to do a motion to extend our meeting I second the motion we have people to yes and I know the item I do need to leave um because uh um but my vote will be yes for this item you have the votes I'm I'm going to vote no do you have the votes I I don't know I mean can we um I don't know I mean well you there's a motion do you have a second on what on on extending the meeting I don't know I don't know we have the votes is so there was a motion to extend the meeting who seconded commissioner Rosa Gonzalez commissioner Rosa Gonzalez do we have support to extend the meeting so we can take up item r7e what is r you're the I mean I'm a no what is r7e what is it's a it's a ballot question that we need to send to the county we don't have to decide everything else today but at the very least so the county can start the legislative process to this is important okay um we do need to hear this please this will we'll make it quickie we'll make it a quickie we all know what this is introduce Mr Mayor am I recognized well do you have the votes I don't know we don't yeah we do so take call the roll so to extend the meeting uh commissioner bot not here commissioner bot is absent commissioner Dominguez yes so so it's a yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Rosa Gonzalez yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner sarez yes yeah mayor Miner no motion to extend the meeting passes r7e is referendum regarding construction of fire station in Flamingo Park r7e thank you thank you Mr Mayor this is this is simp the referendum that if whatever we decide in the future we can decide in the future this is only the language we got to send to the county so they can start the legislative process to place the item on the August ballot um it's non-binding it's a non-binding ballot language uh but it gets the motion moving if we wait till next month depending on what we decide the county won't be able I'll move the item I second it call the vote hold on so it's for and and car G second so all in favor I and commissioner bot is absent so it's 60 motion passes can and it's just for the record it's a revised resolution that was put on the day right now yes thank you thank you meeting adjourned thank Youk you Mr Mayor youbody just e