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Welcome to the city of Miami commission meeting for June 17, 2025. We are going to begin our meeting with a recognition. Commissioner Partardo is going to lead us with this recognition. I'm joined by my colleagues, Commissioner Gabella,
Mayor Francis Suarez, Commissioner Partardo, our newest commissioner, Commissioner Rosado. [Applause] And um we will be joined shortly, I'm
sure, with my colleague, Commissioner Corollio. So, we're going to get started. Commissioner Part. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Um, today we have a very special person that we're recognizing and giving a proclamation to. After decades of
transformative services at the helm of the Greater Miami LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, Steve Atkins is retiring. And I'm I mean decades of real day-to-day hard service. He's leaving behind a
legacy of inclusion, empowerment, progress that will continue and will benefit Miami for generations to come. He has served as the chairman of the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority, member of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of
Commerce South Region, and the co-chair of the Advisory Board for Miami Beach Pride. He also was listed as the top 100 power leaders in South Florida. Steve Atkins makes people feel valued, supported, and
empowered to succeed, and has consistently championed LGBTQ rights and visibility throughout his career. He's been a tireless advocate for equality and fairness and ensuring that voices and contributions of the LGBTQ plus community are recognized, celebrated,
and integrated into Miami's broader cultural, economic, and civic life across all sectors of society. I just used a word, it was integrated. And I cannot tell you how difficult that is.
Integrated means you listen to people, you have compassion with people, you may not agree with them, but you respect a different point of view, and you allow a space for them to thrive and flourish.
Steve has done this consistently every day for decades. For me, it's sad because I lose someone in the community who I value and always did amazing work. His retirement, although he insists that he will still be in Miami and he will
still be visible, uh, means an end, a closing of a chapter that is very important in our community, not just for the LGBTQ plus community, but for all of us. because no matter what marginalized community or minority or sector of the community where you feel less than,
these skills are important for all of us. So, Steve, I I I just can't say enough things as a good friend and someone I care so much about and your husband Diego, who's also been there right along with you every step of the way, it is my honor to present this
proclamation to you and for you to say a few words. Thank you. Thank you everybody. I think I'm still trying to get my head around the whole concept of retirement. It's been probably more work trying to get to this point than than anything I've ever done.
But uh I am going to miss the work. It's been 25 years associated with this organization. But 27 years in our community, bonding with all of you and doing some great work and certainly promoting a uh a minority organization
that reflects every part of our society, but also reports uh reflects the hard work and the achievements we've all really been a part of uh over these many many years. So, I will still be around. I'll still be a citizen of Miami. also
be a voter here in the city. But uh but Diego and I have some plans to go and kind of enjoy some travel and uh get ourselves out there and do some of the things that we haven't been able to do uh while working full-time. But uh thank you for this honor, my dear dear friend.
I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of the work that all of you are doing. Mayor, thank you for always standing by our community. And to all of you here in the commission, thank you so much for all of your support. And uh good luck to everybody.
[Applause] That's right. At this time, as we always do, we're going to open our meeting with prayer. We are honored today to have Father Steven Ohala from the Cathedral of St.
Mary. And I would also like to take a moment to thank all of you for your prayers, your [Applause] words of comfort. Um,
this is really difficult for me because my dad was my hero and um, if you look in the dictionary under daddy's girl, you'll see my picture. So, I thought about today cuz I know I had
to thank everybody. I find that my eyes start leaking any time of the day. So if you see me crying, remember the Dion Warick song. Just welcome back because I'm okay. I I
know and I stand in faith that um my dad who I believe was one of my superpowers will be with me and I will see him again. So, um, excuse my tears cuz they may come a
little bit more today because, um, it's still new and fresh and I'm told that it will get better. It will get better. Um, but again, my dad was 83. He lived a long life and um, I loved him
and I wish that he would have lived as long as his mother who lived to be 102. So thank you father sympathy for you and prayers for your dad. God of justice, love, and peace, we come
before you today, in gratitude for this opportunity to serve your people here in our city of Miami. We acknowledge your presence among us and ask you to bless our meeting.
Open our hearts and minds to receive your divine inspiration and guidance. Help us to act with character as well as conviction to listen with respect and goodwill and speak with charity and humility.
Give us the wisdom that will enable us to deliberate and decide wisely and well for those we are here to serve. May your Holy Spirit guide our thoughts, words, and actions so that everything we
do may be for the good of those we serve and so bring glory to your name. God of justice, love, and peace. Amen. Amen. So, God bless. Amen. Commissioner Rosado, would you join us with the
pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Thank you, Mr. City Attorney. Would you please read your statement for the record? Thank you, Madam Chair. George Weissong, city attorney, city of Miami. Detailed information about the processes, order of business, rules of procedure, and scheduling or rescheduling of city commission meetings
can be found in chapter 2, article 2 of the city code, a copy of which is available online at www.mmunicode.com. Pursuant to section 2-33 of the city code, whenever a scheduled city commission meeting is canceled or is not held due to a lack of quorum or other
emergency, a special city commission meeting will be automatically scheduled for the Tuesday immediately following the canceled meeting. All scheduled I agenda items of the June 12, 2025 city commission meeting were automatically scheduled on today's special city commission meeting agenda. Additionally,
in compliance with section 2-330 of the city code, the city clerk properly notified the public of today's special meeting. Any person who is a lobbyist pursuant to chapter 2, article 6 of the city code must register with the city clerk and comply with the related city requirements for lobbyist before appearing before the city commission. A
person may not lobby a city official board member or staff member until registering. A copy of the code section about lobbyists is available in the city clerk's office or online at www.mmunicode.com. Any person making a presentation, formal request, or petition to the city commission concerning real property must
make the disclosures required by the city code in writing. A copy of the city code sections available at the office of the city clerk or online at www.mmunico.com. The city of Miami requires that anyone requesting action by the city commission must disclose before the hearing any consideration provided or committed to
anyone for agreement to support or withhold objection to the requested action pursuant to city code section 2-8. Any documents offered to the city commission that have not been provided seven days before the meeting as part of the agenda materials will be entered into the record at the city commission's discretion in accordance with section
2-33F and G of the city code. The agenda and the material for each item on the agenda is available during business hours at the city clerk's office and online 24 hours a day at www.mygov.com. The meeting of the Miami city commission is a limited public forum. Any person may be heard by the city commission
through the chair for not more than two minutes on any proposition before the city commission unless modified by the chair. Public comment will begin at approximately um 9:50 and remain open until public comment is closed by the chairperson. Any person making offensive remarks or
becomes unruly in the commission chambers will be barred from further attending city commission meetings and may be subject to arrest. No clapping, applauding, heckling, or verbal outbursts in support or opposition to a speaker or his or her remarks shall be permitted. No signs or placards shall be
allowed in the commission chambers. Persons exiting the commission chambers should do so quietly. Members of the public wishing to address the body may do so by submitting written comments via the online comment form. Please visit www.mmiggov.com/meing
instructions for detailed instructions on how to provide public comment using the online public comment form. The comments submitted through the comment form have been and will be distributed elect to the elected officials, their staff and city administration throughout the day so that the elected officials may consider the comments prior to taking any action. Additionally, the
online comment form will remain open during the meeting to accept comments and distribute to the elected officials, their staff, and the city administration up until the chairperson closes public comment. Public comment may also be provided live here at city hall at 3500 Pan-American Drive, subject to any and all rules as they may be amended. If the
proposition is being continued or rescheduled, the opportunity to be heard may be at such later date before the city commission takes action on such proposition. When addressing the city commission, the member of the public must first state their name, their address, and what item will be spoken about. Any person with a disability
requiring assistance, auxiliary aids, and services for this meeting may notify the city clerk. The city has provided different public comment methods to indicate, among other things, the public support, opposition, or neutrality on the items and topics to be discussed at the city commission meeting. Excuse me.
In compliance with section 286.0114, parenthesis 4C, Florida statutes. The public has been given the opportunity to provide public comment during the meeting and within reasonable proximity and time before the meeting. Please note, commissioners have generally been briefed by the city staff and the city attorney's office on items on this
agenda today. Anyone wishing a verbatim record of an item considered at this meeting may request it at the office of communications or view it online at www.mygv.com. Planning and zoning items. PZ items shall proceed according to section 7.1.4 of the Miami21 zoning ordinance. parties
for any PZ items including any applicant, appellant, appley, city staff and any person recognized by the decision-making body as a qualified intervenor as well as the applicant's representatives and any experts testifying on behalf of the applicant, appellant or appe may be physically present at city hall to be sworn in by oath or affirmation by the city clerk.
The members of the city commission shall disclose any exparte communications to remove the presumption of prejudice pursuant to Florida statute sections 286.0115 and section 7.1.4.5 4.5 of the Miami 21 zoning ordinance. The order of presentation shall be as set forth in
Miami 21 and in the city code. Staff will briefly present item each item to be heard. The applicant will present its application or request to the city commission. If the applicant agrees with the staff recommendation, the city commission may proceed to its deliberation and decision. The applicant may also wave the right to an
evidentiary hearing on the record. For appeals, the appellant will present its appeal to the city commission followed by the apple. Staff will be allowed to make any recommendation they may have. Please silence all cell phones and other noise making devices. This meeting can be viewed live on Miami TV, the city's Facebook page, the city's Twitter page,
the city's YouTube channel, and Comcast channel 77. The broadcast will also have closed captioning. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. City Attorney. Mr. City Clerk, would you please read your statement for the record? Thank you, chair. The procedures for individuals
will be providing testimony to be sworn in for planning and zoning items and any quasi judicial items on today's city commission agenda will be as follows. The members of city staff or any other individuals required to be sworn in who are currently present at city hall will be sworn in by me, the city clerk, immediately after I finish explaining
these procedures. Those individuals who are appearing remotely may be sworn in now or at any time prior to the individual providing testimony or planning and zoning items and or cause judicial items. Commissioners, are you comfortable with all the notice provisions set forth in these uniform rules and procedures we have established for this meeting? Yes. Chair may
administer the oath for the planning and zoning items, please. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. If we be speaking on any of today's planning and zoning items, those are the PZ items. May I please have you stand and raise your right hand? Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the
testimony you're about to give at today's hearing is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? And your response is Thank you, chair. Thank you, Madame City Manager.
Are there any items on our agenda that will be deferred and or withdrawn? Good morning, Madame Chairwoman, commissioners, city attorney, Mr. City Clerk. At this time, the administration would like to defer and or withdraw the
following items. PH8 to be deferred to June 26. RE1 to be withdrawn. RE23 Wait, slow down. R11 to be withdrawn. Okay. RE23
to be withdrawn. FR3 to be deferred to June 26. AC1 to be withdrawn. AC1 to be withdrawn. Attorney client session
to be withdrawn. Discussion item two to be deferred to June 26. Discussion item number four to be deferred to June 26. PZ3
to be indefinitely deferred. PZ15 to be deferred to June 26. Would you like for me to repeat PH8 to be deferred to June 26?
RE1 to be withdrawn. RE23 to be withdrawn. F FR3 to be deferred to June 26.
AC1 to be withdrawn. DI2 to be deferred to June 26. DI4 to be deferred to June 26.
PZ3 to be indefinitely deferred. PZ15 to be deferred to June 26. I'm going to ask my colleagues if they have any items that they would like to withdraw or defer from this agenda. Vice
Chair Not at this time. Commissioner Gabella. Yeah. I was just wondering, wasn't RE22 slated to be withdrawn? No, sir. Re 23 22. 22. Sorry. R22. I'm sorry.
Yeah. That should have been But but it it wasn't on the list, was it? No, it was not on the list. Would you like to withdraw? I mean, would anybody like to Yeah, I'd like to withdraw it. Withdraw or defer? Withdraw. Withdraw. Withdraw RE22. Any other items, gentlemen?
Commissioner Rosado, any items would you like to have deferred or withdrawn? Toucher, will you be asking about items to be pulled as well? Later. Later. Later. Okay. Um, may I have a motion to set the
agenda? So moved. Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion carries. The agenda is now established. I believe we have a pocket item. Yes, we do. Okay. We have a pocket item naming uh Commissioner Rosado as
the chair of the DDA and they're going through a lot of budgetary issues setting millillage and they really need uh a commissioner to sit there as chair. I'll I'll second it. Chair. Um, hold on. Todd has his hand up. Just as long as we have public comment before you vote,
right? We're not going to vote for it. If I may, chair. Mhm. That is already in the agenda, not to be done as a pocket item. When we get to the item that would include that, that could be taken up. That's an item in our agenda. Yes. This
is outside of that item due to the emergency nature of the situation. It's it's not you're bringing up item. We have an item on the agenda already that was placed in that could deal with that. No, they both can be heard. It's just Yes, they they can both be heard. So now
that we have but maybe the pocket item is what he's saying might not be necessary. If the agenda item covers all of that, that's fine. If it doesn't, we have the pocket item. So we'll move forward. And what is that item that he's referring to? Which which item is it? It's uh on the agenda, Mr. Clark. DI8.
DI8. That's a discussion item. That's boards and chairs. It's not a discussion. Okay. But chair, historically resolutions have evolved from those discussions. Right. I understand. Okay. So, at this time, um I am going to recognize I'm not sure if
she is here. One of our county commissioners would like to say a few words. The newest of our county commissioners, Natalie. U Yes. Is she here?
Um, I don't see. Okay. And let's see. We're going to begin public comments because I don't see her. If you can line up. I think the because we have so many commenters today. Uh, if you will be
mindful of not blocking the exits. I believe we have representatives from the fire department. They're asking for five five people at a time at each lect turn. Five at a time. So count yourselves out. If you're more than five, please sit
down. We will get to everyone. I promise. Good morning, ma'am. Good morning. My name is Eileen Broton. I reside at 951 Northwest 10th Court in the historic Spring Garden. I want to u make a
comment about RE7. Um please, this is a wonderful thing. Thank you um Commissioner Coro for creating another vote for Marine Patrol. Um and that lease that's going to be wonderful for the Miami River. So, thank you for that.
I also want to make comments about PZ3. That's the Popeye's Marina properties. Um, I just want to remind you that uh my historic neighborhood is not against progress that we um certainly want it by
rights. There can be five stories built there. The issue is that it is in the historic district. It's on the website. So, if I were buying property, I would check that out before I invested a lot of money. So, no surprise.
and um it has historic significance and I'm sure the historic preservation officer will speak to that when the item comes up. I do want to say that there are rules in a historic district about de demolition. We all follow them and
there is a process. You don't demo until you show what you're going to put there. I have to do it. Everybody has to do it. Rich and poor. Um, those are the rules and um, that's all I can say, but thank
you so much for your time. Thank you. And just so you know, ma'am, PZ3 has been indefinitely deferred. It won't be voted on today. But that's good. Anyway, at least I get to say I send you my my best wishes, Commissioner King. Thank you. Thank you.
So when you step to the lect turn to speak, please identify the item for which you are speaking on and if the item has been deferred, we will not be discussing that item today. If the item has been deferred, we will not be discussing that item today. No, you're
fine though. We you're fine. Good morning. Good morning, Chairwoman. I'm here to speak about resolution five. Is Has that been deferred? RE5. It has not. No. RE5 regarding the 287G agreement.
We didn't defer the 287g agreement. Okay, fine with me. Good morning. My name is Abel Degado. I am the grandson of political prisoner, a son of exiles, and a US citizen born in this great country. And none of that matters right now because ISIS out there
detaining US marshals for looking Latino. ISIS attaining political asylis sending Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, and others back to communist dictatorships and chaos with no regard for rule of law. ISIS's complete disregard for the Constitution
and civil rights is something the city of Miami has no business getting involved with. If you agree with this deal with ICE, you are putting honest and brave City of Miami police officers in an impossible position. You are telling them to arrest our neighbors for pursuing the American dream. If you sign
this deal, this will eventually lead to a lawsuit. Haven't the residents of the city of Miami paid enough in lawsuits and lawyer fees for government abuses power? Make the right decision morally, financially, and legally. Say no to 287g. Thank you.
[Applause] Thank you for your advocacy. We are not clapping in chambers. our um uh this is a warning. If you clap again
uh they will clear the chambers and this is how we show our support and I understand that there are a lot of folks that are here to speak publicly on various items. I would ask that for
those of us who are in chambers, can we take the folks that are outside first because they're outside in that heat while you guys are here in air condition and you have seats so they will be allowed to speak and not stand for hours in the heat. If we can coordinate that,
I think that would be the most fair thing to do because you guys are the most comfortable and they're outside. So, after we take the five that are here, I would ask um staff to start bringing in folks that are outside cuz
it's hot outside. Okay. All agreed. Okay. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. Uh Madam Chairwoman, very sorry for your loss. Commissioner Rosado, welcome and congratulations. My name is Rick Madan. I reside at 2900
Northeast 7th Avenue, Miami, Florida. There are so many important items on the agenda today, but none as important as RE19 and FR4. I'm here to voice my strong support for two common sense reforms. The term limits proposed in resolution RE19 and
the election date change in FR4. First, on term limits, this is a fundamental principle of good governance. By establishing two-term limits, we open the door to new leadership and fresh perspectives. It ensures our officials remain accountable
to the people, not entrenched in power. Limiting terms helps prevent the kind of environment where corruption can take root. It keeps our city's leadership dynamic and responsive. Second, and just as critical, is moving our local elections to even numbered
years. The reason is simple and powerful. more people will vote. Turnout is our current offcycle elections is disappointingly low, aligning with major state and federal elections would massively increased participation. We are talking about
government that is more truly representative of our entire diverse community. Now, I understand the concern about a one-time, one-year extension of terms, and that is a big concern. But we must weigh that temporary adjustment against the permanent long-term benefit
of more engaged electorate. It's a small price to pay for government that perpetually and more accurately reflects the will of the people. Together, these measures create a system that is both accountable and representative. I urge you to vote yes on RE19 and FR4 and let
the voters decide on strengthening our democracy. Thank you and have a great day. Thank you. Could you hold one second? Our commissioner is here. Commissioner, welcome and congratulations again. Thank you. Good morning, Madam Chair. Uh, good
morning to all of our commission and our our our residents here. Madam Chair, I'd like to give you my condolences. I'm sorry for your loss. Um, I'm as your newest county commissioner, Natalie Milan Orbis in Miami Day County, I just wanted to present myself, say hello to your residents, say hello to all of you.
I look forward to working with all of you. Um, I know that we share Commissioner Rosado and Commissioner Gabella. We share large portions of your districts with my district and I'm here for you. Um, my door is always open to you. My door is always open to your residents in any way that I can help you
all of you. I'm here to to be your voice on the county commission and a liaison with the county commission and I just wanted to formally introduce myself as the newest commissioner. I look forward to working with all of you and thank you for the warm welcome today. Thank you. Have a great meeting. Congratulations. Thank you.
Good morning. Good morning. My condolences to you, Madame Chair. Um, so sorry for your loss. Uh, my name is Brenda Barancor, 1436 Street. Um, in favor of R E19 and FR 4. Um, we have
been asking for changes. The there are four commissioners out of the five that they had never been in political war before. And I've hope that the voters who actually went out and elected you and you promised them that
you are going to make changes, this is part of the changes. Sometimes we can make different opinions and we heard all kind of things. Promises that being under the table to extend a year, promises that I'm going
to be a strong mayor. Promises to all of you. I believe that this is the time where the new elected officials would determine if you are actually lying to our faces or you actually telling the truth and you actually going to work for
changes. We hope that you guys made the right decision for the best of the city of Miami residents. Most of you understand what it means to work and then come to be elected
officials. Most of you have a job before to work as a citizen and then become elected officials. So I hope that you guys are understand what is your responsibility with the voters
who elected you and trust you and hopefully receive that trust back and you guys going to keep your word and do what you promise in the campaign trail. Thank you.
Thank you, Elvis Cruz, 631 Northeast 57th Street. Again, Commissioner King, my condolences. And to Commissioner Ralph Rosado, congratulations, sir. Thank you so much for your previous opposition to overdevelopment like when
you came and stood at these podiums and spoke against the Live Local Act. I hope you continue that opposition to overdevelopment on items like PZ7 today. PZ-15 when it comes up. Regarding PZ8, I
hope you vote yes on that one because that would also help curb overdevelopment. Regarding PZ7, uh, Commissioner Partardo, I hope you would specify uh, make an amendment to
PZ7 to allow an exemption for historic districts. That is specified in the county code. I hope you would also include that in the city legislation if that passes, which I don't think it should because it is being used as a as
a Trojan horse. Affordable housing has become political camouflage, a Trojan horse to allow increased heights and density. It would be so nice if the city of Miami realized that infinite growth is not a logical and sustainable policy.
We already know what our traffic is. Our sewage problems with processing portable water, hurricane evacuation times. Infinite growth is a fallacy. And the time has come to admit that reality and try to preserve the quality of life for
the residents rather than preserve continued profits for the developers that make campaign contributions. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, Chairwoman King. I'm so
sorry for your loss and thank you for your service. Thank you for being here today. I know it's very hard and thank you all. Welcome, Commissioner Rosal. Congratulations. And just I just want to say please be
viligent uh of your positions uh considering recent national news. Uh it's a very dangerous world out there. Please all be be careful. My name is Miguel Solang, 1436 Southwest 6th
Street. I'm here against FR4 and I believe we went out to vote. We voted to have our commissioners and our mayor in their seat for four years for a
four-year term. And I don't think it's right uh to in the middle of the game or towards the end of the game to change the rules. And to give you a little perspective, if we're going to get do this, then hey, let's change the governor's term and give him an extra
year. Let's change our Congress, our senators. Let's give them an extra year. And while we're at it, our presidential seat, let's change that. Instead of four-year term, let's give our presidential seat another year term. I
think that puts it a little into perspective what the commission is considering changing this election. It's It's not right. I beg for you to think about it and consider it and uh vote against it. Thank you very much. Have a
good day. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. Good morning, uh, chairwoman. Sorry for your loss. I lost my mom. The best thing is time. Time will heal everything. My name is
Marcus Loro. I live on 600 Northeast 27th Street, uh, Edgewater. I would like to congratulate, uh, Commissioner Rosado. um two weeks, three weeks ago.
We don't give credit for the nations how we do it like you guys do. And I reflect about your election on June 3rd and I'm here for RE19 and FR4. Even though you won the participation of
46,000 47,000 only 5,000 or 6,000 votes for you which is 11%. We should have more. We should have more participation. We should have uh five six times more. This is my first comment. The second comment is related
to term limits. I'm a true believer on uh new leadership, new ideas, new styles and I think putting uh a bound on eight years in different positions, it's
enough for developing your plan and to allow new people to be on board. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Um I'm very sorry for your loss. I lost a family member last week as well, so I
can empathize. Um, I am here, my name is Amber Shapiro. I live at 498 uh Northeast 50th Terrace um in Miami, and I'm here to speak against RE5 um the agreement with um ICE, the federal immigration program. So, uh, this
program would transform local police officers into federal immigration agents, essentially giving them, um, very limited training on how to, uh, investigate, detain, and process individuals for immigration violations. This is, um, very concerning to me. Uh,
Miami is not legally required to enter into this agreement, and no federal def funds depend on us entering into this agreement. I'm worried that um if we enter into this agreement, it will create um a very bad relationship with the local police officers who to date my
family and I, my community have always had very good relationships with. Um and I would not like to see that deteriorate. Um, additionally, I have two small children. Um, I'm able to be a working mom largely because of the caregivers of my children who are
immigrants and I'm uh very grateful for that and I don't want to see their safety um impinged upon. I I worry for their safety given that what we know of other cities who have entered into these agreements. A lot of times we see racial profiling um people being profiled
because of their accents or the way that they look. And I know that there's a lot of fear in in the community right now and I don't want to see that exacerbated. So, um, I I really encourage you please to consider this and to vote no against this agreement. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good
morning. My condolences and congratulations. I'm here to speak on ICE RE5. I am Modesto Abetti, the uh founding
president and CEO of the Children's Trust. The city of Miami should not vote to participate in ISIS, lawless kidnappings, disappearances, incarcerations, deportations,
and cruel separation of our immigrant families. families who so faithfully contribute to our city's prosperity and vitality. The city must instead support
immigrant rights and due process. The separation of Americanborn children from their immigrant parents should not happen in Miami. This is so cruel. The city has the
second highest percentage of foreignb born residents in the nation. Hyleia is number one. We simply could not function with our hard without our hardworking immigrant
base. We are an immigrant city. Our immigrant families are law-abiding and hardworking residents. These are our neighbors, not criminals, murderers, or rapists. Please do not help invi advance
the environment of fear, anxiety, and cruelty being created by these illegal deportations. Please vote against the resolution seek seeking to have Miami Police Department collaborate with ICE and Homeland
Security in these cruel and unlawful deportations of our hardworking immigrants. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Ruben Sanchez from 234 Northeast Third Street in downtown Miami and I'm here to
speak on behalf of the DDA. Um, I come before you not only as a proud resident of downtown Miami, but also as a long-standing small business owner in this vibrant and evolving urban core. Just some information, the mission of the DDA is to enhance the economic and cultural vitality of downtown Miami
through strategic development, infrastructure investment, and support for the businesses and residents. Just a simple uh information on the economic impact that DDA has had not only in downtown businesses, but also for residents. They started the initiative the follow the sun which incentivizes
company to relocate or expand to downtown Miami. It has direct support for permitting, zoning and city navigation which has helped streamline business launches in our area. For real estate development, it's facilitated landmark projects like Miami World Center and Flaggler Street beautifification which has been a very
vibrant addition to our area. For retail and commercial growth, investments in streetscapes, light lighting, and public safety have led to a notable increase in retail occupancy and tourism spending. We are the new South Beach. It's in downtown Miami. It also has assisted in
job creation, attracting corporate headquarters to the area. For us as residents, it's enhanced public spaces. Um, it has an initiative for streetscape enhancements, lighting grants, and public art elevated, which elevate neighborhood aesthetics and safety, community events and culture. It sponsors year-round programming,
including art installation, music festivals, and health and wellness events. It's also improved safety and cleanliness. This is not a time to defund or undercut the momentum that we've been generating for the last 15 years. If anything, we need to be more open in dialogue and stronger partnerships to ensure that the
DDA can keep doing what it does best, which is building the kind of downtown Miami we all want to live and invest in. Thank you so much. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. Um, my name is Alejandro Martinez.
I live at 2525 Southwest 3rd Avenue, Miami. I'm here representing the BAL Homeowners Association and I just want to speak about PA1 about the uh DDA and
it's short and simple. We just want no taxation and we ask you to please put it on the ballot. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. The issue of police partnering with ICE
is at the core of who we are as a nation of law and will determine the destiny that we share. The US Constitution clearly states that all people are endowed with unalienable rights. It is our faith in this
principle that has built this great nation. The power of this nation to shine a beacon of light and liberty to the world has always been based in our humanity, never in brutality.
Jesus' words reminds us, "You shall know them by their actions, the behavior of current ICE agents, detaining people without due process and brutalizing some of them. It is not in
alignment with the rule of law. It is more in abusing it." The contrast with our trusted police officers is that we need to rely on them to continue to protect the rule of law
and uphold the US Constitution. We must safeguard the partnership between our communities and law enforcement. In 248 years of democratic presidents, we have always remained a civil society.
We cannot create a state of terror. We are a civil society where dialogues between our constituents and our leaders are possible. This is the hallmark of our representative government. So I ask you at this moment as this critical
moment in history to do the courageous choice. I know it is bold to say no to partnering the police with ICE, but then you are saying you are safeguarding our pledge for liberty and
justice for all. Thank you. Chair, may I have the speaker's name for the record? Ma'am, may you may we have your name for the record? Irene Martinez, and I grew up a few blocks from here. Thank you. Thank you for your service and thank you for representing us. Thank you.
Good morning. Good morning, chair, commissioners. Welcome, Commissioner Rosado. Your first meeting. I'm very proud to see you have come this far from 10 years ago when we met each other. My name is Ken Russell, 3142 Ohio Street, Little Bahamas of Coconut Grove. I'm
here to speak on RE5, RE19, FR4. With regard to RE5, process is very important. I stood out in the heat this morning with dozens of advocates who care about this issue and many of them will speak much more passionately than I about why we should not be joining with
ICE in a 287g agreement from a moral, legal, fiscal and liability perspective. Nor is it mandated but under process. There was only a few dozen out there today because the agenda said RE5 may be deferred. When I was the
chairman of the commission, that statement was used to let people know it would be deferred, but that we had to put May just to cover ourselves because something like this morning could happen where notification was let out that it would be deferred and then it wasn't many people would have come here to
speak but for that statement that it may be deferred and please please note that for the future or maybe even eliminate that alto together because it sends a message and people can't be heard. I'd like to dispel two myths about RE5 and the agreement with ICE. One is good
intending. Chiefs of police will say we will not ask for papers in the streets. I ask you to Google FDLE L E A D. This is the law enforcement accountability dashboard which
whistleblows on commissions and police chiefs who do not enforce to the fullest extent of the law 287g when they sign this agreement. So please withdraw or defer this item for the other and I know I'm running out of time. I am in favor of term limits. I am
in favor of even your voting. But more importantly, and Commissioner Parter, with full complete respect, I am in favor of process. More importantly, if we can pass a resolution asking the attorney to ask our voters about term limits, we can do the same about election years. We should not skip this
election. Thank you very much. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners and Commissioner Kim. I'm so sorry for your loss. My name is Patricia Caparelli. I represent Oh, my address is
9721 Northwest 10th Street, Plantation, Florida, SIPco 33322. I represent L3 Harris Technology and we are currently
serving you with our mission critical two-way radios. And I'm here for item C A2. which is regarding mission critical systems.
We were surprised being your vendor and we also represent the whole Florida state. We have a statewide system. We were surprised to learn that there were a $30 million contract being proposed
and there was no competitor. we they didn't we never heard about this. So, it's always good to look at different options and there's a couple of vendors in the city and what we asking here is
to take a month to revise. We probably can save half 50% of what this is proposed. So, we're g we're asking you to please give us the opportunity to revise that 30
million mission critical radio subscriber offer that was proposed and we're happy to help you save some money. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you. Have a good day. Good morning. Good morning,
Grace Solaris. My condolences to you. My congratulations to you, Commissioner Ros. My congratulations to you, Mr. Weiss. I haven't been here in the past three or
four years. Today, I thought it was important for me to come because there are two items that I am very very in favor of. One is RE19 and the other one is FR4.
F FR4 F44 years ago when the last commission uh charter u review committee was formed. I showed up asking exactly for that term limits on people in order to avoid the recycling of commissioners of mayors
etc. Some voted for the issue but the majority for voted for it. So it never made it to the commission. Now you have it before the commission. I congratulate you for you and I support and I ask all of you please to support it. I also
support the um issue of what was the other one? I forgot the other one it the issue of um the election. the elections.
Exactly. And although we must bear with some ills of additional time, I think the objective of it is very good. So I please ask you to also vote on that. Thank you so much. Thank you. Good
morning. Good morning, Madame Chair and Commissioner. First and foremost, I give you my heartfelt condolences and prayers. this words can't really and I can't really express itself but it does show a great deal of tenacity and more power as you sit here through your
discomfort so I'm with you thank you for showing up right uh also welcome to commissioner Rafael Loado we go a long way back it's good to see you here and I just wanted to add another note while I had the opportunity to commission a part I'm still waiting for you to buy me
lunch um okay but uh deal I reached out to your office. It's very important. You know, when you beca became the commissioner through the chair, I was as happy as a flag girl at a LGBTQ flag game. Okay. And so I I don't do the cheerleader
thing. I would definitely like to have a conversation with you cuz I feel like you and I at least should relate and identify. You know, we do climbing in the dark. We also do LGBTQ in the dark. And there are just some disparity issues that we face as LGBTQ women. We raise a lot of children. And I'm going to leave
it at that. Um, I'm here uh more focused on PH uh four, five, and six. I'm always big on public housing monies because public housing monies and CDBG monies were virtually made for very very low income. We're we're in a buff. Hello,
sir. Um, and I'm seeing recaptured funds. I don't know where the recaptured funds. There's no information on here. And since this is so focused and specific, there are gap programs that we're a midst of and some funding that take care of those who are most challenged that that qualified us for
this monies that we were never considered. And I'd like to talk to you more if given the opportunity or someone to make sure that you get the full message because what is causing is a 200% increase in the number of women, mother, and childrens who are also influenced. Um, and we're not getting
the services. I know that the focus is on arresting migrant or immigrant persons who may have the same domestic violence issues and those children, but there is a bigger gap and nobody's being the hero for that. I know right about now the the father and you and the mother and you will help us get that
done. It's really very very bad. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Good morning, Councilman. Good morning, uh, Madame Chairwoman and, uh, fellow commissioners. My name is Scott Galvin. I reside at uh 1755 Northeast 137th
Terrace in the great city of North Miami. Um I was on the city council in North Miami for over 25 years. And in 2022, the year we did the same thing that you're considering doing today by vote of the city council or your city
commission, moving our elections to evenyear cycles. Now, I grew up in North Miami, so I always loved that we had our own standalone election in May. It made me feel like we were doing something special. But I had to become a realist
as time went on. As voter turnout declined and the elections became more expensive, I had to admit that it would save money and drive turnout if we moved. And sure enough, in the very first election after we moved it, our municipal turnout,
which normally was in the 12% range, jumped to 68% and the costs of elections dropped because we weren't fronting all of the costs of having all the polls open and and all the workers who were there, the
county elections department was bearing that cost and we just sort of scooted in on the side. Now, one drawback you as elected officials might see in doing this is that you're going to have to work harder to make your name stand out on the ballot because, yeah, it's true,
you're competing with governors and presidents and US senators, but you shouldn't see that as a drawback. You'll have to work harder. You'll have to change your messaging because you're not just talking to the same 20, you know, super voters who always turn out. You're going to have to test your message to
see if it plays to a broader audience, but in the end, it's worth it for your constituents. Much greater turnout and cheaper expenses. Thank you for your time today. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, The Office William, 1391
North 95th Street. Uh, refer 9. When we talk about budget, I mean, where's the people of this city? It's not the people. It's a corporation game now. I see so many villains being
built and people still on the streets. It's sad. And you wonder why the kids are killing each other. No place to live. Y'all have not emptied the shelters yet in this community. When I look at Overtown and all these highrising going up, we losing
enrollment of schools and nobody talking about it. And when you talk about budget, it ain't no budget. It ain't no money moving. It's land moving. It's a corporation game where everybody is part of it. It's not a people sitting in this
community who pay y'all's salary to sit down and tell y'all what we want, but y'all telling us what we want. But when you get in trouble, you want to tax us for what y'all messed up. This go for the city, county, whoever. It's a game that gone on in this in this this city
and county. The people are suffering. You look at all this stuff going on. We not holding y'all accountable for it cuz it's too many buddyship going on in here. Everybody moving money. Everybody sitting behind the doors. When y'all
going to stop? Because it's not how you start, it's how you finish. Some of y'all need to just get your house in order because really judgment day come. It's not when that judgment day come, we have the last say. I'm asking all y'all to do the right thing.
Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Maria York, 350 Southwest 25 Road. I have been a Rose resident for 33 years in Shannondoa before that. And I am here to speak against the 287
agreement with ICE. Your city of Miami residents and businesses do not want this. The residents that rely on child care and elder care and gardeners and the backbone of our working community do not
want this. The businesses that are struggling to fill positions in the service industry and the restaurants do not need this added level of fear in our environment. And I can assure you as a
past director of media relations for the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, if the city of Miami enters into an agreement with ICE, it will get major coverage in Latin America, as all things
Miami do. And that partnered with the horrific visuals of ICE, family separations that they are seeing now on the news, it will make Miami feel like a much less friendly place to come to. And
let's let's not be confused. There are a lot of places to go to to tourists to shoot to shop at to check out uh World Cup, many other cities. It will damage the economic health of our city. But
perhaps most importantly as a resident, we have a wonderful city of Miami police department. They come to our neighborhood meetings and they listen to us. And of course, as residents, we are always asking for more police officers,
more patrols, more. But instead, what we are suggesting to vote for today is to add this list of ICE related responsibilities to the city of Miami Police Department and its officers.
Thank you. Thank you. I know that it's a I know that it's a huge ask because of state retaliation if you vote for this, but please vote against this. Thank you. Thank you.
Good morning. Uh, great rising kings and queens. How y'all doing today? My name is Brotherman Gray, uh, 3520 South Douglas Road. I'm here representing all of our constituents and our trouble youth living in this wonder, wonderful
magic city of Dade County. So, um, I'm here to speak on RE19, uh, RE20, and FR4. So, um, starting off with RE20, um, we would like for you to approve the designation of, um, Gerald
Tinker's Way, um, truly a pioneer in our community. So, we thank you for that. Um, when it comes to the RE19, you know, um, I'm also for the the lifetime ban on term limits, of course, we are tired of seeing the same
um, families names and politicians representing our communities. Um, I think that they have had a hold in power for the last 40 years. Um, and it's time to release that power and allow us as people to join them. Welcome to the team. So, um, we definitely would love
to continue to talk on on FR4 is skipping this year's election. Um, you know, I don't think that you can ever find a resolution that was put into action that wasn't brought to by the
people. So, I think that we should hear all our constituents voices and their cries when it comes to the voting and skipping this this year's voting. And while I got y'all platform for uh this few minutes, once again, we ask if y'all going to waste money on on all these
different areas that I've been campaigning at, we ask you that you uh invest in our youth, invest in the people, hear our cries, because we tired of crying. We tired of coming up here with the same issues. Um, once again, our motto here at Encouraging Dreamers,
Breaking Barriers is we're washing away our youth past, giving us a wax and a shine for a brighter future. And we're hiring 75 youth this summer. And I would love to tap into each and every one of y'all budget starting on July the 1st to August the 2nd. It will be 75 youth that
will be hired out here. Thank you for a blessed day. And u remember Junth is this Thursday. So with all that rich history, we we we thank y'all. Good morning. My name is Maria Bilbao. I'm a community organizer uh with
immigrants and I w I organize immigrants who live here in the city of Miami. The city of Miami should now approve the 2 A7G agreement which allow police to collaborate directly with ICE in detention and deportation of immigrants.
Do you really want to be part of an administration that helped to disappear of people? Working in the public sector imply a commitment to democratic principles, justice and transparency. You cannot serve the people while being
complicit in the fear and terror inflicted by the government on the community you are meant to protect. The moral responsibility is clear. to defend human dignity and due process. It is not
enough to write a statement lament of the elimination of humanitarian parole or TPS while allowing police that erase and silent those who are already vulnerable. With all respect but with determination,
we make this urgent and firm call. Do not be complicit. Demand humanity. Vote note on this proposal. The city, the Miami must not and cannot be part of separation of family. This must not
happen here. Not now, nor ever. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Isabella. I'm 18. So, this is my first time being involved in something like this, but I think it's pretty important to be here as many of us outside are here against 287G. I'm very lucky that my parents and my
grandparents came at a time where immigration was very welcomed here. And unfortunately, it's really disheartening that it feels that immigrants are being criminalized. And it's really important that we vote here today with compassion and with unity because that's truly what democracy is about and what everyone is
here for today. I think that being complicit and being involved in the way that we're separating families is really disheartening and something that of course Miami shouldn't be involved in because at the end of the day, immigrants are what make this city and very lucky to have the city because of
the work and the backbone of immigrants here. So I urge you to vote no and to support the immigrants that you have here and the people that have allowed you to be here. Thank you. I'm sorry, chair. We could have your last name. Your name, please. Isabella Pies.
Did you get it? A last name. Got it. Thank you. Thank you again. Thank you. Good morning. Hi. Good morning. My name is Natalyia Cresovitzki. As you can tell by my outfit, I did not think I was going to speak today. I didn't even know I could, but I did see someone dressed as a founding father behind me. So,
there's definitely no dress code. Maybe I'll have to wear that in my next debate tournament because it's pretty cool. Today I really wanted to bring into the issue of the 28 287G um agreement that you guys are considering. It's a big agreement, but I
know that you guys are supposed to represent Miami, the people of Miami. And I want you guys to know that there are hundreds of people outside these doors, which I'm sure you guys saw, asking you to please not pass this agreement. This is your job to represent the people
of Miami. It is important that you represent our voices and we're asking you to please not pass this. I also want to bring up the fact that I know you all are smart. Of course you're smart. You're in this amazing position that takes a lot of hard work and a lot of knowledge and a
lot of education. So I know that when you see on the news of ISIS atrocities to humans were hardworking humans. I know that you see on the news in the Miami, Florida detention where inmates
had to spell the words SOS because of the inhumane inhumane um inhumane uh yeah processes of ICE detention here. It's important that you represent all the people of Miami living here. Thank
you for giving me time. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you for allowing us to talk this morning. My name is Lauren Mechanic and I live in the city of Miami. I am here today to talk about the G um the the 287G
agreement. I'm here today as an indigenous woman, Harawatami. Those people, my people were the original to this land. This is our home long before borders, fences, and ice ever existed. We were forcibly removed, our children taken, and our language stripped. And
our culture was nearly erased. All through policies that claimed to protect but only caused harm. And now I see that history is repeating itself. Immigrant families are being targeted and silenced and punished simply for trying to survive. The truth is nearly everyone in
this country came here from somewhere else by choice, by force, or by desperation. We cannot let that kind of injustice continue under a new name. This 287g agreement with ICE does not make Miami safer. In fact, it creates fear. It
makes people afraid to report abuse, to seek help, or even walk outside. That is not protection. That is oppression. Commissioner King, you are a child of immigration. You walked the path so families could survive. You've devoted your life to this community, mentoring
youth, leading nonprofits, fighting for housing, and standing up for those who were unheard. You've paved the way for so many other immigrants to believe in what's possible. because of the groundbreaking work you've done for yourself and our community. That is why I believe maybe you more than anybody
else in this room today understand what's at stake. Miami is a city of immigrants, of survivors, of people who love this city and call it home, even when it doesn't love them back. You have the power to protect the people, not to punish them. I am asking you from the bottom of my heart. Please vote no on
the 287g agreement so cities of Miami can be a place of healing and not harm. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, Commissioner King. My condolences and prayers to you. I was daddy's girl. I
lost him at 35. You were blessed to have your father until 83. Uh I'm Carolyn Donaldson. I'm speaking on behalf of Grace Gro Rights and Community Equity, Inc. this morning on three topics.
uh first RF19 we are in favor of lifetime learn uh term limits we're also speaking on behalf of RE20 which is the co-desation
of Gerald Tinker Terrace and uh finally RF14 [Music] uh which is requesting uh that we move uh city of Miami elections to an even year which will
give an opportunity for us to increase the number of individuals that come out to vote. Good morning. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Madison Rodriguez Fernandini. I stand before you as a child of immigrant
success stories, a daughter of educators and as a school teacher for the families and communities shattered by our city's collab possible collaboration with ICE through RE5. This partnership is not just a policy choice. It is a moral crisis that strikes at the heart of our
values, our constitution, and the fabric of our neighborhoods. My students are afraid for their parents. My students are afraid to go to school, to go to summer school, to go to their work that allows a roof over their head and food on their tables. They hide and retreat
further into the shadows. Your collaboration is not the action of a just society. It is the action of the tyranny in which many of our families fled. As a scholar and a teacher of exile studies and totalitarianism, I can
tell you that the most egregious crimes against humanities begin with deportations, begin with government collaboration like the one being proposed here today. How can we as a city that prides itself on a constitution that our ancestors
countries wish that they had? How can we participate in a system that so blatantly disregards the foundational rights on which our nation was founded? The consequences of these actions are not abstract. Deportations rip families
apart, forcing children, many of them US citizens, into foster care and leaving now single parents alone and to raise their children by themselves. This trauma, it extends beyond the individual. It extends into communities that live in fear. My students are
growing up anxious that their parents could disappear at any moment that they get home to their little efficiencies and apartments and no one will be there. The knowledge alone that deportations are occurring in our cities puts families and our entire community on
edge, destabilizing our neighborhoods. We must ask ourselves, commissioners, what kind of city do we want to be? Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. I Good morning. I'm sorry for your loss.
Bear with me. My name is Carla Deanda. I'm a nanny and the founder of the Right to Freedom Network. We are an organization led by domestic workers for domestic workers, many whom have survivor of human trafficking to be a
specific level of trafficking. In the city of Miami, thousand of domestic workers take care of children, clean homes, and help families every day. Many of you are here today because someone helped your home. Someone took care of
your child. We are those women. We are proud domestic workers. I'm here today to speak against 287g agreement because this agreement does not make our community safe. It make people live
afraid. Every day we have received calls from domestic workers that have suffered wage death, mistreatment, sexual harassment, and even labor trafficking. Right now, one of our
members, a survivor of labor trafficking, is in a detention center because she was pro racially profiled. They don't speak out. They don't look for help because they are afraid. They are too afraid to call a police to make
a report because they know that this report can led to detention or deportation. And abusers know and they control them. They use them. They threatened to call immigration. They take their wishes.
We will never ask for help if a police is working with ICE. Let me be clear. We don't know what is the line with ICE. We don't even know if agents are here or in the building. This agreement creates silence. Thank
you. Please be brave. Be brave. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, council. My name is Mark Wis Duncan. I live in Commissioner Joe Caro's district at 1239 Southwest 13th Court, 33135. And I'm both a registered and active voter in
the city of Miami. Commissioner, should I wait? No. Very good. I wish I were here today to thank you for the new park by your office, the speed bump on 13th, or the improvements to the Cuman monuments on that very same street. But I'm here because of something that
threatens to undo so much more. 287G, the proposal to prepare to pair Miami police with ICE. What's truly remarkable in the most disappointing way is that this proposal, this proposal is even up for a vote in a city with a Hispanic
mayor and a city commission where four of the members have Hispanic surnames. How can we consider turning police into a pipeline for deportation? This isn't just policy hypocrisy, it's cultural betrayal. And that betrayal feels especially
bitter today because on this day, June 17th, exactly 140 years ago, the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor. She stands for us for everything this country is supposed to be, and so does
Miami. So, I'm telling you, don't do it. Don't pass 287g. But if you do, don't pretend that this is still the magic city. Do it all the way. Strip it bare. No more cafeesito windows. Shut down Versailles. Pull the
roosters out of Little Havana. Erase the Cuban walk on 13th Street. Tear down the Cuban monuments you just restored. Knock down the Freedom Tower. Close Hazuka. Close cafe. Turn off the salsa. Labachata reaton the samba the compat
reaton the rea. Cut the domino tables out of no. Okay. Because if you pass this, you are voting to erase the very soul of this city. I'm finished. I'm finishing. 287 doesn't make us safer. It makes people afraid to
report crimes, separates families, wastes taxpayer dollars, and sends a message to the city that immigrants have been forgotten. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, city commission. Uh, my name is Woody Beckham
and I am live at 2756 Day Avenue. I think it's obvious what you should do on 287G and I think it's obvious what you should do about the elections going to even years so that we can actually have a turnout of the citizens and voters so
that your positions are the voices of the citizens. I don't even know how these conversations are coming up in this city. we should be focusing on so many more important issues that honestly aren't getting attention because these ridiculous issues like
287G are even being talking points. So, I hope that the city can get their stuff together and start focusing on the really important issues that are important to your citizens. How do we
hold commissioners accountable? Because you're not listening to our voices. you're not voting in the best interests of your districts. And I hope that the changes over the next few years really force you to listen to our voices and
listen to what your citizens are telling you. So, thank you for being commissioners and being bold enough to be up there to do that. But we are going to hold you accountable. We do expect better. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning,
Chairwoman King. Glad to see you, commissioners. Good morning. Uh, my name is Michael Putney. I live in Aventura, but I have been coming and covering as a reporter the city of Miami for four decades. It mostly I stand in the back
with the media, but today I'm privileged to stand and make a few comments to you. I'm here to support two common sense proposals that are on your agenda. Number one, term limits. Term limits
make sense. Eight years is enough. I was here when Commissioner Coryo was elected in 1979. That's how old I am. And I have to say more than 20 years in office is simply enough. Give other people a
chance. This is not a lifetime synicure, a lifetime job. The city of Miami has so many qualified candidates. Let's get them in office. And that brings me to the second point, which is your elections. I really strongly recommend
and agree with Commissioner Pardau that the municipal elections should be moved back by one year. I think that the turnout would be incredibly more. I mean, right now, 10 to 14% in some city
elections. That is pathetic. If you put the elections to coincide with state and national elections, you're going to get roughly 60 65% of the voters. That means better representation, better
candidates, better government. These are two common sense ideas and I strongly urge you to vote in favor today. Thank you very much. Thank you. Good morning. Hi. Good morning. My name is Natalie and I'm here on behalf of my community and
my family. When I was 6 years old, my mother was deported and I was forced to be separated from my family as a child. I had to face grief and separation at 6 years old. I had to move to a new country and find ways to adapt. At 6 years old, I had to fly back to Miami by myself due to mental health issues from
separation at 9 years old. I had to grow up with housing disability as my father couldn't afford somewhere to sleep without my mother's support at 9 years old. I'm here to fight back against injustice and stand up for the immigrant community that has built this country, this state, and the city. I do not wish
for my community where I grew up in to be in fear or to be profiled. Shame on you if you choose to harm a community that has built this city. Shame on you if you choose to criminalize a community that made you and possibly brought you here. I urge you to please vote against
the 287g agreement. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Emma Nisum, and I am here on behalf of my community to urge you to vote no on the proposed 287G agreement. This policy would weaponize our local police,
turning them into ICE agents and funneling our neighbors into a cruel, inhumane detention and deportation system, examples of which we have already heard sitting here today. It will encourage further racial profiling, terrorize our immigrant communities, and
rip families apart using our city's resources. Miami, a city with a 65% immigrant employed workforce, should be a sanctuary and not a pipeline to cages and kidnapping. 287G is dangerous,
unjust, and completely out of step with the values of this city who will not stand for the modern Gestapo. Thank you very much, Commissioner. you. Good morning. Good morning. I also want to send out my condolences to Chairman King. Hello, city of Miami. My name is Christelle Luador. I am the founder of a
nonprofit youthled not called Jenzi Buet and based in North Miami and advocates for civic engagement, culture empowerment, also community justice as well. Also, as a first generation um Haitian American, I was um nationally recognized at the White House for the Haitian diaspora as well as in United
Nations as well general assembly recognizing the Republic of Guinea for my international law and justice as well. Thank you for your time. I'm here to speak in strong opposition of 287G agreement which is a program in no place in a city like Miami where our strength has always come from diversity, our
resilience and also our community. My concern is that the fear that the policy trades safety for fear and trust for controls. Not only will it turn our local law enforcement into an extension of ICE, but blurring the lines between public service and federal enforcement. Through this programs, our local jails
will not only become pipelines for deportation, but also holding individuals longer than necessary, detaining them for minor infractions and handing them over to ICE in no regards for their lives or their families or their rights. This does not protect our community, but it rather disappear them quietly, consistently, and also in many
cases without due process. Let's be clear, 287G, it is not free. It is paid by the city and not ICE. And what does that say about our values? When we're using local tax dollars to fund fear rather than fund support. So, when our families are too afraid to call 911, report abuse, or even take their
children to school, that's not safer. We are just silenced. And that is not justice. So, let me be clear. We do respect and we also appreciate our law enforcement. They are essential to to enforce, you know, and our fabric of our our neighborhoods, but 287 does not build community trust. It breaks it.
This program asks officers to carry out the duties that does not belong to them. We love to say that the city is a cultural melting pot, but culture isn't just for display. It's for dignity. You can't celebrate Haitian flags or our music or our food and our holidays, then support the detention of the very people
who created them. That is that is hypocrisy. That is not heritage. So today I urge this commission, thank you so much for meeting and allowing this time reject 287g. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Dear honorable members of the Miami City
Commission, my name is Dennis Hill and I have lived in Miami since 1977. I now live in the Upper East Side, part of district five, your district. I believe in this game. I w I was a teacher for more than 30 years in Miami Dade County public schools. I taught
Spanish and English to speakers of other languages. I come here today to urge you, our city commissioners, to vote against 287G agreement. The agreement will do irreparable harm to the trust in law enforcement officials such as police officers. Many people being victimized
in various ways will become increasingly hesitant to come forward to repeat to report crimes if they fear that their immigration status will be investigated upon reporting these crimes. This will not make our community safer. This agreement could and probably would lead
to racial profiling and other civil rights abuses such as denial of due process. We've already been seeing this happen. Also, if the local police are busy arresting people suspected of being in a in the country illegally, this will
take time away from their duties of fighting serious crimes. This agreement would also entail increased costs police and jail services. As it is, Miami is projected to have a shortfall of $387 million, which includes police and jail
services. This obviously will also be a problem for Miami since Miami could incur significant costs requiring the diversion of local funds. Some studies have shown that 287 agreements to 287G agreements could lead to increased
overtime costs and require budget cuts in other areas. We've already seen how ICE has been raiding various workplaces and Home Depot parking lots, arresting workers and some people wanting day jobs. Many of those people have no record of crimes. Is wanting work a
crime? The Thursday, June 12th, 2025 Miami Herald reported that a 17-year-old migrant in foster care was arrested and removed from his Pensacola foster home in handcuffs and shackles. Please vote against 287G. Thank you. Thank you. Good
morning. Good morning. My name is Lady Amador. I'm with Florida Student Power. I'm the democracy organizer, but I'm not only here with Florida Student Power. I'm here as an immigrant. My family and I migrated to the United States from Cuba in 2008. My dad came here before before us, leaving me as a newborn to
achieve the American dream. We're seeing around the US and especially in the state of Florida, people being targeted for just living. People fleeing dictatorships from Venezuela to Cuba now being sent back.
We see people in ICE detention camps putting SOS and on the side Cuba. We are allowing these people to be targeted by the same government that hurt them. We see the parole program who has now
failed. We see TPS who has now failed them. 287G agreements is loss of trust in our community. It's loss of trust in our police departments. Crimes happen every day. Our communities
should feel comfortable enough to be able to call 911. ICE is not working by the law. Our police departments should not fall into that game. I please urge you to vote no and respect the communities that have
built the city of Miami. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you. My name is Andrea Riveron and I live in Little Havana, a constituent of the vice chairman. I'm here to speak on resolution 5, not on
behalf of any organization, but as an everyday Miamiian, someone paying attention to the increasingly extreme measures of immigration enforcement across this country and urging you to reject this task force agreement with ICE. This deal is costly. It's a
liability and it damages trust between law enforcement and our communities. We don't need it. What we do need is a city we can afford and a city that protects, not targets, its people. I am a first generation Cuban American. My family was
welcomed and given a path forward. My late father came through Operation Pedro Pan, lived through foster care, and is the reason I am here today. His legacy should guide us, not be betrayed. And I cannot stay silent while the city
succumbs to an agenda that undermines our community's values of trust and high standards. We are better than this agreement. Please vote no. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning and good morning to all of the
commissioners. My name is Mishael Seard. Um, I have resided in the city of Miami since I migrated from IET, um, 10 years ago. Um, and I'm a proud Miamiian since migrating. And I stand before you, um,
deeply concerned about the direction that the city is going and the safety and dignity of folks just like me who are part of Miami's immigrant community. Um, I'm not going to bore you all around the semantics or definitions of the 287g agreement. You all know of the
agreement. You all know what what it entails. But I do want you all to think about what happens when cities sign these kind of agreements. Mothers vanish from homes. Workers disappear from their jobs. Children are left wondering why their parents never came home. And I
want to ask the commission this question. Is that the legacy that this commission wants? You are making a decision today that will either align the city with dignity and justice or with a system that profits from detention, fear, and deportation. And
so, we're not asking you all for special treatment. We're just demanding that the commission stands with humanity. We're demanding that the commission stands on the side of compassion and not cages. And the people of Miami are watching and we will remember who stood with our families and who sided with ice. So
lastly, once again, reject the 287g agreement. Our community deserves better than policies rooted in racism and cruelty. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Maria Victoria and I was born and raised in Miami and my family
immigrated from Venezuela in hopes for a better life. Immigrants like my parents, like the people in this room, and the people on this commission fuel our economy and our culture. Our country and this county in particular was built by immigrants and entering a 287g agreement with ICE is a betrayal to the people
that you represent. 287G agreements only require a 40hour online course as training and in return our law enforcement act with with an authority they are not trained to have and risk the trust that they have worked hard to build with our community. 287G agreements do not keep us safe. We are
putting too much responsibility on law enforcement and a master of all is a master of none. We see in the news how ICE and deputized police departments are abusing this power and acting impulsively. Immigrants and citizens alike are being racially profiled and going missing in our criminal justice system. These mistakes have damaging
repercussions both for our officers and our communities. Please look around because this affects more than just our most vulnerable. Protect our immigrants, protect our local law enforcement officers, and vote no on entering a 287G agreement and keep our communities united. Thank you. Thank you. Good
morning. Good morning, city commissioners. My name is Christopher Golindres. I go by the name Chris and I'm speaking on behalf of like as a concerned citizen of the resident of the city of Miami. As someone who has experienced that trauma of family separation, on July 8th, 2012, the day
of my 10th birthday, my dad was taken away by ICE agents and a few months after was deported back to where my family is from. I speak on behalf of my family and on behalf of my community. to please vote no on 287G because it just brings fears to our communities,
especially for those who have built the city up. Um, think about like the construction workers that have built up all these skyscrapers recently. They're mostly immigrants. And if we're keep targeting those same type of people who are going to build these those buildings, not US citizens because if we
want to hire people who have the work permits needed, you have to raise wages. And at the end of the day, it's just going to affect the cost of living for in a city that's already too expensive to live in for local residents like me. That fear has led to me to pursue my
education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where I currently go to school at. And I flew from North Carolina not that long ago just to speak on behalf of like this agreement that you guys are voting on. And I urge the whole community to please vote no on 287g and think about the
everlasting impact it has for our communities especially me as someone who's a first generation Miamiian who have lived here for 21 years of his life and want to see the city prosper. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning.
Good morning. Um my name is Crystal Rodriguez and I'm happy to be here. I'm here to speak on two important issues that impact young people, immigrants, and the dem democratic integrity of our city. First, on the proposed shift on the evenear elections. Although we do
support change, youth turnout is especially important during 2026 elections, mainly because of greater awareness and stronger outreach. Um, aligning with local election and state elections would make the democratic process more accessible, especially to
young voters. However, the way the Miami Commission is approaching this reform is deeply concerning. Cancelelling elections and extending your own terms without voter input kind of feels like a power graph, not a policy grounded with democratic values. A charter amendment allowing Miami voters to weigh in this
respects to our democracy encourages more youth to engage, not less. Now, on to the proposal agreement of 287G. Miami is an immigrant city. It gives this place energy, its culture, and its economy. Immigrants make up 65% of Miami
Day's labor force and contributions to billion dollar in state and local taxes. I want to ask everyone here, let's see how many Spanish names are here in the commission. Prodo Cavella, Parardo.
These these are non-native American names. These are Spanish names that come from your people, from your land, who immigrated here to give you these names. Why are you going to betray those same people who immigrated here and gave you these names to the people who are here
now? That's all I have to say. And thank you. Um, I want to thank everyone here who listened to me and I thank here um to be in this commission meeting. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is
Weber Lane Doris. I'm an educator and the child of Haitian immigrants. I am here to speak against 287G. Our officers took an oath to serve the people, not invoke fear in our community. It's unjust to deport and divide families
without due process. Miami is built on diversity and immigrants. 287G has no place here. We are the people. Vote no. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Carol Holland and I'm a
lifelong resident of Miami Day County. I'm the proud daughter of Cuban and Haitian immigrants and I've lived in the city of Miami for nearly 10 years now. I'm watching who supports 287G so I remember when it's time to vote
because this is not what residents want. The backbone of Miami's service industry is Cuban and Haitian immigrants. These are our family members. These are our neighbors. and we should protect them and their American dream. Local law law
enforcement should focus on community safety, not federal immigration enforcement at our expense. Listen to the people. We the people say no. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Uh my
name is Mate Ria. I've been living in Miami for the past two and a half years. And the thing I love most about this city is how diverse it is. the immigrant community here and compared to other nations in the other states in the nation. This is the most diverse group that I've ever been a part of.
This program will lead to more people being negative negatively impacted by this program and it will lead to more fear and betrayal from community members. I look at people like Mu Khalo Kilmer Garcia and Eduardo Nunes Gonzalez, a community resident, a Cuban
resident who was snatched by ICE while taking out his uh taking out his trash. This local government needs to figure out who they work for, this current administration or the people in this city. I urge the commission to vote no on 287 Ga agreement. Thank you. Thank you.
Welcome back, Chairwoman King. My deepest sympathies. Tim Irwin on FR4 and RE19. Good commissioners, I rise today, summoned not from the fields of battle, but from the firminant of principle to
address a grave affliction upon this republic at the local level. We speak of agenda items F FR4 and RE19. Measures that fashion a crown of ordinance cloaked as reform but born of
ambition. The proposal to silence future contenders and extend the reign for a year of the present office holders is not liberty but tyranny in municipal guard. I did not cross to Delaware to see dis
de democracy disfigured by delay and deception. It is not the government's place to tell the people whom they choose. It is the people's sacred right to decide for themselves. But this is not the first such trespass.
The sponsors of these measures hath long turned a deaf ear to the families of downtown and Bickl. good citizens who cry out against double taxation and the unchecked dominion of the DDA.
Yet they side not with the people but with the bureaucrats and the benefactors shielding bloated budgets and golden giveaways will neighborhoods go unheard. We are witnessing not reform but consolidation,
not representation but regression. And now the silence descent further. The ballot itself is to be bent to their will. A republic cannot endure if her leaders fear the voice of the govern.
I say this plainly, power is not preserved by silencing opposition, but by earning trust. Let each man and woman who would serve to Thank you. Good morning.
Good morning. Good morning. My name is Diana Scarment. I'm the former chairman of Florida Rising, the largest political organization. I am the vice president of the Haitian Caucus, standing as the daughter of proud Haitian immigrants. And I'm also one of on the DEC state committee, but most importantly, I am
someone who advocates and fights for justice, especially immigrant justice. I'm happy you are here today, Commissioner Christine King, as your constituents are largely made up of the Haitian population over in Little Haiti. Um, as we know, this is not just as someone who stands for nonpartisan
organizations. I don't want to just make this a party thing, Democrat, Republican. Okay? So, people who have concerns about this are not just Democrats. They're also Republicans who have issues with limited local resources and costs. Imagine we're already stressed thin and this is going to place
additional costs on counties and municipalities to do training, detention, and administrative burdens are not fully reimbured by the federal government. that is going to be at a cost to us and the taxpayers and we can't afford that. This is not the job of local agencies. I am a candidate for state representative and my fight does
not stop here locally. Next year I will be in Tallahassee and I'll be fighting for this on a on a state level. Okay? We need to focus on serious crime. You guys are using resources that we can allocate towards things that are more serious. A lot of people in our community, domestic violence victims, they're scared.
They're scared to call the police right now when things happen because they're not documented and they don't have paper. Trump, who is also a Republican, he just passed a law to make sure that we don't touch farmers, hospitality workers, because we're a we're an asset to this to this community. So, if you
can do that, I think everyone should stand a fair chance to be able to work towards the greater goal, the American goal, to come here for a better dream and benefit the United States of America. There's a lot of things that concern concern us. community trust and cooperation. As I just stated, we don't
feel safe. We can't go to the grocery store. A lot of people are not sending their kids to school. We're looking at alternative options at the moment that we shouldn't have to be looking into because our parents came, my father came here on a boat. He built a business. He built a life for his family and we shouldn't be having to go through this at this moment right now with all that
we have done for the American economy and for America as a whole. Thank you so much and I appreciate your time. Have a great day. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, Madam Chairman. Good morning, city commission. Good morning to all those in the room. I am Fela Delica Desme. I'm standing on behalf of Mayor
Alex Desme of the city of North Miami. He is for FR4. And here are some of the reasons with the time that I'm allocated to speak. The reasons why you should support FR4 is that it would help increase turnout.
Based on stats, less than 30% of your population turns out on elections in odd years. So turning it into even years would increase not only the general population but especially the minorities that do not go out for elections such as the Caribbean community, the Latin and
the youth community. Also it would be cost effective. It would help to decrease the cost within the city to put your elections in even uh years. Also, in addition to why it should be supported is because the overall good is to allow everyone the opportunity to uh
practice their civic engagement rights. And in doing so, that would help to um not only increase turnout, but education and awareness of why citizens of this city and everywhere else should be involved in the political process. Other cities have also uh done similar uh
changes to their elections. Baltimore, a Austin, Texas, and as well as other cities. So, I do hope that you all will support this as Mayor Alex and the city of North Miami does as well. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, Madam Chair, commissioners. My name is David Holtzman. I'm the citizen of the
city of Miami. I'm here speaking in support of FR4 uh for similar reasons that we just heard. Uh greater public engagement uh in our elections during the general election cycle and certainly savings associated with not running off your elections is a benefit to to all
citizens in the city of Miami. Thank you very much. Thank you. Good morning. Morning. Hi, my name is Susana Siman and I live in the neighborhood of Shannondoa and city of Miami. I urge you to oppose entering into a 287G task force agreement with ICE. This program brings no benefit to
Miami, only fear, racial discrimination, and financial strain. As a Miami kid whose family, like many of yours, came seeking safety. Participating would cost taxpayers millions in salaries, resources, and legal settlements from constitutional violations, taking resources away from
the everyday issues we need to fund now. Miami is not required by law to join us as ISIS task force. Let's reject this pointless and harmful agreement. Let's focus on using our resources to make Miami a safe and inclusive city. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. My name is
Will Man and I'm an attorney here at the Community Justice Project right here in Miami. I'm here to urge you to vote against the proposed 287G agreement. By turning local police into immigration agents, you are inviting constitutional violations and racial profiling because we know that when police officers join
ISIS task force, they make assumptions about people's immigration status based on their language, their skin color, their accent. And we know that because these programs are not new. They've been around for a long time. And in fact, ICE themselves paused these agreements 10
years ago because of rampant racial discrimination. And now that they're back under the Trump administration, we're seeing the exact same kinds of abuses. Collaboration with ICE is candidly immoral, but it's also extremely expensive for this city. When
police officers with 287G immigration powers violate people's constitutional rights, it's this city that will have to pay the lawsuits that inevitably come. And of course, it's the taxpayers that ultimately foot the check. Even on a
day-to-day basis, cities that sign 287g agreements have to pay for the time and the equipment that their officers then use to go raid their own communities. And of course, it's taxpayers that pay for that, too. And I want to be clear from a legal perspective that this
agreement is not required by any federal or state law. It is this commission's choice whether or not to enter into this agreement. And it is a bad choice to make on a financial level, on a moral level, and on a legal level. We should
be protecting our budget and protecting our immigrant communities, not breaking it to attack them. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Um, I want to start off by sending my condolences to you, Miss
King. I'm so sorry for your loss. Um, hi everyone. My name is Mel. I stand here as a daughter of Cuban immigrants and one of the first in my family to be born in this country. I had the privilege of spending Father's Day weekend with my grandparents. And yesterday, Mao taught
me the word guapiad. To guapiad is to hustle and refers to the drive to accomplish something challenging. My family and the 60% immigrant population goapan to make the city great to be in favor of R35 is not only betraying our
people but it's also disloyal to our history. This city wouldn't be incorporated if it wasn't for the Bohemian migrants who also built this city. Many of our neighborhoods have been built and curated by fellow immigrants, including neighborhoods like
Alipata, Little Havana, Little Haiti, just to name some. All of the same Guapando spirit that make our city so attractive. Us organizers and advocates know what we can do for our communities. So, I ask you what you can do for us.
Thank you. I'm sorry, Sheriff. I give the speaker's full name. Melanie Ramirez. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Diane Kamacho and I am a resident of the city of Miami and have been for the past 24 years. I'm here this morning to tell
you a story and to make a request of the commission. About 12 years ago, I got a call from a neighbor saying, "There's someone breaking into your house." So, I rushed home and sure enough, someone had tried to break into my back door, which
is glass, but it's impact resistant glass, and they had given up and left. So, I made a police report just so the police would know what was going on in my neighborhood. And subsequently, the police contacted my neighbors because
they had actually captured someone in the area doing another breaking. My neighbors were able to identify the person and then we were all asked to come downtown, fill out witness reports. I filled out a request for restitution
for my back door and this man was convicted and he went to prison. But the prison released him on a work release program and I started getting a check for $1547 every week. In the end, he failed his
probation, went back to prison, and served his sentence. But for me, it was an incredible example of the community and the police department working together. And so my request of the commission is
this. In all fairness to the residents of the city of Miami like myself and to the police who protect and serve, do not ask the police to do two jobs. Vote no on re.5.
No ice agreement. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Mal Fen. I'm an archaeologist and a resident of Coral Gables. Uh I'm here speaking in opposition to the 287g agreement. Uh it is in no way an exaggeration to say that ICE is the
American destapo and should not be welcomed into any community under any circumstances. The Third Reich quite literally found their final solution by studying the many crimes the United States perpetrated against indigenous people and disabled people, many of which continue today. Many committed by ICE agents against indigenous people of
the Americas specifically. The playbook of imperial nations has always rhymed and the imperial boomerang has always returned home. But today, you all have a chance to end this cycle here in Miami. I could appeal to logic quote about how being undocumented in the United States is a civil offense and not a crime. how
undocumented immigrants pay taxes and are being kidnapped at their jobs. Repeat a number of economic statistics, but my friends and neighbors are worth more than their tax dollars and more than the goods they produce. They have deep and immutable worth as human beings. and they deserve safety and
dignity, not to be used as cash cows for private prison company CEOs who take money from our pockets at a time when 60% of Americans can't afford a minimal quality of life or to be used as a rhetorical device to encourage police officers to brutalize anyone they choose. I implore you all with
everything in my soul to vote no on 287G today. To allow ice free reign in our city would be a craven and cartoonishly evil act, a deadly act of war against our own neighbors and your own constituents. Uh to vote yes on 287g would cosign a shadowy organization
which has already gone so far as to rip a 4-year-old child suffering from stage 4 cancer from their family without medication. There is no benefit to allowing ICE into our community. To the choice you all make today will be a test of your humanity. Please vote no on 287G.
Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, Madam Chair. Mike Davyy. I'm the former mayor of Kiscane. Commissioners, Commissioner Rosado. Congratulations. Um, look, I'm here to support your move to evenear elections. I think it's critically important for turnout. Uh, we
did it uh in 1997. We went from three-year terms to two-year terms. We saw a rise in participation. We also did it with referenda issues subsequently in about 2010 and we have seen a change. It's important to have your population, your residents engaged and involved in
all elections. The more the better and being in the 20 in the odd years, you're not going to see the turnout. I think you all know the numbers. So, I'm here to just suggest that you move it to the even years so you can get some things done. As far as 287G, I do think it's an overstep by the state as to your
authority as a municipality to to threaten you uh with negative action should you vote against 287G. Stand up. We are the municipalities of Miami Dade County. And we have to stand up when the state tries to oppress us. We've got to stand up and and be the leaders in our
community. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Nick Mayor. I'm an organizer with Engage Miami. I'm standing here in opposition to the 287g agreement simply because I'm a son of immigrants. I like many of us, my family came to this country fleeing
oppression, fleeing opposition from a freedom. And this city has welcomed us, has welcomed a stranger, has welcomed all of us to build this city, this county in such a beautiful way. And to have a sense of trust, public safety in our community, which has been eroded by
this agreement. We're seeing this agreement already have impact before you even voted on it. We're seeing immigrants right now that are fearing for their lives and are not participating because they are seeing what is happening to their families and friends. My own families and friends are seeing this fear and we do not want to stand on this. That is why we are in
opposition to this item. That is why we're in opposition to this agreement because we need to have trust in our community and this is eroding that right now before a single vote has even been cast by this commission. That is why we're asking you to do your duty and to
build the trust back up by rejecting this agreement and not giving in to fear. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Samoa Wade um and I'm speaking on behalf of Engaged Miami um in opposition to 287G.
My great great-grandfather moved his family to Miami from North Florida almost a hundred years ago. And we would not have been able to survive in this city without the blood, sweat, tears, and love of the immigrant community in Miami date county. City of Miami has
over 55% of foreignb born residents and Miami day county has 73.9 immigrant business owners. If we imply if we implemented this, we would be saying to our residents that we don't care for the language, culture,
contributions that they've made to keep this city alive. And I think that's abortant. I speak out against 287G. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Luna. I live in Fountain Blue. Uh 28 sorry 287G is an
agreement that is totally voluntary. It has no right reason to be held in a city filled with immigrants. Haitians and Venezuelans aren't eating cats and dogs as you can just see outside. This is done to harass working people and make them even more afraid to participate in society. If ICE wants to go after
criminals, why aren't they going into high-risisk areas but instead harassing job sites where people are trying to earn for a living as the employers are letting them go ahead and do this without any sort of push back at all whatsoever or any criminal penalties is a very similar um mentality. Why are they arresting people who are complying
with their asylum program without any sort of history of crimes whatsoever? As said earlier, I pause these agreements because of the rampant racism that the policy promotes. Beyond absurd that there is a black liberation car outside that is um uh for the Miami date police
department when uh the commissioners are considering something like this and Jackson Memorial Hospital doesn't give Junth off for their employees just like in Christmas. If you're in favor of this agreement, this shows how extremely rampant racism is in at this city and how ex extremely
um surface level uh the problems of trying to fix it are of course abolish ICE. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Barasi. Uh I'm here in opposition of 287G.
I am a human rights defender from Cambodia and I'm here to remind people that unless you are a Native American, we are all refugees and migrants at some point. I'm here to ask that you not cooperate with the police state. Because as in Cambodia, even though the original
perpetrators of the killing fields genocide were gone 46 years ago, the newer version of the Cam Rouge are still in power years later and are still quietly killing the people who disagree with the way they govern. I am here to
ask you to not aid or abate a police state and to not allow it to take hold. From an economic point of view, the undocument documented population pays social security taxes and Medicare taxes as well as other taxes that help fund
your budget without getting anything any benefit in return. They work exposed to chemicals, asbestos, pesticides, carcinogens without health coverage. These are jobs that no American citizen would take. In 2022, undocumented
immigrants paid 96.7 billion in taxes, more than Amazon, Tesla, Bezos, and Elon Musk pay combined. As a matter of fact, corporation are much more heavily subsidized than undocumented workers. Deporting millions of undocumented
workers would shrink the economy of Florida in every sector in construction, in agriculture, healthcare, tourism, etc., and lose hundreds of billions of dollars in in income. The economic contraction will have a snowballing
effect and will have a devastating consequences far worse than what happened during the 2008 financial crisis. Please remember the big picture and economic consequences before you vote. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. My
name is Maria Fernando Elgado and I'm over here as a resident from Edgewater 2900 North 87th 7th Avenue. Um I'm about to speak about the Miami DDA. Uh I'm an entrepreneur walk like working over here closely with other startups and founders
across Miami. I want to express my full support to the Miami DDA. their impacts visible from clean, walkable streets to dedicated policing and friendly ambassadors programs that make our neighborhoods safer and more welcoming. But beyond public sa public space and
safety, the DDA has been a true ally to entrepreneurs. very much like uh business incentive grants and property improvement grants don't just help businesses start but they also help us stay in the community grow and obviously
reinvest in downtown. I've been personally experienced how these resources can be the push as small to small businesses especially like my my own um and they can get real traction. They also create meaningful community
community through events, mixers, and networks that bring together people who care about building the future here in Miami Miami and not somewhere else. The DDA is helping shape a city that attracts talent, fuels innovation, and supports local founders like myself. I
urge you to continue to uh fund and support their mission and momentum so all the initiative can continue and all the residents can take advantage of this uh of these type of initiatives. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good
morning. Uh I'm here to speak in support uh first of all my name is Samuel Dors, longtime resident of Commissioner Part's district here to speak on uh in support of uh moving elections to even numbered years. Look folks, this is a no-brainer. In a perfect world, every eligible
person would be register registered to vote. Everyone would vote whenever they had a chance. That is not the world in which we reside. We live in Florida where, among other things, our state uh legislature decided it was prudent to make everyone reenroll and vote by mail after every general election cycle. This
is voter suppression. This is the state in which we reside. And we just heard from Mayor Davy that on Kiscane when he when they moved their elections to even numbered years, they saw greater vot voter turnout. Let's do the same here. Y'all are elected every time by just a small handful of voters. That's not very
democratic. Let's give more people a say. Let's move elections uh to and also let's save some money for the city by moving elections to even numbered years when folks know that there are already state and federal elections happening. Nobrainer folks. Let's do this. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Good
morning. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Monica Rojos. I live in the GTA district and I serve as head of community at play. We're the number one pickup soccer app in the world and we're actually founded here in
Miami and I moved to downtown in 2021 during the Miami Tech boom and the transformation I've seen has been na has been night and day. I'm here today both as a resident and as a community advocate. I believe that community has
the power to change everyone's life, especially during this time. As a resident, I want to thank the DDA and thank you guys for supporting us. From cleaner streets to vibrant public spaces, the consistent investment in small businesses, the DDA's work is visible
and impactful, and I speak as a resident. As a professional, I've seen how the DDA the DDA's support directly stren strengthens community engagement. And last month, we with their help, we hosted a watch party at Julian Henry's
and we brought 600 individuals to downtown. This summer, we're going to expand those efforts and actively locate or active we're going to activate local venues, support small businesses, and create moments where people will genuin
genuinely look forward to. In a time where technology consumes our lives, real world connections matter more than ever. Soccer helps, community helps, and the DDA the DDA help helps make both possible. Thank you. Thank you. Good
morning. Good morning. My name is Kimberly Davis, founder of Coconut Grove Cowboys. Here to speak about RE19 and FR4. With our current voter turnout and the cost associated with the voting process, let's push back a year. It just makes greater sense to do so. What's
your why, commissioners? I ask you, why are you here? Let me guess. You saw a place that needed help, a space that needed to be addressed, work that needed to be done. Congratulations. You've made it. You've arrived. Now imagine a work site with no deadlines. A project with
no end date. Have you been on I95 lately? Anybody? Projects without deadlines linger. How many times can we recycle the same bottle? At some point it has to become a bag, right? Imagine working hard for 2,920
days, not including weekends, and turning around to say it's not enough. That's enough in my personal opinion. I think it's time that you make your great impact. I think it's time that you make your great strides and most of all I think it's time that you be great in AIDS and let someone else have an
opportunity. Be blessed. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My condolences chairwoman and welcome to Commissioner Rosado. I am Lucia Bayas Geller and until one month ago I resided at 1450 Bickl Bay Drive in District 2. I've also
had the honor and privilege of representing and working alongside the children and families of Bickl downtown and Coconut Grove, also in the city of Miami as their Miami Dade County Public School Board member from November 2021
to November 2024. And I am here today to urge you to vote no on any attempt to bring the 287G program here to our city. 287G deputizes local police to act as federal immigration agents. And the way
that this program is being pushed upon local government breaks down the trust in our communities, the trust that especially our children need to reach out for help when they need it, so that they feel safe to call 911, to report a crime, or to speak out against any
injustice, and to live simply without fear. Yes, we all want safe communities, but real safety comes from this trust. From this trust. 287G doesn't target dangerous criminals. It pulls in people for minor issues or no violations at
all. And it just creates fear and chaos. While I lived in Bickl, I lived among people from all over the world. This policy threatens that. In Coconut Grove, I worked with families, many who had been here for so many generations and others who are just building a new
future here. All of them deserve to feel safe, and this policy threatens that. I've seen the fear that these policies create. I've heard about the empty chairs at the dinner tables, the raids, the kids who are afraid that their parents won't come home one day. This is
not abstract. This is a reality, and it's happening in our neighbors, in our neighborhoods, right here, right now. Miami is a city built by immigrants. Our culture, our economy, our resilience. All of this depends on the communities that this policy would target. We don't
need more fear. We need more trust. I ask you to vote no on RE5, not just as lawmakers, but as neighbors and as people who love this city. Please stand with our children. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. I definitely don't envy you today. I know you have some tough decisions on your plate, but
there's one that I think is really easy to make, and that's FR4. I stand here. I support the intentions behind F FR4. I I believe in increasing voter turnout, but I noticed that a lot of the people who've spoken out today do not live in
D3. I live and work in D3. And I'm here speaking on behalf of the residents of D3 and the businesses of D3 that are afraid to come here and speak out because we have lived under the tyranny for eight years of Cory, Commissioner Cory. So this woman, no chair, I'm not
putting up with this any longer. She comes to every meeting with the same decision of this magazine. This woman point of order. Point of order, please. Point of order. Commission. Ma'am, please do not address. Point of order. Commissioner, Ma'am, please do not
address any of us personally. Okay. She should talk about her stolen credit cards. Mr. Commissioner Commission being arrested for stolen credit cards. Being arrested for DUI. Who does she work for? Yeah. Myself. Thank you. Proud. You
weren't arrested for stolen credit cards. Commissioner. Commissioner, you weren't arrested for DUI. Commissioner, please. Commissioner, please. Ma'am, please finish. No problem. I ask you to vote against FR4 because I think that you should leave it to the people, the
residents and the owners of the businesses in that area who would like to have their voices heard in November. I agree with your intention, Damian Partardo, Commissioner Partardo, but I think it's not right for you to make such a decision of such magnitude on behalf of the people of my area when you
don't live in our area. There's everybody who has spoken out today does not live in District 3. Kibiscane, Greater Miami. I spoke to a North Miami man. All those people who spoke out, don't live in D3. It's not right. Let the elections play out. Let the voters
take their vote. And if we reelect him to some seat, oh well, then we're damned and we damned ourselves. But let us have a choice. Let us have a voice. And next year, if you'd like, hopefully we'll move the elections to even years. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good
morning, commissioners. My name is Carl Roberts. I live in Coconut Grove under Commissioner Partardau. Term limits are not a partisan issue, nor do they diminish the legislative or fiduciary responsibilities of elected officials to the communities they serve.
Rather, they are a mechanism of ensuing that public service remains dynamic and responsive to the ever evolving needs of the people. In a world that is constantly changing, fresh perspectives and new energies are essential. If a
mayor, councilwoman, or councilman is unable to advance their vision for the city within eight years, it is likely that that vision may never come to fruition. Regarding the proposal for even year
voting, the alignment of local elections with national ones should prove positive as long as they appear on the same ballot. The data shows that such consolidation will significantly boost voter turnout in local races, save the
city approximately $1 million in election related cost, and even contribute, albeit modestly, to reducing vehicle emissions by eliminating a separate local election day. On both of
these items, term limits and evenear voting, I fully support their passage. These are sensible, forward-thinking reforms that benefit our democracy and the people we serve. Time, however, will tell the
story. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Greetings. Uh my name is Mark G. Noel. I stand here today as a proud advocator with the black alliance for just immigration and more importantly as a member throughout my
community that refuse to be silenced with the injust that is being ceed through policies like 287G. Um to the decision makers in the room today um I'd like to ask you guys um a
serious question. If you guys claim to, if you guys claim to care about the safety, then you must also care about um justice. If you guys claim to support family, then you must reject policy that
rips and separates family and community. Um, I'm asking you guys instead of expanding 287G, um, we should be looking at other forms of method to invest in our communities like house, education, healthcare, um,
legal resources, the real building block for safety and dignity for our people in our community. And for the sake of time, because it's hella hot outside and there's other community members who want to express their concern based off this um um policy, um this will be very
quick. But for the love of the people, for the love of safety, for the love of our community, and for the record, I'm strongly opposing and advocating to you guys to make a vote on to vote no on 28
on 287g. Thank you very much. Thank you. Good morning. Hello, my name is Jamal Victor and I'm here against 27G. And one thing I want to say is right, it's not a hard thing. It's not easy
being American. And it's also not easy being an immigrant who came to America to have their American dream. And giving the cops the power of ICE, right? Just imagine literally um you're at home chilling with your family then literally
right your children and you are deported to somewhere you haven't ever been. So like you will feel like I did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong. and like giving cops the powers of ICE even
though it's not even legal because a a um give me a second what is called sorry um a when a president do a executive order is not always legal it's not binding in law
so the actions right that ISIS is doing right is inhum humane and that's also called kidnapping. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, Madame Chair. My condolences. Commissioner
Rosado. Welcome and congratulations. My name is Camila Mahia. I reside at 3482 F Avenue right here, District 2. And I'm here today to urge you to vote no on resolution five, which will authorize collaboration between
the city police and homeland security and ICE. This proposal, it's not just a policy decision. It's a matter of public safety and community trust. We have seen it in the past already under programs like secure communities.
how entangling local law enforcement with federal immigration agencies erodess the trust that is essential for effective policing. When our neighbors fear that a call for help could lead to family separation or deportation, crimes go unreported
and our entire community becomes less safe. Moreover, these agreements have repeatedly resulted in the wrongful detention of legal residents and people with valid immigration status. Deputizing our officers to enforce federal immigration laws diverts
resources away from real public safety concerns and puts innocent people, including children, at risk of losing their families and support systems. This past weekend, the No King demonstrations drew hundreds of thousands of Americans across the
country united in opposition to inhumane and unjust immigration enforcement. Strong turnout at this morning's press conference outside city hall is further proof that Miami stands for justice, compassion, and unity. I urge you again,
do what is right for our city. Protect the trust between our residents and law enforcement. Stand up for the moral values that define Miami. Vote no on resolution 5. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you. Good morning. Hi. Good morning. My name is
Genesis Sotoayor. I live in 3411 Southwest 16. Um I believe that's District 6. Um I'm here to urge you, please do not support 287G. 287G will only threaten the safety, security, and
violate US constitutional, human, and civil rights of due process for so many individuals that add to Miami Dates communities and economy. 287G is purely by choice. It is not mandated on a state or federal level. Your constituents are
urging you to not support this agreement. These are people, not rental items. They should not be detained for $25 per day. I should not be allowed to block the county from releasing public records. Hindering lawyers from
effectively doing their job. ICE and the police force are not exempt from transparency and accountability. This is not only an attack on immigration, but on legal status. GEO Group and Core Civic have been
profitering off of these communities for years. Please put an end to it. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My deepest and sincerest condolences to you and your family. My name is Annabella Graoski. I live at 409
Lafayette Drive in Miami Springs and I'm here for 287 G. Sorry. Um I came from Guatemala in 1980 in a time where the country was
suffering genocide because the government turned the military and the police on its people. My brother got killed for being a law student. My family and I were persecuted because I was a med student. They didn't like
anybody with education. My father was a journalist. So I just I beg all of you please do not use the police to persecute people. We came to this country for a reason. We didn't come because we just wanted to invade America
like the president says. We came in here because it opened its doors to us. We, my family and I, we actually kissed this ground when we came to Miami and we thank God for the opportunity to get here and be free and survive and become
somebody. I was only 20 years old and I was the oldest of seven. So, we were all kids when we came here. We don't we just want you please follow Kibiscane, follow South Miami. They're rejecting this fact
that the governor wants to threaten you guys with holding funds or whatever it is that they want to do. We just need you to please listen to the people. Listen to us. We need your help. Thank you. That's what I wanted to say.
Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Charlie Coney and I want to speak to you today concerning a street name change. Leadership Prep Foundation is the parent organization of the Coconut Grove Sports
Hall of Fame and our mission is to preserve support and pro promote historical significance of the Bahamian and African-American history and cultural heritage from sports in West Coconut Grove. Moreover, to advance and
culture uh the heritage of sports seated in West Coconut Grove and to recognize and induct its champions and its legends to honor them and to inspire future generations for sports in Coconut Grove.
With this in mind, we would like uh this body to consider the change of the street name uh from Charles Terrace to Gerald Tinker Terrace. Okay. Gerald Tinker was born January 19th,
1951 in Miami. Former track and field athletic, American football player, winner of a gold medal 4x100 1972. minded. He make this city proud. Daryl Tinka attended Carl Gable Senior
High and a graduate of 1969. I might add in 19676 was state and national champions. In 1968 and 69 it repeated that state and national title. In 1970 we went
undefeated and the rules changed because we were Carl Gables. So I asked at this time Gerald Tinka also went on to Munich, Germany where he won the 4x100 relay.
Also on that team was his cousin Larry Black. The Munich Olympics was Gerald Tinker ran the third league in the 4x100 relay which he won a gold medal equal to the United States own world record 38.19.
Larry Black also ran a league in that same race. His school was football. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Hi. Good morning. My name is Farah Mahmud. I am a firstgen
Palestinian American and a daughter of immigrants. I'm a pediatric social worker at a public hospital here in Miami. Um, and this is and hi, thanks so much for letting us come to speak. Um I'm Dr. Taylor Rosenbound. I am a
pediatrician in Miami. Um I also have a master's in um social public policy with um a concentration in child and family advocacy. So this is something really important for um us considering our field. We are really concerned that um
if this goes through our patients um the kids of Miami that um are just coming to the hospital for the care that they need, the life-saving care that they need. We're really concerned that this is going to have horrible negative impacts. And um Farah has a fantastic
really sad story to kind of demonstrate how this could negative negatively impact our patients. Yeah. Because we're already seeing it um since the start of this current administration. Um we've had an undocumented family who have been scared to call 911 during um a dire
emergency where a baby was found unresponsive. And so they found a family member who was documented and they ran to a fire station to receive the care that the baby needed and unfortunately it was a little too late to save the
child. And so I'm just we're concerned that this is going to be something that's going to continue to happen or the kids are going to come a little bit sicker um and they're not going to be able to receive the care that they so desperately need. And I don't think it's fair for us to advocate for children and
not include all children. Thank you so much. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Um hello. My name is Anna Sophia Pelis and I'm speaking today as a resident of District 3 and I also work in District 5. You have my condolences, Chairwoman King. I'm here
to urge you to not enter in the 287G task force agreement with ICE. We've heard powerful arguments today about the moral weight of this decision, which as of the daughter of Cuban exiles, I share. But this is also about good governance and the responsible allocation of city resources. This
agreement will subject our community to an unreliable immigration database, arbitrary enforcement, and the denial of due process that will lead to unlawful arrests resulting in costly litig liabilities and litigation. Taxpayers will also bear the burden of higher
costs and diminish services while making our communities less safe when crimes go unreported and individuals do not seek medical care, shelter, or report abuse. Trust in law enforcement will be undermined. While I recognize the
pressures being exerted, the city is not absolved of its fiscal and constitutional responsibilities to its constituents. I strongly encourage you to reject this agreement. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, city of Miami commission and residents. My name is David Beltran and
my address is 491 Okichchobee Road, Hilio, Florida 33010. I am here to make a statement against RE5 and against the city of Miami joining the 287g program. I am an organizer with the Miami branch of the party of socialism and liberation. City of Miami is one of the
few major cities in the world where the majority of the population is foreignb born. It is a cliche, but it is true. Miami is a city built by and sustained by immigration. Immigrants in Miami date county contribute about 4 billion in state and local taxes every year. Immigrant businesses account to close to
74% of all businesses located in Miami date county. Not to mention the immeasurable cultural impact that Latin American migration has had on Miami. From trendy neighborhoods like Little Havana to the worldclass cuisine recognized by the Michelin Guide. However, I would be contributing to the
ongoing dehumanization of the immigrant community if I only highlighted the economic benefits of immigration to our community. Because even if immigrants were a net drain on our on our economy, human beings should not be criminalized and targeted for state violence just for
migrating. Since the first moment of human existence on planet Earth, humans have migrated looking for food, shelter, and protection from adverse conditions. As I think of the trillions of dollars that freely move around the world economy every single year, it is jarring that capital and corporate interests
have more migration rights than human beings. I encourage the elected officials of city of Miami, most of y'all, which are first or second generation immigrants to consider the overwhelming evidence against deputizing local law enforcement for immigration enforcement. Our city has enough pressing issues to spend our taxpayer
dollars on an issue that is solely the realm of the federal government. You should be focused on crafting creative policy solutions for issues of homelessness, language justice, and access to transportation. Joining the 287G program will only decrease community trust, and over police our neighborhoods. I ask that y'all vote
down joining the 287G program. Thank you. Thank you. Good. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, commissioners. Welcome, Commissioner Rosado. I'm sorry, Commissioner King, about your loss. Um, today I'm here to speak on 287G. Um, and
this is directly from this US Secretary of State's website. Generally, a citizen of a foreign country who wishes to travel to the United States must first obtain a visa, either a non-immigrant visa or a temporary stay or an immigrant visa or permanent residence. Visitors
visas or non-immigrant visas for persons who want to enter the United States temporarily. for business a B1 visa or tourism a B2 visa or a combination thereof a B1 and B2 visa on um in 2023
um Congress 118th Congress that was under Joe Biden summary HR77 says an individual who overstays a visa shall be fined or imprisoned up to 6 months or both. Such an individual may not be admitted into the United States for 5 years and may not be granted a visa for 10 years. On behalf of Veterans for
America First, we formally ask that you either cooperate with the the visa or simply invite ICE in to do their job as intended because the people are operating under criminal status because they have overstayed their visas. If
anybody has overstayed their visa, they can actually simply go to the Department of State and apply for an additional extension on their visa. So that way that we're not having to deal with illegal criminals who are who have potentially overstayed their visas as a
whole because this is a an issue within our community where we do have illegals that are really afraid to um to call the police. They're they're afraid to do anything already. So that's the the objective of it's going to create an issue has already created an issue. How
do I know this? Because on 25th Road, I constantly have people calling me, Christy, I don't want to call because I don't want my phone number on the 911 system. Will you please call? It is a major issue where we even saw it in the Icon Bickl building where people simply did not call to even report someone for
trespassing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Hello, Commissioner Damen Part. My name is Rachel Hazen and I live in the beautiful Coconut Grove at 3000 Berdav 33133.
I'm urging you to vote no on 287G. I have the privilege of not being racially profiled and targeted, so I'm here to speak for those who can't. My mom was a nurse and foster parent who taught me that everyone deserves dignity
and a place at our dinner table. She opened our home to exchange students from Mexico who became my family. My mom is no longer here, but she raised me to lead with love, and I plan on carrying that through. So, I'll be at a lot more of these meetings.
Miami is built by immigrants, Cubans, Colombians, Mexicans, Venezuelans, Argentinians, folks across the Caribbean, and we are proud to call this city home. My lifelong partner and his family are cute and Colombian. Many of my best
friends have Hispanic and Asian roots. Diversity makes our world beautiful. 287G will only create fear, separate families, and damage our trust in police. Policies like this are created
to divide us. Let's invest in our community instead. Please choose compassion over criminalization. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, chairman, and sorry for your loss. Um, good afternoon, commissioners.
I would like to speak today in behalf of uh disagreeing with the 287G agreement. My name is Marikto. I live in 1715 Southwest 17th Avenue in Shannondoa. And I'm a Venezuelan immigrant. I'm also an American citizen, a local music artist,
and someone who is deeply rooted in Miami's community. I'm here today to ask you to reject the 287G agreement because this policy does not protect our people, puts them in danger. By giving local police the power to act like ICE agents, it opens the door to racial profiling,
as we previously spoke about, wrongful detentions and widespread fear, especially in a city like Miami that is so vibrant with immigrants that come from many, many places as well as people that come from immigrant families. This policy does not only affect undocumented people. It also affects entire
households and neighborhoods. Mixed status, families, permanent residents, refugees, and even US citizens could be targeted. Just because we speak a different language or we look different. I have seen what happens in communities that live in fear, such in places as my
home country in Venezuela. And this would only not promote like this would not promote safety. It would promote suppression. It breaks a trust that is supposed to exist between the people and the system. As someone who has not been able to return back home, I Miami is the
only home that I have here. And I have built a beautiful vibrant community here where a lot of us care about each other. And I wouldn't want us to be treated as criminals just for existing and being from other countries. Um, so I urge you to please vote no on the 27 AG agreement
and protect your community. Thank you so much. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, dear commissioners of the city of Miami. Thank you so much for your attention. My name is Arian Bonitz and I am I am a resident at the edge of district 4. I am encouraging you to vote
no on agreement 287G. I am the proud daughter of Venezuelan born first generation immigrants. The city of Miami has been nothing but a blessing to our family. A family that reluctantly fled their hometown out of desperation and for democracy and an
opportunity to seek a better life. One of the big reasons we were grateful to this city was how safe all law enforcement officers has ma had made us feel. Police officers, state troopers, and others uh other law enforcement officers treated us with respect,
tolerance, and patience. As we learn to navigate a new community with different customs and rules, my parents who were not fluent in English will be will feel nervous but never fear being wrongfully detained or racially profiled or questioned about their immigration
status. Coming from Venezuela, as many may know, where law enforcement does not protect community members, this treatment was eyeopening to what it really feels like to live in a true democracy and a free country. Voting yes
on this agreement will be damaging to that trust that the community has on law enforcement. Uh so I please plead you to maintain the social contract and allow law enforcement to do their job not have to
have their job and try to protect people who are fearing them and what might happen to them or their families or their loved ones if they go into their communities. Um, so thank you again. Please vote no on 27G and have a great day. Thank you.
Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Jima Crystal Ballal, Carolyn Diaz Gonalves, Carrie Lopez Alvarado. These three names are the names of American women who were abducted by ICE in collaboration with local police departments. These three women among many others are
daughters, mothers, sisters, and community members. How does police working with ICE to kidnap teenage girls and pregnant women help to protect us? In Gimea's case, she told us of a 20-year-old 9 months pregnant woman who was given pills and who lost her baby
during her detainment. Carrie Lopez Alvarado was also 9 months pregnant and she was physically assaulted by ICE agents when they came to abduct her husband. She was illegally detained by ICE as a US citizen and then later required medical attention to
monitor her baby's health. I and many others understand the need to deport violent criminals. But this policy you are seeking to approve will not protect Americans from violent criminals. It will instead unleash them unto us all in the form of ICE.
County commissioners, if you approve this resolution of local police departments working with ICE and further terrorizing our communities, you will all further you will all forever be disgraced as traitors. And like Marco Rubio, he will never again hold elected office.
ICE is being used to not only deport the undocumented, but to deport anyone using illegal racial profiling. The Trump administration has revoked legal status for Cuban and Venezuelan Americans. Fleeing from communism and sending our loved ones back to the same places we
put great effort into getting them out of. They didn't do that to Ukrainians or Italians or Irish. So why people who look like us? white people who look like they come from America. We are Americans. We have been here since before the United States was even founded. I recommend that you fear we
the people more than you fear Donald Trump. We will not forgive how you took away family away from us. And we will never forgive you if you approve this racist agenda. Chair, may I have the speaker's name for the record? Sir, could we have your
name, please? Just Jonathan Hman. Thank you. Good afternoon. Prayers and condolences. Christine, thank you for your service. I know it's you know, appreciate it. And I want to
say congrats to Rosado. You know, Commissioner Rosado, you stepped away for a second, but my name is Marco Molenette. I am the founder of Florida Film House. We do First Take You Film program. We teach kids about film. We also do the urban film festival, which we support the local community with a free film festival.
a lot of services as much as we can for the community. Um, and so I want to say uh first and foremost, I think RE19, the lifetime limits. I respect and value the experience of seasoned politicians, but I believe RE19 is a progressive step forward. It opens up the door for new
leaders, fresh ideas, and real growth. Um, I'm also for F FR4, moving the election. The reform just makes sense. It increases participation and saves the city money, more time to vote, more voices heard, smarter uses of resources. I think it's a win for everyone. I'm
also in support of the Miami DDA. I believe this organization plays a key role in growth revitaliza revitalization and forward progress in downtown Miami. I'm also um against the city of Miami entering in this 287 agreement with ICE. I think it has opens doors to racial
profiling, breaks communities. I think right now the city of Miami's police department has a beautiful relationship with the community and I think this harms that relationship and um you know I know you guys have some difficult decisions. Wish you guys strengthen prayers to make the right ones. Thanks.
Thank you. Good afternoon. Hello. My name is SA Perez. Um condolences Chairwoman King. I commend you for being here today. Um, I'm here to urge you all to reject any 287g agreement. Um, and I
have two fiscal arguments for you all to consider. I was born and raised in the county of Dade. I'm the proud daughter of Cuban and Colombian immigrants and uh I'm a first generation Miami
girly. Uh, I grew up protesting Fidel Castro's dictatorship in the streets of Miami and sometimes filling the Orange Bowl to oppose the tyranny. I love my city. It shaped me. It molded me. Um, and and our diversity isn't just
beautiful. It drives our economy. That same diversity in inspired me to be a curious girl and I joined the Peace Corps where I swore to uphold the Constitution and I'm urging you to do the same. ICE is already violating our constitutional rights. My brother, on
the other hand, he became a police officer. And as the sister of an officer, I know how much we already expect of our local police. They're first responders, social workers, mental health crisis managers, and now you want
them to work as ICE agents, too. It's it's not just unfair, it's unsustainable. and fiscally irresponsible. It will shift the costs of federal
immigration to local taxpayers, which I believe would not be a wise move for folks facing an election, maybe TBD. Um, it would be a big mistake the city of
Miami to allow police officers um to enforce ICE, the ICE agenda. The city of Miami residents would be responsible for training, overtime, and
legal liability. And we miss, we know that they are Oh, okay. We'll leave it there. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Samuel Alexandre. I work for the Downtown Development Authority. I'm a downtown Miami ambassador and I'm here
to encourage you all to keep the Miami DDA. I've lived in Miami for almost 40 years now. December, I'll be 40 years old. And I can respectfully say that downtown Miami was a ghost town when I
was a teenager. Right now, it's vibrant. There's uh activities. It's much more beautiful than it was before. It's a lot cleaner, a lot safer, and I know that the work that I do along a lot of the ambassadors and the people who outside
cleaning. I know a lot of our work, it's making a difference. So today, I'm here to just encourage you to keep the Miami DDA because what they are doing works. I'm living proof of it. Not only because I work for them, but because I've lived in Miami again, like I said, for almost
40 years. So again and again, keep the Miami DDA. Thank you for your time. Condolences, chairwoman. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, commissioners and commissioner King. My continued prayer for your strength to
endure the process to stay strong in Jesus' name. Cecilia Stewart, 1899, Northwest First Court. This proposal for FR4
is for we the people to participate in the process to determine what we want. I establish that if laws are changed, they are changed in our favor so that we the people may prosper in the
city of Miami. Therefore, I support the people and what the people want. If the people want FR4, give the people what they want. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good
afternoon. My name is Patricia Duffen. I'm uh I live in Miami Beach. I'm here to speak against the agreement 287G. Firstly, I would like to start off with what this agreement would entail.
This agreement would mean that local law enforcement would act as immigration agents. That means police officers who are supposed to protect and serve their communities would initiate immigration law.
This mixes up the job of local police with immigration immigration enforcement and that will lead to serious problems within the community. uh serious problems such as the decrease in trust within the community. When an immigrant hears that local law
enforcement are working with ICE agents, they start to lose trust. They won't serve as witnesses. They won't report crimes. They'd be too afraid to. Another thing that this will lead to is racial profiling and the wrong targeting
of people based on how they look or speak. If you think that in this society, in this world, there aren't racists out there, there are, and there are some in this community as well. This this agreement encourages discrimination and undermines our
constitutional protections. With this agreement, you are giving permission to racially profile someone who looks like me. Imagine me walking down the street looking exactly how I look, but I'm only speaking Spanish. and I walk by some police and they stop
me and ask me for ID just because they can see with that example you allowed my my safety to be jeopardized and I'm not even an immigrant. Local police should not be immigration a agents. Their job is to protect and serve everyone in the community
regardless of immigration status. Ending or refusing to enter this agreement. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon, Lewis McMillan. Uh, my business has Good afternoon. resided in Edgewater for the last uh 30 years. Um,
I'm here to support two common sense reforms. Uh, the first is with the election cycle. Um, you know, anytime we have an opportunity to enshrine increased voter turnout, uh, it's such an incredible one. And you know, you add to it the cost savings, it just seems
like a no-brainer and would be a huge disappointment if it if it didn't get through. And the second is is with term limits. I mean, I think 8 years is plenty of time to serve. Um, you know, it aside from giving the opportunity to
new blood um for leadership, it it also protects us citizens. So, as the young lady apply said a little while ago, you know, go be great and eight. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Alexandra Garcia and I'm here as a concerned citizen of
Miami, a city that has always prided itself on diversity, humanity, and its resilience. I stand firmly against resolution five, authorizing Miami date police or Miami police department to perform immigration enforce duties under
ICE is a dangerous and irreversible mistake. First, this will make our officers jobs harder, not easier. It adds federal immigration tasks to their onto their plates with little training and no additional compensation, taking them away from solving real crimes that
impact our real safety. We're turning beat cops into border agents, and that's not what they signed up for. Second, it violates the very spirit of the Fourth Amendment. We're opening the door to racial profiling and unconstitutional stops. What counts as
probable cause? An accent? Maybe a last name, maybe the color of my skin. Third, this agreement is permanent. Once we sign it, there's no undoing it. What happens under a president who disregards immigration rights constitutional
boundaries? I wonder. We're federalizing our police force now. For what? No, who for what? Who knows what cause and what for? Fourth, this is Miami, a city built on immigrants, sustained by Latinos. We're going to stop every person who
looks like me, who looks like we're from Latin America, and ask for their papers. Is that who we are today? And finally, to the CubanAmerican Commissioners and the mayor. This is what your family fled from. A
government that gives the police unchecked power that lets the state dictate identity, loyalty, and legality. We escaped the surveillance state. So did I. And so did my family. Don't help create one here. This agreement does not
make us better. It makes you complicit. Please vote no on resolution five. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Chairman King. I'm sorry for your loss. My name is Steven Gross. I live at 325 South Biscane Boulevard in 1
Miami. And I'm here to speak on behalf of the MDDA and why they should remain. Uh, a lot of things we would lose if the MDDA wasn't around anymore. Last month alone, they picked up 4,500 bags of trash. They took 1,125 inches of graffiti off of buildings. 22 blocks
were pressure washed and cleaned. They gave 650 additional hours to policemen to to put to make us feel safer in our community. And as the community grows, we need that. They put 21 security cameras in the streets and eight license plate readers so we know who's coming in
out of our city and can keep track of that. The MDDA does a lot of good. Sam did not know he was going to be here today. Came up and spoke. I see him five or seven nights a week out on Flaggler Street. You should meet him sometime. He goes up to everybody. Introduce themselves. Ask them if they can find
everything. Okay. If they need to get a walk there, if they don't maybe feel safe, it might be a lady walking by herself and it's dark at night. And they're friendly and they make you feel good about it. That's an MDDA program that's worth keeping around. Uh, the other thing that people are advocating
against, the MDDA made a partnership with Barcelona for the most recognized, one of the most recognized sporting teams in the world, and they're going to come to Miami. And there's conditions upon them getting that grant. They have to meet certain criterias before they
get the money. They have to build retail spaces. They have to build other things that they agree to in order to them get that money that's going to bring business into downtown, create jobs in downtown. And that's why they came here. They could have went to Tampa. They could have went to Atlanta. They could have went to Orlando. We got them to
come here. And sometimes you got to spend a little money to get a little bit money back. And they're doing a good job. And let's keep the NVA and get rid of the DNA. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Um, I'm here to speak on behalf of my friend who's
much more articulate, but had to leave for work just now. Good morning, everyone. My name is Sabrina Diaz and my address is 3334 Charles A, Miami, Florida 33133. I am an organizer with the Miami branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. I urge the Miami commissioners to vote against
287G. My family came to this country like so many others, working hard, paying taxes, and building a life. Now we're being asked to support a policy that means a single mom would be too scared to report an abusive partner. Construction workers cheated out of wages would be too afraid to speak up
for what they've earned. And kids could lose a parent over a broken taillight. Workers and families will live in fear of deportation. And Miami taxpayers will foot the bill for costly lawsuits and misplaced priorities just like Marian County's $150,000 wrongful detention
settlement. Cities like South Miami and Kiscane are resisting and we must too. We're a city of workers, of nurses, of teachers, dishwashers, and roofers, and we refuse the targeting of families, workers, and community members that built the city. Thank you for your time.
Good afternoon. Hi, my name is Yanel Valdez. I reside at 58 Northeast 14th Street and I'm here to speak on RE5 and ask that you all vote your conscience today. You are all immigrants, or like me, the child of immigrants. Our city is
majority immigrant and this will impact our communities directly, our neighbors and our loved ones. ICE is terrorizing people across the country in plain clothes and unmarked vehicles. Conditions at the Chrome detention
center are aborant and although not in the city, in our backyard, my family, my friends, and so many folks in the community are horrified and anxious about this authoritarian and fascist agency. Immigrants are being detained
unlawfully. People are being targeted and including citizens with no due process. Students at FIU, a large international university, have had their visas revoked. Visitors from other countries, including
France and Canada, are having issues coming into our country right now. I'm disappointed in Halia, in Homestead, and other cities that have voted to uh partner with ICE. And I'm asking for you all today to do the right thing. Do not
enter into a 2087g agreement with ICE. That will not make our community safer. It will make us more unsafe. Please protect us today. Thank you. Thank you. We are going to recess for lunch at
1:00. I want to ask our sergeant-at-arms if they would like to go outside and extend to the residents that are waiting to speak to see if they would like to identify one voice to speak collectively
for them instead of coming back after the lunch break. It's optional. We will take we will hear everyone that wants to speak but some may not be able to come back after the lunch break and they may want to um
come as a group is what I'm trying to say. Instead of individually they can band together and come as a group and identify one person to speak on behalf of all. If you guys could do that while we continue to
listen to the public commenters that are before us. But please advise them that we will be breaking for lunch at 1:00 to give them notice if they want to come back or if they want to um have someone collectively speak on behalf of the
whole. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Hi. Uh my name is Angel Rivas. I'm just going to state some facts you guys probably already know. Uh, black people and Latinos have a se a seven time higher exoneration rate for murders and
uh, crimes in general, violent crimes. And the pullover rate for blacks and Latinos is disproportionate to whites in the daytime, but at night time it actually evens out and equalizes with whites because uh, police are racist in this country. This is a fascist country
that supports racist laws. And if we push the police and give them more control to support ICE, they're just going to use their racial discrimination tactics like they've been using to fill prisons, instead they're going to use it to deport people. These people are going to destroy your community. They're going
to destroy your families. They're going to rip families apart. These people are monsters. They don't care. They already know this. They know everything I'm saying. They've heard it a thousand times. They're bored. This guy was on his phone two seconds ago. Sir, please do not address. They don't really care.
All right, they know all this stuff already. But just know, I don't know if you guys are religious or whatever, that if there's an afterlife, you are not going to the good place. All right? Because this is destroying families. And like I said, the police statistically
are racist. There's no explanation for why they pull people over more, black people, Latinos, in the daytime. There statistically isn't a reason. They just do it because they can identify you. And then at night, like I said, it's even weed, cannabis, they're consumed at the same rates. Whites and black people
consume cannabis at the same rate, but they're arrested disproportionately. Again, this you see this discrepancy all the time. The exoneration rates, like I said, black people and Latinos 17 seven times higher. They're founded falsely. That that that means that the that the conviction was wrong. That's what that
means. I don't know if you guys know that. But what I'm saying is if the police help these people, it will be a catastrophe. A catastrophe. And you guys will be responsible. Thank you. You guys will be responsible.
Especially the guy smiling. My book. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Isabella Dloa and I'm the executive director of Lotus House Women's Shelter. Madame King, so sorry for your loss from all of us at Lotus House. I'm here to
speak on be in support of the DDA, an organization that has been essential not only to the downtown community, but to our overtown neighborhood. Our partnership with the DDA began in 2021 under the compassionate leadership of Commissioner Reyes and their amazing DDA
team, initiating a pilot program that paired Lotus House team members with DDA ambassadors. Several times a week, we would go out to the streets and connect women and youth experiencing homelessness in an attempt to offer basic services, ultimately referring them to shelter beds and off the
streets. This program successfully sheltered and permanently housed some of our community's most high special needs women, youth, and children, many of who are chronically homeless. Our partnership has expanded into the support of important initiatives
impacting our children, including school uniforms, school supplies, and now life-changing funding for our families. More than an entity, they are champions in our community and have made an incredible impact to the most vulnerable in our community. Thank you.
Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Let me just unlock. Okay, commissioners. My name is Anil Montalvo, born and raised in Miami Date County. Uh my address is 2911 Southwest 21st Terrace. So, I'm District 24,
represented by Commissioner Rosado. I am here today in strong opposition to resolution find five and I want to remind everyone here that we are actually on a settlement. This is a colony. This is stolen land and we've already heard heard that from many voices in the audience and I just want
to take a moment if everybody can raise your hand. Can you afford to live in the city of Miami? Not really anybody raising their hands, right? City of Miami is not an affordable city. Why do I bring this up? I live in the same family home where I was raised by my mother who came here undocumented from Honduras and worked as
a social worker. My father and I live where my father who came from Cuba on a raft seeking freedom spent his final days. Today I speak not just as a son of immigrants but as the president of the people's progressive caucus of Miami Dade. I'm also the vice president of the Democratic progressive caucus of
Florida. I'm here to strongly oppose what is essentially, okay, uh, ICE has shown time and time again that it operates with impunity, terrorizing our communities, disappearing people without identifying themselves, and bypassing basic legal protections or due process. That's not
public safety. It's state sanctioned kidnapping and human trafficking. Let's be clear, Miami is a city built by immigrants. We are not a threat. We are the heart of this community. This vote is not just about policy. It's about who we are as a city and whether we will uphold the dignity and humanity of our
neighbors. This is a pivotal moment the city of Miami is watching to see. Will this commission side with our immigrant families or with those who use fear and xenophobia to divide and harm us? Keep our families together. Vote no on 287g.
Thank you. Thank you. Are let me ask a question. are people who are in chambers, who have seats in chambers before us on this podium because we're supposed to be taking folks from outside only because everyone
in here is in comfortable seats in air condition. I just received a text message. Madame Chair, getting a lot of complaints from residents waiting outside for hours. They want to speak some seniors. I'm asking that if you are
located in chambers, please sit down so the folks that have been waiting outside in the heat can speak. I not clear if that's still happening. So, I'm going to leave that to our
sergeant-at-arms to straighten out. I know you weren't standing outside. I was outside for a bit. I think it's your turn. Good afternoon. Hi. Um, good morning, commissioners. My name is Jessica
Gutierrez. Uh, I live in 15134 Southwest 161 Street uh 3 Miami, Florida 33196. And I just find it very interesting that our county commissioner, Gonzalez, came to this country when he was 2 years old and he was carried in the arms of his
Guatemalan parents, left everything behind so he can have a seat at the table, right? And yet he's the one proposing this ICE collab 287g, a program that would criminalize the
very courage that his family once had. and city commissioner. Hi. Okay. Sorry, ma'am. Do not address. You arrived. Sorry about that, Miss King. You arrived at the US through Operation Peter Pan, a humanitarian program
created to protect Cuban children and you were welcomed and later reunited with your family and that protection changed your life. So, how can we be support of a program that would deny today's family the same choice? when you hold a seat at the table that has so
much influence and power. I know the argument, but I came here legally. And I and to that I say legally is not a moral compass. You came legally because there was a path because someone opened that door for you. So make that path for others to do the same. Because the laws
of the time allowed you, correct? Today the path has been erased for millions, especially our poor brown working-class immigrants. uh 287g would make will not make it safer. It would turn our police like many have said today into ICE, our
neighbors into targets, our communities into surveillance zones, and it would criminalize the people building your highrises in Burkele, picking your produce and homestead, laying your I95 roads that you drive in every day,
raising your children in Coconut Grove, making your cafeestos in Halia. and the ones that are rebuilding Miami with their hands, their backs, and their blood. Well, thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Madam Chair. Jose Felix Diaz to Al Hamborra
Plaza, Sweet 102, Coral Gables, Florida. Um, and I like many people before me, I'm deeply sorry for your loss. U, you had heard previously from L3 Harris. I am here on behalf of L3 Harris. They're one of two radio providers in the state
of Florida. They actually have the state of Florida contract and they're the incumbent for the city of Miami. Uh currently before you, you have one of the largest piggyback contracts I've ever seen, a $30 million contract uh for Motorola. Uh we're not asking for there
to be a procurement tomorrow. We're asking for you to defer that item and allow us to make an offer to the city. Uh that contract's for $30 million. We believe we can give the city new radios for half that price for at or around $15 million, which could be a significant
savings. We were not aware of these discussions till they were put up on the on the agenda. So, we just asked for time to be able to sit with fire and police and make a counter proposal that we think will save the city a lot of money. That's it. CA2. Thank you.
Good afternoon. Good afternoon, commissioners. I'm speaking on RE5, RE19, F FR7, and DI7. I support moving elections to even years to boost support to to boost turnout and save money, but only if it's done right. F FR4 is about
stealing an extra year. It's a power grab dressed up as reform. Voters elected you for four years and not not five. Cancelelling the 2025 elections without a public vote is a direct attack on our democracy and it's unethical and an abuse of power. Miami needs real
reform, such as expanding commission seats, fair redistricting, and lifetime term limits to break entrenched power and end the recycling of politicians. On DI7, the DDA, it keeps overburdening downtown and Bickl residents with double taxes. Please put the DDA on the ballot
and let the people decide. On RE5, the people say no to partnering with ICE and no to the 287G agreement. We say yes to standing with our immigrant communities. The city is drowning in corruption, shady contracts, backroom deals, and
public money lining lining private pockets. While communities suffer, Miami deserves transparency, accountability, and an end to this corrupt circus. Please vote no on RE5 and FR4 and vote yes on RE19. Put the DDA on the ballot.
Start serving Miami or please step aside. Thank you, chair. My apologies if I get the speaker's name. Sir, could you give us your name? I'm so sorry. It's Tani Cox. Thank you. And I'm a resident of District 3. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Uh my
name is Aziz Aordin. I reside on 8700 Southwest 181 Terrace. Uh and I'm a co-owner of Coober General Communication. Uh I'm here to speak on behalf of item Ca2.
Uh I am or a co-owner of a a Miami based company that have the honor and pleasure of serving your uh L3 Harris radios for several years. Uh I
come before you today and I'm also uh I live here and I have been serving the public safety community communication for the last 30 years and I serve your current radio system 247
along with your GSA technicians. Uh I come be before you today because not only as a vendor but as a as a local business owner who has been part of keeping your police and fire radio
system operational and reliable. What concern me most about this $30 million soul source award that has been moved forward without any conversation without any conversation with Hoover
General uh provider or LC Harris the people that know your system better had they were not consulted at all about this. I can tell you definitely that your
foreign trading that you using today are functional and well within their expected life expectancy. Uh and if there were any systematic issue, I would expect an honest and
frank conversation with your administration about any issues which would have done that before. Unfortunately and sadly, that didn't happen this time. Thank you. This deal. Thank you. Okay.
Good afternoon. Good afternoon and thank you commissioners. My name is Jenna Loots. I like many others waited in the heat all morning um to come and urge you to vote against the 287g agreement. I do find it genuinely heartbreaking and repulsive that I even have to come here
and talk about this issue um that would directly support terrorizing and separating families and entire communities. The entire United States of America, especially South Florida, and especially Miami, is built on immigrants communities. People come from countries
which are often torn apart directly or indirectly by actions of the United States sometimes and they deserve ease in building a life they are happy and fulfilled with regardless of status. They also don't deserve to be racially profiled, forcefully deported, or forced to endure inhumane conditions throughout
the entire process. Immigrants are a pillar on which our entire economy stands. As a working-class person, I've been blessed to grow up with, work, eat, and be in community with immigrants who do so much for our communities. They build so much and are get they get so little in return even though they
deserve so much more. They contribute to our cultural diversity which is supposed to be a founding principle of this country. So to collaborate with ICE is to give direct support to the disgusting racial profiling that threatens the safety and livelihoods of so many innocent people and people that I love.
I'm tired of hearing rhetoric from our highest power structures of how they're all criminals. This is just a lie to pit people against each other and take away from the real threats that we face in our day-to-day lives. The people want their immigrant neighbors to be able to come freely and build a happy lives for themselves the way that we've all been
able to do. I'm a proud supporter of our immigrant communities and I urge you to reconcile with the reality of Miami's economy. Do not vote for this. Do not collaborate with ICE. This is in your hands. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Hello. Gilbro
Hernandez, a 40-year resident of Little Havana and um as a employee of the DDA and CRA, I'd like to speak personally on what this organization means to me. And um it means um change the ability to
move forward and better yourself. Um it's developing new friendships with your co-workers. you know, there's a diversity of religions and ages, backgrounds, upbringings. Um, it's about teamwork, working with
each other and for each other. It's about the community. One of the things that gives me the sense of pride and joy is when the people of the neighborhood acknowledge the work that you do in their community. They thank you for it. And um another thing that I find
uplifting is when I see a little kid walking with their parent or in a stroller, they give you a big bright beautiful smile. They say hello. It's um it's a little bit heroic because at that moment maybe in their eyes that's exactly what I am, a hero to them. And
um I want to thank the people who um thought of the idea of the DDA and brought it to fruition. and um no matter how grateful they are for the work that we do for them, I want to say that I'm grateful for the opportunity to wear
this uniform and represent this company. So, on behalf of myself, my current co-workers, and um all the employees, past, present, and future, I want to say thank you for the opportunity. And um I
just hope that we represent the DDA well and that you guys can see just how much this organization means to us and to the community. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Hi, good afternoon. My name is uh Connor Palmville. I'm a Coral
Gables resident, but I grew up in Miami, born and raised here, lived here my whole life. I'm here to uh urge the commission to vote against uh the 287G proposal of police partnering with ICE.
I think it's going to be a complete waste of resources and only stoke fear into the people who live here. I know people in my life who are afraid to leave their house um for ICE presence in our communities, especially when they're
arresting people without due process. I think partnering police uh with ICE uh is only going to make people more afraid, more hesitant to reach out. Um it's inevitably going to cost the city lawsuits um as they're going to be
trying to meet quotas of arrests. Um, and yeah, I I think it's cruel and I urge the commission to side with their residents rather than pressures from higher up in the government. Thank you.
Thank you. Good afternoon. My my name is Joel Gonzalez and I um I just like to speak on in opposition of the RA5 and um the integration with the 287G movement. Um I'm going to keep my message short as um so many earnest voices have come and
spoken about their experience um and just how it affects them and I would hope that you as leaders hold um an honest and earnest ear towards um the community because this is a very important place to have um just this
right here where you can actually you know this is the place for listening and I feel that the commodification of the injustices that are currently going on within the system of deportation um in these recent times is
I it's just in congruent with Miami. It's just in congruent with um that listening process. So um I would hope that you would um um have some bravery for your community and I appreciate this opportunity to speak. Thank you.
Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Anet Contas, 7520 South Red Road, uh, South Miami. Uh, I'm a resident of Little Havana under Joe Caro. I'm proud of the work that I do here in Miami. I design parks. I restore
broken spaces across South Florida, and I build public projects in places like Miami Beach, the Metro Rail, and more. Mostly working with the city, the county, and other agencies. Immigrants are not criminals. No matter how they came here or why they stayed, my friend and loved ones are not
criminals. They are loving teachers, laborers, environmental workers, nurses, nurses, and more. They're undocumented because of a broken immigration pathway, not by choice. I've witnessed this helplessness and rejection my whole life. Criminalizing undocumented
immigrants for trying to build a better life is wrong. You cannot throw around the words unity, freedom if you are in support of this bill. You cannot scream law and order while celebrating unlawful detainment, racial profiling, and ICE ripping families apart. You cannot cheer on cruelty like it's justice. You cannot
call undocumented people criminals when they work, pay taxes, raise their families, and follow order just like you. This isn't about crime. This partnership is about control, something that is deeply unpatriotic. This is not freedom, justice, or democracy. For undocumented people, encountering law
enforcement is terrifying. These are the people who built your house and provide the food for your lunch today. Look after children and elders, not criminals. They're members of your community who look up to you for protection. You do not bite the hands that feed you. Blaming immigrants and
feeding fear solves nothing. Police officers do not want this and do not need this. To reiterate, deporting hardworking people who give so much to communities does not solve anything. ICE ties do not help any issues as a country or or city. 287g hurts trust and unity
when we most when we most need it in this divided country and I do not wish forced family separation upon anyone. Ending the discussion with they came here illegally ignored decades of love, labor and sacrifice that have shaped this country.
Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Joshua. I live in Little Havana. born and raised here for 30 plus years. And I'm not going to throw numbers at you. I am not a public speaker. I don't work with any organization. I am the product of immigration. My
grandparents immigrated here in 1962. They came on the freedom flights and I was raised to be as white as physically possible for a situation like this to 87g. The fact that I have lived long enough
to see all of that hard work come to fruition is horrifying. The fact that anyone here has to argue numbers with you, statistics with you. For you to find the humanity, not the morality, because by
law, morality is not enough to argue in court, but humanity is for why this shouldn't pass. We've already seen that ICE is willing to break the law. We've seen them
stanced out of Miami Dade courthouse. We've seen what they've done in California. And those are people who are actively trying to get their get their things together. So my question to you all before I leave is why do you think you're safe from them?
Have a wonderful day. How you doing? Good. Okay, I'll let her speak while you do that. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Nia Rivas. I'm a resident of District 3. My zip code is 33128. Miami is fundamentally an immigrant city.
Entering to this 287 agreement would be idiotic and morally apprehensible. It is a city made of approximately 55 foreignb born residents, 67 people who are Hispanic/Latino. More than half of Miami's immigrants are employed in the workforce and are
business entrep entrepreneurs. You would lose a significant portion of your over 4 billion immigrants provide to annual state and local taxes. I am proud to be a second generation immigrant. I even even I would be targeted by this agreement because of racial profiling. Law enforcement are poorly trained on
the local residents dime and the system is set up so that people only need to look like they are for born foreign born because this agreement at its root is a political theater performance to incite fear and mistrust. So I ask a rhetorical question rhetorical question emphasized.
So, I asked Commissioner Joel Caro, who immigrated here from Cuba in 1961, would ice train police have approached you and your family knocking down your door as a six-year-old child separate you from your loved ones like the children and people immigrants living here, living
that reality right now? Do you and your fellow commissioners on this panel want to be responsible for the waste of time and taxpayer dollars, fear, and heartache that will result from this agreement? I urge you all to vote no because your first priority should not be the approval of the current
administration. It should be to the people of the city, to the quality of our lives, and the people who elected you. I leave you with this poem. Miami is a Miami is a poem we all write together. So don't just stand around here. Do something. Be better.
Thank you. I'm I'm Reynold Martin. I'm from Coconut Grove. My family's been here since the late 1800s. They're from the Bahamas. And uh I'm here to support the co-desation of a street called Gerald Tinker Terrace along with Charles
Terrace. I'm also here to support um RE4, excuse me, F FR4, RE20, RE19, and I oppose RE5. You know, we've been in this community for a long time, and I hate to see us to tear down relationships that
we've been building with the police. We used to play them in softball every every summer and it's been nip and tuck. Most of the time we beat them, but we're we're asking them to come back and and and let's let's build a better community. We we don't need our police
officers u u creating tension among us in the community. We want to be friends with everybody. We want to build better communities. And I don't support u RE5 and I I'd like to see us move forward as a community. I thank you for your time.
Thank you. Good afternoon. Hello, commissioners. Uh my name is Tomas Kennedy. I live in 6 6601 Northwest First Place. I'm a constituent of yours, uh Commissioner King, and also want to say uh I'm so sorry for your loss. And also want to
thank all of the Miami date residents that showed up today in mass to uh oppose the 287g agreement. Thank you, Commissioner Partardo, for being outspoken against it. I hope the rest of you are. and the residents have made such great points that I want to I want to keep it short and just address some
some technical matters. So in terms of when it comes to the law, right, the 2024 Florida status status um that include those established during the 2025 special session C statute 9008.11 says that the sheriff or the chief
correctional officer operating a county detention facility must enter into a written agreement with the United States Immigration and Custom Enforcement to participate in the immigration program established under the 287G section of the INA.
Another speaker said that when you sign into this agreement, you are locked in. This is true because under the same statute 908.11, only the state board of immigration can give you the authority to resend this status. So, you are locked in after if you do this. Now, per
this status that I just read you, you guys do not operate a county detention facility. you are under no obligation to sign into this binding agreement that you will later not be able to pull out and that creates incredible administrative burdens for the city and
liability. So, I'm obviously in opposition. I think this is a really, really bad deal for the city. And also, I want to reiterate, I may not like this, but every single person that is detained by City of Miami police is
ultimately turned over to the county where they are vetted for I for ICE detention. So, there is really no need for you to do this and no legal obligation for you to do it. And I'll end by saying the city of South Miami is currently in a lawsuit seeking
declaratory judgment on this question. So, please vote no or at least defer this. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Chairwoman King, board of commissioners. I'd like to thank everyone who came out uh to speak against the 287 agreement. I got a lot to say, so I'm a speak fast,
pardon me. My name is Oscar Alejandro. I live at 199 Southwest 12th Avenue and I'm represented by Joker Royal. RU5 would authorize a MOA between the MPD and ICE. This would result in an increased workload and immediate
distrust of MPD by the 57% foreignb born residents who may swore to protect and another unnecessary financial burden for Miami taxpayers. While ICE covers a cost of training, 40hour online course, state and local governments shoulder the majority of costs associated with this
agreement. MPD will be responsible for travel, housing and pdeiums for officers during their TFO training as well as salaries and overtime for work performed in furtherance of the additional responsibilities. This agreement also requires members to maintain a security clearance which necessitates participants to undergo a
background check cost between $400 and $5,000. The International Association of Chiefs of Police has also condemned this partnership, stating that local police agencies rely on the cooperation of immigrants, both legal and undocumented, in solving various crimes and
maintaining public order. These sentiments are also reflected in the MPD Departmental Order 11, Chapter 14 regarding undocumented persons, to which I have here, and I quote, "The MPD recognizes and values the cultural diversity of the community it serves.
The purpose of this policy is to ensure the safety and well-being of all persons regardless of their immigration status. The primary responsibility for the enforcement of federal immigration laws rest with the Immigration and Natural Services, INS, and the US Border Patrol. State and local police officers have the
authority to enforce immigration laws. It is the policy of the MPD that officers shall not make an effort to look for violations. This policy already supports the goal outlined in the task force model agreement, making the proposed part partnership redundant and unnecessary. This agreement is unregulated and comes at a high cost to
the city being deceitfully framed in a way that ignores the procedures NPD already has in place. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. June Savage, 363 Oak Avenue, Florida resident for life. I'm
here today because I want the commission to stay in their lane. There is enough politicizing up here at the commission that that is why we are here today. The police need to do their job. It is not the job of the commission to put their
hand on the police because once we start doing that, it will never end. We are here because it is a sensitive issue. I do have immigrants in my family, but it's time to stop. We have a million
more residents. Let the police do their job. Do not hold their hands. They are capable of doing this. It has been ordered for them to do this. It is no reason to politicize this chair and this dis up here. Okay?
There is no reason for that. You should be working on hurricane season. We should be working on different exits for people to get out of this state when we have a hurricane coming. What are we going to do with the homeless? We have a million more people and we're not working. We are politicizing
these commission seats and it must stop now. And I do not believe that we should be taxing residents to have parties anymore in downtown. We don't need that. We have enough people here. Stop
politicizing. This is politicking 200%. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, commissioners. My name is Casey Taylor and I'm speaking today as a resident deeply concerned about the proposed 287 agreement between the city
of Miami and ICE. This program has a well doumented history of racial profiling and civil rights violations all across our country. In Alamance County, North Carolina, Latino drivers were found to be up to 10 times more likely to be stopped than others. In
Maricopa County, Arizona, a federal court ruled that a sheriff there who was using 287G resulted in systematic racial profiling. And a 2022 ACLU report found that 65% of agencies using this program
had documented histories of abuse. These are not the kind of values we want to bring to Miami. More urgently, we have pressing public safety issues right here at home. In my neighborhood of Bickl, a 17-year-old was recently stabbed to death in his sleep by a stranger who
entered a high-rise building and wandered through multiple floors. This tragedy has left residents like me shaken and questioning the effectiveness of the current public safety measures. Commissioners, our police resources are already stretched. We need to focus on
protecting our neighborhoods, not enforcing federal immigration laws. 287G would divert attention from the real safety concerns our residents are facing. Concerns that demand your leadership and action. Lastly, you know, this is not just a policy decision. It's
never just a policy decision. It is a statement about who we are as a city. And Miami is a city of immigrants. We should be building trust and not fear. I respectfully urge you to vote no on the 287 agreement. Let's keep our focus
where it belongs on keeping all Miamiians safe. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Chair I mean uh Chairwoman King and the commission. My name is Ashley Tusant, co-lead organizer for Black Men Build.
Um born and raised here in Miami, Florida. uh child of immigrants was born the week of the uh o the Arthur McGuffy riots in 1980. And um the reason why I bring that up is because I'm concerned about what may happen to the black
community as as it uh pertains to RE5 with the 287g policy and neighborhoods like Little Haiti, Overtown, Liberty City, and Alipata where people that look like me are walking around each and every day. Who's to tell the difference between whether I'm undocumented or
documented? How can I prove my residency on a day-to-day basis? How is that going to work when they do raise in those in those neighborhoods? Also, it's an unnecessary burden against law enforcement. People have to come home to their families and sit across the table with people in their family that might
be undocumented. And now it's putting an undue stress on families. the uh the travel ban on countries like Haiti and the TPS expiration against countries like Cuba and Venezuela is a direct attack on us as as a city of Miami residents. And I feel like this type of
policy is being influenced from people that don't know what it is to be from Miami. So don't be bullied. Don't let the people uh in other parts of the country and other parts of the state dictate what you know is right for our city. So I say no against 287G. Thank
you. Thank you. I received another text message that perhaps there are a few people still outside and may be willing to speak for only one minute that would keep us here for an additional 10 minutes.
I believe a couple of my colleagues would agree to that, but no, no, no, no, no. Just the folks that are outside because it won't stop it. It just I I know I know that we have folks that are still in here. We will not be able
to take everyone. I'm just trying to get the folks that have been standing outside for the past 3 hours. If they agree, if they agree to speak for one minute, one minute. I won't go beyond 15 minutes
because none of us have had anything to eat at all, including the folks that are standing outside. So, if my sergeant-at-arms can go outside and see if they would agree to speak for one minute because I understand that this is
this is touching everyone's heart and as you can see, everyone has spoken for two minutes and beyond because I've had to say thank you every single time someone spoke. So if they agree for one minute, would I have a quorum
to to listen for another 15 minutes? Yes. Yes. Okay. Okay. I'm waiting to hear if they will agree to speak for one. Who's out there? Who's No, I'm trying to get the folks that are outside.
[Music] Okay. But are there other people outside? Yeah. Okay. Well, let me let me let let me get let me get the seniors that are outside. I was told that there are seniors outside. Anybody out there
trying to get them? Kamatra. Okay. Huh? I want the seniors and anyone who absolutely cannot come back. Seniors And there you're only speaking for a minute.
Come on up while we wait. Wait, wait, wait. We're we're we're walking past more than 10 just inside here. I'm trying to get every So then I still have to tell the folks outside that they can't speak. So, I'm thinking that it's most fair to just break for lunch and let everybody come back and I
won't. So, yeah. Right. But look how many of you it is. And I was trying to get the ones outside. I cannot get all of I cannot get all of you to speak. So, we are going to break for lunch and we will be back at 3:00. It's the It's the fair at
3:00. It's the fairest thing to do. At 3:00. [Music] Keep it down. They can come. Yeah, everybody can wait inside wherever there's space. The city of Miami commission meeting is now in recess for lunch. We will resume at 3
p.m. [Music] Part: 2
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Say comments. For those who would like to speak on any item that is before us today, please step to the lect turn. We're having five persons at a time on each side. Please, no more than five persons at a time.
Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank you so much. Uh this was quite the the meeting. Um uh I uh Katrina Morris, I am a District 2 resident. Um I respectfully request that you vote no on uh RE5. Uh
notwithstanding my own personal moral objections to the current ICE mission uh which are grave as the AY's action of late have brought both great and irreparable harm to our next generation of children by creating unnecessary trauma for families. I believe that this
resolution would endanger Miami residents by pulling our police away from their duties to maintain public safety and would siphon funds and resources from our local budgets. ICE is a federal agency with a specific mission
to enforce immigration policy. The Miami Police Department is a local agency tasked with maintaining public safety. Deputizing them to enforce immigration policy will divert them from their core mission. They do not need to be
deputized to investigate crimes or to arrest criminals or alleged criminals, either domestic or foreign. Therefore, the only reason they would need to be deputized would be to arrest noncriminal immigrants. Despite record levels of ICE
funding, the agency is already over budget and demanding billions more. Pulling resources from other vital homeland security functions like airport screenings and disaster response. This makes us less secure, not more. As ICE expands its reach into local
communities, we face not only moral and legal concerns, but growing disruptions to our daily life, longer lines at airports, overextended emergency services, and local police diverted from real public safety needs. Please deny this resolution. Thank you. Thank you.
Good afternoon. Hi. Good afternoon. My name is Sebastian Gonzalez. I am a member of the party for socialism and liberation and I am speaking on behalf of RE5. I ask the council to be wise in their
decision. The working class of Miami, the majority of whom are immigrants, is already dealing with an affordability crisis. Grocery prices in this city are 6% higher than the national average. The cost of living 20% higher. housing a
staggering 57% above the national average. Now, if you vote yes on the proposal 287g, you will be subjecting an already embattled population to witness the arbitrary detention and disappearance of their neighbors and loved ones by the
Miami Dade police. Think very hard on your decision because voting yes might turn already existing hardship into crisis. Thank you. Good afternoon. Hi. Good afternoon. Um my name is
Margaret God. I'm a resident. Thank you. Um resident of District 4. Welcome. I um had the opportunity this morning to sit outside from 9:00 a.m.
with neighbors, community members. We came out um enforced to make our voices be heard on this RE5 and thank you for all of you to letting all of us right to speak to be heard. I talked to younger
generation, older generation. We're all neighbors. Um I grew up with um Mr. Rogers, Mr. Rogers neighborhood. Know the people in your neighborhood, right? So I don't know if all of you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, look it up. It's beautiful. And police are part
of my neighborhood. They're the people that keep you safe, that you trust. You want to build up trust and safety in our community. This is not the way, right? The an agreement
with ICE is going to increase mistrust. We're already seeing people that are victims of family violence refusing to call police for help. This is going to make it worse. This is not going to make anyone feel
safe. This is going to increase unsafe feelings in our communities. Um, and this is our neighborhood. I also grew up in Argentina and I grew up during the time of Ladik Tadura and I grew up hearing about the
black forward falcon that is going to come take you and people did disappear. That can't happen here and this is the front lines. This is how we stop by communicating by getting together and by standing up for those that have a less
of a voice. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Johan Muno Stabasco, 501 Northeast 14 Avenue. As I'm here before you, a formerly undocumented minor now working as an educator in Miami County public schools with migrant
communities, which are deliberately underfunded to fund morally bankrupt initiatives like RA5, 287G, to deputize and delegate immigration officers uh to function to to to work as local and state uh law enforcement under ICE
direction and oversight is to pulverize an semblance of trust that our communities may hold towards those who took an oath to serve and protect. By approving this resolution, you are incentivizing the deployment of city resources and taxpayer dollars toward the dehumanization of our communities.
This resolution will promote more profiling, further galvanizing an already violent and milit militarized police force that operates with an ever growing and overinflated budget of $300 million. While the remainder of the budget is strenously split between other
local entities such as the department of housing and community development and the anti-poverty initiative which provide essential support services with significant significantly less funds. As an educator in the Miami date public school system, I oppose any resolution
that incites fear in our migrant student population. Any form of collaboration with ICE is heinous and unforgivable. It exasperates profound traumas and replicates the same systems of oppression that forced many of us to come here in the first place.
Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Raul Hernandez, 4450 Southwest 4th Street, District 4, Miami, Florida. When I was rescued from my sinking boat
by the US Coast Guard and was brought to safety in the US, I thought my days of uh feeling persecuted would be left behind because back home anybody with a uniform can demand your papers and
detain you and disappear you because there is no due process. And here I am today carrying a copy of my US passport in my wallet because in some areas in the US today sadly due process isn't
life support. But here I am representing members of my church Coral Gable's Congregational United Church of Christ because they cannot be here today because they are afraid. Afraid to go to work. afraid to
take their kids to school, afraid to go to church because they are afraid of the police. I speaking on behalf of these people from my church against this 287g agreement.
Honest, law-abiding, hardworking residents must be protected by the police and not be terrorized in order to reach an arbitrary and immoral deportation quota.
Allow our brave police officers, please, to concentrate on their mission to protect all residents, all residents. and don't force our police to become agents of fear and persecution.
Please, I respectfully asking all of you to say no to this harmful and unnecessary partnership. Thank you with ICE. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is
Jandra Castro and I am a human being from planet Earth. And I say this because the 287g agreement would expand the police's ability to arrest without warrant anyone they suspect of being a quote illegal alien.
Now lucky for us, the Department of Homeland Security has manufactured a naturalization process to become a human being. According to ICE, 7 to 10 years of documented non-stop hard labor and thousands of dollars in legal fees and
debt is the difference between recognizing someone as a human being or exiling them from this planet. Yet, under this agreement, any Miami police officer would now be able to determine without a warrant whether any
given person here today is actually a secret alien living among us. And if it sounds ridiculous, it's because it is. What this agreement does, what this agreement really does, is open the door for discrimination, detainment, and harassment
in a community, the vast majority of which are either immigrants themselves or the child of immigrants. This agreement is not only morally corrupt and irresponsible, it is also massively stupid. If a police officer were to suspect me of being an alien resident
and detain me, and should I refuse the right to identify myself, which is my fifth amendment right, and I were to be detained for hours without merit, best believe I'm going home with a large settlement from all of you here today.
But even if I were to financially benefit from uh this idiotic policy at the taxpayer's expense, I am indeed a human being from planet Earth and I have shame and I hope all of you do today as
well. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Michael John Green, but I am reading a statement from Suzanne Amaduchi, partner at Bills and Sunberg. Uh, madame mayor, chairman, commissioners, and Mr. City attorney, I
unfortunately cannot be here in person today as I am out of town, but wanted to make the time to send you a special message. I am speaking today as a proud resident of the city of Miami for 30 years and a board member of the DDA, where I donate my time and talent to make the city of Miami a better place.
The city has grown tremendously since I have right of 1990 and we now are a global destination to live, work, and play. In 30 years, no one could have known that Miami could have turned into a 24-hour city. Today, we look at all the new businesses, the number of people living downtown, and the city. The city
is simply a success. I understand that a few residents in the Bickl area are unhappy with the Miami DDA, but you as public servants know too well that you can't make everyone happy. And that said, we can always listen and try to improve. Unfortunately, I have heard an
incredible amount of misstatements and assertions about the Miami DDA that are simply untrue. That tells me that people need to be educated about the strengths and weaknesses of the DDA. And I firmly believe that every person and every organization can improve. Constructive criticism and genuine desire to achieve
greatness. Unfortunately, some have choose to convey their opinions in a negative fashion through targeted attacks and some of my fellow volunteers as board members. This is simply unacceptable and will not result in positive change. I encourage you today to appoint a new chair of the Miami DDA
and give the person significant time to set up to set up understand the inner workings of the DDA. I am happy to support the motion that the Miami DDA continues on and I truly believe that if we continue to work together through a
thoughtful plan for the future and stay positive, we can keep the city of Miami on its path for global greatness. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is River El Ramirez. I am in opposition of RE5287G.
Um my address is 8826 West Flaggler. We have all seen the footage of ICE hunting down immigrants as if cattle. These are people, human beings. Can you call yourselves human if you cannot feel this horror without experiencing it
firsthand? There are confirmed cases of child sexual abuse in these ICE facilities. And still we see children being abducted as young as 3 weeks old. Whose children are we protecting when we say save the children? The white ones.
According to an article published on PBS by Zebo, hundreds of immigrants have reported sexual abuse at ICE facilities. ACLU reported ICE detention centers saying it is not responsible for the staff's sexual abuse. Women and
children's basic human rights quite literally violated. How could you even consider working with such vile monsters? Even US-born citizens such as myself are not safe as there are various reports of US citizens being detained
based on appearance alone, black and brown people, which will be the first and not last to experience this. By participating with ICE, you are actively putting all of your community at great risk and stoking fear in your
constituents. I don't want to be scared. I just want to chill and vibe. You work for the citizens. Do not forget. But if this does not melt your icy hearts, see what I did there? Perhaps what will is thinking of the profit loss. Obviously,
profiting off of immigrant bodies is of great interest to you. Think about the economic disadvantages Miami will face as immigrants pay taxes and make up about 65% of the workforce. By making this decision, you will burn Miami to
the ground. your careers and spiritually, if relevant, work alongside some of the most evil acts against humanity in our lifetime. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Thank you, Chairwoman, uh, Commissioner. So, I thank you, uh, for
helping out in our community. My name is Chaplain Stanley Young of Freedom Prison and Jail Ministry. Most of you should know me by now because I kind of come every time you have a meeting. 500
Northwest Second Avenue in in Miami. I have been a chaplain for over 30 years. This is the third state that I have been uh part of. Uh I love this community, but you really have uh homeless problems that you just uh
really need to address. You have done what I will start with what you have done well. You have done well. You're buying beds in Camila's house and and other uh shelters. That's a great you you've given us uh executive director of
your human services department did great. But there's more that needs to be done. There's more that Miami can do. you have one of the largest budgets in uh Miami Dave County to really address
this problem and hit it head on. I know some of you, you know, don't want to necessarily directly deal with homeless. That's why I'm here. I walk the streets of of Miami. I talk to people who are homeless
and who need a bed to sleep in that we take for granted. There is a solution to the homeless problem. It's a very easy solution uh for the homeless problem. I will speak to you individually how you can reach
the homeless in your district. Um call me, reach out to me. I'll be gladly to put my team together to come to your area to reach those people who really needs your attention. Thank you. Thank
you. God bless. Good afternoon. Hi. Good afternoon. My name is Sophia Mena. I am here to talk about 287G and how I'm urging you guys to vote no on the policy. I was born and raised here in Miami, Florida. And I didn't prepare a
whole speech, but I did want to tell you guys a couple of the things that 287g accomplishes. Number one being division. Division among the community and th those who are supposed to serve it. Don't make it an us versus them
situation because we will never forget. Number two, 287g will alienate people so that no one feels safe. I don't even need to provide proof considering our own mayor felt the uncomfort and hostility of having to prove your
citizenship. Number three, financial burden. Yesterday, Axio reported ICE is already $1 billion over budget, exposing the monetary resources wasted on their agenda. Why is it our responsibility to
alleviate that financial burden while spending money we don't have? We have we already have problems in this city that already use our resources. So why would we focus on a federal issue? We have $300 million allocated to the municipio
police to solve our many problems here in this city. Number four, profiling and wrongful detention. Those are the people building the Miami of tomorrow you so desperately want to achieve. So why would you put them in danger, especially
in a majority minority city that makes it the core of Miami and why we all love it so much? I ask that you accurately represent what the city of Miami wants with this vote. I urge you to vote no. And the reason why we reiterate all
these same reasons isn't just because we want to wake up and be here at 8 in the morning, but it's because we think this is important. So please vote no. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Greetings, Madam Chair, gentlemen of the commission. My name is John Janice, 370
Northeast 62nd Street, item RE18. I am the vice president of economic development for Freeb. Uh there's three points I would like to make today. Point one, Freeb is a local company founded and headquartered in the city of Miami that has honorably served the Grove community since 2018. For this reason
alone, Freeb deserves a fair and transparent opportunity to compete for this RFP. Point number two, freebie will provide the service at a lower price. So even if you ultimately choose a competitor, the RFP will drive down the price by hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings to the taxpayers.
Point number three, the most important point. Simply put, freebie is the superior service provider. The people of Coconut Grove deserve the best and Microtransit freebie is the best. But you don't have to take my word for it. Here's a head-to-head track record of freebie versus circuit and RFPs.
Most recently in Seol County, they'll be launching the largest EV microransit program in the country. They did a lot of research and they scored freebie a near-perfect 97 out of 100. Circuit 75, much lower. The RFP we competed for before that was the city of Plantation.
They chose freebie, not circuit. The list goes on and on of RFPs in this state where freebie won and circuit did not win. Geographically closer to here, the village of Key Biscane, also an RFP, also chose freebie, not Circuit. But how about how about popular opinion? When
you tally up Google, Yelp, Trip Adviser, and Apple reviews, over 60,000 people have spoken. Freebie rates 4.7 out of five, 4.1 for circuit. A big difference. In conclusion, the local governments choose freebie, the people choose freebie. Please give us the opportunity to compete for this contract, and we
will exceed your expectations. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, commissioners. My name is Danielle Villock, 3044 Orange Street. First, congratulations, Commissioner Rossado. Thank you for previously speaking out against live local and
against overdevelopment generally. I am here to reiterate asking the commission to support PZ8 to remove NCD3 from the T5 bonus eligibility, which Coconut Grove should have never been included in with its NCD designation. And so this is
merely correcting an administrative oversight and consistently applying NCD protections on such designated areas. Secondly, I'm also here to ask that the commission oppose PZ7. A resolution of this scale will completely reshape a vibrant community, erasing its identity
and turning Little River into an extension of the urban core, something that is not it is not part of per the Miami 21 map. This needs to be thought through and reddrafted with the appropriate guard rails in order to promote responsible development. Allowing this unchecked development will
set a dangerous precedent for the rest of the city of Miami. A referendum of this scale should be carefully considered through a city-wide referendum. Thank you. Good afternoon. Steve Smith, 900 Bcane Bay. First, I
want to thank you all for being in the arena. I know this job is not always a pleasant one. I'm here to speak in support of both election reforms that are on today's agenda. The very definition of a reform is to improve or
make better. Better not perfect. Reforms are not easy. Even when they make common sense, we know entrenched politicians will fight to their last breath to insert they stay in charge. How do we know this? Just look at our US Senate
where nearly half are 75 years or older. Unfortunately, most people don't inherently want to give up power ever. You will hear a lot about the extra year in office, and that is far from ideal,
but a sacrifice, in my opinion, worth taking. You also hear inflammatory claims coming from those who love the system just the way it is because they own it and they know it. These reforms, certainly not perfect, provide a means to beginning
turning city government back to the people who pay for it. We could righteously, who could righteously be against 10% voter turnout to 60, against saving a million dollars, against a diversity of opinions and ideas of those who represent us. I will
tell you who I think is against this reform. A family that has essentially controlled commission seat for decades. Special interests in packs that actually spent well north of $300 per vote in our most recent special election per vote.
politicians who depend on extremely low turnout, so even ethics violations and even convictions sometimes aren't even relevant in our elections. These folks will rightfully say, "Don't blame the player, blame the game." And you can't
really disagree with that. These reforms are about changing the game. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, commissioners. My name is Maria Urans and I'm the policy director at Miami Workers Center. My
address is 2900 Bird Avenue. Today I'm here to speak in opposition to RE5. As a community organization, we know very well how workers and tenants who are immigrants are targeted and exploited because of their vulnerable status. Your constituents come to us for
guidance when their employer doesn't pay them for their work and when landlords try to evict them without due process. And for those without status, they tell us, "I'm afraid that my boss or landlord will report me to ICE." We invite immigrants
to come to this country because there are jobs, backbreaking jobs that pay very little and that no one wants to do. By joining the 287G program, we are sending a message to hardworking members of our community.
Welcome, but don't speak up. Don't expect to have rights. Live quietly and in fear. This program is not only wasteful, it undermines the rights that we guarantee to anyone who is in this country. It is immoral and you should
vote against it. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, ma'am. My name is Castandra Stroer and I'm currently here for the um Miami DDA and what Miami DA has done for me has
made me a better person. I used to be a homeless and downtown Miami, but it was through Miami DDA that lift me up, got me employment. Now that I um working with working with them, it's been it
been so I've been so blessed. You remember the Bible saying that it takes a village to raise a family. And that's what Mi has done for me in my life. Has been so good to me. I can't even talk speechless
because Midi has been so good to me. And I would like to thank y'all ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Good afternoon. Hello and good afternoon. My name is Yarelis and I work with the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker
faith-based organization. And I'm here today speaking against RE5. It may be surprising to learn that even the Libertarian think tank tank uh the Kato Institute found that 287g agreements are ineffective. This has been known since
they released their report in 2018, nearly a decade ago. Not only are 287g agreements ineffective, but they will lead to more racial profiling, fear of law enforcement in our communities, and lack of due process, one of the very foundational concepts of this country.
If you vote yes, this is the first step of an already slippery slope. When will it stop? Will this city deputize school resource officers to take children? Because we know that ICE is already taking away immigrant children in foster care. We've seen the videos of families
being torn apart. And I'm sure that you've heard the stories since this morning about how important immigrants are in our community about how there our fathers, our mothers, our siblings, and your constituents are begging you to vote no on this. And even if the human
story does not move you, then I urge you to think about international scrutiny. I urge you to think about the fact that the World Cup is coming soon. And it's one thing to have embarrassment at the local level. It's another thing to be embarrassed at the world stage.
So will you allow this city to become a hunting ground during the World Cup? Will your officers know the difference between a quote unquote illegal alien and a terrorist? Because we've seen in some videos it's that they don't. So I
urge you today to stand for our liberties, to stand for due process, to stand with frightened families who don't know when they will be separated. Because if you vote yes on this, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when they will be separated. ICE is kidnapping our families and disappearing
them often individuals. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, commissioners. I'm here as a to represent a as a downtown ambassador, a role that I have
held for the last 13 years and is a tangible sorry tangible impact to our comm community to foster and to welcome in our community.
I urge you to continue to fund our downtown development authority. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon, chair. Can we have the speaker's name,
please? Sorry. Your name, sir, for the record? It's Sean White. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Baba Men. I'm in district three. Um Madame Chair, first of all, I just wanted to let you know that my heart and
prayers are with you. I can only imagine um going through some phases right now with my mother what you're going through. So, it's really brave of you to be here. Uh Commissioner Rosado, welcome. Um Silver Bluff is ready to
work with you. So congratulations. I'm here to speak on RE19 and R uh PH14 on the RE19. I do agree that uh elections should be moved if they are in fact going to help voters come out and vote because right
now it's really pathetic to see and hear people all the time complaining about our elected officials, but they don't go out and vote. So if that's going to help that, I think it's great. Um, as far as um the eight years for elected officials, I really do think that this
belongs to the voters. I for one love Mayor Francis Suarez and what he has done for the city of Miami. Uh, no pun intended, but who needs a DDA? He's done an amazing job by putting Miami in the spotlight. uh if he goes on in his political career and does other things
and then come wants to come back in 20 years, 15 years, I would love for him to be a mayor again with such experience. So, I really do think that this should be left for the voters. Um on PH14, um let me just say that in brief,
was that my time up? Uh, in brief, um, we had a a situation in the Silver Bluff area with the traffic, um, that was totally out of control. We had a white knight by the name of Commissioner Jorah Koyo, and he actually helped
uh, confront the county with our issue. There was an illegal supposedly, which was not because every other municipality has done the same thing. Coconut Grove, Corg, everybody did the same thing except we could not have the same and we were in court. Thank you. Just just that
I can say this for this item. Judge Bloomstein in 2023 said that the county needed to do something. Well, two years two years later, this is what the county has done. So this before you today is really okay. It's really the county.
Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon everybody. My name is Ronaldo Cancel. I live at 1555 Northwest Simmons Avenue. I also work for Miami GTA. Before I came to Miami GTA, you would never recognize me cuz I was
homeless. I was living under a bridge. And if it wasn't for the Miami D Police Department who helped me get into Camilles and get to where I am right now, I have a better person, my supervisors, my bosses.
I wouldn't be here because they gave me the chance to stand up again. I am 65 years old. You may not look I may not look it, but I can tell you this. It don't matter what people think. They said you never have to walk in my
shoes to stand up here and try to sell something to someone, which you should. I believe in Miami DDA. They showed me. I have cleaned the streets. I have done the eating. I have done the walk. I keep my bathrooms
clean. I also have a good relationship with every with all of them. And they give me the same respect I get jump. And I would like to ask y'all to give us the same respect and give us a chance to keep going because without Miami GDA,
Miami will look back like in the 80s like the slums, garbage, people depating everywhere. And that's what we're here for to keep it clean. And if you just give us that opportunity, we'll keep on working.
Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon, uh, Chairwoman King. My condolency [Music] of for socialism and liberation. And I believe it is implorable that we say no to 287G because I believe it's turned
our local police into federal immigration agents. And this isn't justice. This is fascist unconstitutional betrayal and suppression. This program has proven time and time over dating back to circa 2003 that it is not and will not better
our community or anyone community anyone's community for for that matter their quality of life. Whether it be diverting egregious amounts of money to detention facilities, ICE compliance training and jail infrastructure while simultaneously stripping domestic violence shelters, trauma recovery
services and outreach programs. Take Prince William County's uh Prince William County, Virginia's 287G program costing $6.4 million in only its first year. Or the Insecure Community Report finding that 45% of all Latinos and 67%
of undocumented individuals say that they are less likely to report a crime because they fear being asked about their or their loved ones immigration status. Ripping families apart with no decrease in crime rates. You jail people based on the color of their skin, the language they speak, and you suckle off
of the blood, sweat, and tears of your hardest working citizens. Survivors are afraid to report abuse. Workers are afraid to seek help. And traffic stops are turned into deportation traps. 287G is not about social safety. It's about racial profiling and silence. We deserve
better and we deserve communities rooted in dignity and not in detention, in protection and not in pers persecution. So today we say no to 287G because everyone deserves to feel safe in a place that they call home. Thank you.
Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Wanda Grace. I live at 15 1531 Northwest 16th Avenue. I'm here to represent as a product of representation for Miami DDA. I came through when they told me two
minutes. I said I better write a letter, but I decided to come up here and talk. Um, I came through Miami DDA through a program at Camila's house. I worked on the streets of downtown Miami cleaning and everything and it was like, I can't
do this. But a team of people believed in me. Miami DDA. I worked until they gave me the opportunity to become a supervisor. For five years, I've been working in the rim of Miami DDA. I'm so grateful for Miami DDA because it has allowed me to
show them the integrity that I have within myself to be able to do without anybody looking to be able to serve others where I'm on use I'm used to being served. Now I'm able to serve others. I said I wasn't
going to cry and I'm not. But um I'm so grateful for Miami DDA and not because I work for them, but just for what I'm doing. You know, to be able to be downtown Miami and the people come up to me and say, "Thank you for doing what you're doing. I appreciate you cleaning
here." People ask me directions and I'm able to give it to them, you know, with a smile. And then, you know, I heard a man say earlier, a kid made him feel like a hero. I am a hero. I'm a she. I am a shirro. I work for Miami DDA. I'm
grateful to work for them and I want to tell the team thank you for believing in me and allow me to help serve the community of downtown Miami. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Blanca Wolf. I am a server at
Miami International April of Miami and I am a proud member of United Here local 355. I am proud to be born to have been born and raised in Nicaragua. I am a resident of Leo Lavana.
As immigrants, we are the her, the heart of Miami. We keep the airport, hotels, and city hall city running. We stand against 287g. Thanks.
Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Yukari Carbalo. I live on in one northwest sea street. I want to start by saying what a powerful day of people fighting for what they believe in and what they said. And with that said, we are all going through
hardship fighting a fight that no one is aware of and everyone is aware at the same time. Please don't add more to the city and vote no to RE5. Now, that's not only the reason why I'm standing up here. I was moved to talk on that after hearing everybody else speak as well.
But I'm also here fighting for the land that I live in. Um, sorry. I understand there's change coming to Little River in Little Haiti. But what we're asking for today is not to stop growth. It's to contain it, make it fair, and ensure it doesn't erase the
people who already live there. I can't help but find myself every day on my way to work in Winwood counting the floors on those buildings and my heart breaking. Is this going to be the future for Little Haiti and Little River? Once the new zoning transit orient oriented
node is passed, it's open to it's opens the doors to massive high-rise development with no building comm binding commitment. we lose the protection of Miami 21 and there's no guarantee guarantees what's coming won't overwhelm our streets displace our
neighbors and destroy the character of our community so if this is going forward I respect respectfully ask set height limits that reflect the scare of our neighborhood not skyscrapers require public written community benefits before approvals ensure
affordable housing is mandatory not optional and make it all and make it that all future development has um transparent and accountable with real community input. This is what we're This isn't about saying no to growth. It's
about saying yes to our community first. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, commissioners. Manny Prizes, 4000 Malaga Avenue, Miami, Florida 33133. Typically, I don't get up and speak in front of the commission unless I'm
representing someone. But, you know, I've lived in Coconut Grove for 24 years and I've lived in Miami for a lot longer than that. And um there are two items on the agenda that are being sponsored by Commissioner Partardo that I feel are very, very important. So, I said, you know, I have a voice, too. I have the
right to speak also, especially when I think something is really, really important. And um I asked the commission to support both items. Um, I think it's the jolt that the city of Miami needs and that it needs now. Um, anyone that
would argue to you that it's better to have 10 or 11% of the electorate participate in a democracy versus 50 or 60 or 70% of the electorate is just not being genuine in their arguments. A vibrant democracy demands that as many
people as possible come out and vote. As far as the uh term limits are concerned, I'm also very I feel very strongly about that. Being an elected official is not a right. It's a privilege. And the more the more people that become involved in
that privilege, the better democracy will be for it. So for those reasons, I I ask every single one of you today to support these items and uh hopefully we'll be able to make a better Miami all together. Thank you very much. Thank you. Good afternoon.
Good afternoon. Uh Terrence Criggs Laurent. Um I'm proud member of the City of Miami Black Police Precinct Courthouse Museum. One that holds the history of policing in the city of Miami. We are a space that shows each of
us how proper policing um pioneered what we now know as community policing. And so I encourage you all to visit. I also encourage you to vote no on R5. And to
bring that to you, I want to say first they came for communists and I did not speak out because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for socialists and I did not speak out because I wasn't a
socialist. They then came for trade unions and I didn't speak out then because I wasn't part of the trade union. They then came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not part
of the Jewish community. Then they came for me and there I was the only one left. No one to speak up for me. This is the reason why I'm standing here. I'm standing here because
eventually what we're about to do, someone is going to need us. And if we don't stand up now and do what is right for the people, we can be the resounding voice that the world says Miami got it
right. Miami did it best. Yes, you may be going against the grain, and yes, you may be putting yourself in harm's way, but that's what we voted you for. That's why we put you in these seats, because we knew you could handle it. We knew you could do it when the times got rough.
So, I encourage you to reflect on this moment and know that if you don't do it now, it'll be you next. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Hello. Hi, I'm Wendy. I live at 815 Northeast 70th
and I'm firmly against this RE5. And I'm just going to read a speech you probably all know, but I think you should be reminded. Two friends of mine were talking to a refugee from communist Cuba. He had escaped from Castro. And as he told the story of his horrible experiences, one of my friends turned to
the other and said, "We don't know how lucky we are." And the Cuban stopped and said, "How lucky you are, I had some place to escape to. Other countries may seek to compete with us, but in one vital area as a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the
people of the world, no country on earth comes close. This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of American greatness. We lead the world unique among nations. We draw our people, our strength from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so, we
continuously renew and enrich our nation. While other countries ding to the cling to the still past, here in America, we breathe life into dreams. We create the future and the world follows us into tomorrow. Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of
opportunity, we're a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever close the door to new Americans, our
leadership in the world would soon be lost. It is bold men, women, and children yearning for freedom and opportunity who leave their homelands and come to a new country to start their lives over. They believe in the American dream. And over and over they make it
come true for themselves, for their children, and for others. They give more than they receive and on and on. And that was Ronald Reagan. go back and listen to that last speech. Good afternoon, Commissioner. Congratulations, Madame Chair. My
condolences to you and your family for your loss. Commissioner Partardo, while I appreciate the effort at reform, and I do support lifetime term limits in RE19. You should not unilaterally cancel this year's election and give yourselves an extra year in office per FR4.
Commissioner Rosado, you're just campaigning, knocking on doors. You probably spoke to hundreds if not thousands of voters, right? How many of them said to you, "The very first thing you should do on your very first meeting is to cancel the election and extend your own term a year longer than we're electing for." I'm guessing not one.
Nobody thought of it because nobody actually wants it. It's not only a bad look. It is profoundly unethical to gift yourselves this personal and political benefit. For anyone who says this will save money, you guys waste so much money. If there's one thing voters want you to spend money on, it's elections.
Invest in our democracy. So, please send this issue, if it's so popular, to voters for a referendum. Finally, on the 287g collusion with ICE in our beautiful community of immigrants, I'm old enough to remember a time when thousands of Miamiians took to the streets, shutting
down the city, the MacArthur, the Palmetto, Biscane Boulevard, the port, erupting in violence against federal agents and police, setting fires, and burning the American flag. They were in an uproar against the federal government over one 5-year-old immigrant who has
returned to his father in Cuba. Joining them on the streets 25 years ago was then Mayor Joe Caro. And here is the message he sent to Washington DC. A similar message to the one you should all send today.
Audio. Should I just put the It's only 14 seconds long. Thank you. It's not working. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, commissioners. Madam Chair, my
condolences to you for your loss and a warm welcome to Commissioner Rosado. My name is Claudia Miro, vice president at Freeb, headquartered right here in Miami at 371 Northeast 61st Street. I'm speaking in opposition of RE18, an item
that seeks to award a microransit contract to an outside company when the number one microtransit company is right here, headquartered in District 5 for over 13 years. I'm here again today because misinformation continues to be used to justify awarding a piggyback
contract for a bid and CITT funded service excluding freebie entirely from the process. Most recently, an Instagram video falsely claimed that the Coconut Grove bid received a proposal from freebie. That's simply just not true. And when we requested to see this supposed proposal, the bid produced a
document dated 2023 submitted to former commissioner Savina Kovville based on her vision for district 2, not the bid's current goals. And more importantly, it wasn't solicited or submitted for this process. I personally appeared at the bid meeting in December and again in June, clearly
expressing Freeby's interest and ability to serve. We were never given an opportunity to compete. No RFP was issued, no outreach was made, just a decision made behind closed doors. And I'd like to point out that both times this item has appeared on this agenda. There has been no supporting documentation, no pricing details, no
price per hour per rider, and no mention that while freebie was free to the rider when it operated here in the Grove, this new outside company will not only cost the city more money, but will also charge the rider. That is not transparency. At a time when the city of Miami is facing a $30 million deficit, how is it acceptable to award a higher
cost contract without testing the market? Freeby's pricing would save the city at least $200,000. That's real taxpayer savings, and this body has a responsibility to explore it. Freeb is local, proven, and aligned with the bid's mission. We support local businesses free of charge on our app and
through in-person engagement that's unique and value added. We respectfully ask this commission, don't rush through this. Don't rely on misinformation to put this RFP. Let's do it for transparency and fairness. Thank you very much. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Grant
Stern, 425 Northeast 22nd Street. Coming here to oppose the 287G agreement. It's a terrible idea. I'm not going to go on about it. I think you guys have heard quite a lot of good, valid reasons why it shouldn't be enacted. But I'm also here to talk about an issue that relates
to this body and it's about FR4 which I oppose RE19 which I'm in favor of and that is that we need these term limits. Obviously we need reform on the commission. I agree with Commissioner Partardo that we need the even year and oddyear elections. I just don't think
this is the right way to do it. You know I concur with Billy. Let's spend the money on democracy. Why don't we hold a snap referendum and get the people out and get them to vote on these term limits and on odd and even years if that's what we want to do? Let's waste the money on democracy because it's not
a waste. That's an investment in democracy. Look at who's sitting on this commission in filling a very large chair. It's somebody who was just elected at a special election. And our last commissioner in district 2 prior to commissioner part was also elected at a
special election where people were in a line out the door asking for an election instead of an appointment instead of a commission action. They wanted to let the people speak to have someone who was legitimate sit in that chair. And for those nine months we had a legitimate
elected commissioner and she was succeeded by another legitimate elected commissioner. Let's keep that going here in the city and let's take these reforms to another step. Let's consider a charter amendment to maybe have nine commissioners to have a council manager
form of government instead of the weak mayor form of government that hobbles this city perpetually. Thank you for your time and I really hope that we take this all to the ballot box and do it quickly. Thank you. Thank you, Fernani, resident from the South Grove.
my condolences on the passing of your father, Commissioner King. Congratulations, Commissioner Rossado. It's good to see you up there. Uh, I echo the call of many who have spoken earlier eloquently about that the city should not enter into the agreement with ICE on RE5 on RE9, the term limits. I'd
like to commend Commissioner Partardo for his very noble efforts at positive reform. Unfortunately, the byproduct and the direct consequences of his goodfaith efforts create two very dangerous precedents that render the commissioner's well-intended proposal as
unacceptable. The two most obvious. The arbitrary granting of an extra year to elected officials by elected officials is bad enough, but the cancelling of an election without voter consent in a democracy is indefensible. I find myself in the unfamiliar position today where I
wholeheartedly agree with Governor DeSantis and Attorney General Umer and even Commissioner Joe Coroyo who recently said even if it's beneficial towards me, it's wrong. Voters voted for us for a 4-year term and I believe only the voters of the city have the right to
change that. Commissioner Coroyo is damn right. Commissioner Rosado, you just ran a successful grassroots campaign after two previous attempts at this office that were unsuccessful. You know firsthand how important that covenant is with voters. You couldn't possibly today
on your first day in office unilaterally support Commissioner Partardo's proposal and in the process give yourself a benefit of a free bonus year in office. You wouldn't do that. You know better. Commissioner Partardo, I proudly supported you for a four-year term. I have every expectation to support you
again for an 8-year term as my commissioner, but not nine years. Whether we agree or disagree philosophically with term limits or cancelling an election or giving elected officials an unelected extra year in office, we should all agree that these sacred decisions must be first be made
with the consent of the governed, not by the well-intended but flawed whims of those in power. Thank you all very much. Thank you, Mr. Mandy. This is the second time you come up here and you speak real nice of me and my wife's going to think
you have a man crush on me. Please stop that. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Last week, Miami's senior legislator
said things there are things we need to change in our city. It's not working. He is absolutely right. And the turnout today especially proves that people are ready for substantial change. That same legislator reminded us that 30 years ago
today, his job was part-time. That era is over. The Miami of today and the Miami of tomorrow is far more complex, demanding, and urgent. Yet, our government structure has barely changed in those 30 years. That's the underlying
problem. And RE19 and FR4 are part of the solution. RE19 creates lifetime term limits. It fosters continually innovative leadership and it builds public trust. We're not guessing about this because Miami Beach has passed
almost exactly the same law. They're better for it. FR4 moves city elections to even numbered years. That change alone will bring 3 to five times as many voters into the process. It's clearly a step in the right direction. And for
those that support democracy, it's an imperfect step. And yes, it comes with a one-year cost. But for me, I've weighed it. And I believe a permanently better government is worth that price. Because when more people vote, your decisions
carry weight. You enter this office to make changes. Real societal and political and governmental changes. This is your opportunity. 30 years of low turnout have crippled this city. It's
time to break the cycle. RE19, FR4, bitter pills, but time to swallow them. They require your confidence, not your comfort. Leadership, not delay. I urge you to
vote both them. On the matters of PE, thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Vicki Ruiz. I am not a resident of Miami Dade. I'm a resident of Broward
County, but I understand that I'm able to come and speak here. I don't have a fancy title. I'm a I'm a soccer coach and I work with kids and every day. I see when they treat each other harshly and you guys are leaders and people see
you. They see you internationally. They see you locally. And what you do matters. What you do matters. The kids who I coach are kids of rich people, poor people, middle-income
people, all people. But I see that when we speak with them with kindness, when we treat them with kindness, when we teach them how to lead each other with positive reinforcement, positive projection, and we encourage the parents
to learn techniques of how to work with kids and problem solve in positive ways, we work better as a team. And I believe that that's what we can do here. And I imagine I'm hoping that most of the police officers are in a really big bind
and they don't want to be in this situation. And everybody has talked to you guys about budgets. I don't know about the budgets. I haven't learned about that. It's not been a thing of mine. But I know that when you when you train for something, that's what you
train for. And you can't just change it very quickly. the National Guard that are in LA, that's not what they were there for. The Marines, that's not what they were trained to do. This is extremely important. Please show
your leadership and stand up to the dictators and the bullies in our local systems and in our national systems and on the global scale. We are all looking at you and and we believe that you can do the right thing. Thank you. Thank
you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Marcela Bayad is 16171 Southwest 73rd Street. I am here to speak in opposition to RE5, the partnership between local uh PD and ICE. I believe that it's something that will definitely harm our communities. And I just to keep it
brief, I ask all of you to look inward to your humanity and really consider all the people that are here, aren't here, all the undocumented people you might know who are trying their best and to use your strength and really be kind in your decisions and moving forward when
that vote comes. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, Chairman King. I'm asking for permission to get my two minutes back. No, ma'am. No, you spoke enough and I didn't get my two minutes. You got enough minutes. If you're going to go back and forth with an elected, you're
using your time. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Chairwoman King. Condolences uh to you for your loss. Sorry for that. And uh welcome, Commissioner Posado. Commissioners, good to see you all here. I had a loss this
weekend myself. My cousin was celebrating her birthday in Windwood and she was one of the two people that lost her lives Saturday night. I've been working um with the uh police department uh as you might know trying to solve some of our local challenges
with the resilience with parks with fire department and I've been dedicating my last three years to solve some of our biggest problems. I'm asking for your support as I have in the past four main items I'm going to jump into real quick. on RE5 the ICE partnership. Um, not only
am I worried for our community, I'm worried for each of you. You have a big responsibility now and you might re receive push back from the state and retaliation from the community. Either way that you choose, choose the right way to go. The state will maybe
have to, if you choose no, have to sue the city and make enforcement happen, but you could stand up and do what's right. RE19 lifetime term limits. I'm also in favor of it. I do love Francis and that being said and I FR4 I do agree
that we should add the odd to even but after the mayoral election and on D uh DI7 the DDA I've submitted several proposals to the DDA I want my augmented reality art walk which will be in your district and and
the commissioner and chairwoman's as well as the Miami verse project I'm in favor of the DDA I don't pay taxes to the DDA but yes I think that the community should have a seat at the table. Thank you. My name is Sylvio for the record D1. Thank you. Good
afternoon. Hello, commissioners. My name is Brandon Fernandez. I am both a freebie employee and a proud resident of Coconut Grove. first and foremost at 3001 Southwest 27th 27th Avenue. Out of respect for some of the incredibly
important items on this agenda, I'll be very brief in discussing item RE18 and why it represents a deeper rooted issue for the taxpayers and residents of this city. To be very clear and upfront, if RE18 is passed in favor of a handpicked vendor without a proper procurement
process, our city will be needlessly wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars. I repeat, by disregarding a competitive RFP process for this transit contract, you are choosing as a commission to spend significantly more money on this transit contract without justification during an
otherwise difficult financial period for the city. The numbers between this handpicked vendor and a homegrown operator such as Freeb are straightforward and simple. You just heard them. But because the procurement process was disregarded, this enormous cost savings could not be considered.
But it is not too late. The decision to be fiscally responsible when it comes to government spending in District 2 and the rest of city of Miami has been left up to the rest of you all. So I ask you again, please, please oppose RE18 and call for an open and transparent RFP
process, one that will ensure that my neighborhood of Coconut Grove gets the best transit deal possible. Again, please vote in favor and move in favor of fiscal responsibility, taxpayer savings, and local partnerships. Opposed RE18. Thank you. Thank you.
Good afternoon. Good afternoon everyone. Um, my name is Herrena Ellis. I live in 14751 Northeast 9th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33161. And I'm here because I think that a lot of us may have left curious about the
video that Bill wanted to show and hear Commissioner Caro in his own words. So, I we're going to play it. The Miami Police Department, the Miami Dade County Police Department will not participate,
will not be part of snatching young Elan Gonzalez from his Miami family. Thank you. Thank you. No matter how uh nice Billy wants to speak uh about me, I won't pay you a
penny, Billy. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My sincere condolences, Commissioner King. I lost my mother last summer, so I know the pain that you're going through. Uh welcome to the day, Commissioner Rosado. as a proud resident of district 4. I'm glad that you're going to be a new voice for us. Um, and I wanted to
say despite everything that's going on, happy pride month. Uh, it's nice to see the pride flag uh flying over city hall despite some efforts in Tallahassee to stop us. Uh, I am the chairman of the LGBTQ advisory board and I'm also here to support the uh, new atlarge appointment that our board desperately
needs for us to meet. It's been 3 months since we haven't been able to meet. Um, those commissioners that have not appointed someone, they have been made aware as well. So, uh, we urge you to keep, uh, help us allow to continue to do the community's work. Uh, in regards to RE5, I urge you to defer the item
until we hear about the pending litigation regarding the city of South Miami. Um, Fort Myers also had a similar uh, vote that went the wrong way and they had to go ahead and meet again. Um, so in, you know, to be able to make sure that we are not uh, choosing sides right
now, let's wait till we hear from the courts. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Hi, Sim McConnell. 390 Virginia Street, Coconut Grove. Here concerning Freeb. We've had Freeb in the Grove before. We want it back again. We
had it for some time before COVID. We lost it. We want it back. Um, we all know what the problem is in the Grove as far as parking. A lot of you don't because you have decals and placards on your car, people that drive you around.
We keep going around the Grove over and over again. We can't find parking. Even handicap parking is difficult. Uh what I'm told is that Circuit has been the only company that's been given a bid. For some reason, they skipped uh
freebie. Freebie is a group that we've been happy with. There's no extra charge. They're less money. Um, everyone around here, the Gables, Kibas Gain, Pinerest, even Commissioner Gabella has freebie. Why would we want something
different? That's going to be confusing. Uh, visitors and residents are not going to know who to call, what to do, where do you go? If I take if I take a freebie here to the grocery store, do I have to call a different freebie to come back and get me? It's confusing. it doesn't
make sense not to give freebie the opportunity to do a bid. Um we don't suspect a deal from the benefit of the company, but we are concerned with the fact that uh first it was they were going to be charged a dollar each. Now
they're going to be charged $2 each. Where does that money go? It seems to me that when you're picking somebody up, you're going to have to deal with change and money. And here's a $10 bill. We've got four people. Just get the people in the car and get them going, get them
moving, hold up traffic. That's crazy. So, what I'm asking for is please, if before you make a decision, at least go to freebie and get a reasonable uh answer from them as to what they would pay. And you know, I've been fighting
for this for a very long time, and I'm not giving up. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, chairwoman and commissioners. My name is James Torres, president of the Downtown Neighbors Alliance. I am here on a
couple items, PA1 and DI7, making sure that the DNA is going to have equal time to present. So, that's something that needs to be spoken about here today. But right now, I want to speak briefly about something that's just as troubling. the proposal to ban residents from ever running again for office over after two
terms and the extension of terms currently officers that may have without giving an extra year without a single vote. Let's be clear, this isn't reform. It's a restriction. It shrinks the field for candidates, consolidates power, and sends a clear message that the
government doesn't trust its own people. If the body is serious about change, then let's stop the smoke and mirrors. smoking mirrors and start pursuing real reform. We have nearly half a million individuals that live in the city of
Miami, yet only five commissioners and it's time to advance the initiative to expand from either seven or nine districts. That's how you would empower voters. That's how you deliver true local representation, not with backroom
extensions and or lifetime bans, but with access, fairness, and trust within the public. So, as we move forward, let's be very clear, something that is also very disturbing here today as it relates to the DDA. We are not asking
any jobs. Let's be very clear, DDA, we're asking for the residential piece to be removed. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else here that would like to speak? Seeing none, public comment period is
now closed. At this time, I'm going to ask my colleagues for a motion to approve the meeting minutes from April 10th, 2025, April 17th, 2025, and
April 24th, 2025. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? I. Madame Chair, yes. For the record, since I wasn't a member of the commission at that point, I will actually be voting against the minutes. Well, no, you won't vote at all.
No votes fine. 4-1. No vote because you weren't here. So you wouldn't be voting at all. Not against them. Just not at all. Well, but we'll show it as 4-1. That's fine. Four 4-1. Yeah, he can abstain. So he can Yes. So he can't abstain and the rules allow him to vote even though he wasn't present, you know,
typically. So um what? Yeah, because he could review the minutes and um but I'm just saying that's what the rules allow. Okay. We now have a personal appearance by the Downtown Development Authority. Um,
Madam Chair, before they begin, I just like a point of clarification. Uh I had a discussion item on the DDA that I wasn't planning on bringing anybody else uh to speak just to point
out uh some observations. Uh however, since this has been placed on the agenda, I would like in my eyes then to have
uh either both or one of the neighborhood associations uh either the brickal homeowners, the downtown uh home association uh or one of the other to be able to be
given uh the same amount of time so that they could express any abuse they have. My point is not to be talking against the DDA. U my simple uh point that I wanted to
bring out is that this is established in 1967. There were no residents there at the time. There are many residents in downtown now like in Bickl and they have
a right if they're paying taxes to establish this taxes frankly that uh should be paid by the whole city of Miami not just them because the downtown belongs to the whole city not just to
Bickl or downtown residents that are paying for this. So my point was just that we should have an election of property owners, property owners, not voters, property owners on the residential side, property owners on the
commercial side. And if they want to pay taxes, so be it. Boy, am I to say no. If they don't want to pay taxes that they have the right to get out and not pay it. And and that's the whole point that I want to make. that I I just like to
see if uh we could bring my other item together and join them so that they could have their say so. And I don't think this is uh again an item to be attacking the DDA. They've done many good things and I disagree with some of
the expenditures, but uh this is not to be attacking the DDA. This is about giving people rights. they're paying taxes, they should have a say. So, uh, and that that's the point that I that's
the only point that I want to make. So, if we could agree that maybe once they're done in their presentation, uh, either one or both of the homeowners presidents, Madam Chair, can address us. I I think it would save us a lot of
time. Commissioner Partardo. Madam Chair, the DDA is sanctioned by the state. They're created by the state. They have their own process for these kind of reforms and discussions. They just had their budget meeting, I think a few days ago, and they have their own
board. Our function is to review their budget and accept it during our regular budget cycle. Last meeting, we had four minutes of a presentation on the DDA. Because of that, they requested to our office equal time, four minutes to be
able to make that presentation today. So, I suggest that we allow them their time responding to the presentations that were made in the last meeting and move on because this shouldn't be consuming the city of Miami commission meeting. This is something that should be primarily dealt with first at the
DDA. All of their meetings were public. Uh I believe that the last one they had was public and open and discussed a lot of these issues. And if there's a grievance there, it should then go to their board and it should be handled in in that manner. I I don't believe I
don't believe he's correct in what he's saying. Hold on. Are you here just to give a budget report? No, you are not. You're doing a whole presentation. Yes. Okay. Here's my issue. Uh prior to Commissioner Reyes
passing, Mr. Torres requested a personal appearance and it was granted. He was told that it would be inappropriate to come before us because we were respecting Commissioner Reyes and we
were all in mourning. Now, um I'm not sure, Mr. Manager, I'm not sure what the end result was of that was. I was told the appropriate place for Mr.
Torres to make his presentation was at the DDA. But if they are just here making a presentation, then I do believe that it would be fair to allow him to also present. Now, if they weren't
making the presentation to us because they have, you know, they have their meetings and all of that, the same logic that they're using, which I support, the appropriate venue would be to air his grievances at the DDA meetings, but now
they're here making a presentation also. So, it wouldn't be fair for me to say, well, you can make a presentation, but you can't make a presentation. I'm gonna leave this up to my colleagues to decide, but that is my logic or Todd or the manager because I have not been one
to stop someone from coming before us and presenting. I was under the impression that it was on the budget. There's a section of it. Yes, it's based on the budget that we discussed last Wednesday, but it's about the critical
services and how they will be affected if those uh if the residents are out or the services have to be uh decreased. And there you have it. The flip side, the sit down, sit down. I'm just getting
ready. Just sit down. Um so, and there you have it. We we allow everyone to have a voice and it is the counter and everyone has been coming many many residents. This is a this is
an item. This is a topic. It's a hot topic. Should we keep it? Should we not keep it? Should the voters vote on it? Um I think it just makes it worse if we don't allow the flip side. Let's move on
and go ahead and can I can I Yes. Can I interject for a minute? I I thought that what would happen was we would name the uh the new DDA uh chairman and then from there they can take it on. Apart from that, we have a full stacked pretty big
agenda. My two cents worth whatever the body wants to do. I mean that's what I will. But there she's already here. So if she gets to speak now, if she doesn't speak, he doesn't speak. How about we don't speak? I'm okay with it. I follow. I'm here to give
information. It was not to create any chaos or disagreement between amongst you because we are a team. I do want to say thank you for having me. Commissioner Rosado, welcome. And hopefully we will be working together. Commissioner King, my condolences.
It does get better, but every morning, repeat to yourself what I say. I am my father's daughter. Everything is going to be okay. Thank you. Oh gosh. Thank you. No, it's been decided. She's not
speaking. No, but there's an issue here. No. Well, let me clear something. There's nothing to clear. We were brought in here. There's nothing to clear up and we were told no. Let me grab the paperwork. When the chair says can't speak, you can't speak.
All right, gentlemen. On the consent agenda item, are there any items that you would like to pull from discussion? We have CA1 through CA14 in play. Are there any
items that you would like to pull for discussion from the consent agenda? Commissioner Rosado. CA2. You want to pull CA2? Yes, sir. Okay. That's it. Commission vice chair. Uh CA2
was one that I wanted to pull, but let me just CA5. It's only for a question that I have on it. I don't think uh uh should have a problem with it. But I I do have to ask a question in CA5
and Uh, I'm good with the rest of it. Commissioner Cabella. No, I'm good. Commissioner Partardo, I'm good. Okay. I'll make a motion for those items that Okay. We have not pulled out. Do I have a second? Second. All right. So, I have
a motion and a second for CA 1 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 and 14. All in favor? I. The motion carries unanimously.
Commissioner Rosado, you pulled CA2. Yes, Madam Chair. I I had some questions about the procurement around this item. This is a very large purchase and as I understand it, there hasn't necessarily been clarity around why we are discontinuing the current vendor and
there was a speaker who mentioned that if there had been an issue uh with the equipment that they would gladly replace it and so I wonder why that that wasn't done. And I wonder if we could hear a little bit more from staff on that. No, I think we're keeping the vendor.
Correct? Yes, we're keeping the vendor. The issue was that we didn't go out to bid. They It's a sole source or we're renewing the contract. Jennifer Ramirez, director of GSA. Um,
we are not replacing the existing vendor. We are actually diversifying our system by having both vendors be part of our system. Okay. We're joining 29 other municipalities throughout the state of Florida. So, federally, there's a P-25 mandate that says that all communication
systems are to be interoperable. That now allowed cities and municipalities that use uh communication systems to be able to take the best of both worlds and to create our system so they're no longer proprietary and no one is held hostage to any one system. So, what we
have is a conglomerate where we're still keeping the Harris communication system and the main towers and all of the repeaters and things of that nature. What this is actually doing is replacing the radios for public safety. We're still keeping the Harris radios for
general government. So, this is only changing the ones for public safety, which is police and fire. Okay. No, I I I appreciate that. I'm always going to be, as a former manager, I'm going to be looking at ways to save money and making sure that our processes are as competitive as possible when it
comes to procurement. I appreciate the clarification. Vice Chair I could ask if I could ask some further questions here. I've heard from other vendors and I don't know who these people were,
but there are other vendors out there and they're claiming that they could do them much cheaper. I think I even heard for half the price and I don't know if that's accurate or not. So I for one
don't want to go forward with this if we could save substantial monies even if it's not a 50% savings like I thought I heard uh if there are serious dollars to
be saved uh I would like to see that and if you still would prefer to pay more if someone will give you a lower amount then I'd like to hear why you would rather pay more. Uh how much more are we
getting then from the Motorola radios versus the the other radios? It's a lot of money we're talking about here for a lot of years. Absolutely. I can defer to the police and fire to better discuss about the
radios and uh all of the services that it provides so that they can best meet their uh demands for their work. Good afternoon everyone. Robert E, the fire chief. So just a point of clarification, the fire department currently does not use Harris radios. We
currently use Motorola radios um in public safety. We found through our trial that the Motorola radios are far superior in function. They have features that the Harris radios just do not. GPS location, uh LTE, we can send
multimedia, uh and just ergonamically held in the firefighters hands. So a few years ago when the city went to Harris, we decided that we couldn't for safety reasons and we stayed with Motorola. Our Motorola radios are now 9 years old or at the point that we need to to replace
them. So for the fire department, we're not changing vendors. We're we're sticking with the radios that we currently have just to to the uh to a more modern upgraded radio. Good afternoon. My name Morales, Chief Police. Condolences, madam chair, and uh
welcome to Commissioner Rosado to Davis. As an end user, I can tell you that there's a vast difference between the quality not only of the product, but the transmission uh of both radios and the systems. One of the number one complaints that I receive and as
synonymous across all three districts of the Miami Police Department is the quality of the radio. We believe that is a public safety issue. Uh, and that's why we're requesting to go along with the recommendations of GSA to go back to the Motoras. There's a reason why um the
fire department never went to it. You just heard it from Chief Heavia. But when it comes to the product, we tried it. We've been there. We've done that. Just didn't work. And I'm all for saving saving money to the city, uh, vice chair. But, uh, there's some things
that, you know, you, uh, you save now, but you're going to pay later. And hopefully that price won't come at the cost of a police officer's life. How many years have we been using the non Motorola radios? The Harris product. I want to say five or six.
Seven years. Seven. Seven years. And now is when we realize that we uh had to run radio. We've been complaining. We've been working with uh Harris to try to improve the quality. There have been several updates uh to
the to the radios, but it really hasn't had any impactful changes to the quality of the transmission. Has there been any cause to any life or property because of any problems with the radio? There has
been plenty of loss of transmissions and that's where the complaints of the officers have come in. That wasn't my question, Chief. But there's been no The answer to your question is no. Um, you know, I'm I'm hearing what you're
telling me, but I have no idea what the difference in price is and how drastic the communications difference is from one rating to the other. I I really don't know. Uh, that's not my area of
expertise. However, uh I'd like to see and if we wait just a little longer, I don't think is going to change anything. Uh see how much of a savings we could get. And I'd like to
get some expert. the city could find an expert uh that can tell us uh just how drastic uh of a difference there is and if they can provide any real update
to change that and if they can't uh so be it. But when I'm hearing 50% savings that's huge chief that's you know a huge uh savings. So I I'd like to
see if we could maybe just wait a little longer, you know, let people present uh their offers to us or the manager can put it out in a quick bit, whichever the city attorney suggests,
and then let's find out what the savings is one. and then let's find out if whatever the savings is uh is it worth the difference uh in transmissions that you're telling me and I'd like to get there from an
expert in in communications that we could bring in uh uh along with Harris or anybody else that's out there. I don't know if there's anybody else out there or not besides Harris and Motorola that can
assure us uh what the transmission would be and if we're not satisfied with it or whatever changes they make that we could drop the contract uh you know in 60 days,
90 days. But as you know, we have had talks of the huge needs that we're going to have in the next four years in the police department. And any savings that we could have
will go a long way to helping with the amounts uh that we're going to need to beef up our police department in many different areas. So that that's the only that I would like to see uh if we
could just wait a little longer before we rush into this and put everything under the table. I mean, I I'm just looking for that word that we keep using here all the time lately, but then I don't see it ever. Transparency.
Chief, I have a I have a question actually for everybody. My my impression in our briefing was that you had a very thorough process that you had compared you know pricing etc etc. So can you speak to that a little bit as we weigh
whether we should wait or move forward? Yes, Commissioner. As it relates to these radios, um, compared to, for example, Miami Dade County, they purchased these same radios from Motorola, they did a purchase of 10,000
radios and they paid $11,516 per radio. Even though we're looking to purchase 2,50, we were able to negotiate better terms at $11,000. And comparable municipalities throughout the state are
actually paying about 13,000 per radio. Thank you. The original deal for the radios and the core was originally presented also at $25 million and through some vigorous negotiations, we were able to bring it down to the numbers put before you today. Thank you.
You're welcome. You know, Motorola was the radios that I always remember even when I was a kid being a police officer at 18. Those were the radios we used. So, I grew up in Motorola Harris. I
don't know. However, uh if we've used it for seven years, it appears to have worked. Maybe not exactly how we wanted it, but it worked. So, all that I'm saying is uh we don't need to rush into
this. If we waited seven years or more, we could certainly wait another 30 days or so. Uh and let's have everything in the table. Let's be fully transparent with this whole process through through the chair. Um, when I came into office,
there was a uh there was a set of Motorola in my desk and I asked what was it on the the uh I was uh educated, you know, on the on the radio and then I I decided I had spoken in the briefings and asked questions and also had the motor representatives and they told me
all the differences. But one thing I can tell you, I did take it home because I wanted to to kind of see what and the battery does not last a long time. That that I saw from from one day to the other how long the battery had last and the technology. If you look at one radio
to the other, it's it's day and night. Uh if uh while I respect the the commissioner's uh u idea of maybe waiting 30 days, u I'm I'm ready to move forward if somebody else is. And if not, we'll
we'll wait till we whatever the body Mhm. Do I have a motion? Motion. I'll second it. Motion for whatever you want. Do you want to move forward with the contract or do you want a motion for I do? I do not. I will. If we're going
to move forward now, I have to vote against it. If we wait a few weeks and bring it back and let other people put in their bids and get an uh someone that's an extra in this field to tell us the difference, uh because maybe the
price might be much lower, but maybe, you know, we hear even more stuff than we've heard here. Uh then I could feel comfortable uh going forward. But at this point in time, uh I can't vote for this. There's
been no bid on it uh because the transmission is not ideal to what we like. Um over seven years there has been no uh
death property damage caused by it. So apparently they've been working. Maybe not as well as we'd like it, but they've been working. They function. because if not, we wouldn't have used him for seven plus years. So, all that
I'm trying to do is be transparent, save money if we can. If not, uh make sure there's no doubt out there why we made a decision. I don't want people to think that we just approved the no bid contract for $30 million when there are
others saying that they could do it for less than half the price. And how does the city look if we go forward in this? I think the chief wants Yeah. Just as a point of clarification, I do want to highlight the point that
for fire, it's not just transmission. That's why we didn't go with them. You know, we we tried Harris originally and in and transparency. We put him in a fire and we melted the radio. Um, it's the other features above transmission which is our ability to
locate our personnel on the ground through GPS location, the LTE for redundancy, the ability to send messaging. So while while uh if you're going to consider just a further evaluation, it needs to be more than just transition. Transmission has to be
the other features for fire. Sure, that's what it is. And we never went to Harris uh for that reason. For us, it's just a continuation of the same. everything should be looked at and I agree with that and I'm glad you brought those points up. Appreciate it. Thank you. Um I believe my colleagues are
there's a motion on the floor. Should we take a vote and then up or down and then if not we'll go we'll come back to the drawing board. Thank thank you vice chair. There's a motion on the floor. He was correct. I have a motion and a second um
in favor of CA2. All in favor? I no. I passes 32. Yes. With Commissioner Rosado and Commissioner Cory voting. No. Okay. Uh C5 CA5 vice chair. Yeah. the the questions that
I have um is to the administration in C5. Um what u transportation are we talking about here? Yes, madame chair, commissioners, Annie
Perez, director of procurement. So the these are transportation services for primarily the parks department for um field trips, things like that, but also commissioner, I think I mentioned it to you in the briefing that any of you if
you ever have a need can also use the transportation services. That's right, Annie. I I remember now you mentioned that it came back to me. That's fine. It's mainly for that kind of transportation. So that that's fine. Thank you. Uh, I'll make the motion for it. Uh, chair. Thank you. I have a
motion. Second. All in favor? I I I. Motion carries unanimously. Gentlemen, with respect to the public hearing items, the resolutions, the PH items, are there
any items that you would like to pull for discussion? I'd like to pull PH13. PH13. Commissioner Cabella. Uh, I just have a question on PH2. Uh although I was briefed on it, it uh I'd just like to go
over it again real quick. Okay. So, we'll we'll pull that. Y Commissioner Rosado, vice chair. Um 13 has to do with what exactly? Uh on the Coconut Grove uh
transportation. Um yes. Okay. Um All right. Um let me You have You bear with me. I have them. Okay.
Yeah, I got you. Uh, okay. I'm I'm good. Uh, the only item. So, there's is there is the one that Commissioner part of pulled 13? No, you pulled 13. I pulled 13. Oh, you pulled 13. And Commissioner Gabella
has a question. I do, too. Yeah. On PH2. So, for the other items, may I have a motion? Motion. May I have a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Um, the city clerk wants to make a statement for PH5, 6, and 7.
Thank you, chair. Uh for PH5, a memo dated May 16th, 2025 is being submitted into the record to clarify the sponsors identified on the agenda summary form for this item. This memo does not amend the resolution. So it'll be asis PH6 and 7. A memo dated May 20th, 2025 is being
submitted into the record to clarify the sponsors identified on the agenda agenda summary form for these items. This memo does not amend the resolution, so it'll be adopted as is. And chair, may I read a brief statement for PH15 and the amendment for PH15? Yes, please. Thank
you, chair. For PH15, the resolution will be amended. So, P PH15 will be as amended pursuant to me a memo dated April 25th, 2025. Additionally, the backup documents for PH15 will be substituted. Thank you, chair. Thank
you. So, may I have a motion for PH1, PH3, PH4, PH5, 6,7, PH 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 as amended, 16
and 17? Motion. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Items passes. We have for discussion PH2, Commissioner Cabella. Yeah, just one quick question. Could you tell me again why that was? I
seem to I was briefed on it. Um, could you tell me again why the transfer to Yeah, Victor Turner, director of housing, community development. This was uh District 3 CDBG dollars that were uh for projects that didn't go forth. other
projects that been reallocated for dream to acquire some properties for affordable housing in district three. That's it. That was it. Yes, sir. Okay, gentlemen. We are on our resolutions.
Are there any re items? Um, PH2. Was there Oh, I'm sorry. We have to vote on May I have a motion for PH2? Second. I have a motion for PH2 and a second. All in favor? I PH13. Commissioner Partardo. PH13. I
want to address some of the comments that were made here uh in the public comment section. There were two proposals received within months of each other. They were evaluated. The advantages of circuit were significant uh on many levels from features and
vehicles everything else uh and pricing. So they were chosen. And then I want would like the administration to discuss the piggyback contract which we used which was a Hollywood contract. In the case of my colleague Commissioner Gabella they used a piggyback contract
with Sunrise for freebie. That's the only difference. So we found a company we felt would provide a much better service was more competitive and we went that direction. Yes. So, in particular for the one with Circuit, it's an access
we're accessing or piggybacking off of the city of Hollywood. There were two proposals received, one from freebie and one from Circuit. Freebie rece received 78 out of 100 um possible points and circuit received 93 out of 100 possible
points. The other thing I would also like to mention on the circuit contract is that it's also a revenue generating contract. It has a minimum guaranteed amount of 115,000 100 annually from advertising on the
vehicles. This is very different than what I was hearing. Uh Bree did participate in a solicitation. I was under the impression that they did not And then secondly,
you're getting additional dollars that freebie is not provided. So I'm good to go on this one. I mean, and Commissioner Caro, just not to interrupt you, but also the contract that we we accessed from the city of Sunrise for freebie was
also a piggyback. So it was also competitively solicited. That that I understand. But but on this one, it was only two. It was freebie and circuit. We could have other difference. If you're providing something that was done right and you're bringing dollars to the city,
whether it's your district or anywhere else, still the city, uh I have no problem. You'll have my support and thank you for explaining because I also wanted people to understand that that that is not a no bid when you're piggybacking. No, it's not. It's perfectly allowable through the
procurement. The impression that was given was precisely that. And I'm I'm glad that this was brought out. Transparency, let me use the word again so that uh people know why we're voting
for something. Okay. I make the motion. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? I. Commissioner Rosado. Motion carries unanimously. Gentlemen, for the resolutions, the re
items. Are there any items that you would like to pull for discussion? Commissioner Rosalo. RI. Yes. I'd ask Commissioner Rosado. RE5. RE5. R11 has been withdrawn.
Yeah. The same freebie. Same. Okay. So, we just have to We just We talked about it. All right. But didn't we vote on it before or We did, but it's it's a different uh piece of it. The first Yeah. All right. So, no problem with 18.
I'd like to pull out um uh 15, 16, and 17. And if I could just get a a clarification on RE14, if if I could
get that now so that we could leave it on. Chairwoman, this will be quick. Let me see if the others have any items that they want to pull and then we'll go back to that. Commissioner Partardo R19 R19 Commissioner Cabella. No, I was going to
say 19, but uh he he said it for me. Okay. Um if someone can step to the podium for RE14. Quick question. Yeah, I can try and answer. It's a It was sponsored by I think the mayor. Yeah,
the mayor is fine. It's It's a good program. I saw it one time. I'm just questioning how many days uh uh is the extension being asked for. Yeah, the um the extension goes from May 22nd um which is when this item was
going to be heard originally through December 31st, 2025 to the end of the year. And and just just so you know, this was the same item that we brought back in the other time. Right. Right. I I understand. So it's up until the end of the year. Till the end of the year.
Okay. So I want to get a time certain uh in here. And that's fine. All right. We can put it back on. Okay. So, may I have a motion for RE1 2
3 4 6 7 8 9 10 12 13 14 18 20 21 22 22 was withdraw.
No, was it? Oh, 22 and 23 are withdrawn. Not 23, but 22, I think. Both are withdrawn. Both are withdrawn. Both are withdrawn. Yeah, 22 and 23. And the city attorney, the city clerk has a statement to make on some of the items. And chair, may I include RE 24 and 25 in the block
vote? Yes, please. Thank you. R 24 and 25. Okay. Wait, wait. We got Wait, I'm sorry. You're going too. No, no, no. He has a statement to make for the um Thank you, Chair. Um for RE1, RE1 will be
amended pursuant to a substitution memo dated June 16th, 2025. For your information, I will be submitting the substitution memo into the public record as a backup document. I will also be submitting into the public record a separate memo dated June 6, 2025 containing the official results for the June 3rd, 2025 District 4 special
election as a backup document um for R8 RE18. RE18 will be amended pursuant to a substitution memo dated June 16th, 2025. RE24 will be amended pursuant to a substitution memo dated June 17, 2025.
RE25 will be amended pursu pursuant to a substitution memo dated June 16, 2025 that was distributed on June 17, 2025 at 8:07 a.m. Thank you, chair. Okay. So I have a motion in a second for RE1, RE2,
RE3, RE4, RE6, RE7, RE8, RE 9, RE 10, RE1 12, RE13, RE14,
RE 18, RE 20, RE 21, RE 24, and 25. All in favor? Is there a motion? I'm sorry I didn't capture it. My apologies. What about 23? It's been withdrawn. We're doing a block vote. Yes, it was withdrawn. 22 and 23 was
withdrawn. Oh, yes. Yes. I have a motion. So moved. Second. Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? I. Items carry unanimously. RE5 was pulled for discussion. Who would like to start? Me.
I am not in favor. I am an immigrant. I have been watching what is happening. I have been very vocal about this with our department,
our police department. I am concerned. It is the responsibility of the Miami Dade County Sheriff's Department. It is not the responsibility of our police department. And I do not believe that we
should voluntarily enter into this agreement. I understand that our president is reconsidering this action. He has watered it down a bit and there
is litigation. Until and unless we are mandated to take such an action, I do not support this. Now, I have not publicly stated this because I do not give interviews about
items that are going to come before the commission before it comes. I believe that that is just a way to circumvent the sunshine that we are held to. That's why I haven't given an interview
to the Miami Herald. I haven't given any interviews to anyone else. I believe that the first time my colleagues should hear how I feel about an item is when I'm with my colleagues. But I am completely against this. There are so
many thoughtful comments today. Illegal alien, daughter of immigrants, immigrant. My parents came here from Guyana when I was a child. This is my home. And I feel
the pain of our country. I feel the pain of my residents. Afraid to leave their homes, afraid to get medical attention for their children. And I don't want to be a part of that.
But I think we are on the wrong side if we enter into this agreement. And again, until or unless we are mandated to do it, we're not breaking any laws by not
entering into this agreement. It's voluntary and I do not volunteer. Anyone else? Commissioner Partardo. Madame Chair, I will join you uh on that opinion. You know, Miami is absolutely a
city made up by immigrants. I remember a time in this city when my mother and my grandmother were talking in Spanish and a cashier yelled out, you know, speak English. This is America. It was a very different climate in this city and I
don't want to see us go back to that kind of climate. And regardless of what this policy may or may not do, the legality of it, whether it's fully legal or not legal or objectionable, put all of that aside, it sets the wrong climate
for our city. We are a city that when we're when we're facing trouble in our city, we rely on our neighbors, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe to sustain us economically. They come here, they buy real estate, they go shopping, they help all of us. So, this is not our
brand. This is not our city. It's, you know, oil and water as far as I'm concerned. And, uh, if if there's any reluctance at all, at a minimum, I would hope that we would just withdraw this. But, uh, but my vote would be a no.
Commissioner Rosado, I have I have questions for the city attorney and I have questions for the police chief. um because there's been a lot of discussion and I think it would be worthwhile to have some clarity on what the item entails uh what are consequences if we were to
not enter into the agreement and what are ways that if we did enter into the agreement what are ways to mitigate negative consequences that have been um brought up today. So, good afternoon again, Madam Chair, members of the commission. Uh, the reason this
resolution is before you uh and and how we got there here has not been an easy journey. It's taken a lot of communication, collaboration, and discussion with the city attorney and their legal team. And we believe that
Florida State Statute 908, right, requires us to do certain things that we're unable to do if we do not proceed ahead with 287G. So for us, it appears to be a kind of catch 22. You must do these things. It doesn't explicitly say
you must sign up for the 287g, but what it entails in that statute. Um it it amounts to the powers that are given to under 287G. Now there there's certain uh and commissioner you ask what would be
the consequences, right? And and I think that as you look at other municipalities that have wrestled with this topic as well, you have seen what the narrative is, especially in the state of Florida. So what happened with Sheriff Tony up in Broward County as he received a very
stern letter from uh the Florida Attorney General. Uh I know that there's some measures that took place in Fort Myers. I think our senior attorney can give you a little bit more details of that. But there there's definitely is a possibility um or a very strong
inference that if we do not enter into this agreement, there would certainly be some sort of repercussion either against our elected body uh to include removal, against the city, to include the removal of grants both federal and state, which
the police department alone gets in the neighborhood of 20 million a year, right? And and listen, there is definitely a responsibility and a charge that I have been given, right? And it is to uphold the laws, both federal, state,
and local. And that is my charge is to bring you this item. And you have the very tough position of having to make a determination of which way the city goes. As far as if we enter into the agreement, right, the steps are we
select personnel that will be assigned to a task force that will be trained after a vetting process by ICE administration. Those individuals would only be allowed to take any type of immigration
enforcement while under the direct supervision of ICE. Right? So they would be allowed to do whatever those ICE agents are allowed to do. Get detainers, uh, hold people, take them to a detention facility. Now, that will not
be the entirety of the Miami Police Department. Our mission remains steadfast to protect the city of Miami and his residents. So, I don't know if uh if there's any additional questions, but this is why we stand here before you today. I do have a question for the city
attorney. Yes, sir. And that is that there is outstanding litigation in this case from the city of South Miami which is asking for declaratory action. Um wouldn't it be best to wait for that decision to come down before
entertaining a final vote on this? I think it would be better than voting no. And um what the chief touched on some topics and um let me just sort of explain per the statute what the issues are. Um the 287G agreements have existed
for a long time, a very long time. And they they come to us out of 8 USC 8 United States Code 1357 which allows uh ICE and the agency to enter into these agreements for local enforcement. Um
that's really not the issue and the issue hasn't been pushed back from the federals. It has been really um the adoption of chapter 908 Florida statutes which created a uh new definition of sanctuary policy means a law, policy,
practice, procedure or custom adopted or allowed um by a state entity or local government entity which prohibits or impedes a law enforcement agency from complying with a USC 1373 or which prohibits or impedes a law
enforcement agency from communicating or cooperating with a federal immigration agency so as to limit such law enforcement agency in or prohibit the agency from and then we skip down to D participating in any program or agreement authorized under section 287
of the immigration and nationality act 8 USC 1357 is required by 908.11. So all right. So the state says if you if you don't purposefully or you just simply allow uh no cooperation with the
287g that you've sort of created a sanctuary policy. And they would argue that um the statute like the chief says the statute doesn't necessarily directly say that you must enter into these agreements but
it implies it strongly. And then so what happens if the state determines that you've sherked your responsibilities under this new statute 908? Um the enforcement um remedies of the state are any executive or administrative state,
county or municipal officer who violates his or her duties under this chapter may be subject to action by the governor including potential suspension from office in the exercise of his or her authority under the state constitution and state law. Uh, in addition, the attorney general may file suit against a
local government entity or local law enforcement agency for declaratory or injunctive relief for a violation of this chapter. Um, if a local government entity or local law enforcement agency violates this chapter, the court must enjoin the unlawful sanctuary policy.
Um, so it's it's kind of difficult to understand how this would all play out because in its essence 8 USC code 1357 has a provision that says nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require any state or political subdivision of a state to
enter into an agreement with the attorney general under the section. So the feds say it's a voluntary agreement. The state says it's it's not really voluntary. we want you to do it and um if you don't do it there could be consequences and and they haven't
they've actually you've seen it in um Fort Meyers for example when Fort Meyers this's issue came up they had a um they were missing a commissioner the vote went 22 so the motion to approve the 287g agreement failed then they got a
letter from the governor's office actually from the attorney general saying that um we're really concerned about this and we may take action against you and then the Fort Myers reconvened and adopted it. So, so the
issues that really you're facing and this is not meant to scare or threaten. I just wanted you to be aware of the consequences. Um, in addition to the consequences, if the state reports the city to say the the um federal government and indicates that we're a
sanctuary city, that could also impact um the ability to receive grants. You know, the Edward J. Burn grant, the JAG grants, millions of dollars of uh federal funding could could just um disappear. other cities that have
suffered that fate have gone to court and taken on the United States government. So, that's always a possibility. And um the other thing I would say is that there's a bunch of items pending um in Tallahassee right now relating to those big checks that
the representative always bring to you and say, "Look what we got for you in Tallahassee." Um the governor has a veto pen and could end up vetoing some of that. So those are potentialities for entering or I'm sorry for voting no against this agreement. Now um the there
is another city that has said hey listen we don't know what our rights are. It's kind of unclear. Um so they took on the state of Florida. They filed a lawsuit and that is currently in the pleading stage. Um, I spoke to one of their attorneys today and he indicated that they were amending their complaint and
they hope to survive a motion to dismiss and then perhaps we'll get some clarity on the law at that point. But I don't want you to think that there are no consequences for voting no. There could be real consequences for voting no. Um,
and so, um, that's it in a nutshell. If you have any other questions, I can drill deeper into the agreement and to the uh law, but I just wanted to make you aware of that. You want to go over that again, George? Um,
um, you said Broward County got into some trouble. You said Broward, but he's the sheriff, correct? The sheriff department is required to. I don't see how Miami would be considered a sanctuary city because Miami Dade County
which the city of Miami falls within is participating in the 280 287G agreement. They are required to do that. So I don't think that you certain degree it's a subjective determination because
because we we the Miami Dade County Yes. are adhering to the 287G agreement, which means every municipality within the city within Miami Dade County now falls under that agreement. Therefore, we cannot be considered a sanctuary city
because we're not. Well, so right, um this this 287g conversation started initially with um jails that refused to allow ICE agents to go in and enforce detainer agreements. Um, so there's three different 287g agreements. There's
one for sheriffs and all 67 sheriffs have signed off on the um the 287g that applies to sheriffs, including the sheriff of Miami date county. So technically, we're in compliance with federal law because nobody's ignoring um
the access to the detainees, etc. Um but just based on the statute, the governor could determine that we're a sanctuary city because um you're impeding the police department from cooperating with ICE and going out and entering into a
task force agreement. Um I I did want to say as far as the uh task force agreement in reviewing it um the chief is correct that there's a provision of the task force agreement that says um number one the officers have to um be
identified they have to be vetted and they have to go through training and um they also have to be directly supervised by an ICE agent when they're out enforcing um the agreement. Um from my perspective as well
um I was asked earlier about liability. Um what happens if we sign this agreement and our officers go out um in a task force um there is some protection built in um I'll read two paragraphs.
One says, "Except as otherwise listed in this MOA or allowed by federal law and to the extent required by the United States statute, the law enforcement agency will be responsible and bear the cost of participating um LEA personnel regarding their
property or personal expenses incurred by reason of death, injury or incidents giving rise to liability. um participating personnel will be treated as federal employees for purposes of the federal torque claims act and also workers compensation claims when performing a
function on behalf of ICE is authorized by this by this MOA. In addition, it's the understanding of the parties to this MOA that participating law enforcement agency personnel performing a function on behalf of ICE authorized by this MOA will be considered acting under color of
federal authority for purposes of determining liability and immunity from suit under federal or state law. So basically what the agreement does is that it allows us to if there is an incident involving one of our officers who is acting under color of federal
law, they'll treat him sort of as a federal agent. However, um typically you have to ask the attorney general, you have to put them on notice of the claim and ask them to defend you. But so there are some sort of protections, but there is no indemnity clause or anything like
that. we there is a risk to participating in these agreements and um from a liability perspective. But the main thing that I wanted to present to you was the application of Florida law and um the potential for the
governor saying that um by your actions you've created a sanctuary policy. Do do we have a sense of how many officers would be involved and what the impact would be on daily operations? That will be a a personal management
perspective and decision that we'll make in in determination with the administration. But uh just to give you a perspective um what the madam chair was uh speaking about the sheriff has committed 100 uh of her sheriff's
deputies 50 from the patrol services and 50 from investigative services to serve under the 287G. I don't think that there's a need for such an elaborate uh uh assignment of personnel for the city of Miami. Uh
knowing that we're a bustling city kind of growing and meeting the other needs. I would say that three officers would suffice. What north, one central, one south, divided among the three shifts, A, B, and C working in conjunction with the ICE task force, I think it will
suffer that we have to discuss with with the administration and obviously with the uh ICE leadership here. So, so is this three officers at any one time or we're talking about say it was three that would be nominated subject to their vetting and train subsequently be
assigned to that task force with ICE immigration services. But chief, I think what he's asking is per shift. Correct. Three officers total, but per shift. So there's more than three officers. No, no, three officers total. Total. Yeah. one for one to represent each district
of the city. Yeah. And per the agreement um only those officers that have gone through the vetting and the training can participate. So if you designate three, then only those three, it's not like everybody else joins the task force. Correct. The notion that that the entire
Miami Police Department would be deputized somehow and be able to go and knocking on doors and do a systematic check of people's immigration status. It's just not possible. And It's something that we wouldn't consider doing. But but if if we're not a
sanctuary city like uh the chairman says, why do we have to and I'm not saying but what I don't get it. I mean if it's and if it's mandatory, why are we even voting on it? That's my question, right? So,
so well the items on your agenda and um the governor through his task force and there's a um and there was a speaker who came up here earlier that indicated that if you go to the um uh Florida Department of Law Enforcement
website and you look up LEA a there's a a mechanism for citizens to report you all for not compl complying with the Florida statutes and um trust would verify. I took a look at the site and indeed it exists there and um I have
watched a couple of the committees of the um the that the governor put together regarding immigration enforcement and um and when this first started um you may recall I think a a local chief of police went on to a a
local television show and was explaining the whole thing and and almost sort of said that you have to do it, you know. Um, there was some confusion between, you know, the state law says that sheriffs have to enter into these 287 GG G agreements. There's nothing that you
can overtly sense in the state law that says municipalities have to enter into these 287g agreements. But what I'm saying is there's a very strong implication in the law that if you don't enter into this agreement, it'll be perceived as hindering the police
department from um complying with 8 USC 1373, which is the 287g agreement. That's what Fort Meyers did. And they got the letter saying, you know, um are you sure you want to do this? And then they but but the chief of Fort Meyer, our chief has said that he doesn't have
a problem with it the way I kind of read your letter, right? So who says we're not complying? I mean, the chief has not said to to anybody, no, I'm not gonna I'm not going to do this, right? So who's going to point the finger and say you're you're not complying? Look, my problem was I'm going to make also I can't be a hypocrite. I came to this country when I was 6 years old and I was
lucky enough in the Liberty flights, you know. Now I'm for I'm against illegal immigration. And I think everybody is, you know, and this was and this got out of control during the Biden administration. That's partly why we're here. Now, the problem that that I'm seeing here is that they're also picking
up people that are in the process right now. In other words, uh the the Venezuelans uh that are under TPS, right? And and here's the other thing. This is going to create a huge South Florida problem for the economy here in South Florida. Now, I'm not one that I want to go against the governor, you
know, if it's mandatory to do this, but but I mean I I think that let me ask you this. If we deferred in waiting for for the u for this case to and also the president our president
uh hinted Friday that he he realized that this was bad for business. Okay. And the agriculture hotel and other industries he was not going to touch for the time being. So maybe we should wait for clarification. We're not saying that we're not going to do it. We're not
saying that we're not complying. All we're saying is waiting for for clarification. Yeah. To answer your question, who will determine whether or not you're a sanctuary city or we have a sanctuary policy? It'll be the Florida Attorney General um that will make that
determination. And um you know, as I said, I wrote one letter. I don't know if I'm going to get the reply to this. As as um you know, I said earlier, if the if the choice is to vote no or to defer, I would recommend a deferral. So,
we wait out um a litigation. Do I have a motion to defer? Yeah, I've got a motion to defer. I'll second. But but I just wanted this. I am with the United States government and the Florida government on on the illegal, you know, situation that
we have had in our borders. I'm I'm I'm all for that, you know. But what I don't want to see is people that are that have some status right now, you know, that that uh work in our hotel industry that uh transportation. I mean, the whole gamut really, you know, restaurant, you
know, I went to a restaurant the other day and and uh it was it was a long wait. And I asked the owner, "What happened?" He says, "I got no workers. Everybody's scared to come. They don't want to come. So, I'm out of workers." So, this is the reality. My pool man, he's a Venezuelan, by the way. I told my wife we might lose him. You know what I mean? This is the reality of the of the
of the situation that that we face here. But we also don't want to go, you know, against the federal government and we don't want to go against the the uh the governor, right? You know, that's that's not what we're saying. So, I think, you know, for me, I think the deferral uh is the best way to to get some clarification and and let the president
also um say what he's finally going to do and maybe take it from there. That That's me. I just wanted to suggest an indefinite deferral. um city attorney, I don't know if you think that works better just in terms of timing. Yeah, this case is not not on a fast track by
any stretch of the imagination. So that that um that gives us you know time basically. So by the way, I'm sorry to interrupt the chief. Is this hampering will this hamper your efforts at all of of complaint? So, Commissioner, currently right now,
we do assist any federal partner that calls for us in a sense of officer safety. Um, so it it won't stop what we're doing now. Uh, and to give you an example, uh, there's 700,000 detainers that were put into the FCIC,
NCIC, the National Search System. If our officers come across one of those, we can no longer hold the individuals past the time that it would normally take to do a traffic stop. So, our process right now is at that time to contact either an
ICE the ICE hotline or one of the county individuals once they get deputies into this agreement and ask for them to respond to address that detainer. We we cannot enforce that. Right. So, we will continue that policy. But the other problem that I have deeply
is the people that have been persecuted in Venezuela, in Cuba, in Haiti, and other parts of the world that are dictatorial in nature. And these people are here now. And those uh people that really have legitimate concerns might be sent
uh back. One of our congressmen this morning, I think I read it was Mario Ballard uh wrote a letter to the secretary of homeland Christine that there was a prisoner going back to I think it was Venezuela if I remember correctly and also one trip to Cuba and
and we're concerned about that because you know you're talking now about not just going back to a country that the economy is in you know poor condition that it's a dictatorship no freedom nothing we're talking about these people might be tortured okay going back to those countries that's the one of the first reasons that they came to to to
this country, you know, and I'm going to quote my my friend Mano Reyes, uh, the former commissioner, and I think he said here one one time where said to me, you know, if I make a bad dec if I make a decision that nobody likes, I'm going to leave with my head high, you know, but at least I would have done the right thing. And I I in good conscience
cannot, you know, and and and again, we're not doing this to go against the federal government. I don't think that's what we're saying here. I think my colleagues agree that that's not what we're doing. uh just I think we're being prudent in waiting to see clarification from the president of the United States
uh Donald Trump uh what what what is the clarity of this which which way are we going to approach and then leave it to that point and then make a decision after after you know we we got to we get a more concrete uh decision and I don't think any of my colleagues
are saying that by taking this action we are a sanctuary city we are not we are not a sanctuary city and Miami Dade County ensures that we are not like my colleague said, we're not trying to break the law. We're not
trying to break the law, but this city of Miami, all of us are immigrants. Everybody sitting on this dis is an immigrant. And you know
this is This is particularly troubling and I I don't have an issue with deferring it. Until we get clarity because it is my understanding that it's voluntary. If I'm wrong, that's a different story. So, until we
get clarity, I would support deferring it, but I have to hear from my colleagues to my right. Thank you, uh, Chair You all heard from a couple of people that spoke earlier.
I came um to America when I was six. I was put in a plane by myself. First time I ever had flown an airplane. And I said I was put in a plane for the
first time I ever flown in a plane in my life. And I was alone. Imagine at 6 years old. You're alone. I left my mother crying and crying. That's what I
remember. Through a glass partition, my father holding her. I had a small suitcase in one hand and a little bag of soldiers in the other. And while in the plane, a short flight
that seemed forever to me, I kept trying to not forget a message that my father had given me for someone that was meeting me in the airport that worked for one of our intelligence
agencies here. I was one of the lucky ones and Peter Pan Pedro of slightly over 14,000 that six months later I was able to reunite with my parents many
were not so lucky others took years they went through a lot of trauma and hurt. I remember the first night that I was brought to sleep. It was
in Kendall. And when you're a kid, everything seems bigger. So maybe it wasn't as big as it seemed to me then, but it just seemed to be a very big place. And it was full of army cots and kids
were all sleeping there. I was the youngest. Two weeks later, they sent me to Florida City where there were group homes. It was in a circle and there were group homes, regular houses with house parents that they had
10, 12 of us with each house parent, a couple. I was in such shock that I had not gone to the restroom for the first two weeks. And when I finally went to the restroom,
it my stomach hurt so much. But I was lucky because the house parents knew my aunt from Cuba. My aunt was a nun and the ladies
sister was also a nun with her in the same combat. So they had that closeness already with my family. And since I was six, uh, they took a liking to me and kind of the motherly,
fatherly protection of a young one. I'll share something with you all here that I never talked about before. Uh, my visa waiver was legit. I mean, I came legally. My father and my
uncle who is also my godfather uh were involved in creating a lot of uh fraudulent visas
together with one agency from here to make sure that a lot of kids could get out of Cuba. So many that came then that thought they came legally, it was a fraudulent uh
visa waiver. They gave me one of the legit ones cuz it was my father and uncle that were putting that together. I remember the early years as new immigrants when my father my parents came in. We
lived here for only a couple of months. I remember going to uh the elementary school there by my district now. And then we moved uh to Chicago where
the jobs were at. And I grew up in an America that your word meant more than signing 20 contracts. Um, you know, I enjoyed uh my
childhood in Chicago. I have to say that. And I I learned uh a lot uh about America that to today I carry with me uh the proudness, the great country that
this is. I still remember as a young boy in Chicago when John F. Kennedy was killed. I remember that day vividly in my mind. I also can tell you that throughout the years
I have done more for new immigrants to help them in this city. I'll match my record with anybody. Not just from Cuba, but I helped so many
of them. Just last weekend, I ran into a couple of doctors. They came from Africa and I was the first helping hand that did so much for them here. They still remember.
I'd forgotten a lot. And moving forward, I mean, I I remember the Maria boats. I had one of my little cousins that came there. I went all the way to Key West
to be able to get her. And then moving forward in the last uh 101 15 years, I can tell you that I've done what I doubt that any of our speakers
here today or anybody present here has done to help people looking for freedom be able to come to our country. I could tell you that in my home
I have had for months at a time Venezuelan families with little ones, the wives, military men, officers that provided a lot of information
in the sensitive positions that they were in as to what was happening over there. individuals that if they would be sent back, they could not go back to Venezuela because it's directly to jail
and being tortured or worse. One of them um he and I could only say this now because his family's out of there, he's out of there. He was one of seven, only seven
in all of Venezuela that were trained in the Soviet Union with the missiles they have there, which they have the most advanced missiles in the Western Hemisphere after the United States. While in Moscow being trained,
one of the group of seven that was with him was a Cuban dressed up as a Venezuelan. uh he had a lot of to say when we got him out. I've had others. In fact,
when uh President Biden said that he would allow Venezuelans to apply to leave the country, it individuals here will become responsible for them. I became responsible for one
family because I owed uh IUS to people there that we had gotten out but still had family left behind to help
them get out. Venezuelan government has priced me and their intelligence service files as being a terrorist and accused me of trying to have been a mastermind to have tried to kill
uh former President Chavez and the narco dictator that we have there. All lies, but nevertheless uh it's there. and if they could grab me in one of their friendly countries, I
have a one-way ticket over there not to come back. So, having said that that I I've done for immigrants and sacrifice
what few people that have come here and talked uh have done. So, I understand their plight. I would tell you that one of the military officers that I helped come
here, he's been waiting for 10 years on his asaling papers. 10 years for a political asylum. It's crazy. Uh the kids have grown up here. They're, you know,
they're part of us. He's bought a house. he works here. U they're going to send this guy back now. It's it's very difficult. Uh it's very difficult to comprehend that
and somehow I feel that there has to be a balance of how things are going to be done. But I also know the dangers that our country faces.
The immigration that has come to our country in past years would open borders in a way that few countries would allowed, if any.
Uh it's not been just from our neighbors. It's been from all over the world. We have a 100,000 Chinese from communist China that have come here. All military age. Are they here for freedom or some of
them here for something else? I don't know. We have people from every country in the world that have come to our country. I remember before President Biden was
came in to power that we were told that there was only 11 new 11 million new immigrants and no one believed that. We knew there were more than 11 million. Then when President Biden finished his term, we
were told that during that time that we had open borders that there were another 11 million. And we all know that more than 11 million came. Those were the ones that we caught. How many were not caught.
So that's 22 million for sure. And the number is probably closer to 30 million. Uh little less, a little more. What is the number of new immigrants that we need in our country for all the
jobs that we need here? I don't know what the number is. Do we need another 30 million to come to the borders? Do we need another 50 million, another 11 million? I don't know. But the bottom line is that
whoever was responsible for a lot of this and I think is throughout the years is everyone in Washington because we haven't had a clear dictate from Washington.
We're facing the situation today in every American city in particularly frontlined uh cities like Miami. Uh it's not a a happy situation
and I will tell you that I will say this to whoever I have to including President Trump which he knows the majority of the people that come in are good people that come in looking for freedom or a better
life for their families or both. I never understood why we sent all our factories and gave China every deal in the world so that they could become the
power they are today threatening our liberties and we didn't send those companies to Latin America to Central America. I guarantee you that that would have changed so many people's life and we
would have so many millions less people that would wanted to have left their country. People have left their countries either because of the need to better their lives and their children's
life because they can't live in their own countries or because their countries have been taken over by tyrants that have bankrupt them and have taken over freedoms.
And that's another area that we have to look at in this country. We have the Monroe doctrine that we've ignored. How can we let a Maduro be in our hemisphere? How can we let
Adore Ortega be there or the situation go on and on inside Cuba? So, I um I'm going to politely disagree with my
colleagues under deferment. I think we have to finally take this head out, but I I respect all of your opinions. I I don't think there's anybody here that's right, that's wrong. I think in one way or another, we probably all
feel the same. And certainly when I see some of these young kids that have lived here for years that love our way of life, it
it hurts because I've brought some of them in my own home. They slept in my house. They live with me. So,
this is not an easy decision for me at all. But I've also heard what our police chief, what our attorney have said, and each of us is going to have to vote uh our conscience. Uh but uh I would
respectfully not be voting for a deferment. Uh I think we have to deal with this one way or another, but I respect the will of the majority. So you want to make a motion then other than the deferral? I I will You have a
motion? We have a motion for deferral. Commissioner Rosado, would you like to make any I I I share the same concerns that everyone has enunciated in great detail. Uh I have a
tremendous amount of faith in our police department. I feel comfortable with the fact that it is much more limited in scope and scale than I think has been uh believed to be the case. I also take very seriously the fact that it it seems like on an annual basis we are at risk
of losing approximately $20 million and perhaps as much as eight more immediately at the state level. Um I I will not be supporting an indefinite deferral, but I respect the opinions of those that feel that that would be the right course of action.
By the way, for the record, I u mine was not a definite uh deferral, but you know what? Uh I will be joining you if uh you're ready for a motion to do the other way around. I will be joining you in light of the situation that has just been explained. You want to withdraw
your motion to commission? Uh yes, in light that you want an indefinite deferral. I don't want to do an indefinite deferral. I withdraw my motion. Okay. I'll be happy with any deferral, but just to clarify. So, do I have a motion? I will provide a
motion to approve uh RE5 based on everything that I have heard from our police chief, from our city attorney, uh on the law and on the scope of what we have done, what we're going
to be doing. Do I have a second? Uh, second. And and if I could add one one more thing, it's something I said on the campaign trail and it's something that I said over a number of years. Miami is in a very special position in
this country, not just geographically, but from a position of leadership. And I think we should be the model for how to accept this this requirement or next to requirement uh as it is and we should
lead the way and other cities should follow our lead so that everybody is treated as humanely as possible. I think we have that responsibility. We owe it to the hundreds of people that have reached out to us and I think that's that's how we should move forward.
Commissioner Pardo, I would just add and the reason that I was in favor of a deferral, withdrawal, anything other than this vote is because unfortunately while I also have faith in our police, this also creates a climate that is
uh doesn't work for our city in many ways. not not economically, not not as a as a place that's welcoming to the world, that's welcoming, you know, to all the regions and that helps sustain our economy and our neighborhoods. So, I
would I would rather see us since there is a pending court case and it could steer us in a different direction. I would rather see us wait for a resolution from that court case than to move forward and then have our city join
this kind of climate that uh that isn't acceptable to me. We have a motion and a second. All in favor? I I No. No. Motion carries. And just for the record,
32 with Chair King and Commissioner Partardo voting no. We have RE15 that was pulled for discussion. Commissioner Chairwoman should Can we go to the main items that we have
in the agenda today and then leave some of these that are lesser for the end? We have some key items here that we need to deal with uh that have been the main items that have been uh discussed by
many today and uh I'll be here uh until late like most of you will you know commissioner I can go ahead and defer these to the next meeting. It's not a real emergency, but I just wanted
to touch base because you weren't here uh chairwoman and the reason without going into details why I wanted to create thisou. Okay. Uh commercial about 3 years ago created a uh a resolution that the city of Miami Police
Department, the the chief or anybody could not investigate us uh the uh the commissioners. And uh a situation transpired where uh the commissioner from district 3 did not
like a report that I gave on the ber trust. And as a consequence of that, he instructed his chief of staff to go after me with chief with code enforcement when I have provided proof to the city attorney and to others that
I have zero violations on all my properties. and and just because of this fact and and I'm I'm I'm doing this as politely as I can without you know a shouting match or any of this thing. Okay. Uh I think that if if it's like
now I I say to you I don't like something that you to me you uh you vote on Madam Chair. to report and I say to Art, Art, uh, would you please go investigate the chairwoman, uh, because I think she's got some stuff on her properties, you know, and and and of
course, this has happened before with the same gentleman in question. And so my three properties, there was an order given to the city manager. The city manager calls me and tells me that he's got to investigate my properties. And I said, "What are you talking about?" He goes, "Yeah, because uh, Commissioner
Gau complained uh that you have uh violations on your property. And I went ahead and I instructed my staff to go to the MRC. I also called George Weissong and I said uh I want to give evidence that I have
zero u violations in my properties, okay, any of my properties, okay, at this time. And he spoke about fast boats in the back of my property that there was a limit on how much I I can have. And I responded that, you know, number one, I don't think he knows, but number
two, you know, this isn't right that, you know, I say now, I don't like something that Commissioner Rosado does. And I, you know, tell Art, oh, you know what, I want you to go to go investigate, you know, uh, I mean, and and he on the radio unfortunately
admitted that he had done it because of the report that I had given on the, uh, on what I found u to the Bayon trust. So, so in other words, there's no merit really why he gave this order to our city manager. And what I'm doing with this is saying, you know what, in the
future, let's not do this. If he has a problem and he thinks I'm doing something that shouldn't be, let's take it to a third party and let that third party, you know, do its investigation. I'm fine with that. But I'm not fine with, you know, what has happened here in the past that that's why we now have
lawsuits. I'm not fined by somebody going out on on a law-abiding citizen, which you know that I know. I pay my taxes. I pay my taxes on time. You can go check me out in Miami date county. Okay? You can do all this and and you'll see that I have no problems, but yet he
wanted to make something out of it. Now, what I found out, and I don't want to get into this either, but you know, I got to say it. What I found since since he threw a stone, you know, when he has a glass ceiling that he had violations, a prior violations, and his reads like a redacted CRA document where everything
it says here, u says here exempt from public disclo disclosure. In other words, you can't see any of the stuff that he has. I don't care what he has to be honest with you. But that's not my point cuz I'm not like that. I'm not petty that because I don't like something that you know you you know
your opinion or whatever or you didn't vote for something whatever it is I'm going to go after you. All right. Let me ask you a question. Has there ever been a time that I've said to you I want you this this political retribution that you felt that I was asking you to to commit political retribution on any of my
colleagues or anybody at all? You never filed a complaint in any way, shape or form against anybody else? I mean in terms of your you know any any any request or direction right I mean my nature is not that my my nature is not that okay and when you called me and by
the way you didn't tell me till the day after you know because he filed the complaint at 12 something uh 15 minutes before I was to start the vaper and trust meeting uh I didn't get notified what he was doing till the day after. I I guess you had a dilemma. You know, I understand that, you know, you're
presenting a rock and a hard place, but the point is this this shouldn't be used. This this shouldn't be allowed, okay, in city government where we weaponize, you know, the government against ourselves is what I'm trying and and I would simply forget about the subject. Very simple. Let's create anou
like he did with the police department years prior saying that you know what, you got a problem, take it to the county, and the county can refer a third party, FDLE, whatever. This is a, by the way, it's a noncriminal thing. But anyway, I think I proved more than sufficient that I don't have problems in
my in my properties. I gave this as evidence about a week ago. Okay? And I I also submitted his his stuff, you know. And then the uh the other thing is you know I I don't think okay that because I have to report as my due diligence that
I should be paying the price again for something okay that I'm simply report because what we're talking about two different items here. He is mad because I reported on the payer and trust which is a public entity with public dollars taxpayer dollars. my properties, okay,
is private property, okay? As long as I pay my properties and I I I I I maintain my my stuff and I, you know, I don't have any violations, okay, I don't see, you know, the the correlation here other than that that he is trying to commit political retribution against me because
he didn't like something that that I reported. Plain and simple, it's here and he's done this before. So anyway, if anybody would like to take up this resolution, okay, so this doesn't happen again, okay? And we can't do this to each other, I'd be happy happy to take
it. And and let me just say of R16, which I know he's going to talk about that I'm subpoena subpoening his District 3 chief of staff. Now, I I mean no harm to your chiefs of staff, Commissioner Naro. Okay. But after all, you did do it through him, and I just
want to ask him, has he been to my house? Did he have permission to go to my house? What did he see in my house? Okay, that's what I want to ask him. I I don't want to put I don't want to dress down the man. I don't want to uh I don't want to insult him. I don't want to uh you know badmouth him. But after all,
you know, if if he I I I need to identify who's who's the complaintant. Is it him or is it you? Because you're not supposed to give the city manager a direct order. And and what you did was you circumvented the the system and you used him as a conduit. And that's the reason, Madam Chair, that I'm doing the
R16- which is is a subpoena. But you know what? If you guys don't want to take that up today, the subpoena can be done another day. That's not that's not an an emergency thing uh for me. So, you know, and the resolution was for So, this never happens again, that we can't
do this to each other. It's not correct. It's not professional. and and and I agree with him when he went to the city of Miami police department about uh 3 or 4 years ago and he said and he created an ordinance and said the police department the chief cannot investigate
us the commissioners. Okay, I think he's right. Okay, it should be done to a third party. It should be done to FDLE. In other words, a report can be made and FDLE or somebody else any other entity can follow through. And this is the same thing that I'm doing here. So, our code
enforcement, okay, cannot be weaponized against any of of the commissioners here. That's all I leave it through. Mr. Mr. Manager. Yeah. I just I want to clarify a couple things so that we're we're crystal clear on on kind of the
what has transpired or has not transpired. Um the complaint came from Commissioner Croy himself basically, right? Um not basically. No, no, it did. But I but I mean there's an implication that that
because his chief of staff sent the email, he was clear it was it was from him. Okay. Okay. So then you know what withdraw I don't have to then if he mentioned then I don't have to let's save the the time and I don't have to uh because I want to establish let me just let me let me finish because I think it's important to say this. Okay. Um, I
I've been in this job a little over 5 years and and I can say without question, without a shadow of a doubt, Commissioner Coroyo has never given me a direct order to do anything, right? He's very respectful of the charter. He has
always been. Um, he had every right to file this complaint. The the code allows for it, by the way. He put his name to it. He he didn't hide behind um anyone else. He didn't do it anonymously. um and in reality they have an obligation to comply with the with the complaint
file. Are you are you in a lawsuit right now because of this same thing? Are you not in a lawsuit on him because of this same behavior right now? Right now the city of Miami is facing millions of dollars because of what he did to other people which is now he's doing to me. And I'm I'm surprised I'm surprised that
you yourself okay do not realize what's going on here. You tell me. I'm I'm just all I'm sure you gota you got to let me finish because all I'm doing is stating the facts, right? I'm just trying to be clear so that everybody understands kind of what if the the the other situation you're referring to relative to the
litigation in all in all fairness. Yeah. Yeah. I'm a party to that litigation. And quite frankly, by the way, I think we had merit in what we did. Absolutely. I I will go into that rabbit hole 100 times out of 100. Okay. I believe the city attorney wants to say to you that
we are not to discuss this case. So So you feel comfortable? So we can't we can't discuss this. Okay. No, I'm not. Okay. Okay. Okay. So, so Art, you feel comfortable? No. You feel comfortable going to my house because he told you that I have violations? You feel comfortable? Commissioner, I'm
going to get there. Commissioner, that's not what he was saying. That's not what he was saying. And if the city attorney can No, but I'm asking the question. No, no. If the city attorney can chime in on receipt of a complaint, irrespective of where and who files the complaint, the
manager is obligated to do what? So the issue is a complaint came in. It's an allegation. That's all it is. It's not a violation. It's an allegation. So the the city manager received the allegation and it's his he
can't just ignore um allegations of code enforcement violations um whether he wants to or not. And I credit him for um sort of striking the hornets's nest by actually um reaching out to the commissioner to to let him know that a
an allegation had been filed against his property. But the manager was in a tough spot and that once an allegation comes in um he has to it's his duty under the code. And did I not submit evidence that I have zero violations about a week ago?
Did you not give me that information also? Did I not submit that evidence? Is that into evidence now? So, so the issue is right now we've got an we've got an allegation that's pending. Um, typically when So, you made an allegation and I responded. I said, "Here it is. Here's the here's the records for my property.
What do you see there?" Right. So, typically when a code enforcement uh allegation occurs, an inspector goes out to verify whether or not there is a violation. We don't know if there's a violation on your property or not officially because it's never been inspected by a code inspector. But why
does it have to be inspected? Why does it have to be inspected? Am I a criminal here? Why don't we inspect your house? Why don't we inspect your house? Commissioner, no. But but but come on. Come on. You guys wouldn't like this to be done to you would like you have control over that. Okay. If if a citizen
files a complaint on any of us and neighbors file complaints against their neighbors, we the code department is obligated by law to follow up with all complaints irrespective of who faceless
faceless nameless you know. Um I can't believe that you guys are going to cover this. I'm not we're not covering anything up. They're just explaining to you the process. It's not your It's not the process against you. It's a process against everyone. Right. So Art Art,
right now am I committing u anything wrong by telling you right now here in front of these people that I want you to investigate his house because I believe his house has violations from the future which I got it right here because I got his violations. His violations are here. Mines are zero. Is it is can I do that?
Am I am I violating anything right now by me telling you that? Well, depends on if you want to pass then take it then take it take it as as what he did to he said to you take the same thing and I want his house also because you're telling me he he did everything by the book right and I just asked you if I
tell you this am I doing something wrong so if I'm not let art now I'm telling you that I suspect because of this book here where ladies and gentlemen you blacked it out nobody nobody knows what's going on here okay there's a cover up I want him now investigated
Is that going to happen or are you going to investigate him? Commissioner Commission. No, no, no, no, no. I want to know. I want to know. You think Commissioner Rosado wants to make a statement? Commissioner Rosado. I do. I I you know, I've been on the administrative side of these kinds of things and it's very sensitive when elected officials are involved and
there's any sort of code allegation. I I support the directing the manager to create an MOU so that we send these things out to avoid these kinds of challenging situations to avoid any conflict of interest. That's what I said. That's what I wanted to do. Go ahead and investigate me, but it ain't
going to be his code enforcement like what happened to other people. That's not what's going to happen. I'm not stupid. They're going to go over there and they're going to invent something, okay? Because that's what's happened in the past. I It's been alleged. You you your opinion is not that. And his is something else. But that's okay. And what I'm saying to you guys, you want to
investigate me, go ahead and investigate me. Okay? Go ahead and do it. But you know what? Do it through a third party. That's all I said, Art. That's all I said. But but if you had let me finish from the very beginning and I would have gotten down to the end end result was I absolutely concur should be an
independent entity whatever that may be. I the resolution as proposed, right, which which um gives direction to the administration to find another intergovernmental or municipal entity. That's going to be I've said it I said it and we did the briefings that that
may be very difficult to do because other in everybody that we've reached out to, right, has had an unwillingness to to participate. There is another alternative, right, which is a private entity, right? There are companies that have filled in for cities from a code enforcement perspective. They send their
employees out, so they're independent of the city. So it's not a city employee that's going out there. They they do all the services of a code enforcement inspection, right, based on our code and and they report back. That that would be a reasonable, right, amendment to the
resolution, I think, will give us a little more flexibility because I just don't think we're going to find another municipal entity that's willing to do it. So the amendment would be and or either an intergovernmental agency or a private entity, right? I understand. But here's the thing. If you're in my shoes,
okay, here's the thing. Okay. I suspect, you have a different opinion, but I suspect, okay, that I'm being I'm being targeted and I have I've got a a pretty good, you know, and you guys know why. I'm not going to get into it. I suspect that I'm being targeted and I will not let myself put into that position
because I don't know who has a that's why I wanted the county to do it. Okay. Why? Because you got 13 commissions. It's very hard for somebody to know somebody and then do do the uh you know the the unthinkable. Okay. I don't understand. Okay. Why if I have given
you already okay and I said to you okay fine here is my violation right I have zero but he has a lot. I don't understand why now you got to go to my property or anybody, okay? Like if I went delinquent, okay? Like if I'm a delinquent and I did something, okay,
which I'm not and in light of what has transpired here in the past in the millions of dollars just because of this because of the same thing that's happening here. You guys cannot, you know, the sun is out. You cannot cover the sun with with with one finger, my friend. This has already happened. We're
in litigation now. In fact, today we were having a shame meeting just because of this. just because of this. Okay. And you mean to tell me that? Oh, come close, Commissioner. Oh, no. He's got good reasons, Scott. All these guys got good reasons to do this to me. But, but Madam Chair, come on. Put yourself in my position. No, I am. But I'm just
cautioning you because Kevin got back up. He really wants us to not discuss litigation. You can say anything. Yeah, of course. He wants me to be quiet, but Kevin's house is not being investigated. Kevin's house is not being investig litigation that the city is in. No, no,
but I'm not going into discussion of what the details are. I I said what's truth and what you can't cover. What the sun is out. Everybody knows what's happened here. Everybody knows what's going on, you know, and I'm not saying anything new. No, nothing's being learned here new. Okay? So, so if you're in my shoes again, okay, you got to
think, okay, you got to think that gee, oh, he's got the best intentions for me, you know, oh, you know, uh, he knows, you know, and and here's the funny part. He's been to my house. He he was he had dinner in my house in 2019. Okay. In 2019, he and his wife Margary came over
to my house because he was thinking of supporting me that that year. Okay. Why didn't he say anything then? Okay. Why he why now? Why now? When the thing he admitted on the radio that the reason he was doing that and you should take take this to note, Art, because he admitted
on the radio, we got the recording that the reason he was doing that, okay, this is because he didn't like because I had political retribution against Republic is what he said on the radio. Meaning meaning that he's telling you why he did it. There's no merit to what he's
talking about. He just told you we have that chair. How about me though? I'd like Hold on. Hold on. We We let you speak. We Let's move to vote. No, no, no. I'm saying like to call the question. You were saying we let you speak when you're speaking cuz he says
the same thing. How long? How long? So I let I let you speak and I don't interrupt. So I'm going to let him speak and I don't interrupt. And I'm not saying how long. How? No, I'm not doing that to any one of you. Um, but we, you know, we have to be fair. We can't say to each other how long, how long, when
it's you or him or I'm making over there. I'm siding with you, sir. Um, Commissioner Rosado, do you want to say something else? I'd like to call the question. Call the question. Commissioner Coro wants to say
something. I have been accused by Gava on one thing after another here and so has my staff been accused wrongly. Uh I purposely had asked chair to leave these items towards the end kind of just
so that we could deal with the important part of the meetings uh not all this other uh smoking mirrors but you started listen I didn't interrupt you sir I kept
my mouth shut as much as I wanted to say something at different times so I politely ask you to let me speak. The history of this city has been recent history. Three commissioners
that complaints were filed, not even filed at the time, just people calling in have had code sent to their homes. Commissioner Sarno,
Commissioner Diaz Libertia in his home and yours truly. When your friends say you're defending him, uh, called anonymously that I was doing construction when there
was no construction whatsoever and every neighbor uh, around me stated so. The city manager sent someone to verify that and looked when the report was there was no
construction or anything else. Uh someone told the city manager to go after me and the city manager the code that you say that I control that I don't control anybody there on the contrary.
uh the city manager at the time that I found out months later cuz someone talked finally. Uh they didn't even know that they had gone to my house. The city manager assigned the lady that's in charge of the trees to lead a
task force to my house to find anything that they c possibly could. And what they found out was that there was a carport that didn't have permits built
before I bought the house. There were carports there built before I bought the house. There was a small roof deck that wasn't permitted and that was also there when I bought my
property. Both of them, yes, I did put a twoft trellis in my fence. Uh I didn't think that I had to get a permit for that because uh it didn't meet the threshold of $500.
But I was told that I needed a permit. Well, I didn't complain. I took everything down and then inspectors are sent again to verified that I had complied
and I didn't ask for all this. Now, the difference of what was approved by this commission in the past with the police to code enforcement is night and day. You're not comparing apples to apples, oranges to
oranges. When the police investigate, these are criminal, potentially criminal investigations. That's why this commission's policy was for it to be sent outside.
Code is different. It's simple. Most of the time, you could see clearly what's there. Now, Mr. Ortiz, uh, at the risk of getting subpoena on this here too, uh, can you
showed, uh, what we sent, uh, the manager or what we have. Okay, this is
the river inlet. It's It's a shame I didn't bring pictures of your violations because I have pictures of your violations. But you see where he's going with his go. This is the proof. What proof, my friend? What proof? You're crazy, man. What? You're crazy. Wait.
You're crazy, folks. Cut off the mics. I'm going to cut off the mics. Let me speak. All right. I want to put a picture on. I want to put a picture on. Is this a regurgitation of a special commission meeting that Commissioner Partardo chaired? If it is, I'm gonna stop it right now. I'm gonna stop it
right now because we have so much work to do. We have so much work to do. He just called me a liar. I told you the truth. I'm lying. He He So we cannot present our side. Of course he did. How many times are you going to present my map of my house?
Violating my family's right to privacy. Have I Have I said your address here, sir? That How about you? How come I can't see yours? How come I can't see yours? Heat. Heat. [Music]
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Southeast Overtown Town Park West CRA meeting to order. Todd, did you flip the tape already? Oh, wait. So, I have to call it to order again. Okay. Welcome to the city. He may put some Jack in there.
Yes, sir. For number three. We might get another one. Is the tape ready? Hold on. Uh, Madame Chair, we are prepared to Wait, he hasn't flipped the tape yet. Okay.
That's great. Todd, are you ready? At this time, we are going to call to order the Southeast Overtown Park West CRA meeting for June 17, 2025. Welcome everyone.
I'm going to allow my executive director, James D. McQueen, to open the meeting. Hello madame uh chair person. Um we are going to I'm going to turn it over to attorney Brown
so that he can read into the record our items including the deferrals. Madam Chair, there are minutes from the April 10th and April 24th meeting that needs to be approved. The first resolution is a resolution authorizing a grant in the amount not to exceed
$75,000 to the Liberty City Trust for 2025 youth employment program. Item number two is a resolution approving with attachments the sole response from WLS doing
businesses in AI Miami Fort Lauderdale and response to RFP25-01 for property management services further authorizing executive director to execute a professional service agreement substantially in the form that's attached item number three is going to be deferred
until the July 24th 2025 meeting. Item number four is going to be deferred until the July 24th, 2025 meeting. Item number five is a resolution authorizing the execution to negotiate a purchase
sale agreement with Charlene Ingram as trustee under the Charlene Ingram family trust and JJ Properties, Inc. Collectively the sellers for the property located at 936 Northwest 3rd Avenue and 950 Northwest 3rd Avenue, Miami, Florida to develop properties to
enhance the quality of life in the surrounding areas in an amount not to ex to be amended that item to be amended in an amount not to exceed $3.5 million and or the appraised value. Those are our items, Madam Chair, for
consideration. At this time, I'm going to open the floor for public comment. If there's anyone here that would like to speak on any of the items that is before us, please step to the lecterns. Seeing none, public comment period is
now closed. May I have a motion to approve the minutes? So moved. I have a motion. Do I have a second? Oh, second. All in favor? I. Motion carries. It can carry two one. Yes, it can. I know.
Okay. Um, next item. I don't have the items that were read into the record. Madam Chair, the items that were read into the record. Tell me the next one cuz one, two, and five. May I have a motion for items one, two, and five? So
move. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? I. Motion carries unanimously with five as amended. Yes, sir. With five as amended. And items three and four are deferred to the July 24th, 2025 meeting.
Uh I can't get a commissioner out here to get my four fifths. Nope. Negative. Number three. Number three. Okay.
Think I can wrangle one commissioner out here for four fifths vote. If I get a revisit anyone. Just commission. I have a um I have four now. We have a Can I ask the clerk, do we
have to read the fourth item that we announced as deferred? Do we? Yes. So item item number number three was going to be deferred because it's a four fifth item. So we have to redo it. Did we defer it already?
There was no motion. It was okay. Okay. So just read the two items that are four fifths now. It's only one item, Madam Chair. Oh, the one item. Okay. Item number three, a resolution with attachments approving allocation of funds in the amount not to exceed $2.7 million. Continue program to complete
the facade enhancement program for Colema Townhouse and the Northwest Third Avenue commercial quarter targeted zone, bringing the total project cost to $4 million. That's item number three, a four fifth item. Do I have a motion? So moved. So I have
a motion and a second. All in favor? I. Motion carries unanimously and then the motion to motion to defer. Even though we still have Yes. I'm sorry. My apologies, Mr. Executive Director. We we we we work well together. Item number four is a a will be deferred
to the July 24th meeting and that is the first amendment to the Hood Hood Design Studios agreement. That item will be deferred until July 24th. May I have a motion? Motion. I have a motion. Second. Second. All in favor? I the item is
deferred and that shall conclude the Southeast Overtown Park West CRA meeting for June 17th, 2025. Thank you. At this time, we are going to flip the tape and um we'll have the
OmniC meeting. Chair Partardo, we're good to go. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm calling to order the June 17th, 2025 special OmniCA meeting. Is there a motion to approve the minutes for April 10th, 2025 Omnic meeting?
A motion to approve the minutes of the meeting for April 10th, 2025 Omnic. You don't need to do that for public comment. Open it after public comment comes after. Oh, motion and a sec. Is there a second? Second.
All those in favor? I I. Motion carries. 31 with Commissioner Rosado voting no. Madame Executive Director, please briefly read agenda items CRA resolutions one through three into the record. Good evening, commissioners. Um, item
one is a discussion item for an unsolicited proposal um, received by the OmniCA for an affordable housing project at 1428 Northwest 1st Avenue. Our rules um, dictate that we must bring the item to the board for discussion um, and then
put the item out for competitive process as we have in the city of Miami. Item resolution RE1 is um a resolution of the board of commissioners of the OmniCRA establishing future leader scholarship program for the purposes of supporting
higher educational vocational training and accredited certificate programs for eligible residents within the boundaries of the OmniCA further allocating an amount not to exceed $200,000 from non-tiff revenues for this program. RE2 is a resolution of the board of
commissioners um authorizing the executive director to negotiate and execute a consent to collateral assignment to negotiate and execute um the collateral assignment um with Winwood House for mixed use and mixed development properties. Um RE3 is a
resolution of the board of commissioners um with attachments authorizing the executive director to negotiate and execute all documents necessary to enter into an agreement with Miami date county water and sewer department for the historic citizens bank.
Okay. The public comment period is now open for all items on today's agenda. All right. Seeing no further public comment on the agenda items, the public comment period is now closed. Is there any discussion amongst board members
regarding resolutions 1 through three? Is there a motion for resolutions 1 through three? Motion. Second. All those in favor? I I motion carries. Thank you. The remaining item left on today's agenda is discussion item number one.
You have to approve the minutes from the April 10th meeting as well. I'm sorry, which one is that? The minutes from the April 10th meeting. We've already taken care of that item. Okay. Discussion item. So, for the discussion item, um we
pursuing to 18 um 1119, we must bring the item as a discussion for the board. Uh we received a proposal for the development of a six-unit affordable housing project in our D5 portion of the OmniCAR. Um the proposal, the unsolicited proposal was submitted by
Dragonfly Investments LLC. And as discussed before, pursuant to our rules, we must put it out there for competitive bid pursuant to Florida statute. So this is the opportunity to notify the board that we received an affordable housing proposal, but we are and we must put it out for competitive processes.
And what do you expect from the competitive process? There'll be um we expect to receive, you know, a number of submitts and proposals to develop an affordable housing project. Um something that fits the character of the neighborhood. Um six units or more
depending on what is allowed. So after we go through the entire um assessment process, then we'll move forward. Anyone else? Okay. Thank you. Thank you everyone for being here today. The meeting is now adjourned.
Chair, we're ready to go. At this time, I am calling to order the City of Miami Commission meeting for June 17, 2025. Madam chair, can I call the question to up and down for to create theou so this doesn't happen? Yes, please, sir. Do I
have a motion? Motion. Do I have a second? This is Commissioner Rosado. This is for RE15. Um, I'd like to entertain the friendly amendment that the manager proposed with regards to getting an
interlocal agreement and or a contract agency in case he's unable to identify an interlocal agency to independently investigate. Um, I I don't want to I I like a I like the county idea. Okay.
Uhhuh. That's good enough for me, you know, and uh that's where I'm at. If you guys want to vote up or down, no, if you don't want it, I'm fine. No, no, I don't want it. I don't trust it. I I trust the county. They can do all the investigations they want. I don't have a problem. I'm not guilty of anything. Uhhuh. You know, so that that's where I'm at. But but it it'll be fair and
then that I trust. Okay. I'll second. The only reason why I said that is because the manager said that they had been trying to get someone and they they didn't show any interest in Tell them to try harder. I understand. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? I
hold on. is that my question is how are we going to deal with the public in this the
individual that has a small home that gets decided by code on a daily basis and if they don't comply within 30 days they're being threatened that they're going to find them all kinds of money.
They're petrified that they're going to lose their home and they have to comply quickly. It's been a month since this has happened and the resolution is talking about 90 days more.
I mean, there has to be a balance. Are we going to be above the residents of Miami? Are we going to have the special treatment that our residents don't get. And and that's the point that
I'm trying to make. You mean like you got this is not I didn't get I did not get Please don't I did not get Please don't go back and forth with each other. Please do not right there or what? There's nothing there. Okay. Don't Please don't go Please don't go back. Please don't go back and forth with each
other. Take it to him so he's got a copy. Take it to him. What? I'll get another. Yeah. There's no special treatment there that I got anything and you know it darn well. How do I know it's covered up? But how do I know it's covered up? Because you say it. You're worth it. Your words is worth nothing to
me. Okay. There I'm being advised. There's enough there's enough there's been enough debate and so let's call the question up or down. Let's call the question up or down. He doesn't have to vote on like No, my my question is I don't care if I got the vote or not.
What matters is what process are we going to follow? Are we going to make ourselves above the residents of Miami that anybody that gets cited has to take action immediately or are we going to
get the special treatment that we get months before the first inspector can come and look at anything? So why did you do that with the police department is my question. Excuse me. Tell you what, let's take off your ordinance with the police department. No, no, no. But he's asking a question. Why did you do it
with the police department? Because apparently you didn't want to be investigated. Maybe you don't understand. No. Yeah, I understand. You did it to cover your yourself. Listen, this is the same principle. Please. Police. Same principle, sir. Same principle. Please. Same principle. Through the chair. Do
not speak directly to each other. speak through me and do not speak while one or the other is speaking because nothing gets done. We are wasting our residents time. There's an issue before us. It has
a motion and a second. All in favor? I nay. I now commission and we So the motion passes for one commissioner coro voting no as is. As is. Can we go to the items
as I requested before this happened that are important that to the city? All right. What I'm going to do is I'm going in order because every item is important to the city. If we want to hold the items that you've pulled for discussion
till last, I'm fine with that. Let's run through the agenda for the items that are non-controversial. Let's get those over with. How about that? So, let's move on. That's what I've asked to EM1. This must be read by the city attorney.
The title must be read by the city attorney. I'm sorry. What item is that? EM1. It's EM1. Yes. EM1. Um, EM1. Ordinance. Emergency ordinance of the Miami City Commission by four-fifths affirmative vote amending chapter 37 of
the code of the city of Miami, Florida is amended titled offenses miscellaneous to repeal section 37-6 titled aggressive or obstructive panhandling prohibited in its entirety containing a severability clause and providing for an an effective date.
Do I have a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All in favor? I. All right. I have to read it again. Wait, did Commissioner Rosado, you want? Yeah, Commissioner Rosado. I don't I don't I was looking this way. Motion carries unanimously. Requires a second
reading and a second vote. Yes, Madam Chair. Um, EM1, an emergency ordinance of the Miami City Commission by four-fifths affirmative vote amending chapter 37 of the code of the city of Miami, Florida is amended titled defenses miscellaneous to repeal section 37-6 titled aggressive or obstructive panhandling prohibited in its entirety
containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date. May I have a motion? So moved. Second. Second. All in favor? Motion carries unanimously. Mr. City Attorney, would you please read for the record the
ordinances? Second reading ordinances. Yes, Madam Chair. SR1, second reading. An ordinance of the Miami City Commission amending chapter 52 article 1 section 52-4 of the code of the city of Miami Florida as amended city code titled special events special events
permits application requirements to add the department of resilience and public works fees for use of the public rightway containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date SR2 an ordinance of the Miami city commission amending chapter 36 section
36-4 of the code of the city of Miami Florida has amended city code titled noise, operation of radios, photographs, or other sound making devices, bands, orchestras, and musicians generally. Exemption in chapter 36, section 36-5 of the city code titled noise same hours of
operation of juke boxes, radios, etc. exemption for events on city- owned property relaxation to create alternate hours for restrictive times and alternate distances for sound for the Miami Riverside specialty district containing a severability clause and
providing for an effective date and SR3. Also a second reading ordinance, an ordinance of the Miami City Commission amending chapter 54, article 1, section 54-3 of the code of the city of Miami as amended titled streets and sidewalks and general permit required for work that obstructs or closes a street, sidewalk,
or impedes traffic fees waiver of fees to provide for fees to provide for waiver of permit fees for single family affordable housing projects containing a severability clause and providing for an immediate effective date. That is all the second reading items.
Gentlemen, any of the second reading items would you like to pull for discussion? May I have a motion? So moved. Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Chair. So for SR2, SR2 is to be amended pursuant to a substitution memo
dated June 11, 2025. Thank you, chair. Thank you. I have a motion and a second for SR1, SR2 as amended, and SR3. All in favor? I. Motion carries unanimously. Mr. City Attorney, would you please read the titles of the ordinances for first
reading items? First reading. Yes, Madam Chair. First reading ordinance 1, FR1, an ordinance of the Miami City Commission, amending chapter 2, article 4, division 2, titled administration, departments, planning, building, and zoning department by establishing section 2-214
titled ancillary dwelling unit ADU compliance to introduce registration and compliance requirements for ancillary dwelling units. Further amending chapter 10 article 5 titled buildings code relief program by establishing section 10-77 titled accessory dwelling unit ADU
amnesty program to introduce an amnesty for existing ancillary dwelling units containing a severability clause in providing for an effective date FR2 first reading ordinance an ordinance of the Miami city commission amending chapter 2 article 4 division two of the
code of the city of Miami Florida is amended city code titled administration departments planning building and zoning department. More particularly by amending section 2-11 titled denial or revocation of certificate of use by restricting chapter 10 of the city code violations from causing a denial or
revocation of a certificate of use in limited circumstances containing a severability clause and providing for an immediate effective date. That's it for the FR items. Colleagues, are there any of the items for FR the first reading item? I'm
sorry, chair, Mr. City Attorney, did you read FR4 into the record, the title? Oh, I'm sorry. I stopped at FR3. I didn't see FR4. I apologize, but Madam Chair, FR4, first reading and ordinance of the Miami City Commission, pursuant to sections 100605,
parenthesis 2, 101.75 parenthesis 3, and 166.021 parenthesis 4, Florida statutes. Amending chapter 16 of the code of the city of Miami, Florida is amended city code titled elections more particularly by amending section 16-2 of the city
code titled same holding of city elections straw ballot to change the date of the general election from November 4, 2025 to November 3, 2026 and to change the date of all subsequent elections providing for the extensions of existing terms of office containing severability clause and providing for an
immediate effective date. Thank you. Just one second. We cannot vote on FR2 until we vote on PZ12. F FR3 was deferred.
So we only have F FR1 and F FR4 in play. And I would think that we want to pull FR4 for discussion. So can I have a motion for F FR1? I I actually was going to pull F FR1. I I think it's important and I think the public would be interested in hearing more about it.
Pull for discussion. Pull for discussion. just for an explanation for for the sake of the public's understanding. Okay. Um so we'll come back to all the FRS. Mr. City Clerk, do we have any board appointments?
Thank you, Chair. BC1 Arts and Entertainment Council. Mayor Suarez would like to appoint Michelle McCoy and Gloria Rodriguez to his vacant seats. May I have a motion? Motion. I have a motion second and a second. All in
favor? Motion passes. BC6 Downtown Development Authority. The DDA is requesting the confirmation of Eileen Higgins. Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? I.
DC10 LGBTQ Advisory Board. Commissioner Partardo would like to appoint Timothy McLemore to the atlarge vacancy. Do I have a motion? Motion. I have second. Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor?
Motion carries. BC11 Liberty City Community Revitalization Trust. Chairwoman Kaine would like to reappoint Carrie Johnson, Emma Ladson, Samuel Latimore, Ver Vernal R Jr. um and city
manager Nordie would like to appoint Lawrence. Do I have a motion? Motion. Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? I. Motion carries. PZ13. Um, planning, zoning, and appeals board. Commissioner Pa would like to appoint
Joshua Pentinkin to one of his vacant seats. Second. All in favor? I. That concludes the committees and boards. Thank you, chair. Thank you, Mr. City Attorney. Would you please read the planning and zoding item titles required?
Yes, madam chair. Excuse me. PZ1 second reading ordinance. An ordinance of the Miami City Commission with attachments amending ordinance number 10544 is amended the future land use map of the Miami comprehensive neighborhood plan pursuant to small-scale amendment procedures subject to section 163.3187
Florida statutes by changing the future land use designation from medium density restricted commercial to public parks and recreation of the acreage described herein of real property at 1628 Northwest 6th Street, 1653 Northwest 5 Street and 1644 Northwest 6th Street.
Miami, Florida is more particularly described in exhibit A making findings containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date. PZ2 an ordinance second reading ordinance an ordinance of the Miami city commission with attachments amending the zoning atlas of ordinance number 13114 the
zoning code of the city of Miami Florida as amended Miami 21 code by changing the zoning classification from T5L urban center transact zone limited to CS civic space transit zone for the property generally located at 1628 Northwest 6th
Street 1653 northwest 5 street and 1644 northwest 6th Street Miami Florida as more particularly described in ly attached and incorporated exhibit A making findings containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date. PZ4
a resolution of the Miami City Commission with attachments. Mr. City, I'm sorry that's a resolution. Sorry. PZ7 PZ7 an ordinance first reading ordinance. An ordinance of the Miami City Commission amending ordinance number 10544 as amended the Miami comprehensive neighborhood plan of the
city of Miami, Florida, pursuant to the expedited state review process subject to section 163.3184 Florida statutes by amending the interpretation of the future land use map and correspondence chart to create a new future land use designation called
transit oriented node amending appendix LU1 amending policy LU-5.1.3 and policy LU 5.2.1 and amending the future land use designation of the properties generally bounded by Northwest 7th Avenue to the
west, Northwest 76th Street to the north, norththeast 2nd Avenue to the east, and Northwest 70th Street to the south in Miami, Florida, approximately 143.75 acres as more particularly described in the attached and incorporated in exhibit A from general
commercial light industrial medium density multifamily residential medium density restrict restricted commercial and major institutional public facilities, transportation and utilities to transit oriented node one and transit oriented node two providing for
transmission making findings containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date. PZ8 also second reading an ordinance of the Miami city commission amending ordinance number 13114 the zoning ordinance of the city of Miami Florida as amended Miami 21 code by amending
article 3 titled general to zones section 3.14 titled public benefits program to exclude properties located within or abuing the Coconut Grove Neighborhood Conservation District NCD3 from being able to utilize T50 bonus hype making findings containing a
severability clause and providing for an effective Ive date PZ9 second reading ordinance an ordinance of the Miami city commission amending ordinance number 13114 the zoning code of the city of Miami Florida as amended Miami 21 code specifically by amending article 7
section 7.2.3 titled alterations and expansion of non-conforming structures and section 7.2.6 6 titled non-conforming uses to allow existing legal non-conforming public storage facilities in the T5 urban center zone
and the T6 urban core zone to repair, remodel, or alter more than 50% of a non-conforming public storage facility structure and reestablish a non-conforming use by exception provided the repair, remodel, or alteration of the structure incorporates the design
review criteria set forth in article 4, table 12 of the Miami 21 code, making findings containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date. PZ10 first reading ordinance. An ordinance of the Miami City Commission amending ordinance number 13114 the
zoning ordinance of the city of Miami, Florida as amended by amending article 1 section 1.2 two titled definitions, definition of terms to update and add definitions relating to parking structures and podium height by amending article 3 section 3.15 titled general to
zones affordable and attainable mixed house mixed income housing special benefit program supplemental regulations and section 3.16 titled workforce housing special benefit program supplemental regulations to update affordable and attainable mixed income
housing and workforce housing parking design standards. and to adjust setback requirements by amending article 4, table 4 titled standards and tables density, intensity, and parking. And table 12 titled design review criteria to update parking requirements for liner
uses and to clarify design review criteria for parking structures and podiums by amending article 5 titled specific to zones, specifically sections 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.8, 5.9, and 5.10 10 to
clarify design standards for parking structures and podiums. clarify allowable parking screening encroachments, create development incentives for liner buildings, and modify loading and access regulations when abuing T3 transex zones by amending article 6 section 6.1 titled
supplemental regulations intent and exclusions to update and clarify the locations that allow for micro dwelling units in liners and by amending article 7 section 7.1 titled procedures and non-conformities procedures for uniformity and code language making findings containing a severability
clause and providing for an effective date. PZ11 first reading ordinance an ordinance of the Miami city commission amending ordinance number 13114 the zoning ordinance of the city of Miami Florida as amended by amending article 7 section 7.1.3.7
titled no approval available if code enforcement violations to provide an exception for applications made by the city of Miami making findings containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date PZ12 first reading ordinance an ordinance of the Miami city
commission amend Amending ordinance number 13114. The zoning ordinance of the city of Miami, Florida is amended by amending article 7 titled procedures and nonconformities. More particularly by amending section 7.1.2.1 titled permitted uses and section 7.1.3.7
titled no approval available if code enforcement violations to update the criteria for when a certificate of use may be denied or revoked making findings containing a sever severability clause and providing for an effective date. PZ13 second reading ordinance. An
ordinance of the Miami City Commission amending ordinance number 13114 the zoning ordinance of the city of Miami, Florida as amended Miami 21 code by amending article one titled definitions to update the definitions of ancillary dwelling units and related structures by amending article 3 titled general to
zones to introduce ancillary dwelling unit regulations and design standards. by amending article four titled standards and tables to clarify the transit zones and residential types that allow for ancillary dwelling units to clarify parking requirements and to update related illustrations by amending
article 5 titled specific to zones to clarify building disposition and building configuration standards and to update related illustrations pertaining to ancillary dwelling units and other related structures by amending article six titled supplemental regulations to update ancillary dwelling unit minimum
and maximum minimum unit sizes and applicable waiver processes by amending appendix A titled neighborhood conservation district section A.2 titled Village West Island District and Charles Avenue NCD2 and section 8.3 titled
Coconut Grove Neighborhood Conservation District NCD3 to clarify regulations pertaining to ancillary dwelling units and related structures making findings containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date. PZ14 first reading ordinance an
ordinance of the Miami city commission amending ordinance number 13114 the zoning ordinance of the city of Miami Florida as amended Miami 21 code specifically by amending appendix J section 3.4 Four titled General to zones Winwood Public Benefits Program to allow
properties within Winwood NRD1 T5L urban center limited zoning transct to obtain bonus height by amending appendix J section four titled standards and tables table two to clarify parking calculations and table three related to
parking and loading by amending appendix J section five titled specific to zones to clarify art requirements on new buildings and facade alterations. ations located within a T5 urban center transit zone or T6 urban core transact zone and to update NRD1 standards related to lot
coverage, balcony encroachments, minimum building height and floor plate design dimensions to include lodging uses by amending appendix J section six titled landscape requirements to update the landscape requirements for landscape areas and parking lots and by amending
appendix J section 8 titled streetscape master plan to provide additional NRD1 setback requirements ments for NRD1 corridors and Windwood thoroughares making findings containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date
and that is it for the PZ items. Gentlemen, are there any PZ items that you would like to pull for discussion? PZ7. PZ7. Anything else?
Sure. PC 12. Which one? 12. 12. I have a question about PZ9. I I don't want to pull it necessarily for discussion, but I just have a clarifying question about distance requirements between public storage buildings. So, I'm not so much talking about the
grandfathering. I just want to know what the city's policy is, what our ordinance is around that moving forward for proposed uses. Yeah. So between the um uh the the facilities alike facilities public storage facilities 1,000 ft.
Is that it? Okay. May I have a motion for PZ 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9,
10 as amended? I think Rossado pulled the commissioner Rosado pulled. I just asked the question. Okay. The question was asked 10 as amended, 11 as amended, PZ 13 as amended, and PZ14. May I have a motion?
So moved. Second. Okay. All in favor? Motion carries. Commissioner Partardo, you pulled PZ7. PZ7. And there was a lot of discussion on PZ7 and some of the community
meetings. David, PZ7, there was a lot of discussion about transportation nodes and how it would impact with adding density. a lot of concern like in Coconut Grove and other areas that this would kind of permeate to those areas of town. I was wondering if you could just answer that for the
record. Yes. Um so what this does, this is the the amendment uh to our comprehensive plan uh that is actually based on policies that exist today uh in our comprehensive plan to look at ways
to uh uh continue to build around our transit nodes. Um, so we're this is in line with our comprehensive plan. So what this does is it is it allows for the TOD node to be established. So which there's a range of
uh four nodes that have different density levels. So node one is the lowest at 250 dwelling units uh an acre. Node four is the highest at 500 dwelling units an acre. Uh so what this does is is it allows
each independent station to establish their node. Uh in this particular case uh this legislation establishes the first node uh which would be the little river uh uh future station. Uh so nodes
one and two would be within that station area. If other stations throughout the city uh are desired to have these nodes, it would have to go through the process to establish this land use. So essentially it establishes a new land use in the comp plan uh within these
areas if they choose. And what defines a transportation node? Is this like a metro station or so? Right. So it would be a fixed rail uh station. So correct. Okay. Right. So like a bus stop or a transit corridor would not be eligible.
Okay, thank you. Are we ready? Yep. Uh PZ7 may I have a motion? Second. Second. All in favor? Motion carries unanimously. The we pulled and I pulled PC 12. Uhhuh.
And I just wanted some clarification again. What exactly is this one about? Again, I know you said it in the briefing, but I I kind of forgot. No. So, so yes. So a PZ12 this is related to uh procedures and non-conformities as it relates to city applica city
applications. Uh so when the city uh is doing more or less an areawide reszone uh and there's violations within that area uh those violations would not have to be uh um uh resolved until building
permit applications come in for that that particular property. Uh, so it allows the city application to move forward. Okay. Thank you. Ready? May I have a motion? So moved.
Oh, I I'm sorry. I I was explaining 11. My apologies. Yeah, sorry. My apologies. Yeah. Good afternoon, Mayor Alan Frost, zoning administrator. Um, you have a question
in regards to PC12. Yeah. Oh, no. No. This item is not about the reasonzoning. Um, can you speak in the mic? Yeah. Okay. What was it that you said, Mr. Assistant
City Attorney? um uh that it allows it to go forward in an application for for what an application. So I my apologies. I was I was speaking to PZ11 regarding the uh city sponsored
applications. I think the question was regarding PZ12. Right. Right. Okay. So PZ12 is um criteria for revocation um denial um and issuance of certificate of uses. Um currently we have uh a process
where if you have a violation 4050 um certification um violation, you cannot receive a certificate of use. So we're adding the criteria to make sure that it's easier for us to be able to follow, changing um putting some guidelines in and allowing it to go into the city
code, removing it from Miami 21 um so that if there is a violation, the the property is not deemed um unsafe. Um it's just an engineering report. letter that has to go through the uh building official as well as um the unsafe
structures chief. Um if they provide that letter that the building is sound um and there's no um immediate danger, the applicant will be able to process um the certificate of use application. Okay. But then
where does it fall for the certificate of use in making sure that they comply? Where does it fall in regards to if they can move ahead as long as it's not an unsafe structure
uh to get a certificate of occupation? How can they or the city make sure that they've complied with whatever other violations they have? So when they are applying for the certificate of use um
if there's no other violation that hasn't been cured if it's only for a 4050 certification. So we already have about we have about 4,000 in the queue. Okay. So this is only for 4050. Yes. When they come do the 4050. Correct. Correct. I see. So it's not just for No,
this is just for the 4050 because there's so many applications have come in that can't move forward. I I I see it's a difference and you explain it. Thank you. Move. I have a motion. Second. All in favor? I PC12 passes. Now we can take up
FR FR2. May I have a motion? Uh, hold on. Back in there. Companion item to FR12. Is that the companion item? Let me get
into the FRS. I'm sorry. I can I say something for clarification? So FR um 2 is the the ordinance F FR I'm sorry PZ12 was removing the language from Miami 21 to chapter 10 in the city code for clarification.
FR2 was the one that was left. Yes. Yes. All right. Are we ready? May I have a motion? Move. Second. Second. All in favor? Motion carries. Got FR4 next. Okay, let's go with F FR4.
Can we do U, Madam Chair, do you mind if we do RE19 with F FR4 and that because we're somewhat Let's do F FR4 and then because I'm going backwards. I'm I'm going I was going to say we Yeah, we Oh, wait. We We pulled FR1 for uh
discussion. Commissioner Rosado. Yeah, I I if you could explain it to uh to us, Miss Frostfield. It's a topic that's comes up quite a bit. Uh dwelling unit. So, FR1 is actually the companion item to the um ancillary
dwelling unit um legislation. So, um a this would be a registration um for properties that do have um um ADUs. Um and the amnesty program, which is I think one of the the biggest programs, is to allow for the existing um
properties that have um ADUs that weren't permitted to go through an amnesty program um and be registered. Um a lot of them were built either legally without permits and so forth. So we will try to system them through that process um as like a pilot program.
But how many square feet does this involve? I thought there was a limit in there, right? Um David Snow, planning director. Uh so the the the square foot for the um
uh ADU that is separate from the house itself, the independent standalone, that is 800 square ft max. And that is based the based on your lot area that you're available to build that. So it's a percentage of the lot areas, but the maximum is 800 square f feet and that
has to be separate from the house. That is correct. Now this legislation u does allow for an attached ADU as well. Uh the substitution memo that you all received uh has a max of 500 square ft for the attached. That's what I
remember seeing something at 500, but that's attached, which means it's part of the uh actual dwelling. Correct. But you could only have one or the other, right? Only one or the other.
And the 800 is the max, but it depends on the size of your lot. Correct. And the structure your your existing structure on the lot. Right. My next question is, can someone build a unit in a lot that don't have one, an auxiliary dwelling?
Uh, could you repeat that? Can someone go ahead and build uh ailary dwelling in their lot if they don't have one? It uh so this legislation would allow for new construction of ADUs. Okay.
All right. And it would have to meet all the setbacks and everything that's a regular construction. Correct. Yes. This establishes a whole list of criteria that have to be met. All right. And we made the legislation tighter to protect residential areas. Yes. So the the
substitution memo also includes to remove the T3R portion. So this would apply to T3 L T4 uh properties. I did that for Commissioner Reyes. But but let's put it in layman's terms.
Residential, duplex, what else? So, not duplex. And it has to be a homestead property. Okay. Homestead property. Homestead property and single family. Single family homestead
property. This isn't to um make a buck. This is exactly to to middle missing missing that for investors. No, no, no. Yeah. The homestead property is the is the kicker. Question. What happens if
the homestead property is sold and it doesn't become Homestead anymore, right? An investor company buys it. And this is what's happening in a lot of our districts. You're having corporations
from outside of Florida buying up all the residential homes and they're renting them. So what happens if that home that has an auxiliary up to 500 ft
inside or they have 600, 700, 800 square feet outside and it's no longer a homestead and is sold. So the the code amendment uh allows for
the annual review. That's part of the registration process. So the homesteaded property owner agrees to allow for that to be reviewed annually. If the property is sold, uh that that registration would
be required for the new owner. Um if it's if it's an investor, they would not be eligible for that registration in the rental of that ADA. Okay. So let's say they have the maximum 800 square ft uh auxiliary building.
What can that building be used for? Storage or or what? They can use it for storage. They could use it for man cave. They could use it for something else. Uh but they could not rent it out to um um an um a renter
or a woman cave to be right. Either or. for non-gender t-shirts. Okay. It's got safeguards even though I don't know how it's going to be enforce if a
homesteader sells it to an investment company but it's got safeguards to the best that we can. Madam chair, I just want to clarify something. There is no substitution on this on FR1. No, no, no, no, no. Yes, I
was referring to the PZ. A lot of that is going on now. So, we're just legalizing what? It's not legal today. Yes. Okay. Do I have a motion? Motion. Have a second. Motion a second. All in favor? I. Motion carries
unanimously. FR4. FR4. Unless you want to take uh Nope. F FR4. FR4. Madam Chair, can I go ahead? Okay. So, uh, early on when we first came into
office, we worked on a lot of different reforms who were trying to do a lot of them through charter review. We realized that, uh, the kind of power we wanted through charter review where it went directly to the ballot, directly to the voters really wasn't possible. Didn't have widespread support. So, we started
determining which ones can we put forward. One of these was moving the elections from odd number year to even number years. Obviously the biggest impact is our participation which would
go from between 10 to 15% to 65 to 70%. That means it's very difficult to just have a captive audience of a few thousand people that can come out and vote for you and get elected. You really have to have much broader appeal. you have to have your your messaging and
everything else would be much more significant. There is uh the city of of North Miami uh did it the same way we're proposing which is by ordinance and did the exact same thing and actually I think they added about a year and a half to their term. This is a very important
thing to understand. If we believe that we want to have participation increased to what I just discussed, and we agree that we want to save a million dollars per election, which is tens of millions of dollars, then we have got to move it everyone's term by a year. It just it
has to happen with that reform. We cannot take a portion of it away because we open ourselves up to litigation, perhaps even invalidating the very kind of reform we're trying to put forward. And in the case of lifetime term limits,
we this coincides in one aspect, a very unique aspect which is uh in district three, Frank Coroyo is running for another term. He was term limited because he's already served eight years. In in that situation, he may be on the
2025 ballot as a legitimately elected candidate by his voters as a district 3 commissioner. and at the same time we may have a ballot initiative which invalidates his race which leads to a total mess. So by taking this reform now
we're doing a lot of things that make the the overall reform work. Right now as we speak we have 4,200 petitions approximately here at city hall asking us to make this reform. That's more than many of us get during our elections. So
there is very broad support. the polling that that's been done on it is above 60% even with the negative of that additional year. And I think when people understand it and it's explained, they're broadly supportive of it. And again, cities like Coral Gables, North
Miami, many others have done this for the exact same reasons, the broad participation and the cost savings. Commissioner Cabella. Okay, so let's let's straighten this out. So, we're doing this of of the extra year because we're doing the other one the term
limits, right? No, they're both good initiatives and we should do these are reforms. They're good governance reforms. They're separate. Okay. I thought that so so just hear me out for a moment. So, I thought that what they started all out with uh term limits, meaning I think I heard you say the last
time that we can serve eight years as commissioners, right? as a commissioner, two terms, four years each, but we can never serve again for the lifetime in the city of Miami. Right. Correct. And then you said four mayors. Okay. It was the same thing. Two terms, four years
each, and then you're done. You can never So, you can be commissioner two terms, eight years total. Mayor, eight years total, and you're done for the life for my life. I can't I cannot run again. So, mine, too. We're done. You're done. Okay. And then I remember the chairwoman said, "Well, I'm not
comfortable with that. I do two consecutive with three, but I wouldn't do a lifetime. I think I heard you say, right? Okay. But the whole situation here, we're giving ourselves the year because of that situation. No, no, no. We're giving ourselves a we're giving ourselves a year because that's the only
way we can do it. No, no, no. I I understand that. I understand it. But what I want is the whole reason to do the year is because you're going to do the term limit. No, because these are both good reforms that we should do. We are increasing participation uh in the election from about 10 to 60%.
So we want broader participation. We want to save money about a million dollars each general election cycle. Okay. So that's why we want to do it. All right. So let me just hear I'm not going to waste more time here. Here's where I'm at. So So I'm I'm with the the the prior one. I'm with that one. I have no problems whichever way you guys want
to do it. And by the way, I don't know the wording on that one yet. Is there a wording to to that one? No. This is No, not this one. No. Thank you for bringing that up. That's RE19. But basically, that's a resolution. And by the charter, we're required to do this. We're sending a resolution which the city attorney
will draft that ballot language and he will bring that ballot language back to commission for us to vote on the ballot language that should go to the voters. So, my only problem with this is that, you know, and I agree with you that that's fine if it's going to be more participation. Uh, I mean, uh, good. you
know, there's some bad and some good because of it ain't quite as simple as as you know, some are putting it, but but my my main problem with this is that that the voter, you know, I mean, that maybe we should have done this by referendum. Okay, now I know it is what
it is, but that was my only objection that, you know, you know, it it's not right that the voter, you know what I mean, didn't give us this. You know, we're doing it to ourselves, you know what I mean? And and it doesn't sit right, you know what I mean? And my my uh my first you know obligation you know
I think is if for the democratic system to work and for the to I think we should have put it out for referendum and let the voters have decided is I I think ideally I would agree with you. I would just add to that that this has very very broad support. When I when I was
knocking on doors people were supporting it. I've done many many forums. Everybody's been supportive of this. So this this is something that's broadly supported this change to the general election. Um for me I understand both sides. I don't want an
extra year. I'm campaigning now and I don't want to I don't want to campaign for two years. I don't and I understand the argument for more participation.
And if we want more participation, no matter when we do it, it's going to give us an extra. I I've gone through the other municipalities. Some got 18
months. I'm surprised that Commissioner Partardo was bringing this up because that would mean that he would serve an additional year with Commissioner Coro and you know that should be proof right there that it actually it actually No,
I'm actually going to vote with you. It actually is. You know what? If I could share, you know what their problem is? They rather serve only one year with me than four, maybe eight. That's the problem. So, but I also That's right.
But I also have I am I will not support lifetime term limits. I would You brought up Frank Frank Coro. Frank Coro has been out of office for eight years. If the community reelects Frank Coro
after eight years, that's their choice. It's not our choice to make that decision for our electorate. four years out of office because we do have term limits. We have term limits. Four years out of office is a lifetime in politics.
Four years out of office, some may argue, I would argue a beloved county commissioner ran again for her seat, lost. She did not even get doubledigit
percentage of the vote. It's not me. It's not for us to decide what future voters, voters who don't even have the right to vote, we're making that decision for them.
That's not fair. If we're going to do even years because we want more voter participation and then that's going to change the face of our commission and we won't have political dynasties because
we have greater participation then why do we have to put lifetime term limits like someone says I like Mayor Suarez or or or it's not and I have been steadfast in my
position. It is not my place to decide who serves. That's why I've always steadfast said let the people decide. I will never appoint. I will never vote for appointment a
caretaker because the community should decide who their electorate is. If the community wants to to elect this guy for mayor, so be it. So be it. I am not voting for
lifetime term limits. We have term limits. And the problem also with this lifetime term limit proposal is that if for example, Commissioner Watson served uh as a
special election, right? he was appointed. That counts as a term. It should not count as a term for Commissioner Watson. If Commissioner Watson wants to run for office, he should get to run for four years and a second four years. That should not be
held against him because he was appointed. And in your legislation, that's what happens. That's not fair. I don't think that's fair. I'll explain it. It counts that as a term in order to incentivize people not accepting special
appointments unless they're really going to be a caretaker in that position, but it punishes those who have done it already and but they know when they're getting into it. But your legislation is also retroactive. So, for example, if we
don't pass an additional year and Frank Coro, cuz you used him as an example, runs and wins with this legislation, you disenfranchise the voters that voted
for him and opens us up to litigation. It is it is retroactive in as much as so was the Miami Beach 2014. I'm not saying that's right. No, but let me let me just finish this the idea. Uh they went ahead and passed the exact same thing in 2014.
It passed by almost 70%. It was tested in the third district court of appeals and it was upheld the retroactivity. And all we're doing here is we're sending it to voters regardless of what you might feel, what I might feel, what we all might feel. This would be a resolution that the city attorney drafts and like
you said, we're putting it out and and we would be allowing the voters to decide. that I can't support and I don't understand how it was held up in court because I don't you can't pass a law and have it apply retroactively. I don't I don't they
should take it up to the Supreme Court because I don't know how I don't know how that passed muster. If you qualify in September and you're duly qualified and you run and you win, imagine that happening to you, Commissioner Gabella.
Actually, that did happen to me. They moved my house. Okay, I know you don't want to hear that, but they moved my house and and the gentleman over there accommodated his house. And yeah, I've been through that. So, but I'll I'll leave it there. So, here we go with the
house again. So, me too. Yeah, if it would have happened to you, cuz you're a cheater. That's why you accommodated your house and you got my house out. I'm going to put you out of the commission. No clapping. So here here here I would support FR at least first
reading. I would support that because I understand if we want additional participation it has to be done at some point but I'm not supporting I am not supporting lifetime term limits. I just I will not do that. And I'm and I'm going to limit us to five minutes. I
think I only spoke for five minutes. So, we're going to speak for five minutes and then if there's more speaking, we're going to speak for two minutes and then we're going to go because we have a lot of stuff to do. Commissioner, five minutes. Five minutes. You spoke more than five. Uhuh. I spoke Well, I'm allowed to speak for more than five
minutes because I I I never run over five minutes mostly. So, um look, you said that there were uh 4,200 people that signed this petition. that that's been over two and a half months
that they've been signing and that doesn't mean that all those signatures are going to be of qualified voters because it hasn't been sent to the elections department to verify. Once it's sent there, that's going to come down quite a bit. That's right now,
not even 2% of our voters in the city of Miami, which is over 215,000 as of today. So, by the time you get to the signatures that you need, is a long, long way. But I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. I got a crystal
ball. This whole thing for a year more. The reason you got to do it now, you know why? uh because if you really were so principled, you would do like you had said before that it's a package. One
doesn't get approved, the other won't. But it's being done now so someone can have an extra year and then in that extra year, I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. Mandy, you know, try and become my buddy now. Give you a hint so you can talk about
it. Uh in that extra year, they're going to push for a strong mayor again. And with that strong mayor, in order to try to get it passed, they're going to combine it with nine
districts, seven district, whatever they want in districts so it could pass. This is why the term limits would not get passed here because otherwise the whole other plan wouldn't work.
So the term limits, this is all smoke and mirrors. It was never meant to be passed. It was to keep you busy looking right when they went left. And left is to get
this other one passed. But it's not going to end here. You're going to see whether I'm here or not that next year they're going to bring a referendum for a strong mayor combined for x amount of districts and
then so keep going on all this dynasty stuff. Uh so you know with with with all due respect uh if we're serious about everything that's being said that we want more
participation and everything else then why in the world the resolution says that the election is going to be when am I reading it right or did I missed it? It says when in 26 November
November 3rd is it or second Mr. Clerk, what does the resolution say? So, the ordinance exactly. I could answer it. Um, notwithstanding any provision in the city charter to the country. November what of 26? It would
be the 1st. What date? Tuesday of November. That would be November 3rd or 2nd. November 3rd, 2026. Okay. November 3rd. But that's the primary. That's not the crown. The crown is the general
election. And when is it gonna be held? December 8th, 2026, where everybody is rushing for Christmas. Uh the rich and famous leave Miami early
and the participation will be 5%. Not even 11 or 12. So, what do you say, champ? What happened to the big participation, all the savings? We got to pay a million bucks for that election. You're not going to have any
participation in December 8th of 2026. So, you know, what more do I need to say? Uh, let's approve this. Let's get it over with and do a few more things. And I'm a senior citizen. I would like
to go home early, you know, and get some rest. Commissioner Rosado, I'm I'm supportive of moving the elections to even years. I've been been very public about that for for quite some time. Um, lifetime term limits I'm I'm more torn
about and I think it would be reasonable to allow the public to decide. There are strong arguments for and against it. We'll let the public decide that one. Do I have a motion? So moved.
Second. All in favor? I nay. Commissioner Cabella. Okay. Sorry. Uh, so let me understand this right. This one has nothing to do with the other one. We're doing separate the term limits, right? And so we're only voting
on FR4. Yes. Yes. Only F FR4. Only F FR4. And you're a no on F FR4. No, I'm a maybe. You're a maybe. On F FR4. You're a maybe. Maybe. What's
[Music] You look like a maybe, too. We could come back uh next meeting and deal with it. We can't. We're going to keep looking at each other. Can't wait for you.
I you know I'm almost tempted but not for the right reasons. Okay. I'm almost tempted because I believe that uh that it should be put up to the board. You know that's that's what I believe at the end. You know so you know I'm tempted
because I don't want more you know a risk and I'll say it in public. I don't want any more risk of having to put up with Koyu as as as mayor. You know what I mean? But that's the truth. That's where I'm at. I'll be honest with you. I mean, city's going to keep pleading, you
know, but uh I owe the voters uh respect and I owe them, you know, my obligation that uh they're not voting for this. So, so I'm a no. You know, I'm no. Commissioner Rosado. Come back to me on this one, please.
It's just you left. Commissioner Cor said no. So now this is specifically the dates. Yes. This is uh so we're kind ofating the two things. I want to make sure. No, they're separate. They're separate. This is just
to change the elections to extra year. A extra year. The even numbers year. Yeah. So you're I'm a yes. Okay. I'm a yes for first reading. I don't know about second reading because I don't
because it has to happen at some rating for the second reading. Okay. Motion passes 32. Motion passes 32 with Commissioner Cory and Commissioner Gabella voting no. And um Chair Partardo, for the record, the settlement
will be heard on second meeting at the June 26th meeting. Thank you. Can we make it? Can we bring it back next meeting? June 26th. But what about But what about the participation? We're having the runups where everything's decided in December 8th.
What about that? But here guys, let let me make it easier for you in second reading. I'd like to add a friendly amendment that I'm going to present on second reading. And let me tell you what it's going to be. I'll let
it out of the bag now. I'm going to bring a friendly amendment that beginning in November when our terms are supposed to have been finished. So, no one can say that when I decided
to run, uh, I wasn't limited in any way and now you're trying to limit me. Your term is up in four years. The extension you're getting, the public didn't vote for it.
we did. So, beginning from November until the runoff in December of 26, uh I am going to propose to this body that the office of mayor would be a
full-time position with no outside employment. And I am going to present an ordinance so that in the next available election,
we could make it uh in as a charter amendment uh for any mayor in the city's future, whoever he may be, has to be a full-time mayor and cannot have any
whatsoever outside employment. And to be fair, compensation. I'm going to include that in this way there's no politicking with a commission or horse rating that the mayor of Miami, whoever he
might be, would receive the salary of a congressman or congresswoman that they represent more or less a population the size of Miami, half a million. So,
uh, I'm, uh, giving it ahead of time so you all could think about it for second reading, uh, and whatever you all want to do. But I truly believe that if we're going to extend another
year that the people did not vote for, then we need to make changes that should have been made before that the highest position elected in the city should be a full-time position with no
outside employment. The full concentration of a mayor should be the city of Miami and only the city of Miami. Having said that, I respect everybody's vote.
There's no lines drawn in the sand. Okay. RE19. Um, hold on. Let's see. Which one? RE19 is lifetime term limit. Lifetime term limit. I've already spoken on it.
RE15. No, RE19. You know, sorry. Sorry. I can go, you know, I can say basically it says that a commissioner gets eight years, no more. That's during their lifetime. They can't come back at any other point in time. Same with the mayor. They get eight years. They can't come back. The longest time period you
could serve the city of Miami is 16 years. It's retroactive. I already explained that. similar to the city of Miami Beach. It's been tested the third district court of appeals. It was upheld the retroactivity and that this has very very broad support because even when I was knocking
on doors during my campaign, people would say I don't understand how these people are still there. How do they keep coming back? And the thing is and then come but wait, let me let me just finish. Let me just say one thing because you just said all of that. You were knocking on doors not in the districts that are reelecting these
folks and we do have term limits. We serve two terms and then we have to leave. Joe Coroyo has been not Joe Frank Coro has been out of office for eight years. If he comes, you didn't knock on doors in district three. You knocked on
doors in district two and district 2 has the right to elect who they want and district three has a right to elect who they want. If Commissioner Gort wanted to come back and run, he should be able to. He hasn't been in office for I don't know when. That's not
that is not again that is not our place. And because you said you knocked on doors and that's what they said. You knocked on doors in district two. You didn't knock on doors in district 5. And finish. Go ahead. Cuz that wasn't the point. The point was that what what people said time and time again is when
you're an incumbent and you already have name recognition, you already have the context to fund raise, you already have the ability and the knowledge of the institution, you're at very much of an advantage to everybody else in that race. So it's very difficult to have an
even playing field and that's why people want term limits. They want new faces, new ideas, they want more innovation from their city, more accountability. Those are all the reasons that that that people talk about it. Your argument is flawed. Go look at Commissioner Audrey
Edmonson's financial reports. She couldn't raise any money. She was out of office for four years. Dr. Barbara Carrie Schuler gave me the best advice when I was considering running for office. She said, "You must have
something other than public service in your life." Because when you're no longer a commissioner, you no longer hold that title, people stop taking your calls. People stop calling you. You ask any
commissioner who has served and is out of office and they will all tell you the same. No one calls you. No one calls you. No one returns your calls.
That's it. It's not. Look at her campaign report. She had name recognition. She was in office for 16 years. She barely could raise any money and they didn't vote for her. That your
argument is flawed. Most electeds would tell you the same thing. I was a proponent of term limits. Every time term limits came before the city of the Miami Dade County, I voted in favor because they were in office 16,
20, 24 years. That can't happen here. You can't serve consecutively for 20 years. 24 years. You can serve for four years, then you can serve for a second four, and then you have to go. and the person that takes the seat after, unless
they're doing a horrible job, you're not going to come and get them out because the voters voted for them. I'm not going to say anything else. I am not in favor of this. I do not think it's fair. It doesn't speak to the entirety of this
city of Miami. Again, if Commissioner Gabella serves his two two terms and he sits out two terms and he wants to come back because he doesn't have anything else to do and he loved what he did and he wants to serve again and his district
elects him, they should have the right to do so. Commissioner Gabella will be 69 at that time. But I'm just saying Commissioner Gabella will just saying you'll go to Shangala as well. I'm just saying. Anyone else want to chime in on this? Yes. Yes.
Commissioner, vice chair, thank you. Just to amuse uh everybody a little bit at least. Um Commissioner Party, you said that uh one of the reasons that you also have this
is that this way uh someone would not take a seat as a care taker when they're appointed like has happened here for a short time then
they run. Correct. You're going to cure with that. However, how about people that like Commissioner Rosado? He's got about two and a half years of
Commissioner Ray's whole term. He didn't get appointed. uh he wasn't a caretaker. He ran and got elected. Uh going back uh which will be 24 years this November
since I was mayor and I stayed out for 16 years before I decided to come back and run. But my first term uh the mayor of the time had died, Steve Clark. He had a year and a half left and
I ran for that year and a half. So my first term was a year and a half and it was a different form of government. The mayor then was like a commissioner. He had a vote but he was called the mayor.
Then I got elected for the other four years. So you keep talking about the eight years but I only had five and a half years. But I'm a cooyo. So that's why this is why you wanted it done. Um,
now let's go into a convenient. You want people that might have institutional knowledge and that the only ones that should have the right to decide if they want him or not are the voters
to be at the door. But why aren't you concerned about term limits or influence peddlers, so-called lobbyists? I mean, you got one of your close uh once back here. They
don't get term limited. You don't have uh pillars of the community like we had here in Mr. Putney that got term limited. Not even little Billy gets turn limited. No matter who comes and goes, they're
around. So, who's going to run government if you don't have at least part of the people that have the institutional knowledge, that have the knowledge of running government? Your buddies, the lobbyists, the influence peddlers, they're the ones
that going to be running the show everywhere. You know, I'm amazed that you're so concerned that you have to get it done here now. But you're not concerned about the county. You're not concerned about the state of Florida, the state rep, state
senators. You're not even concerned about your Congress people. They could keep running and running. Only the city of Miami is the problem. Um the the bottom line is that
by what you want to do you are going to hurt government not help government. You will be taking a lot of knowledge from government and that knowledge will
only go to the influence peddlers uh so they can enrich themselves more because it takes uh a full term for a commissioner to really for the most part not all to really get to speed. And
these are going to be the people running government 100% at at city hall. But look, we both know that you never really intended this because you know how to count and you know the votes weren't
there. So, you know, you threw this out so that the other one could pass, but you knew this was going to not going to go anywhere. So I I said my piece uh the u this whole
concept that by banning people lifetime no matter if they serve one day in one term and four years in the other. That's called the Koi amendment. It
applies to me and to Frank. And why Frank? Well, after you guys divided up and chopped up District Three, which is the only district chopped up that way, so that you can now get elected
and someone more attuned to to your liking could get elected. My god, even after all that happened, Coyo gets elected. And you know well that you don't have a cander that could beat Frank.
Not even close. And that's why uh you want to knock him out. You know this happens in places like Venezuela these left-leaning countries that the new people in government come in. What is
the first thing they want to do? They want to change the constitution. And it's not for the betterment of the people. It's for their own protection. And I got many you came into office. You started
talking about this. But I remember one of the first things you said then was that you wanted to put uh charter committee. What what happened to that charter committee? Never happened. So all of a sudden is that you got this overwhelming
uh support of people that are demanding this. But it's got to be now. It can't be done through the process after November. You can't put it to a vote in the November election for the future. No, it's got to be now. And I think I stated why it has to be
now. Well, anyway, um this is not a surprise to me. I so stated it uh beforehand and there's no hard feelings with any of my colleagues here. You know, you vote
whichever way you feel you have to. Uh but please don't ask me to play dumb. That's the only thing that I ask. Okay, Madam Chair, can we call the question? Commissioner Rosado gets a chance to
speak. I thought he said Oh, you're Oh, Commissioner Cabella. Yeah, Commissioner, you want to go? So, I I just wanted to say again, I I've heard of what the commissioner said, but with all due respect, I I I seem to find everything they said, you
know, funny because actually in 2023, okay, where again, I see it. Okay. What was it then that you were trying to eliminate Cabella by moving my house out of the district? Was that Can I make the same argument out of out of out of you that that you and your friend
Portillia got my and and folks they didn't they didn't they not only they didn't go three blocks to disguise anything? They went to Lawrence Waterway Canal which is where I have where he's talking about where I have my boats and right there's where they drew the line. Okay, that right there. A Martian came
and told right here is where you go. And then meanwhile, his house got accommodated. Ask him where he lives now. He lives in Coconut Grove. Okay? And he's the commissioner for D3. You guys know how that happened? Cuz we had to make a deal. Okay? We had to make a
deal because he wanted to continue for and spend money on legalities taking the ACLU to the end. And then everybody was in limbo. And I was the one, by the way, that offered the olive branch to him and said, "You know what, Commissioner? Let's take care of this problem, okay? And let's grandfather you in, okay? So
you can stay at at at your house." But right now, he's the commissioner of D3 and he doesn't live in D3. You know what I mean? So to hear you tell him all that that you you just I I just got to go like this and and and I I mean, I can't believe that the things I'm hearing here, you know, the the double standard
here is something else. But Madam Chair, I do hear what you do have a legitimate concern. Okay. I I hear what you had had to say. But you know what? I'm going to take a chance with you, okay? And I'm going to I'm going to vote with you on on that lifetime and then maybe maybe we can negotiate then later on. Maybe it
doesn't have to be two two Maybe it doesn't have to be lifetime. Maybe it can be three term limits. I I don't know. I mean, maybe we can negotiate here. Can I call a question? Do I have a motion? Just one statement. There was
just one last statement. Uh there were four people that voted uh here on the changes in the districts. Uh Commissioner King was one. I was another Commissioner Reyes was one. Commissioner
Reyes besides Mr. Diaz Lepertia voted for those changes. Yes, he did. By the way, you know, you know who called me. Let him finish. Don't raise your voice. Don't raise your voice. Let him finish. Don't raise your voice. Go ahead. In uh
why am the court a federal judge said that I could stay here? Because my district was my home was in the new district for a long time before it got put back.
The day that this body voted to agree to what they wanted, that same day the Supreme Court of the United States had another case. I believe it was South. By the way, I second the motion that stated
basically in a case that the city's position was correct. But since the district that was being sacrificed, chopped up, was only district three, they didn't care. Uh but now even with a chopped up district,
they can't handle it. So you got to come back and chop it up even more. Okay. Can I the whole city? I have a motion. Can I can I conclude? I I have a motion and a second. But just just just real quick real quick. I'm going to be brief real quick. Okay. Real
quick. Okay. The late commissioner, may he rest in peace, Manor Reyes, so you all know, was the one that actually called me and let me know that my house was being cheated on and moving out of the district. Okay, so this was done on purpose and you know this full well.
Okay, this was done on purpose. Okay, furthermore. Okay. Okay, that's that's all I have to say. That's that's what happened now. He voted that's why you gave the grand anemnification cuz you knew he knew it' be trouble. That's it.
That's it. You're back in you're in the district. You're here. Yes, ma'am. A lot of hard work by the way. I won three times against the city of Miami. Three times I won three times. The city of Miami took me to task. You think you're talking about the I have a motion. I have a motion and a second. All in
favor? I No. No. So, I need to get a determination as to what the vote was. Commissioner Rosado, you are an I. R19. R19. Commissioner Croy, you're a no. I'm a no. Commissioner King, you're a no. No. Commissioner Gabella is a yes.
I'm a yes. Commissioner Partardo, yes. So the motion passes 32. Wait, no. Commissioner Rosado voted yes. Commissioner Rosado, you voted yes, correct? Yes. Just clarifying. So 32. Commissioner Coro, Commissioner King
voting no. 32. The motion passes. Okay guys, the hour is late. I I'd like to defer the three one that I have. It's not important. Do I have a motion? Defer everything else that I have and I think we could finish unless there's something
pressing because I would ask your indulgence because I have to travel tomorrow morning. My dad's funeral is Friday. have to go back to Georgia. So, if we could defer everything, let's defer. I'm agreeing with that. If
anybody if if the commissioner I I do have an item. I know I know that we were expecting to speak about the board appointments and perhaps some changes. Uh I was going to bring up in light of the fact that it we're discussing the structure of these. I've been troubled
by the fact that the Bayront trust has this sort of more amorphous shape to it. Uh it's not a CRA. It's not a bid. It's something that's been established by code and also by tradition and it's become clearly problematic in some ways. And I was going to ask I was going to
make a motion to have the attorney draft for the next meeting a first ordinance a first reading ordinance um to actually move the Bayfront Park Trust under the opices of the manager who could treat it essentially as as a city park. I think
that would help to depoliticize something that's become overly politicized. I think it's an elegant solution to be able to treat something that's an important city amenity that has become unnecessarily much more complex than that. So, we have a meeting
next week if there is time for that. I would love to have everybody's support or certainly the majority to get that done to put a first reading ordinance on there. Uh the good thing that I'm hearing here is that you're going to be able to shift quite a
few millions of dollars to the city's general fund right away that we're going to need badly to balance our budget for this October 1st, the new budget. And then you're going to be able to get approximately $5 billion every year. uh
that I made sure uh that the trust got to renegotiating contracts, bringing new projects to the parks and that money should be going to the general fund of the city.
I I've been there for three month can I talk because he spoke for I've been there for three months and what he wants to do now there's investigations left and right and this is what he wants to do. You see what's going on here folks? I'm telling you, this never stops. This, you know, every day it's a new one with
him. Now all of a sudden, okay, I've been there for 3 months. He's been there for eight years. He didn't have an appointment for two years. Okay. And now this, you know what I mean? I mean, you got to wonder what what's going on here. I I guess some of the rumors in the campaign were true. That was just a that was just a With all due respect, that
was a that was a directive to the manager. We have a motion. And do I have a motion to the rest of the items? Motion has a motion to defer the defer all the items. Madam chair, just on that pocket item to appoint commissioner of district 4 to the DDA. It's not a pocket item. It's one of the other items, but
that's fine. Okay. Whatever. Actually, in light of the item that I'm hoping to bring forth, if Commissioner Gabella would like to be the head of the DDA, I'm absolutely No, I don't want to be No, listen. Listen, let me let me be be blunt with you guys. If you guys want to remove it from May I say one May I
May I say one thing while I love sitting here with I do have to go. I I do have to go. So do this without Okay, real quick. I think you should be the the the the monot. Okay. So, do I have a motion for the
pocket? I have a motion second for the pocket item. All in favor? I Well, I don't know if he won it or not. I don't think he was pricey about it. So, why didn't you you want to accept it? Hold it for next week. I'm I'm happy
to have it deferred till next week. Okay. So, he wants to defer. I I'll just state this real quick. If you guys a motion to defer to everything. He keeps talking and talking. Yeah. And I'm going to keep So do you. You've done it planning for eight years. So, if I do it for one year. Yeah. But at least when I talk
people can understand me. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, they can know. Oh. Oh. How smart you are. Huh? I have a motion. Chair. There's no reason to defer the pocket item. Commissioner Partardo or anyone can just place it on the agenda for the 26th. Let me just say this for the remainder of the agenda to defer because
the rest of the agenda. I have a motion to defer. Okay. But can I just say real quick if you want to He keeps going and going and going. No, no, no, no. You can I bring violence next meeting? You guys can take You guys can take You can take this. Look at yourself in the mirror, ma'am. Why don't you look at yourself in
the mirror? I have a motion second. All in favor? I I and that'll be for the June 26th meeting. The city attorney must read a statement in for the record before I can um close the meeting. Go ahead, Mr. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madame Chairwoman and members of the commission pursuant to the provisions of
section 286.011 parentheses 8 Florida statutes. I'm requesting that at the city commission meeting of June 26, 2025, an attorney client session close to the public be held for purposes of discussing the pending litigation in the matter of William O. Fuller, Martin Pineia II, the
Bington Group, the Barlington Group LLC, Kaio Marketplace LLC, Yo Amokai LLC, Little Havana Arts Building LLC, Little Havana Arts Building 2 LLC, Tower Hotel LLC, Bickl Station LLC, Pedra Villas LLC, Buterama LLC, L Shopping LLC,
Beatstick LLC, Vieres Culturalis Cultural Fridays, Inc., Little Havana Bungalows LLC and LHAB Trest LLC versus City of Miami. Joe Coroy in his individual capacity. Art Nora in his individual capacity. Victoria Mendes in her individual capacity. Case number
23-CV24251-R pending in the United States District Court Southern District of Florida to which the city is presently a party. The subject of the meeting will be confined to settlement negotiations or strategy sessions related to litigation expenditures. The private meeting will begin at approximately 10:00 a.m. or soon thereafter as the commissioner
schedules permit and conclude approximately 1 hour later. The session will be attended by the members of the city commission which include chairwoman Christine King, commissioners Miguel Anhel Gabella, Damen Part and Ralph Raphael Rosado, the chief financial
officer Larry M. Springs, city attorney George Kissong, uh deputy city attorney Kevin R. Jones, assistant city attorney, supervisor, Eric Eves, assistant city attorney, and Margaret Snyder, and outside council Raquel A. Rodriguez, Esquire, Angel
Cartinius, Esquire, and Jonathan Casp, Esquire. A certified court reporter will be present to ensure that the session is fully transcribed, and the transcript will be made public upon the conclusion of the litigation. At the conclusion of the attorney client session, the regular city commission will be reopened and the
person chairing the commission meeting will announce the termination of the attorney client session. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. And thank you all for attending the City of Miami Commission meeting for June 17, 2025. The meeting is now
closed. [Music] [Music]