LTC 434-2018 Citywide Re-entry Program MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC# 434-2018 LE ER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members „ the City C .mmission
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: August 6, 2018
SUBJECT: Citywide Re-entry Program
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this LTC is to advise you of progress on the development of a re-entry program
that serves all City departments, residents, businesses and visitors. This program addresses the
coordination of the safe and orderly return to Miami Beach following an event that would require
evacuation.
BACKGROUND:
As part of the City's Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) a re-entry plan was
developed by emergency management staff. This plan was designed to establish a procedure
facilitating re-entry of response and recovery personnel, government officials, critical healthcare
staff, businesses, property owners, media and others in order to speed the recovery of the City
and its economy.
Although the stated purpose of the document was to "provide uniform guidance to law
enforcement who direct access ... and to ensure safe re-entry for all entering the City after and
emergency event," the plan was not reviewed nor adopted by the departments tasked with
carrying out the procedures. When the time came to implement the program following Hurricane
Irma. the task proved to be unmanageable and inconsistently enforced, and information was not
sufficiently communicated to the public.
NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE DIRECTION:
At the July 18 meeting of the Neighborhoods Committee. a discussion was held regarding
providing special identification to all residents and employees of the city of Miami Beach so that
in the event of a hurricane, or other disaster requiring evacuation, there was a way to easily
identify residents and employees so they could return to their homes and their jobs expeditiously.
This discussion was sponsored by Committee Chair Kristen Rosen Gonzalez and was
addressed by Chief Juan Mestas, who is serving as interim director of the Department of
Emergency Management.
DEM was directed to develop a program, utilizing vehicle decals to identify permitted vehicles for
re-entry. The department was asked to bring back information to the next Neighborhoods
Committee meeting. As this meeting would not be held until September, and the timing for this
program is crucial (already mid-hurricane season), DEM moved forward as quickly as possible to
follow through and report via LTC during the August recess.
Emergency Management had begun to re-address the concept of re-entry procedures following
Hurricane Irma, but the discussion at Neighborhoods was the impetus to accelerate the process.
On July 23, the Department arranged a meeting with other departments and community
representatives. In attendance at the meeting were the Police and Fire Chiefs and members of
their staff, representatives from Transportation. Marketing & Communications, Parking, and
Finance. DEM also invited representatives from the public who they felt would provide important
feedback in the conversation. This included executives from Mount Sinai Medical Center, the
Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel
Association. Adrian Gonzalez of David's Café and the Miami Beach CERT leader Jeff Gordon
were also part of the discussion, providing the perspective of businesses and residents.
The consensus at the meeting was to establish a phased plan that would include operating
procedures, distribution of tier-identified decals as well as a communications plan.
PROGRESS:
The Department of Emergency Management has researched similar programs in coastal cities of
comparable size and population. prepared a preliminary cost analysis and re-written a draft of
the re-entry plan. At the September Neighborhoods Committee meeting, the plan will be
presented in order for the Committee to provide guidance for its ratification.
The final version of the plan will receive input from the various departments who are involved in
the implementation:
• Police — overall enforcement, feasibility of plan execution, roadblock coordination
• Fire — safety concerns
• Transportation — coordination with regulatory agencies and traffic flow into the City
• Finance — administration of decal program (fee collection, distribution)
• Communications & Marketing — development of messaging
COST ANALYSIS:
DEM inquired with companies that our Parking Department had used in the past for parking
decals about cost. Based on a purchase of 90.000 decals (1,000 for first responders. 1,000 for
other emergency responders. hotel and condominium emergency response personnel and
88,000 for residents and businesses) the overall cost for production is approximately $6.500 for
regular decals and up to $35,000 for reflective decals including the option of printed instructions
on the decal backing. This cost does not include or other administrative costs such as postage
and mailing material or advertising. This information is expected to be finalized by the Finance
and Marketing & Communications Departments and included in the report to be presented at the
Neighborhoods meeting in September. Other cities have charged a processing fee and this can
be investigated further in the interest of offsetting costs.
CONCLUSION:
Although a program like this is difficult to execute smoothly. the public safety departments
involved in the planning have concluded that the issuance of decals to represent the various tiers
or levels of allowed re-entry is the best procedure to assist in the enforcement of this plan. This
does not appear to be cost-prohibitive. but may require additional staffing reassigment.
Participation and compliance with this program must be supplemented by clear communication.
One of the major complaints from the public and those tasked with restricting entry after the
storm was that there was conflicting information which led to some confusion about when to and
who could re-enter the City. DEM and Communications have been working together to ensure a
smoother outflow of information in emergencies. including the implementation of our new
MBALERT system. In addition. DEM has conducted an emergency management orientation for
Commissioners and their aides, which included guidance about the most efficient flow of
information. Elected officials are often the best and most trusted source of information. and your
assistance in providing consistent and accurate information helps public safety officials keep our
community safe and secure before, during and after disaster.
C: Executive Staff
Management Team
JM/JRM/SHL