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024-1998 LTC CITY OF MIAMI BEACH CITY HALL 1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA 33139 http:\\cLmiami-beach,fJ,us L.T.C. No. 24-1998 LETTER TO COMMISSION February 11,1998 TO: Mayor Neisen O. Kasdin and Members of the City Commission FROM: Sergio Rodriguez City Manager SUBJECT: MIAMI-DADE MAYOR ALEX PENELAS' ECONOMIC SUMMIT On Monday, January 26, 1998, Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas assembled people from all sectors of society including public entities, private sector businesses, and private citizens with the purpose of addressing economic concerns in our community. The Mayor's Economic Summit, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, provided a forum to discuss and condense the community's economic efforts into one common platform in accordance with the long range initiative of One Community One Goal. The outcome of the Summit was the development of a blueprint for Miami-Dade's economic future. Attached please find an article that was published in the Miami Herald on January 27, 1998 describing the event in further detail. I attended this event along with various members of administration including representations from the Community and Economic Development Division, the Office of Special Events, Film and Entertainment Offices, and the City's Tourism and Convention Coordinator. To date, the City of Miami Beach has participated in the various meetings leading up to the Summit. Specifically, members of our staff have worked closely with the Miami Beach Community Development Corporation, the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce and the Beacon Council. The City staff will continue to work hard during the implementation aspect of the One Community One Goal initiative as well as the remaining topics which include the visitor industry. Although the Mayor's Economic Summit was a county-wide initiative, the involvement of Miami Beach in any regional economic planning is critical. The City's participation will have an impact of the desired blueprint for Miami-Dade's economic future and implementation ofthe desired goals. SR:~:aq A blueprint for economic . prospenty Dade mayor's summit stresses job creation . SUGGESTIONS FOA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, 9A . COUL TEA TO LAYOFF 200 IN SOUTH FLORIDA, 78 is, GREGG FIELDS and MIMI WHITEFIELD :~erald Susiness Writers Facing one of the softest local economies in the country, thousands of Greater Miamians turned out on a rainy Monday in search of solutions. The Mayor's Economic Summit, hosted by Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, swamped the Wyndham Hotel-Miami Biscayne Bay, sending met:tings and workshops into neighboring buildings as organizers struggled to accommodate the unex- pectedly iarge crowds. More than 3,000 people showed up, nearly 1,000 more than had been expected at an event that had the fervor of a political convention and a revival meeting rolled into one. "~an you b~lieve this?" said an enthused Jay Malina, co-chalrman of the summit and head of One Community One Goal, the job creation ann of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. "And these people paid to be here." With the motto "Creating a blueprint for our future," the mayor's summit was designed to bring together the often disparate interests of business, government and education in a common quest for job creation in Miami-Dade. "Today marks the first step in our collective effort to assure economic prosperity for all," said Penelas as red and blue lights flashed across the stage. The community is at a crossroads, he said. If the necessary action is taken, Penelas said, Miami- Dade has the potential to be a model urban commu- PLEASE SEE SUMMIT, 9A At Monday's M~yor~s Economic Summit, 10 workshops each tac~led a pre~slng Issue facing the local economy. Here were their suggestions on how to improve specific areas: Crime . :~andgun violence preven- tion initiatives. . Adequate funding for the Juvenile Assessment Center. . Early intervention and pre- vention programs. Culture . New dedicated cultural funds. . Referendum on a two-year prooerty tax increase to finance cultural activities. . New cultural and educa- tional programs. Economic revitalization . Improve mechanisms for financing economic develop- ment. . Improve county structure and policy. . Apply for Empowerment Zone designation. \ Film and entertainment . Upgrade and strengthen county film office. . Create a trade association. . Establish adequate/stable funding sources. Global perception . Better-coordinated coop- erative marketing. . Support "Miami" as the county's distinctive brand name. . Create business-friendly image. Housing affordability . Code revision and incen- tives to encourage mixed use and mixed income develop- ments. . Cost/benefit study of regu- lations. . Look at alternative funding sources for affordable homes. including a surcharge on luxury homes priced at $500,000 and above. Establishment of a fund- ing clearinghouse. International trade . Continued airport, seaport and Miami River infrastructure projects, including support for a fourth runway at MIA. . Establishment of a World Trade Center complex with .1 global trade missions center. . Enhance work force com- petitiveness by tying training to market needs. South Dade revitalization . Revitalization of Home- stead Air Reserve Base as a commercial airport environmen- tally compatible with Biscayne Bay. . Improve current uncoordi- nated tourism promotion efforts. . Retention and expansion of agriculture. Welfare-to-work . Concentrate on job cre- ation/availability efforts. . Improve support services SUCh as child care, transporta- tion and access to affordable health care. . Improve communications to inform business community of incentives and benefits in hir- ing welfare recipients. Education . Improve performance and accountability and awareness of school offerings. . Promote educational part- nerships with business. . Align schools to industry and business needs. SUMI\IIT, FROM 1A nity. "If we don't do the right things," he said, "we will settle into mediocrity, struggle with high unemployment, an unskilled work force, and poorly planned neigh- borhoods with a poor quality of life for all." Indeed, for a community that is often riven by racial and ethnic frictions, Monday's attendees were notably diverse. The subjects studied, meanwhile, ranged from welfare-to-work job creation pro- grams to ways to enhance the cul- tural arts scene. "This is the first time I've seen an effort that tries to integrate everyone," said Otis Pitts, a devel- oper who works on inner-city pro- jects and heads the mayor's Urban Revitalization Task Force. He was also a co-chairman Monday. "One of the greatest problems of our communities is that they are eco- nomically isolated." 1 Lagging behind They mayor's summit comes at a piv.otal moment for the Miami- Dade economy. While most of Florida, and indeed the nation, is enjoying a jobs boom, the expan- sion has largely bypassed Miami- Dade. The local growth in jobS is run- ning below 2 percent annually, the lowest of Florida's metropolitan areas. And the county's unem- ployment rate of 6.9 percent is well above the 4.5 percent rate for the state as a whole. But those in attendance, includ- ing some of the most powerful individuals in both the public and private sectors, cautioned that the summit. while important, was unlikely to produce any pat answers or quick solutions. "Don't expect overnight mira- cles," said Charles Dusseau, the former Florida secretary of com- merce and now a business consul- tant. Technology'. clulnging f8ce Technology, he said, has greatly changed Miami's place in the world. For instance, its natural status as a gateway to Latin Amer- ica is under threat, as innovations like jumbo jets and the Internet diminish the importance of geo- graphic proximity. , "Given the way technology IS changing, geographic ~dvantage is tenuous," Dusseau said. Rather than mere location, commerce today is driven by tech- nological excellence and well- trained workers;, the experts gath ered Monday agreed. And in both those areas, Miami has fallen behind competitors like Atlanta and North Carolina's research tri- angle, said Modesto "Mitch" Mai- dique, president of Florida Inter- national University. Maidique was one of the panel- ists on work-force preparation and education. The summit had 10 panels, each of which studied a different issue that affects the economy, including things like crime, image and international trade. At the end of the day, each panel made three recommenda- tions on how to improve their assigned area. "We've got a tremendous prob- lem in this community," Maidi- que said. He outlined five major reasons why Miami's work force is falling behind those of other urban regions: . Metropolitan Miami is the fourth-poorest area of the country. . It's undereducated, with one of three adults lacking a high school diploma, while only 18 per- cent have college degrees, versus 25 percent in Atlanta. . Miami has few higher educa- tion institutions relative to its size. . The institutions it has are quite young. . The state's combination of low taxes and low tuition means not enough resources are available to adequately train workers for tomorrow. ' Maidique called upon Penelas to form a higher education author- ity, made up of college presidents and business leaders, to forge the necessary links between the coun- ty's educational efforts and the Mayor's i.. economIc summIt stresses job creation private sector. "If it were a coordinated gn'l';:>, we c?,uld better support each ther, he said. At the end of the day the county had an ec~nomic blu~print that Pen~las said would gui:de eeo- t'.:>mlc development into ~he next century, help. in. marketing the ,!ounty, and aid m lobb1ing for federal and state funds. Th.e ~me oversight committee mODltormg. the One. Community One Goal Job creation initiative will oversee the new economic, development plan. . Pe!lel~s said he'll keep the com- mUDlty mformed: Every 120 days or so, he ex~cts a report on prog- ress ,made m reaching the eco- n~~llIc development plan's goals. The message w~ heard today w~s very clear.. ThiS community wd! no longer Sit on the sidelines whde their future is shaped by ~meone else," said Penelas. Today we gave this community a seat at the table."