LTC 101-2004 Weekly Update
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission No. 101-2004
m
To:
From:
Mayor David Dermer and
Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez " " /
City Manager \.v- 0
WEEKLY UPDATtJ
Date: April 30, 2004
Subject:
The purpose of this LTC is to provide the Mayor and Commission with an update
describing some of the areas the administration has recently been focusing on:
Budget Preparations - The Office of Budget and Performance Improvement
(OBPI) continues to work on budget preparations with all City Departments for
the next fiscal year. I continuously meet with staff from OBPI to discuss various
issues relating to the budget. Briefings with the Commission are still scheduled
to take place in early June.
Commission Retreat - The leadership retreat for the Mayor and Commission
has been scheduled and confirmed for Saturday, May 8 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00
p.m. and Saturday, May 22, 2004 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The May 8
session will take place in the Ocean Boardroom of the South Beach Marriott
Hotel located at 161 Ocean Drive. A packet of information to help you prepare
for the May 8 session will be provided to each of you by the City Clerk on
Wednesday, May 5 after the Commission meeting.
Quality of Life Issues - Staff from the Police, Neighborhood Services, Public
Works and other City departments continue to meet on a weekly basis to focus
on issues involved with improving the quality of life for all on Miami Beach. On
Friday, April 23, the Police Chief, the ACM's and I went on a tour of the
entertainment district from approximately 11 :00 p.m. to about 2:00 a.m. to
experience firsthand the kinds of issues staff deals with and the City experiences
during the weekend evenings.
Homeless Census - Staff from the Neighborhood Services' Office of Community
Services participated in the recent countywide Homeless Census that included
City staff, community volunteers and representatives from the Homeless Trust.
The final count was 259 - down from 304 in December 2003 and 384 in April
2003.
1
Major Events Plan (MEP) - Staff continues to plan and prepare for several
major events that will be taking place on Miami Beach in the next couple of
weeks, including the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Film and Print - Several Spanish language telenovellas continue production
throughout the City, including: "Angel Rebelde" and Telemundo's "Prisonera".
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is shooting segments of 'World Shut
Your Mouth," and Oxygen Network/Banyan Productions are shooting pilot
episodes of a new home remodeling show, "The Package." Music videos are in
full swing, with Toe Jam Films shooting a video for Victoria's Secret supermodel
Karen Mulder, West Patagonia shooting Alejanrdo Sanz, and Skies Productions
shooting "Opposite Design." Untitled Productions just wrapped a commercial
spot for McDonald's, featuring Venus and Serena Williams showing off their
game on the new Scott Rakow ice-skating rink. World Wide productions
wrapped a commercial spot for Lux soap, featuring Sarah Jessica Parker, and
Will Van Der Vlugt production shot a Daewoo car commercial.
Hurricane Preparedness - Staff has started to prepare for hurricane season
and has scheduled the third annual City of Miami Beach Hurricane Information
and Preparedness Fair to take place on Saturday, June 5, 2004 from 10 a.m. to
1 :00 p.m. along the 1000 block of Lincoln Road. The purpose of the event is to
reach out to the community and provide information on what the City does and
what is suggested for residents and businesses to do, before during and after
hurricanes in an effort to educate and protect our residents and businesses. In
addition, a meeting with representatives from all the hotels is scheduled to take
place on Thursday, May 6, 2004 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Miami Beach
Convention Center to provide them with important information to help them
prepare.
Labor Relations - Staff from our Office of Labor Relations continues to meet
separately with representatives from the Communications Workers of America
(CWA) and ASFCME unions in the hopes of reaching fair agreements in the near
future. In addition, staff is working towards a State Certification through the
Florida Public Employer Labor Relations Association, (FPELRA). The program
has specific focus on those areas of collective bargaining and related
employment law areas germane to that required by Chapter 447, F.S., and The
Florida Public Employees Relations Act. Staff also recently attended the
National Public Employer Labor Relations Association National Conference held
in Washington D.C. (NPELRA). NPELRA is nationwide organization of over
2,000 public sector professionals employed by federal, state, and local
governments, school and special districts. The conference focused on
progressive labor relations strategies that balances the needs of management,
employees, and the public, and addressed a broad range of topics such as
recent court developments, national bargaining issues and related practices in
the field of Labor Relations.
2
Community Services - The Log Cabin Training Center hosted a dozen students
from Miami Central Senior High as part of the Gear-Up Express Program
sponsored by Florida International University. The students learned about career
opportunities with the City as well as the importance of a college education. In
addition, the City recently coordinated an event at the North Shore Open Space
Park attended by approximately 100 volunteers from the service organization
Hands on Miami. Staff from the Parks and Recreation Department and Miami-
Dade County Beach Maintenance Operations partnered with Hands on Miami to
participate in the national event promoting volunteer service among our nation's
youth. About one half of the volunteers on Saturday worked with the County
picking up litter along the dunes and shore line of the beach adjacent to North
Shore Open Space Park. The remainder of the volunteers worked in the park
removing invasive exotic plants.
Council for Excellence in Government - Upon their request, I met with a
second group of representatives from the Council for Excellence in Government
on April 21 to discuss leadership development within government entities. This
group, comprised of 25 senior level employees of the U.S. federal government
from departments including the Departments of Education, State, NASA, Social
Security Administration, Army, Air Force, CIA, EPA and Administration of
Children, Youth & Families, visit leading private, not-for-profit and government
organizations to meet with leaders who share their insights on achieving high
performance. I met with a similar group on March 25, 2004. The City of Miami
Beach was given the honor of being the only municipal government in the
country selected this year to take part in this study; and the fourth consecutive
year which I have been made part of the process.
Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day - On April 22, the City of Miami
Beach participated in the national Take our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.
Approximately 95 children between the ages of 8 and 12 joined their
parent/guardian at work for a day of informative, educational, and fun activities.
The morning session consisted of breakfast, hand-on activities with both police
and fire personnel, and meeting the Mayor and Commissioners. After lunch with
their parent/guardian, the children returned to City Hall to choose from a myriad
of workshops which included making signs, business cards, voting, ice skating,
ticket writing, sanitation vehicle maneuvering, building a structure, learning how
to volunteer, and handling complaints. Both children and parent/guardians felt
the day had been both a productive and beneficial experience...not to mention a
true collaborative effort involving all city departments.
Cultural Arts Council (CAC) - I met with Alfredo Richards, Vice-Chair of the
CAC, on April 26 to discuss several issues related to the CAC and explore ways
in which the CAC and the City can work even better together to continue
benefiting the community.
3
Children's Trust - Commissioner Bower, staff and I met with Modesto Abety,
Executive Director of the Children's Trust, to discuss issues involving and
benefiting the City and how both organizations can work better to help children in
our community.
Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) - I attended MDPL's annual event
on April 26 recognizing individuals in our community who have contributed to the
preservation movement throughout the past year and was honored to receive the
Chairman's Award on behalf of the City's efforts.
Boys & Girls Club of Miami Dade - On April 28, I met with Alex Roig,
Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Miami-Dade, and other
representatives of the local Boys and Girls Club to talk about ways that the City
and this organization can better partner in the future in providing services to our
young people.
Bass Museum - The Board of Trustees met on April 28 and discussed several
issues, including a report on upcoming exhibitions, a financial report, a report on
the HVAC system and an update on the Museum's long range plans.
Police Department - Police staff attended a meeting with representatives from
the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County Police Departments regarding the next
International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference which be held in South
Florida in 2005. This is a joint venture for all three police departments and is
attended by law enforcement executives all over the world.
Fire Department - Fire Chief Floyd Jordan was inducted into the Miami Dade
College (MDC) Hall of Fame (public safety category) at a gala event on April 29.
This second annual event honored outstanding MDC alumni who have greatly
contributed to their communities and organizations.
Relay for Life - The City's fund raising efforts continue with several Departments
continuing their events to benefit the Relay for Life program scheduled to take
place on Memorial Field at Flamingo Park on May 15-16.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to
contact me.
Electronic Copy: Leadership Team
F:CMGRlALUL TC04/Weekly UpdatelApril30.doc
4