LTC 105-2005 Weekly Update CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission No. 05-2o05
To:
From:
Subject:
Mayor David Dermer and
Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez
City Manager
WEEKLY UPDATI~, ~/
Date: April 21, 2005
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The purpose of this LTC is to provide you with an update describing some o e~
areas the Administration has recently been focusing on: rn
FY 2005106 Budget - Staff from the Office of Budget and Performance
Improvement (OBPI) and I continue to meet with representatives from all City
Departments to discuss and prepare for the FY 2005/06 budget. An update on
the budget was presented to the Mayor and Commission at the Committee of the
Whole meeting on April 20. Staff and I will continue to focus on the FY 2005/06
budget preparations and will keep you posted.
Miami Beach Community Survey - All phone calls to the approximately 1,000
Miami Beach residents are now complete as are most of the calls to the
businesses and community organizations. The Hay Group is now analyzing the
data collected through the surveys and will soon submit a report summarizing the
results. Once this data is available, I will share with each of you.
Representatives from the Hay Group will be on hand on May 20 during our
Commission Retreat to go through the data and provide you with a
comprehensive overview of the survey results.
Major Events Plan (MEP) - Staff met to prepare for several major events that
recently took place on Miami Beach including the World Cup Polo match that was
held on April 14-17 in South Beach and featured live competitive matches
between international polo teams. A horse parade through Ocean Drive kicked
off the event last Friday. The annual AIDS Walk Miami came through Lincoln
Road, Collins Park and other parts of the beach last Sunday. Staff is also
meeting to plan and prepare for the upcoming Spring Fest 2005 taking place in
Miami from April 29 - May 1 and the Memorial Day holiday weekend during the
last week of May.
Film and Print - Staff from the City's Film Office participated in Location Expo in
Los Angeles, a trade show sponsored by the Association of Film Commissioners
International (AFCI), designed to attract producers and location managers to
learn about alternate locations. While in LA, staff also met with several
producers and studio executives, leading to strong leads for several new
productions in our area, including two feature films, two television series, and a
major network television special. A television pilot "South Beach" completed
production last week and Studio executives and producers indicate if the series is
picked up, it will film and base entirely in South Florida. The "Miami Vice" feature
film officially begins its production in eady June, but Michael Mann and several
production teams were on Miami Beach last week filming scenes.
Earth Day- In conjunction with the City Parks & Recreation Department, the
Environmental Resources Management Division hosted the first annual Earth
Expo on Miami Beach on April 10 from 12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. at Lummus Park.
The Earth Expo was free and open to the public and created a forum for
sustainable businesses and provided exhibits on hybrid cars, green investing,
energy efficient and water conservation products for the home, natural
cosmetics, and organic foods. Participants also had the opportunity to participate
in native plant identification workshops.
Public Safety - Command Staff from the Police Department attended a meeting
with the North Beach Development Corporation on April 20 to discuss various
issues of concern, primarily traffic-related. During the meeting, a
recommendation was made for additional signage in the area and additional
traffic enforcement to alleviate the problem. Staff from the Police Department
met with representatives from the Miami-Dade County Community Relations
Office to discuss preparations for this year's Memorial Day weekend, particularly
the implementation of the Goodwill Ambassador Program. The Fire Department
has scheduled their annual awards and recognition program for April 29 from
7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers. In addition to recognizing
all rank promotions from the past year, various other awards will be presented.
Education Related Issues - Staff from throughout the City participated in North
Beach Elementary School's reading program, "April is Reading Month" by
volunteering an hour to read to children of all ages. Staff will also be
volunteering throughout the school year at the three other Miami Beach
elementary schools. On April 21, the City hosted a meeting to discuss the three
upcoming Children's Trust RFP's which will provide funding for a range of
services for children and youth. Representatives from the Children's Trust were
on hand as well as a number of interested providers. The following training
sessions for providers interested in responding to the RFP have been scheduled:
An informational session for bidders is scheduled for April 29 from 10:00 a.m. -
12:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers; an application training session is
scheduled for May 3 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Commission Chambers;
and a session titled "How to Locate Best Practice Models for Miami Beach" has
been scheduled for May 9 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Commission
Chambers. On April 22, City staff met with representatives from the Miami Dade
County School Board and Kathryn Abbate from the Miami Beach Community
Health Center to discuss issues related to school clinics. On April 22, I also met
with School Board member Martin Karp, Commissioner Bower and Steve
Sonnenreich from Mount Sinai to discuss the school clinics.
Channel 20 - Staff from my office and the City Clerk's office met to discuss
expanding the types of programming offered on Channel 20 as well as the more
frequent production of relevant Public Service Announcements (PSAs).
Castle Beach Condominium and Castillo del Mar Hotel - An LTC with
additional details is also being sent that provides a comprehensive explanation of
the issues involved with this case. In summary though, on April 14, the Building
Official declared this building located at 5445 Collins Avenue an unsafe structure
and as a result staff from my office and the Neighborhood Services, Police and
Fire Departments worked night and day throughout the evacuation process to
assist the residents and hotel guests. The Building Department continues to
work with the court appointed receiver to expedite the necessary repairs.
Emergency / Hurricane Preparedness - Staff continues to work on and update
the City's emergency / hurricane preparedness plans. The City's Emergency
Operations Center (EOC) staff, comprised of representatives from throughout the
Administration, met on April 22 to discuss the most updated plans and begin
preparing for this year's hurricane season. Several follow-up meetings are
scheduled as we approach the beginning of the hurricane season which starts on
June 1, 2005. Two hurricane fairs are planned to provide residents with
information that will help them prepare. The Hurricane Fair in South Beach will
be on June 5 on Lincoln Road and the Hurricane Fair in North Beach will be on
June 11 on Normandy Circle.
Homeless Related Issues - The Office of Community Services wrote a grant on
behalf of Project HOPE Miami Beach enabling a collaboration with Calvary
Chapel to provide identification documents (birth certificates, work permits and
Florida ID) replacement for homeless people in Miami Beach. This grant also
enabled the hiring of a part-time person (20 hours per week) to process requests
for documents and make referrals. This grant enabled the creation of a new,
faith-based service provider in our City accessing funds that the City could not
directly access. This new service will begin May 2, 2005 at Calvary Chapel.
Labor Relations -A Special Magistrate convened the impasse hearings
between the City and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) on March
16-18, again on April 12. The next set of hearings are scheduled for May 2-4.
Once the hearings are complete, the Special Magistrate will make a
recommendation for resolution. If either the CWA or City reject the
recommendation, the final decision is then routed to the City Commission. Staff
from Labor Relations recently completed a state certification program
administered by the Florida Public Employer Labor Relations Association
(FPELRA) and have been certified as "Florida Public Sector Labor Relations
Professionals." FPELRA is part of the National Public Employer Labor Relations
Association (NEPLRA), a nationwide organization of over 2,000 public sector
professionals employed by federal, state and local governments, schools and
special districts. The certification focused on collective bargaining, and related
employment law areas under Chapter 447.
Vote Miami Beach - The City's voter registration efforts continue with the Vote
Miami Beach initiative which provides discounts to all registered Miami Beach
voters at local restaurants and merchants throughout the City. Voter registration
drives will be held on the following Saturdays (May 14, June 4, July 2, August 6,
September 3, and October 1), from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the following
locations: Sushi Siam, 647 Lincoln Road, Wild Oats, 1020 Alton Road,
Walgreens Drug Store at 41st Street & Pine Tree Drive and Walgreens Drug
Store at 67 Street & Collins Avenue.
Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club - I attended the Tuesday Morning Breakfast
Club on April 17 to discuss a number of issues including the various G.O. Bond
and CIP construction projects and schedules, police issues, and an update on
the City's union negotiations, as well as a number of other issues the participants
were interested in hearing about.
Growth Management - Staff and I have been meeting to discuss and develop
strategies and recommendations for dealing with growth management issues on
Miami Beach, particularly as they may relate to the proposed legislation the
Florida State Legislature is dealing with. Meetings have been scheduled with
each of you individually to discuss these strategies.
Tourism Related Initiatives - Staff has met with representatives from the hotel
industry to provide information on some important initiatives, including educating
hotel guests on water safety and hotel accessibility for visitors with disabilities.
Brochures on these topics have been distributed to all hotels in Miami Beach.
Organizational Development- Training on our new enhanced customer service
standards continue to take place with staff from throughout the City. The goal of
the training is to ensure that all employees receive the proper training and
resources to be able to deliver outstanding customer service. A college fair was
held on April 15 to provide employees with an opportunity to visit with
representatives from various local colleges and universities. Staff is working with
representatives from Florida International University and Miami Dade College to
provide a greater offering of courses in the City for employees and residents.
Miami Dade College - Representatives from the Administration met with staff
from Miami Dade College to discuss ways in which the City can further partner
on various community cultural events, including the Miami International Book Fair
and the Miami International Film Festival, two events produced by the College.
National Donate Life Month - The blood drive that was held at City Hall on April
21 as part of the City's "National Donate Life" Month efforts was a success
resulting in over 40 pints of blood being donated. Other efforts include the
distribution of organ and tissue donation cards to all employees.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me.
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