LTC 109-2006 Biweekly Update March 28 - April 14, 2006
~ MIAM' BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC # 109-2006
LETTER TO COMMISSION
DATE:
Mayor David Dermer and Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager ~.;-.-6'
April 17, 2006 0
BI-WEEKL Y UPDATE-March 28,2006- April 14, 2006
TO:
~OM:
SUBJECT:
The purpose of this LTC is to provide you with an update of issues the Administration has
recently been focusing on between March 28 and April 14, 2006.
CLEANER AND SAFER
POLICE DEPARTMENT - On March 6, 2006, Chief Dicenso met with the National Bikers
Association in preparation for Black Bike Week which is scheduled for Labor Day Weekend.
On Monday, March 2th staff of the Miami Beach Police Department held its promotional
ceremony in Commission Chambers. A total of ten officers were promoted at this ceremony.
The full list of promotions was provided to you in LTC #075-2006. On behalf of our
residents, I would like to congratulate all of our officers on their promotion.
On April 5th, Chief De Lucca presided over the graduation ceremony of Class 28 of the
Miami Beach Police Citizen's Academy.
FIRE DEPARTMENT - On April 6, 2006, representatives of the Miami Beach Fire Department
participated in a discussion regarding Pandemic Influenza Planning at the Miami Dade
County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Chiefs meeting. The Fire Department, including
our new Emergency Management Coordinator, Don Druitt, is following this issue closely at
the County level, and will be providing input on the County's draft planning document in the
near future.
PUBLIC AREA CLEANLINESS INDEX AND ASSESSMENT PROGRAM - The end of March marks
the 4th consecutive quarter of assessments conducted under the City's Public Area
Cleanliness Index program. The next group of assessors will begin their assignments for
this quarter next week. As per the Commission's request at the April 11 th Commission
Meeting, a full report of this program will be presented at an upcoming
Neighborhoods/Community Affairs Committee meeting by the Office of Budget and
Performance Improvement in conjunction with our Public Works Department.
. BEAUTIFUL AND VIBRANT. MATURE. STABLE RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY. URBAN AND HISTORIC
ENVIRONMENT
BAYNANZA EVENT AT MAURICE GIBB MEMORIAL PARK AND MONUMENT ISLAND - Our
Neighborhood Services Department along with Miami-Dade County's Department of
Environmental Resources (DERM) and the Environmental Coalition of Miami Beach
(ECOMB) organized an environmental event for Saturday, April 22nd starting at 9 am.
Baynanza is a County-wide effort to promote environmental awareness and the importance
of protecting our most treasured natural resources, water and land. Multiple events are
scheduled throughout Miami-Dade County for April 22nd.
Volunteers will meet at Maurice Gibb Memorial Park, and will be assigned to clean the park
or island upon arrival. ECOMB is coordinating the volunteer transportation to Monument
Island with Marine Patrol, Coast Guard and volunteer boat owners. The volunteers will focus
primarily on the removal and proper disposal of litter. Volunteers can sign up to participate
at www.miamibeachfI.Qov.
CULTURAl. ENTERTAINMENT AND TOURISM CAPITAL
INTERNATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL CARACAS-Assistant City Manager Hilda M. Fernandez
and the City's Cultural Affairs Program Manager, Gary Farmer, joined Commissioner Matti H.
Bower for the opening of the International Theater Festival- Caracas (FITC) from March 31
- April 5, 2006.
The FITC is the parent festival of the Miami World Theater Festival, which was held for the
first time last October. The Commissioner and staff met with Festival officials regarding
logistics, venues and structure for the local event. Meetings with Festival staff are expected
to begin here in May for this year's Festival, tentatively scheduled for early November.
BEACH PATROL - MIAMI BEACH (Evolution/ Court TV) continues filming through mid-April for a
June series airing.
INDIE FEATURE MY SEXIEST YEAR starring Harvey Keitel and Frankie Muniz currently
scheduled for an April-May production.
ESPN DEPORTES held a taped casting session for "Dream Job: EI Reportero" on Ocean
Drive.
COMMERCIALS for Burlington Coat Factory and Cannon, featuring tennis star Maria
Sharapova, were filmed throughout the City.
MAJOR EVENT PLANNING MEETING FOR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND 2006-- As in years past, on
April 12, 2006, the Tourism and Cultural Events Department conducted the first of a series of
comprehensive and coordinated planning meetings. Several interdepartmental meetings will
be held over the next months as well as a number of external meetings with community
groups and associations. The Police Department, Fire Department, Parking Department,
Sanitation Division and Code Compliance Division all attended this initial meeting to discuss
enhanced staffing levels in order to manage crowds, maintain safety and quality of life
standards throughout the City.
At this meeting, other upcoming events such as Spring Fest (May 5-7,2006) and Black Bike
Week (Labor Day Weekend) were discussed as well.
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE SEASON KICK-oFF EVENT AT LUMMUS PARK/OCEAN DRIVE-
The National Football League (NFL) season starts on Thursday, September 7,2006 with the Miami
Dolphins vs. Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh. This year marks the 5th year the NFL holds a kick-off
event. The NFL completed 2 days of scouting with staff from the Tourism and Cultural Development
Department during the week of March 2ih.
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The NFL has confirmed that Miami Beach will host their kick-off event at Lummus Park/Ocean Drive.
This kick-off event entails a pre-game concert televised on NBC from 8 - 8:30pm. This year, the NFL
is also working with a major cable network to televise the show live prior to the NBC pre-gram show.
Past performers have included Jessica Simpson, Maroone 5 and Kanye West.
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL - Staff and I have continued working with the Cirque development team
to explore and refine the proposed redevelopment of the Jackie Gleason Theater for the
Performing Arts for a permanent venue for Cirque du Solei I.
As part of this effort, we traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada on March 29th to meet with the
Cirque development team and visit 3 of their permanent shows, which included Ka, Zumanity
and "0". Meetings were focused on gauging costs associated with Cirque du Soleil's
permanent productions, infrastructure and construction costs.
WEll-IMPROVED INFRASTRUCTURE
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS-The Capital Improvement Projects Office is working
diligently to complete a series of construction projects around the City. Following are some
highlights of on-going projects:
The Colony Theater Project entails renovations to improve theater operations and
performance functions, as well as provide renovations to comply with ADA Title III
requirements. All major construction work is now complete, and most Building Department
approvals have been obtained. Final completion is expected by June 2006.
The renovation and ADA improvements to restrooms, doors and door hardware as well as
box offices at the Convention Center are currently underway. Twelve pairs of restrooms and
one Men's restroom located in Halls A, B, C, and D, and Lobby C and D are substantially
complete. Notice to Proceed was issues on December 9, 2005 for the Group C restrooms
located in Halls A, C, D and Skywalk. Work has commenced in all Group C restrooms and
substantial completion is expected in early summer 2006.
SUPPORTING OUTCOMES TO SUSTAINABIUTY OF VISION
Focus GROUP MEETINGS- The City held a series of focus group meetings on April 4-6,
2006. These meetings were driven by our continued efforts to build on our Community
Satisfaction Survey. The Hay Group will be providing the results of these focus group
meetings in a couple of weeks.
RESULTS-ORIENTED GOVERNMENT: "MY ESSENTIAL PIECE" PRESENTATIONS- In our
continuing effort to communicate the Strategic Plan throughout the organization, the Office
of Budget and Performance Improvement has been scheduling presentations with every City
department in order to train employees on the priorities identified through the Community
Satisfaction survey, the Strategic Plan as well as their department's role and supporting
workplan in achieving these goals.
These presentations are tailored to each department and center on the concept of how each
employee and each department is an "essential piece" in the achieving the goals as laid out
in the City's Strategic Plan.
To date, 14 departments and/or divisions have had their "Essential Piece" presentation,
which translates to about 882 employees.
MEETINGS WITH WASHINGTON DELEGATES - On April 5th, Mayor David Dermer, staff and I
met with members of our delegation in Washington D.C. to discuss issues of importance to
the City. Much time was spent on discussing telecommunications legislation and its possible
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impact on our Citywide WiFi Project.
E-GOVERNMENTNELOCITY HALL- As we have previously reported, the Information
Technology Department, along with the Code Compliance Division of the Neighborhood
Services Department, have been working to implement a process by which to provide our
residents and business with access to information on code cases.
In an effort to provide online access on Code cases as soon as possible, our IT staff has
been working to adapt the Velocity Hall Permit program to provide access to Code cases.
We are currently in the beta test stage and will be making this option available shortly. We
will keep you informed when this becomes available.
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS AD HOC COMMITTEE - As you may recall, in
January 2006, I created a new Ad Hoc Public Relations and Communications Committee
made up of representatives of the hotel, entertainment, and business communities. The
Committee has met several times in order to assist and provide guidance with regard to the
City's public relations strategy and ensure a collaborative representation of City interests.
During the course of these meetings, the Committee recommended that the City secure the
services of an outside firm to develop and implement a brand identity/management program.
To that end, the City recently distributed a "Request for Qualifications and Letters of Interest"
to firms. The goal of this effort is to achieve the following objectives:
. Further position the City of Miami Beach as a recognizable "brand";
. Increase awareness of Miami Beach as a desired destination for travel, business
and residency;
o Validate and legitimize the City's position as an entertainment, culinary,
travel, arts, culture, health and fitness, and business capital
o Reinforces the City's image as a dynamic place to live, work and play
. Not duplicate existing marketing efforts (e.g. GMCVB);
. Cut through the clutter with a fresh, different approach
Interested firms were asked to submit applications by April 7, 2006. Five firms submitted
letters of interest and will be invited to develop and present a fully developed proposal and
scope of work for presentation to a review panel. A review panel is anticipated to select 1-2
concepts for presentation to the Ad Hoc Committee, with the expectation that one brand
identity concept will be recommended to staff for implementation.
BUDGET MEETINGS- During this period, I have completed my first round of budget meetings
with all 22 of the City's departments. In addition, I have already had the final budget meeting
with 5 departments, and will be holding final budget meetings with the remaining
departments in the coming weeks.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me.
JMG/DM
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