LTC 122-2002
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CITY of MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Man~er
Letter to Commission No./22 .:! m z
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TO:
FROM:
Mayor David Dermer and
Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez \'. _ /
City Manager 0 tMQ
WEEKLY UPDATE
Date: May 13, 2002
SUBJECT:
,
The purpose of this LTC is to provide the Mayor and Commission with an update
describing some of the areas the Administration focused on during the week of
May 6, 2002:
Neighborhood Leadership Academy - The Neighborhood Leadership
Academy, the civic and public information program designed for residents of
Miami Beach that provides them with the information and resources to become
more knowledgeable members of our diverse community, met on May 6 with the
Public Works Department presenting. The participant's surveys completed at the
end of each session were extremely positive and the residents participating keep
offering very positive feedback about the sessions. The final three presentations
will be by the Parking Department on May 13, Fire Department on May 20, and
Police Department on June 3. The "graduation" ceremony is scheduled to take
place during the June 19 Commission meeting.
Hurricane Preparedness Plans - The Administration has been meeting to
update plans for this year's hurricane season and has met with representatives of
each of the following functional areas to further outline and update the City's
plans: (1) Public Safety; (2) Operations; (3) Logistics; (4) Administration and
Finance; and (5) Planning and Information. In addition, representatives from
each of these areas will be attending the 16th annual Florida Governor's
Hurricane Conference in Tampa from May 20-24,2002. The Administration has
scheduled a "Hurricane Fair" to take place on Saturday, June 1 from 10:00 a.m.
to 1 :00 p.m. on Lincoln Road that will provide residents and businesses with
information to better help them prepare and plan in the event of a hurricane. On
June 4, representatives from the Administration will be participating in the
statewide emergency drill being coordinated by the State and County Emergency
Management Offices. Once all hurricane preparedness plans are finalized, they
will be communicated to the Mayor and Commission.
'It
Memorial Day Weekend 2002 - Representatives from the Administration have
continued to meet to plan, prepare and allocate resources for the holiday
weekend. In addition, representatives have been meeting with representatives
from the nightlife industry and hotels to ensure that they too are planning
accordingly. On May 6, a training session was held for Goodwill Ambassador
volunteers. On May 7, Pro, Inc. submitted the following applications for the
following events: (1) Convention Center on Saturday, May 25 for a "club night" in
Hall C with live performances (name talent not known yet) and (2) Ocean
Drive/UMOJA Street Festival, a traditional African festival to promote unity with
vendors providing food, non alcoholic drinks, arts and crafts. Miami-Dade
County's Office of Community Relations will coordinate all vendors at this event
taking place: Friday, May 24 from 6:00 p.m. to 11 :00 p.m.; Saturday, May 25
from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.; and Sunday, May 25 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00
p.m. Meetings next week have been scheduled with representatives from the
hotels, nightclubs, the Ocean Drive Association, and the Miami Beach Chamber
of Commerce's Board of Governors all on May 14; an internal planning meeting
with representatives from the City on May 15; and a community meeting on May
16. Additional and updated details will be provided to the Mayor and
Commission in the form of an LTC at the end of this week.
Art Basel Miami Beach - Representatives from the Administration met with
representatives from Art Basel to continue preparing and planning for Art Basel
Miami Beach taking place between December 3 - 8, 2002. Discussions include
preparations for the representatives from Miami Beach that will be traveling to
Switzerland for Art Basel this June.
All-America City Award - Representatives from the Administration have been
meeting to plan for the award competition taking place in Kansas City from June
13-15, 2002. As one of 30 finalist communities, the City needs to send a
delegation of residents, business owners, elected officials, and City staff to
Kansas City to present and discuss our application and make a presentation that
covers all aspects of our application.
Real Estate Presentation - Representatives from the Administration made a
presentation regarding issues related to the revitalization of South Beach to the
top 50 international and real estate brokers from Cushman Wakefield who were
in Miami Beach attending their annual conference.
Grant Award - The City was notified that the Florida Department of Health has
been awarded $83,000 for bio-terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction
(WMD) training, equipment and preparedness.
.j
Departmental Budget Reviews - The City Manager and representatives from
the Office of Management and Budget continued to meet with representatives
from City Departments to discuss budget plans and allocations for the 2002-2003
fiscal year.
Normandy Village I North Beach Merchants Meeting - Representatives from
the Administration met on May 7 with several merchants and other interested
stakeholders of the Normandy Village I North Beach area to discuss the
neighborhood market that takes place there every weekend and solicit feedback
regarding the future of these markets. A similar meeting took place with
merchants of Espanola Way on April 17 and a meeting will take place with the
merchants of Lincoln Road on May 15. Once all meetings have taken place, the
results will be presented to the Community Affairs Committee on May 22 for
further discussion and action.
Police Memorial Ceremony - Was held at the Police Department on May 9 to
coincide with the National Police Memorial Day that pays homage to all officers
that have been killed in the line of duty.
If you have any questions or need any additional information about any of these
items, please feel free to contact me.
JMG/ri
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