LTC 070-2018 SENIOR MEAL PROGRAM AT UNIDADOFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC# 070..2018
LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members t f the City C mission
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manage
DATE: February 13, 2018
SUBJECT: SENIOR MEAL PROGRAM AT U !DAD
Item R7L on tomorrow's agenda is the recommendation of the Neighborhoods/Community Affairs
Committee (NCAC) to provide funding to Unidad of Miami Beach, Inc. (Unidad) for the creation of
a senior meals program to serve elder residents at the North Beach Senior Center. The agenda
item indicates that NCAC recommended funding in the amount of $131,000 after subtracting the
10% proffered by Sandor Scher and Alex Blavatnik of Ocean Terrance Holdings. During my
Commission briefings today, it was brought to my attention that the memorandum did not
accurately reflect the recommendation of NCAC. I was not in attendance at that meeting, and I
therefore relied on representations made to me by staff in their preparation of the draft. Tonight,
however, I listened to the recording of the meeting and I must agree that the memorandum does
not accurately reflect the direction provided by the NCAC.
By way of supplement to the agenda item, I want to clarify the record by pointing out that the motion
made and approved at NCAC was to fully fund the meal program, consisting of $190,000 for the
meal program plus $40,000 for the socialization programming if necessary, plus the 10% proffered
by Mr. Scher and Mr. Blavatnik. The motion also included the desire that the City would be able
to start providing these services by the end of February. There was testimony at the meeting that
Unidad is already providing educational and recreational programming in the morning and
afternoon that attracts up to 800 registered center users. This is something that can be considered
by the full Commission on February 14th in determining whether the $40,000 is in fact necessary.
Another factor to consider is that while these numbers were based on providing meals to 100
individuals, the actual seating capacity of the center is 120 individuals. One consideration would
be to use the 10% private contribution to fully fund the 120 meals. I would certainly recommend
such an approach consistent with the spirit of the NCAC recommendation.
With respect to the timing of the meal program, if the City Commission adopts the NCAC
recommendation, there would be a need to amend the current fiscal year budget to allocate the
funding. The budget amendment would be on the March City Commission agenda. If the
Commission has a desire to start the program sooner, we could probably identify some interim
funding to bridge the gap to the March meeting.
I apologize that the memorandum did not accurately reflect the motion made, I certainly
recommend the creation of the meal program since this was one of the expectations of our seniors
when this center was opened. We will certainly work with Unidad to ensure they can submit a
successful application for funding from the Alliance for Aging. But in the interim, we can make
sure that our residents' needs are addressed.