LTC 133a-2003 CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission
To:
From:
SubJect:
Mayor David Dermer and
Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez ~ .~/~ ~
City Manager
PLANNING ANCUZONING MANAGER
Date: June 10, 2003
This Letter to the Commission is to inform you of a recent hiring the City has made in the
Planning Department. Richard Lorber has joined the City of Miami Beach as Planning and
Zoning Manager as of June 2, 2003.
As you may recall, Richard had previously worked here at the City of Miami Beach as
Principal Planner in the Planning Department from April 1998 to December 2000. At that
time, he left us to become Planning & Zoning Director of the City of South Miami. Now,
upon the retirement of long-time Planning Department stalwart Armando Valdes, who has
retired from the City after over 23 years of dedicated service, Richard has taken over the
position of Planning and Zoning Manager from Armando.
The Planning and Zoning Manager position oversees both the Zoning Board of Adjustment
and the Planning Board, as well as supervising the zoning review process for building and
development. Richard will report to Planning Director Jorge Gomez, with whom he shares
an excellent personal and professional relationship.
Richard has more than a decade of professional planning experience in local govemment,
and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). While working for
the City of South Miami, he co-authored the City's winning 2001 application for the National
Civic League's Ali-America City award. Prior to his first stint with Miami Beach, Richard
worked as a land-use and transportation planner for the Broward County Planning
Department. He holds masters degrees in Economics and Urban Planning from FlU and
FAU, respectively. He is also a graduate of the GMCC's Leadership Miami program.
Please join me in welcoming Richard back to our team. I am sure that you will find him to
be highly qualified and professional. Should you have any questions or need any
additional information, please feel free to contact me.
JMG\C~C\~
Electronic copy: Executive Staff and Management Team
M:~$CMB\TEMP\RICHARD_~I .DOC