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LGBTQ Advisory Board Minutes - 2-12-19 LGBTQ Advisory Committee Committee Chair, Robin Schwartz Meeting Minutes Tuesday, February 12, 2019 Members in attendance – Robin Schwartz, Cindy Brown, Herb Sosa, George Neary, Elizabeth Schwartz, Alexander Palenzuela, Riki Wilchins, Gayle Durham, Danny Diaz, David Lancz (phone), Mark Wylie (phone), Stephen Fox, Jr. (phone), Craig Garmendia (phone) Others in attendance- Dan Rios (GMCVB), Manny Valdes (MBPD), Wendy Rich-Goldschmidt, Scott Bader, Bruce Horowich, Michael Barrineau Called to order at 1:00 p.m. Ongoing Business: A. Approval of the December 11, 2018 minutes and January 8, 2019 minutes. Motion by: Elizabeth Schwartz, second by: Riki Wilchins. All in favor. B. MBPD Updates – Wendy Rich-Goldschmidt introduced herself as the Chief of Staff to Chief Oates, Police Chief. She explained that she just wanted to formally do the handoff to Manny Valdes from Juan Sanchez as the liaison from the Police Department to the Committee. Officer Valdes said he has nothing to report right now. C. GMCVB / social media updates – Dan Rios spoke. He spoke about Aspen ski week and said more than 4,000 people attended. They got a lot of branding out. They will be joining pride in Fort Lauderdale. He said they are participating in Gay Ocho. They will be going to the UK to meet with other organizations. New Business: A. Introductions for new members: Jonathan and Daniel. Diaz introduced himself as the Vice President of Communications for the Chamber of Commerce. Jonathan Barrio introduced himself as the Miami Development Officer for Equality Florida. Everyone else currently on the Committee introduced themselves as well. B. Discussion was brought up at the Committee and was held regarding the 2 resolutions C7M and C7O on the February 13th Commission agenda- The two items include adopting legislation to help the LGBTQ Community. Robin said Elizabeth Schwartz asked on behalf of Vice-Mayor Góngora to place a discussion item on the agenda today for the resolution he was sponsoring C7O on the February 13th Commission agenda, but she asked that it be tabled until the next meeting to give SAVE and others an opportunity to be a part of the discussion. She said there is only one side of the argument represented today. She said they should hear both sides and would like to invited both SAVE and Equality Florida, any Commissioner or the Mayor, and anyone else to be present when this is discussed at the next meeting. Discussion was held. Committee Members Alexander Palenzuela Cindy Brown Craig Garmendia Daniel Diaz David Lancz Elizabeth Schwartz Gayle Durham George Neary Heriberto Sosa Jamie Guirola Jonathan Barrio Mark Wylie Riki Wilchins Roger Thomson Stephen Fox, Jr. Committee members gave their opinions. Members said the Committee has a responsibility to give their position on the issue. The majority of the Committee voted to discuss this today and not defer it to the next meeting. The 2 resolutions were read aloud for the Committee to be on the same page . C7M was A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, URGING THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO ADOPT SENATE BILL 438 (SB 438), THE FLORIDA INCLUSIVE WORKFORCE ACT, A Bl-PARTISAN ACT THAT PROMOTES FAIRNESS AND MODERNIZES STATE LAW BY PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY; AND, FURTHER, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE ENTITIES LISTED HEREIN, which was sponsored by Commissioner Alemán and Co-sponsored by Commissioner Arriola, C7O was A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, URGING THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO ENACT LEGISLATION THAT WOULD PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY IN HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT, AND PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS; AND, DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE ENTITIES AND OFFICIALS SET FORTH HEREIN, which was sponsored by Vice-Mayor Góngora and Co- sponsored by Commissioners Malakoff and Arriola. The first resolution C7M was described as including only the workplace. The second one is inclusive for all, housing, bathrooms, workplace, everything. Discussion was held about both resolutions. The Committee discussed that they should be voting on what is the best and most inclusive, right thing to do for the LGBTQ audience. Discussion continued about both bills. Discussion was held regarding the transgender community. Cindy said in her opinion, the City of Miami Beach should support the second resolution because the City of Miami Beach has always been a beacon on issues for years. She doesn’t know if it is feasible for the City to approve both resolutions. Robin said she was told they could approve both resolutions and let them be discussed in the Senate. Cindy said if the Commission can support resolutions, then she recommends the Commission do so, if the Commission is forced to choose between one or the other she feels that the Committee should support the second one because it is more inclusive. Riki seconded. After further discussion Riki withdrew her motion, she wasn’t aware that the Committee could just vote for one. Cindy withdrew her motion and made a new one. She motioned that the Committee recommends to the Commission that they should support C7O, the resolution sponsored by Vice-Mayor Góngora, Commissioner Malakoff and Commissioner Arriola. Riki seconded. Roger was called by Robin and she explained to him that the Committee decided to discuss these resolutions. Roger gave his opinion and said they shouldn’t have discussed this today because it wasn’t on the agenda and that the Committee should have heard from both sides and he doesn’t know what the rush is. Discussion was held. In favor of motion: Cindy, Gayle, Elizabeth, Riki, George, Herb, Robin. Not in favor of motion: Alexander, Danny. Recused from vote: Jonathan. C. Discuss ideas to bring more LGBTQ folks to Miami Beach- discussion postponed to the March 12, 2019 meeting. D. Discuss verbiage and possible locations for rainbow plaque placement at 12th Street and Ocean Drive- the Visibility/Marketing/Tourism subcommittee will discuss this at their next subcommittee meeting and report back to the Committee. E. Bruce Horowich spoke and explained that he is chairman of Miami Beach Gay Pride. He said he was present today, because he heard a rumor that there was going to be a presentation today regarding closing Ocean Drive during Pride. He said he heard it could be a security and fire issue. He said it is important to keep the street open because Miami Beach Pride relies heavily on the sponsors’ booths and for the festival goers to support the bars out there because that is what generates the funds to keep Pride open. Discussion was held about the parade and restaurants in the area. Mr. Horowich all in all said he is not willing to allow Ocean Drive to become a street festival. Discussion continued about Pride. Subcommittees Reports and Next Actions: 1) HRC Rating (Herb, Cindy, Liz) 2) LGBTQ Visibility/Marketing/ Tourism (Gayle, George, Mark, Jamie, Alex, Stephen) 3) Health and Wellness (Ricki, Jamie, Craig) 4) Senior Housing (Cindy, Robin, George, Roger) Subcommittee Reports were postponed to the March 12, 2019 meeting. Meeting adjourned at 2:20 p.m.