LGBTQ Advisory Board Minutes - 7-14-20
LGBTQ Advisory Committee
Committee Chair, Robin Schwartz
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Members in attendance – Cindy Brown, Craig Garmendia,
Danny Diaz, Elizabeth Schwartz, Gayle Durham, Herb Sosa,
Mark Wylie, Michael Bath, Paul Thomas, Riki Wilchins, Robin
Schwartz, Sunny Weber
Others in attendance- Dan Rios, GMCVB
Called to order at 1:06 p.m.
Ongoing Business:
A. Approval of the June 9, 2020 minutes- motion: postponed to September 8, 2020
meeting
B. MBPD Updates – None
C. GMCVB / Marketing updates – Dan Rios provided some updates. Updated the
Committee on the campaign and mentioned they are promoting spice to go for Miami
Spice since restaurants are closed for indoor seating.
New Business:
A. Discussion about statement by C. Richardson that "An LGBTQ Advisory Committee
member indicated that there were 500 signatures to the letter, but they did not read it;
that is troublesome. They should talk about process at committee level, and he
requested staff to find the minutes from that Agenda or action item."- Robin read the
statement into the record. She said the process was discussed and also stated if
anyone is not comfortable or doesn’t have what they need to make a proper
recommendation to please speak up. Everyone’s opinion is welcome.
B. Discussion on LGBTQ funding request- discussion was held and suggestions were
provided. Herb suggested considering funding a citywide campaign of zero tolerance
for LGBTQ+ discrimination signage, etc. Danny mentioned the applications for Miami-
Dade County Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Sensitivity training was
suggested, but it was also said that the City should pay for their own training.
Committee members felt this money would be better used to remind visitors they are
coming into a zero tolerance for hate and discrimination City. The Committee liked the
idea of using the money for public awareness campaign for anti-racism which includes
LGBTQ people. Another idea was to have this money for LGBTQ people within the City
who have been impacted by losing their jobs during COVID-19. Motion by Liz:
motioned to recommend the City to allocate the $150,000 previously motioned and
passed by the LGBTQ Advisory Committee to be used to supplement the low barrier
effort to bring economic relief to LGBTQ people in the City of Miami Beach with a
particular focus on the transgender community and people of color. Riki seconded. All
in favor except Gayle and Sunny. Motion passed 11-2. Discussion continued. Motion
Committee Members
Cindy Brown
Craig Garmendia
Daniel Diaz
Edward Pascoe
Elizabeth Schwartz
Gayle Durham
Herb Sosa
Jamie Guirola
Mark Wylie
Michael Bath
Paul Thomas
Riki Wilchins
Sunny Weber
by Paul: motion to send a second recommendation for an antidiscrimination campaign
in the City of Miami Beach. Herb seconded. Sunny also agreed. 10 other members
were not in favor. Craig provided an amendment to Liz’s motion, if the original
recommendation gets turned down in the alternative the Committee requests an
antidiscrimination campaign for the intersection of q plus individuals and people of
color. Michael seconded the amendment. All in favor except for Sunny. Motion passed
12-1.
C. Discussion was also held about the letter regarding discrimination/BLM and the City
signing on to the letter. Liz read from the after-action of the commission meeting and
stated Commissioner Meiner did not feel comfortable voting for the City signing on to
the letter.
Subcommittees Reports and Next Actions
1) HRC Rating (Cindy, Liz, Herb, Sunny)-Cindy mentioned we still have the same issues
that we didn’t have like homeless issue, during this time there isn’t going to be anything
to do to address what we don’t already have. The one thing we have that we aren’t
seeing now is the Police liaison. Robin said she is going to call Manny Valdes. The
same deficiencies we had last year we still have this year, we can submit what we
have and still receive 100% provided we get the police liaison back. Liz said it is good
time to speak with the police in light of the conversations we have been having. She
would like to know how the City of Miami Beach police force is metabolizing the
conversation around police brutality and systemic racism and would like to know if they
are having trainings there. Robin asked Morgan to invite the Chief of Police and Manny
the Liaison to the next meeting. Discussion was held about the hard time everyone is
going through. Robin mentioned that the leaders that run organizations in LGBTQ
community have been invited to an antiracism learning series that is free. She is very
pleased to say there were many people on the call and hopefully it is a start to making
a difference in becoming antiracists.
2) LGBTQ Visibility/Marketing/ Tourism (Gayle, Mark, Paul, Sunny)-none
3) Health and Wellness (Ricki, Jamie, Craig, Paul)- none
4) Senior Housing (Cindy, Robin, Ed)-none
Meeting adjourned at 2:16 p.m.