Loading...
LTC 144-2021 Update on the City's Neighborhood Affairs DivisionDocuSign Envelope ID: C5C8F 044 -A295-4741-B 66-2F7 25B 649766 MIAMI BEACH O FFIC E O F T H E CITY M A N A G ER NO. LTC # 144-2021 LETT ER TO CO MMISSION T O : FR O M : D A TE: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the City Commission Raul J. Aguila, Interim City Manager fG,, ~283D6240F92845D March 10, 2021 SU B JECT : Update on the City's Neighborhood Affairs Division The purpose of this L TC is to update you on the efforts of the Neighborhood Affairs Division as requested at a recent Neighborhood Affairs and Quality of Life Committee. CREATION OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD AFFAIRS DIVISION The Neighborhood Affairs Division (NAD) was created early last year with the aim of increasing the quality and consistency of communications to Miami Beach residents. The creation of the division has not only succeeded with this goal but has also had the added benefit of leading to a heightened level of internal collaboration among departments thus ensuring our residents are fully informed and educated on the many beneficial projects taking place in their neighborhoods and throughout the City. Since its creation, the NAD team has worked to develop best standards for keeping the community informed about projects and impacts to their neighborhoods. The Division, now integrated across all City departments, has an assigned coordinator dedicated to communicating all information in one of the three geographic regions of the City- north, middle and south. The NAD team has already conducted outreach on behalf of a number of departments, including Transportation, Environmental, the G.O.B., Public Works, Property Management and Capital Improvement Projects. The NAD team communicates with residents by emailing project advisories and updates, distributing thousands of printed documents and coordinating and leading both in-person and virtual meetings among stakeholders and various Miami Beach project teams. They have set up ribbon-cutting ceremonies and other events throughout the City while coordinating with a number of external organizations, including FPL, FOOT and Miami-Dade County. They have also conducted resident surveys and disseminate resident feedback to relevant City personnel. Neighborhood Affairs Coordinators (NACs) are responsible for managing relationships with all neighborhood associations, homeowner associations, businesses and community groups within their geographic areas of responsibility. The team works closely with all HOAs and internal departments to ensure staff DocuSign Envelope ID: C5C8F 044-A295-4741-B66B-2F725B649766 participation at regularly scheduled meetings and also work closely with staff to draft responses to stakeholder questions and/or concerns as they relate to a specific neighborhood, project or department. By identifying a single point of contact for each area, the NAD seeks to provide efficient customer service - both internally and externally - to give residents a streamlined experience while ensuring accountability. WAYS RESIDENTS CAN STAY CONNECTED WITH THE CITY The recently created NAD web portal that can be found in the Engagement Toolbox on the homepage of the website or by visiting www.miamibeachfl.gov/residents/neighborhood-associations/neighborhood- affairs-division/ lists all City projects and new initiatives while providing links to all available resources, including notices that have been emailed, presentations given at meetings or other relevant information for residents and stakeholders. The portal gives residents yet another avenue to stay informed on City projects. The portal also includes a contact page where residents can ask questions for a personalized response. Similarly, residents and stakeholders can contact the team via email at NAD@miamibeachfl_gov. Residents that prefer automatic email updates can sign up to receive an email when a requested keyword is mentioned on any commission or committee agenda through MB Resident Connect. They can also sign up for Resident Right to Know messages which are dedicated to information on specific areas in our city instead of keywords. Both options are available at www.mbresidentconnect.com or through our engagement toolbox on the homepage of the city's website. Residents are also encouraged to sign up for email updates directly from the city on a wide range of topics that you can customize by visiting the city's website at www.miamibeachfl.gov and clicking on the green "SUBSCRIBE" box at the bottom of the page. New this year, the NAD worked with all city departments to compile a list of all projects that would be active or starting during this fiscal year. That list was included in the last edition of MB Magazine and can also be viewed digitally on ISSUU at https://issuu.com/cityofmiamibeach. This list will be published in the fall issue of MB magazine, which is mailed to every City address. It will serve as official notification of all approved projects for the upcoming year. Residents that use social media can also stay connected with the city by following our Facebook (@CityofMiamiBeach), lnstagram (@MiamiBeachNews) and Twitter (@MiamiBeachNews) accounts. You can also sign up for alerts through the NextDoor app to talk with your neighbors and receive messages from the city. We also encourage our residents to sign up for text message alerts about traffic by sending MBTraffic to 888777 or for emergency alerts by sending MBAlert to 888777 on their mobile phones. DocuSign En velop e ID: C5C 8F044-A295-4741-66B-2F725B 649766 NEW STEPS THE NAD IS TAKING TO INCREASE COMMUNICATIONS WITH RESIDENTS All of the tools listed above are used daily by The NAD to communicate with our residents, but we are always looking for ways to increase communications with residents. Email lists are an extremely efficient tool that is used to communicate but making sure we have the most comprehensive list possible has sometimes been a challenge. One way we have worked to overcome this is by working closely with our neighborhood, community and condominium associations. However, one positive aspect of the pandemic is that we have been able to connect with many more residents through virtual meetings and have learned that many of our residents may not take part in an association. Understanding these challenges, the Neighborhood Affairs Division has created a plan to further increase communication to connect with as many residents as possible. Under this plan: - Meetings will be scheduled with each geographic area at the start of the fiscal year to share any upcoming projects or relevant information, in conjunction with the project list that will be included in M B Magazine. - The NAD will work with other City departments to compile a comprehensive resident database by including contact information from: a. Water bills 2. Parking registrations 3. Business tax receipts - Post-pandemic, the NAD will continue to hold virtual Zoom meetings in conjunction with in-person meetings based on strong attendance levels. - The team will continue to coordinate with other departments to arrange staff participation at neighborhood, community and condominium association meetings. This will allow us to better understand constituent concerns and respond accordingly. - NAD will continue to share any new community concerns with all internal stakeholders to make sure they are addressed at the earliest possible opportunity in the process.