LTC 225-2020 Motions from the Anti-Bullying Task ForceOFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
225-2020
NO. LTC# LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO:
FROM:
DATE: June 24, 2020
SUBJECT: Motions from
ers of the City Commission
This Letter to the Mayor and City Commission is to transmit the recommendations of the
Anti-Bullying Task Force.
The Anti-Bullying Task Force was created pursuant to the recommendation of the LGBTQ
Advisory Committee and Commissioner Gongora's support. The Task Force was charged
with proposing policies and ideas to the Mayor and City Commission that would provide
protection from bullying in all City services, City-supported services, and City facilities.
Since its inception, the Task Force met regularly to analyze the City's existing policies and
find areas of improvement, as well as identify areas and instances where bullying may
occur, but anti-bullying protections are absent. The Task Force presented their thorough
analyses and recommendations before the Neighborhood and Quality of Life Committee
on September 25, 2019. Upon conclusion of the presentation before the NQLC, the City
Attorney's Office was tasked with working with the Task Force to explore the ways the
Task Force's recommendations may be implemented and enforced.
The attached recommendations were made at the June 23, 2020 meeting. The motions
were made by Michael Bath and seconded by Scott Bader. The motions passed
unanimously. Members in attendance at the Zoom Teleconference meeting were
Chairman Scott Bader, Michael Bath and Victor Herman-Díaz. CMB Attorney Faroat
Andasheva and MBPD Sgt. Tim Roll were also in attendance. Task Force members
Gustavo Briand and Brad Ugent were not present.
Please see the attached recommendations. For further details on the Task Force's
recommendations, please refer to the documents presented to the NQLC at its September
25, 2019 meeting.
The Task Force hereby authorizes the City Clerk to transmit the recommendations herein
to the City Commission and the City Manager via a Letter to the Commission. The Task
Force further requests that the Mayor and City Commission place the Task Force's
recommendations on an upcoming City Commission agenda for discussion.
JLM:RC:DC:PA:SG:TR:tr
E x h ib it 1
Recommendations to Existing City of Miami Beach Policies and
Documents
• Directing the Parks and Recreation Department to amend its "Anti-Bullying Policy"
and "Anti-Bullying Behavior Agreement" pursuant to the attached "Exhibit A," which
sets forth recommended changes to documents
• Once the Parks and Recreation Department's anti-bullying policy is amended, use
the amended Anti-Bullying Policy and Anti-Bullying Behavior Agreement as a
template for creation of policies for use in other departments
• Incorporating "bullying" in the definition of harassment in all City of Miami Beach
policies
• Amending HR.16.04 "Prohibited Discrimination and Harassment" to include bullying
as a prohibited activity.
o Insert "bullying" after "harassment" in paragraph 3, line 1.
o Insert "bullying" in definition of "Harassment"
o Insert "bullying" on page 3, ltem 1 under "Procedure" after the word
"harassment".
• Amending TC.18.01 "Rental Fee Waiver" to include a requirement of the
organization or individual applying for the fee waiver to have an anti-bullying policy
and include the ability for the city to revoke an organization or individual's ability to
apply for a fee waiver if found to have engaged in bullying.
• Amending CO.19.01 "Citywide Procedure for Social Media" to include anti-bullying.
o Insert at the end of the paragraph on page 2 "Respect your audience": "The
City of Miami Beach has a zero-tolerance policy on cyber-bullying, the use
of technology to threaten, hurt, single out, embarrass, spread rumors, and/or
reveal secrets about others."
o Insert on page 3 as the fourth bullet under "City employees may not publish
information on City social media that includes": "Any form of cyberbullying."
o Possibly insert on page 4 as the fifth bullet under "Moderation of Third-Party
Content": "can be construed as cyberbullying".
• Amending 2019-047-WG "Request for Qualifications (RFQ)" document to be
amended to including anti-bullying policy agreement using amended Parks and
Recreation Document as template.
• Amending CO.19.02 "Sponsorships, Donations and Advertising Procedure."
o Insert under "Advertising" as B.8.: "Any advertising that contains messages
that are threatening, harassing or discriminatory".
Recommendations for Implementation of new Anti-Bullying Policies
• Enact legislation requiring third parties such as vendors, city contractors,
commercial lessees, concessionaires of the City, and special event permittees
wishing to enter into an agreement with the City to provide, in writing, confirmation
that they have anti-bullying policies in place.
• Enact legislation requiring for organizations, clubs, and individuals wishing to obtain
any fee waivers for use of municipal facilities to provide, in writing, confirmation that
they have anti-bullying policies in place.
• Enact legislation requiring for organizations, clubs, and individuals wishing to obtain
municipal funding to provide, in writing, confirmation that they have anti-bullying
policies in place.
• Further recommending for the City to explore options for a creation of an Anti-
Bullying ordinance similar to the City's Human Rights Ordinance to ensure that
e v e ry o n e in M ia m i B e a c h a re p ro te c te d fr o m b u ll y in g in th e a re a s o f e m p lo y m e n t
a n d p u b li c a c c o m m o d a tio n s .
A d d itio n a l R e c o m m e n d a tio n s
• C re a tio n o f a C ity o f M ia m i B e a c h E m p lo y e e m a n u a l w ith sp e c ific d e ta il o n ho w
a n d w h e re to re p o rt b u ll y in g a n d re p o rt in g o p tio n s a n d re s o u rc e s
• In cl u d e A n ti -B u ll y in g s ta te m e n t in th e S a fe P la c e p ro g ra m
• C o n tin u e to s u p p o rt N o P la c e fo r H a te a n d c o n s id e r in c re a s in g su p p o rt
• U tiliz e C ity o f K in d n e s s p ro g ra m to re c o g n iz e in d iv id u a ls a n d o r o rg a n iz a tio n s th a t
s ta n d u p a g a in s t b u lly in g .
• C re a tio n o f a n o u tw a rd fa c in g w e b p a g e o n th e C ity o f M ia m i B e a c h to d is p la y a ll
p o lic ie s a n d p ro c e d u re s re g a rd le s s o f d e p a rt m e n t sp e c ifi c a lly A n ti-B u lly in g .
o Examples: City of Sacramento, City of San Francisco