June 5, 2018 Mayor's Memorandum, Part 1

On June 5, 2018 County Attorney Abigail Price-Williams sent memorandum to the Board of County Commissioners regarding Incorporation of Northeast Miami-Dade. Given that the resolution to the Board appears more than half way through the document I don't really understand the order, but the first several dozen pages cover other important documents referenced in the resolution on incorporation:

• Mayor's Memorandum
• Northeast Dade MAC Adopted Pro-forma Budget (Exhibit 1)
• Northeast Dade MAC Budget Review (Exhibit 2)
• Northeast Dade Incorporate Report (Exhibit 3)

In this post I cover the first point. As usual go to the bottom of this post for the entire 71 page document.

SPOILER: If you read the end you find out the mayor didn't write this.

 Although unmentioned, it seems the Mayor did a lot of thinking prior to June 5 because their demands feature prominently in the text of the resolution, with unambiguous reference to this memorandum, which appears before all other documents. If you recall I concerned myself with the extent to which his demands were requirements of the Charter, and whether they represent a reasonable responsibility to the residents of the area under concern.

1. To determine the fairness of this requirement one would need to look both at what changed in 2000, and the terms of mitigation payments from all municipalities since 2000. I also wonder about who required all municipalities to pay so, since 2000, whether it was a resolution of the board, or something else.

2. I've mentioned issues here, both regarding the OUAD and Greynolds Park. The latter primarily because the residents remain unaware of the effects this jurisdictional control will have upon the city, and what responsibilities it will have for the portions of the park within its boundaries. The former, Ojus, concerns the community because of whatever decisions the county might make in contradiction to the interests of the adjacent community. It also seems like a chilling precedent to demand jurisdictional control within a municipality. One neighbor stated:

There are 14 such designated districts in the county...I was able to determine that only one district currently lies within the borders of a municipality.

This definitely deserves more research.

While I expect to cover the various budgets thrown around as part of the incorporation effort, it concerns me in all of them that the cost of Policing represents over half the proposed budget. While it may be an appropriate amount of money given what our community may need, I have to wonder how much an increase in spending that represents, and what exactly we get out of spending nearly $4.5M a year on policing.

Moving on..

Notice various things left out of the financial analysis by County staff:

• Canal maintenance revenues and expenses
• proprietary activities such as building, zoning, and solid waste
• fire and library districts

Neighbors also have concern that the proposed budgets did not include mitigation fees. Therefore I warn myself that I will need to do some research and writing about the budget as that seems like the most important concern of all in the incorporation debate, specifically, "can the city run itself at current tax levels, or must it increase taxes to achieve its basic promise of service?"

Click on the picture to see a larger version

I find this background so useful that I wanted to feature it in my first post on the incorporation issue, but I didn't want to lose focus of the question at hand. I have plenty of time yet to document the minutiae of the incorporation process begun on April 8, 2003. At some point I may go further back still.

I will again note that the last point reiterates the PAB recommendation that the new municipality retain control of the Ojus Urban Area District. This particularly irks me because on the next page it says

Actually I can't find this notice previously.

Where? Where exactly was this previously noted because I can't find it anywhere!?

This paragraph kind of confuses me.

Anyone feel free and chime in to explain this one for me. It seems the proposed municipality will not be required to contract for specialized services with county police because the residents pay that directly to the county, and prior to 2008 municipalities were required to pay for these services separately? Who provides special services to the municipal government? Eh, still confused about this.

Here's the paragraph that got me aggravated just a minute ago. I understand the importance of the SMART Corridor to county mobility planning, but this paragraph does not establish the precedence for this demand. What's more, looking at recent activity of the BCC we have no indication they will do anything with this area any time soon. I wonder what logic the PAB had in recommending the new city retain that control. Perhaps they believed a city could help prepare the area for the county's vision better than the county currently does?

I love Greynolds Park and am glad the mayor pays at least some lip service to the reason why they plan to maintain control. It doesn't answer any of my concerns as to why any of the park will be within the boundaries of the new city at all, and what responsibilities that will bring to the new city.

These four pump stations have come up before. The only things I'd want to know regard who owns and manages them, and what control of or responsibilities to the new city would have for the stations.

The mayor's memorandum raises plenty more questions, but also provides directions of where to look for some  answers. Some of my next posts will cover the exhibits to the mayor's memorandum. 

June 5, 2018 Mayor's Memorandum, Part 2: Exhibit 1 NEMAC Budget

Only 3 pages the NEMAC budget looks like something put together with little effort. One assumes they base the revenue portion on information given by county staff, and that the expenditures are a mix of available data and best guesses.
Whatever the case please find the most important information at the bottom of the budget:

Yes, neighbors, after years of exhaustive study and analysis the NEMAC approved a budget which nets the new city an excess of $42 in revenue a year!
When you think about how many different ways government budgets can go this little number represents a pretty big argument for incorporation: without raising taxes (or so they say, I still haven't got that far in the budget analysis to agree or not) a new city can run itself and provide equal or better services to its residents than the county currently does. Well that at least raises the question whose answer may represent a pretty big argument for incorporation: does this budget provide equal or better services, and not raise any taxes? Hopefully members of the NEMAC can address this with me and I can publish a follow up to this post in the near future.

On to the budget!

To Be or Not to Be, Part 3: Exhibits

Here I briefly summarize the various exhibits to the resolution I reviewed previously, however I will analyze some of the included documents later--especially the NEMAC and PAB resolutions respectively; the Ojus Urban Area District; where exactly the county demands retention of certain roads; and eventually the other documents included in the 71 page file at the bottom of these post.

If you're just jumping in to the fray you can read the other posts in the series:

1. Resolution calling special election

2. To Be or Not to Be: Whereas

3. To Be or Not to Be: Resolution

To Be or Not to Be, Part 2: Resolution

I continue my analysis of R-576-18, picking up here I left off yesterday. Luckily I don't have nearly as much to say today.

To Be or Not to Be, Part 1: WHEREAS

I remembered quickly in the last weeks...
As stories about the Beckham group soccer deal coalesced around a last minute vote of the City of Miami Commission to approve a referendum on leasing public land. A soccer stadium deal, eventually revealed as a gigantic real estate deal for a local hotshot.

I remembered: No matter what happens it seems the people will lose.

Much closer to home, the County Commission voted in June for a referendum in my neck of the woods, North East Municipal Service Area, an unincorporated sector of the county, will get to choose to become a city. However this offer comes with many strings, and lots of loopholes. Citizens beware.

I continue my series with an extensive analysis of the June 5th, 2018 resolution. I plan at least two more posts on this county law, with a particular concern for responsibilities or debts the proposed city would owe the county from the start.

June 5, 2018 Resolution calling special election in Miami-Dade County, Florida, to be held in conjunction with the General Election on November 6, 2018, for the purpose of submitting to the electors residing within the proposed new municipality in unincorporated Northeast Miami-Dade the question of whether the BCC should be authorized to create the new municipality with the following general outermost boundaries: County line to the north; the city limits of the City of Aventura to the east; the city limits of the City of North Miami Beach to the south; and Interstate 95 to the west; and designating Greynolds Park, Water and Sewer pump stations, and the Ojus Urban Area District as areas of countywide significance.

If you found the title too long to read then society may have bigger issues than whether NE unincorporated Dade should incorporate into a city. However that title, dear readers, serves as the title of a June 5th ordinance before the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners, proposed by District 4 Commissioner Heyman, to decide whether or not to give the voters of the affected area an election to incorporate. (form a new city)

While on face I like the idea of a smaller, more local government implementing policy in my neighborhood, my initial enthusiasm made way for more long-term critical thinking. As an idealist I regularly forget that other opinions exist in the universe, and likewise other concepts of local governance. What conditions would exist in this new municipality? What debts and responsibilities would it have before existing? And what would might it look like if we voted Yes to the ballot question in November on incorporation?

Actual ballot language.

I have to wonder how anyone could make a reasonable decision without further research? This language, without important details, does not nearly convey the extensive structure which already exists around this as-yet non-existent city.
On June 5, 2018 the BCC decided to ask resident electors in the North East Municipal Service Area the question, shall the BCC create a new municipality? In attempting to decide for myself the answer to the question I started a series of blog posts to inform my neighbors of facts, as explained in governing documents, and to raise questions to which I haven't found the answer or for which the answer necessarily requires a new effort by the community.
I welcome you on my journey, encourage you to put forth the effort to read provided documents, to comment with your opinions and concerns, and finally to do your own research and contribute it to the public discussion.

Millions for what? A brief summary of Visit Florida and Emeril's Florida

Anyone who reads my blog knows I haven't updated in a long time, or that I don't update very often anyway. As a perennially preoccupied millennial I often divide my attention among many things, and don't usually have the will to gather those thoughts in to words, but sometimes ideas push me.

I concern myself greatly with journalism, specifically quality of journalism because sometimes it's hard to follow a story.
Take for instance the battle between the Florida House of Representatives and the producer of TV Program called "Emeril's Florida". The producer of this program, Pat Roberts, got the State of Florida's promotional wing to give the show millions of dollars in production funds. For reasons still unclear to me the Florida House decided to find out how the money was spent. (Generally I promote state funds and actions being aired for public viewing.) Citing trade secrets, Pat Roberts has fought a request to turn over financial documents to the state.

Since I could not immediately find recent updates to the story I decided to make this very brief write-up in case anyone else tries to do some digging.

In January a Federal judge denied Roberts' injunction request, demanding he turn over documents within 5 days., but a few weeks later a Florida judge reverse the decision and "quashes final subpoenas."

Although the House promised to continue its pursuit, I can't find any other updates to the story. If anything else comes up in this regard, I will update.
Does sort of make me want to look in to the tussle between the House and Pitbull...