All in Local Government
Just what is in the Miami-Dade county budget? More importantly, what's not in the county budget?
How did I spend my Sundays in August and September? Reviewing the Miami-Dade County Budget. I wasn’t alone, and that was a good thing. I’d certainly spoken up in the past for things I’d wanted to see funded, but hadn’t ever really poured through the budget to understand what was funded and what was missing. I have lots of people to thank for helping me dig deeper to understand what's there and what's not. Especially David McDougal & Maggie Fernandez.
If you know who the murderers are, why don’t you arrest them?
In Richmond, CA police identified a mere 25 people causing 70 percent of the city’s violence. When I learned these statistics were similar to ours in Miami, I asked what I thought was a simple question. “If you know who these murderers are, why don’t you just arrest them?” The answer is not so simple. These people often escape arrest and prosecution because witnesses are too fearful to testify. So, no, the police can’t just arrest them even though they’d like to.
What Would You Do with $275 Million?
A lot! I've been thinking a lot about the next City of Miami General Obligation Bond, fondly referred to by City staff and commissioners as the GO Bond or #GOBond. That's probably because GO sounds a lot more exciting than General Obligation. With a #GOBond, we can go places, we can achieve things, we can actually build some of the things we need for the City's future.
Does Anyone Have a Comprehensive Vision for Housing in Miami?
The price of housing is out of control in the county. It doesn’t matter your socio-economic class or your education level. It’s just plain expensive to live here. It’s costly if you are a teacher or a college grad or a cop. It’s The Miami Herald reports on it all the time. They say that Miami is one of the least affordable cities for teachers. They say that Hialeah is the least affordable for renters with Miami coming in at #2. Businesses worry about a brain drain because young college educated workers can’t find a decent place to live
If you, like me, care about having the option to create city or county ordinances and regulations that make sense for us locally, you may be interested in reading my letter to the editor in The Miami Herald about the State legislature's attempt to minimize the voices of Miami-Dade residents and of its elected leaders. We know Miami Beach is expensive and needs to set a minimum wage that makes sense for Miami Beach, not one that makes sense for lawmakers in Tallahassee.