The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners met on June 18, 2024, at 9:30 AM in Commission Chambers. The meeting began with a special performance by the New Canon Chamber Collective and a proclamation declaring June 18, 2024 as Cornelius Bell Family Day. The board considered a range of items including presentations, first readings of ordinances, public hearings, and policy motions. Key highlights included an annual joint meeting with the Public Health Trust, a citizens presentation on military installation resilience, and several votes on workforce housing, solid waste assessments, and capital bonds.
Chairman Walter T. Richardson and President Carlos Migoya presented the Jackson Health System annual report. They highlighted growth, the plan to build workforce housing on the Jackson Medical Towers site (with at least half reserved for employees earning 60-120% of area median income), and financial challenges due to inflation and slowed patient volume. They reiterated the system's commitment to uncompensated care and quality. Commissioners praised the leadership and affordable housing initiative.
Isabel Cosio Carballo and Christina Mesca from the South Florida Regional Planning Council presented the review, funded by the Department of Defense. They noted that three of South Florida's four installations were in the top ten most imperiled, and the installations have a $16.1 billion annual economic impact supporting 155,000 jobs. The review assessed vulnerabilities (flooding, sea level rise, extreme weather) and identified priority projects for Homestead Air Reserve Base and U.S. Army Garrison Miami, such as potable water, alternate energy, transportation, and resilience hubs. Mayor Levine Cava emphasized the economic and security imperative.
Chairman Gilbert reported that the county has run three ad rounds (each costing $4,350) seeking applicants for a GMX board seat but has received no qualified candidates. He recommended suspending further ads. Commissioners discussed the stringent eligibility criteria (residing in unincorporated area within 15 miles of toll roads, no prior elected office, professional experience in finance/tolling/transportation). Commissioner Bermudez suggested a social media outreach. The board agreed to produce a graphic and seek candidates without further ads.
Note: The meeting also included a special presentation honoring WWII veteran James Weir (deferred to July 2, 2024) and a proclamation recognizing Cornelius Bell Family Day.
And we have we're gonna begin with the presentation portion of our agenda. This is a time in our agenda. We actually have wonderful groups tonight. Today we have uh one of you musicians, but we use this time to actually honor people uh and make presentations. So without further ado, we're going to be blessed by with with some selections from the new Canon Chamber collective, some extraordinary talented musicians from our community. Please take it away. Look at us. You know, um so what is hold on. In my enemy's eyes. The old king is dead. Long live the king. You all can do better than that. Give him another round of applause. So this is the new Canon Chamber collective. And they are extraordinarily talented. But I wanted to just take a moment to highlight, and we could have the folks on the side who are talking. Everybody who's talking on the side. So we like to highlight the talent in this community because it's important. But it's not just the fact that their talent, art, culture, it makes us a world-class community. It allows us to express something that's in us. It truly completes us. But there's also an economic impact of this community. I know that recently a lot of cultural affairs and cultural organizations around the state realized they weren't getting funding. But we've always stayed committed to the idea that we're going to support the arts. We're going to support cultural organizations. But we've always stayed committed to the idea that we're going to support the arts, we're going to support cultural organizations, not just because it's good for them because it's more than just good for them, it's good for us as a community, and it's good business. And we need to understand that because one of the true indicators of communities and economic growth is when you see culture, the cultural part of the community, you always see job creation. You always see that. So thank you all for everything you do. Thank you for blessing us with this wonderful music. And uh please keep doing what you do. Thank you all very much. Give another round of applause. All right. Commissioner Keoni McGee, you're recognized for a presentation. Thank you. I asked them to play some Tupac, but they didn't know it. Then I asked for some Kendrick Lamar, not like me, but they ain't learned it yet. But they'll be back. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In 1619, a ship arrived to this great nation, and that ship was called the White Lion. It arrived before the Mayflower arrived to this great nation. The White Lion, as the ship was called, had aboard its vessel. About 20 to 25 enslaved Africans. That was the beginning of slavery in this great nation that we know has been memorialized. It wasn't until President Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation that declared slaves in the South to be free. However, that message didn't make it to Texas until June 19th. The ironic reality that brings us here today is that in our midst is a young man whose father, whose father was born before slavery was abolished. And it is only fitting that we, as a county commissioner, along with our mayor and those of us who are present pay respect to this young man who not only has gone on to represent his community as a councilman, the longest serving councilman, but also one who we call a historian uh within our community, particularly in the Perron area.