Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners Meeting - March 4, 2025
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Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners Meeting - March 4, 2025
The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners met on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, beginning at 9:30 a.m. in the Commission Chambers. The meeting included a special presentation, public comments, and consideration of numerous resolutions and ordinances. Key actions included approval of a transit grant, a piggybacking procurement policy, a retroactive ICE agreement, and a water and sewer payment processing contract extension. A controversial street naming resolution was deferred. All votes were recorded with tallies.
Special Presentation
- Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins presented a proclamation declaring March 4, 2025 as "Vivian Ventura Day" in honor of Ms. Ventura, a music teacher at Southwood Middle School recognized as the 2026 Francisco R. Walker Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and School Board Member Luisa Santos also spoke in her honor.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Chaplain Stanley Young (500 NW 2nd Ave) spoke in support of item 3B1, a resolution to accept federal funds from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) to reimburse the county for costs of incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens. He urged passage to support detention officers.
- Elijah John Baudry (1750 N Bayshore Dr) spoke in favor of increased municipal investment in technology, including AI, quantum computing, blockchain, and cybersecurity. He noted he would attend the White House Crypto Summit on March 7, 2025, representing Miami-Dade County.
Consent Calendar
- The following items were approved by a single vote setting the agenda (unless pulled for discussion):
- Items 3A1 through 3A12 (commissioner consent items, including various discretionary allocations and street co-designations).
- Item 3B1 (SCAAP resolution).
- Several departmental consent items were approved as part of the consent agenda.
Discussion Items
- 2B7 – Fourth Quarter Budget Report FY 2023-24: Commissioners Cohen Higgins and Regalado expressed concern about departments running over budget (ISD and Corrections, with one exceeding $30 million). They requested a detailed presentation at the Appropriations Committee. The report was accepted unanimously (voice vote).
- 5B – FTA Grant Application: Senator Garcia questioned the use of funds for electric buses, referencing past issues with Proterra buses that cost $69 million and became inoperable. Interim TPW Director Josefa Diaz clarified the grant is for new buses (different manufacturer) and the county is seeking warranty relief from the bankrupt company. The resolution passed 11-0.
- 11A2 – Condominium Special Assessment Program Report: Commissioner Bermudez inquired about extending the program to homeowners associations. Commissioner Regalado noted her office has a separate HOA grant program. The resolution passed unanimously (voice vote).
- 11A5 – Zoning Memorandum Site Visits: Commissioner Regalado expressed concern that requiring physical site visits could slow permitting. The sponsor (Commissioner Higgins) was absent, so the item was deferred (voice vote).
- 11A7 – Piggybacking Procurement Policy: Commissioners Cohen Higgins and Regalado debated the policy's impact on efficiency and small business participation. Chief Procurement Officer Namida supported the transparency goals. The resolution passed (voice vote).
- 14A4 – ICE Warrant Service Officer Program: Commissioner Gonzalez presented the item as compliance with state law (SB 2C). Commissioner Bastien opposed, citing fiscal concerns, lack of training, and potential liability. The resolution passed 9-1 (Commissioner Bastien voting no).
- 14A6 – Street Co-designations (Song Titles): Commissioner Hardeman proposed naming 22 streets on NW 18th Avenue after iconic Miami song lyrics (e.g., "Poor Little Rich Girl Street") to boost tourism and community pride. Commissioners Cohen Higgins and Bermudez expressed concerns about property values and perception. After extensive debate, a motion to defer to the next meeting passed 8-2 (Commissioners Hardeman and Bastien voting no).
- 8O3 – Water and Sewer Payment Processing Contract: Commissioner Regalado led discussion on extending the contract with ACI Payments, Inc., which would increase the convenience fee from $3.95 to $4.49 per transaction. The administration provided three options; the board adopted Option 2 (maintain fee, begin competitive solicitation within 90 days, and allow reimbursement from the WASD CARES fund for affected residents). The motion passed (voice vote, with Senator Garcia voting no).
Key Outcomes
- Approved (unanimous unless noted):
- Special presentation and proclamation for Vivian Ventura.
- Consent agenda items (3A1-3A12, 3B1).
- 2B7 – Fourth Quarter Budget Report (accepted).
- 5B – FTA Grant Application (11-0).
- 7A – Ordinance extending animal confinement period (11-0).
- 7B – Ordinance on unauthorized use of county addresses (11-0).
- 11A2 – Condominium Special Assessment Program Report (11-0).
- 11A7 – Piggybacking Procurement Policy (voice vote).
- 14A4 – ICE Warrant Service Officer Program (9-1).
- 8O3 – Water and sewer payment processing contract extension (voice vote, with amendment for 90-day RFP and WASD CARES reimbursement).
- Various other items including 8G3 (grant with Miami Foundation), 8N1 (FPL agreement), 8O1 (contract award), 8P2 (computer equipment renewal), 8P3 (OEM parts pool), 11A1 (veterans golf program), 11A3 (electronic signatures), 11A4 (House Park deeds), 11A9 (behavioral health board appointments), 11A10 (homeless trust funding), 11A11 (ash reuse), 11A12 (FPL easement), 11A13 (federal community project funding), 11A14 (workforce solution), 14A2 (donation of van), 14A3 (bike ride support), 14A5 (sympathy resolution for Lincoln Díaz-Balart), and 15B2 (gender composition report).
- Deferred:
- 11A5 – Zoning Memorandum Site Visits (unanimous, sponsor absent).
- 14A6 – Street co-designations (8-2).
- Withdrawn:
- 14A1 (first reading) was adopted on first reading, not withdrawn. (Item 4D was withdrawn and replaced with 4D substitute.)
- Adopted on first reading:
- 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D substitute, and 14A1 (all 11-0).
- Second reading adopted:
- 7A and 7B (both 11-0).
Meeting Transcript
Before we start this morning's meeting, we have the honor of a special recognition, and it is related to education, our children, and our school board. Uh, every year, Miami Dade County and the school board honors one particular teacher for outstanding work contribution and excellence, and we are so proud in district eight that this year a Southwood Middle School music teacher was this year's honoree of teacher of the year. So if you will join me in a round of applause for Miss Vivian Ventura, please join me. We have a member of our school board chairwoman's office. So if you don't mind joining us as well, and everyone that is here for the presentation, uh, please join us. And you know, I have two young children. Uh, they both play uh piano. Uh, and I mentioned that because just last week I went to my uh son's school to give a presentation about time management. He is in our public schools, and he is in sixth grade like your son, he's twelve years old. And I was there for an hour and a half. And I was not only nervous giving the presentation, and I obviously do this publicly all the time, but giving presentations to little people was very nerve-wracking. And I'll tell you, the hour and a half went by extremely slowly. And at the end of the hour and a half, I thought to myself, oh my gosh, these teachers spending all day in these classrooms with 20, 30 kids, God bless them for their patience and for their incredible work. So, you know, we don't have an opportunity at the Board of County Commissioners to honor teachers very often because our purview is the commission and the school board typically is the one that honors teachers. But I wanted to bring your work and your recognition before the Board of County Commissioners and before the county to really take a moment to say thank you. Not only for being recognized as this year's teacher of the year, but you are an incredible woman. It is women's history month, and you are an arts teacher. You are in the area of arts where we are consistently seeing time and time again the area of the arts being cut by way of funding. And I know that music has an incredible impact in young people's lives. And so I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you and to say congratulations on behalf of myself, our chairman, and our colleagues here at the Board of County Commissioners. So I'll pass the mic to whoever wants to share in the congratulations. But from the bottom of my heart, God bless you. Thank you for the incredible work that you do, and congratulations. That's nice. Thank you. Chair, would you like to? I'm good. She stole my line. I was gonna I was gonna segue into women's month, and I'll be able to do it. Oh, you took it. I did it again. She stole the thunder, so I'm done. I'm good. Good morning. My name's Kathy Burgles, Chief Community Services Officer. I'm here on behalf of our mayor. Thank you. I didn't hear that. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Cohen Higgins, um, for bringing this special presentation forward. It is an honor to celebrate an extraordinary educator like you. For more than 20 years, you have been just giving your heart to the work that you do. We are so proud of you. And our mayor wishes you oh, she walked in. Mayor. Thank you. She's coming down. She's coming down. Yeah. Okay.
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