Miramar City Commission Special Meeting: Legislative Update Workshop - October 18, 2023
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Miramar City Commission Special Meeting: Legislative Update Workshop - October 18, 2023
The Miramar City Commission held a special meeting workshop on October 18, 2023, to receive an update on state and federal legislative matters, discuss the city's legislative priorities, and review proposed funding requests for the upcoming sessions. The meeting featured presentations from the city's state lobbyist (Ronna Brown) and federal lobbyist (Maurice Curlin), along with discussion by the commission.
Discussion Items
State Legislative Update (2023 Session Recap)
- Ronna Brown reported on the 2023 state legislative session, highlighting successful funding requests: Senior Center ($300,000 approved), Canal Improvements ($350,000 approved), Digital Police Radio Replacements ($500,000 approved), and Viscaya Park Development. However, the Public Safety Special Operations Center Phase I ($250,000) was vetoed, and the Water Main Infrastructure Improvements project was not funded; Brown recommended applying for the Resilient Grant program.
- Brown discussed several bills: the Live Local Act (SB 102), which preempts local government zoning and streamlines affordable housing development; SB 250 (Natural Emergencies), which includes provisions on temporary shelters and building permit fees; and new bills on school zone speed enforcement and electric vehicle taxes.
- Commissioners expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of in-person attendance by lobbyists. Vice Mayor Davis and Commissioner Chambers requested more detailed briefings and direct engagement.
- The commission expressed need for clarity on the Live Local Act's impact, particularly regarding land inventory reporting and tax exemptions for affordable housing on donated land. They also sought pros/cons of school zone speed cameras and electric vehicle tax revenue sharing.
- Mayor Messam emphasized the need for a more aggressive strategy on the blasting issue, including identifying bill sponsors and convening stakeholders.
Federal Legislative Update
- Maurice Curlin provided an overview of the current Congress, noting the House's ongoing speaker election and its impact on appropriations. He highlighted that the city has two pending Community Project Funding requests: Water Main Infrastructure ($959,757) submitted by Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz, and Miramar Youth Center ($1 million) submitted by Congresswoman Wilson.
- Curlin explained that the amounts were reduced due to the minority status of the members and overall spending cuts. He also mentioned advocacy on ICE facility issues (reimbursement, Saturday appointments, sanitation) and the proposed mass burn facility in Miami-Dade, for which the city is seeking federal oversight.
- Commissioners asked about the reduction from $2 million to $1 million for the youth center and the timeline for final approval.
Proposed State Projects (2024)
- Staff presented six state funding requests: 1) Focal Point Senior Center ($300,000), 2) State Highways Connectivity/Citywide Streetlight Improvements ($150,000), 3) Citywide Canal Improvements, 4) Pedestrian Underpass (design), 5) Miramar Real Time Crime Center Phase III ($500,000), and 6) Youth Program (new).
- Commissioners provided feedback: the "Youth Program" title was too vague; it should be more specific. Vice Mayor Davis urged not to discard the real-time crime center request despite the previous veto, but to refine it. Commissioner Colburn asked for clarification on the youth program. Staff agreed to revise descriptions.
Federal Projects (2024 Priorities)
- Four federal projects were presented: Community Center (carried by Rep. Wilson), Water Main Infrastructure (carried by Rep. Wasserman Schultz), Innovation Technology Center, and Miramar Real Time Crime Center. Commissioners questioned the reduction in funding amounts and sought assurance on future phases.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; the workshop was informational.
- The commission directed staff and lobbyists to:
- Schedule in-person briefings with federal and state lobbyists for future meetings.
- Obtain more detailed analysis on key bills (Live Local Act, school zone speed enforcement, electric vehicle taxes) for the commission.
- Refine project descriptions: provide specific definitions for the Youth Program and remove "Phase III" labeling for the Real Time Crime Center request.
- Request state lobbyists to investigate the reason for the governor's veto of the Public Safety Special Operations Center project and develop a strategy to reapply.
- Pursue dialogue with stakeholders and legislative leadership on the blasting issue.
- Continue to track federal appropriations process and advocate for the two pending projects.
- The mayor expressed satisfaction with the update and looked forward to an active legislative session.
Meeting Transcript
And I think Lady Gardens is great about this, and I'm sure Miramar as well. That it's not just about this meeting is being strived, it's being streamed live at Miramarfl.gov slash commission meeting and televised on Comcast Channel 78 and ATTU versus Channel 99 for City of Myanmar subscribers. The meeting of the Miramar City Commission workshop is now called to order. The purpose of this meeting is a discussion on the following the legislative update workshop. This meeting is open to the public. And at this time, Madam Clerk, please call the role. Mayor Masson. Here Commissioner Chambers. Here. Commissioner Colburn. Here. Vice Mayor Davis. Deputy City Manager Baker. Here. City Attorney Powell. Here. Now at this time, I will turn the workshop over to Deputy City Manager, Mr. Kelvin Baker. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you, uh, Vice Mayor and Commission for affording us this opportunity to provide input into the assimilation of our state and federal legislative agenda. We are uh honored to have with us here our very own, our intergovernmental affairs manager, Mr. DeBon Campbell, and he will assist us as we first of all provide some highlights uh as to what we have accomplished this past year and our successes, as well as uh we have an opportunity to hear from our federal and state uh lobbyists and and and their support staff. And uh we have provided a uh a proposed package of just based on information we've been able to glean from our meetings with each of you, but this is an opportunity for us to look at everything that we have come up with and see if we need it to consider removing some items and adding some additional items in the process. So at this time we'll have Miss DeBond Campbell uh to provide us with these immediate highlights. Thank you. Thank you, Deputy City Manager, Mr. Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor, Commissioners, City Attorneys, Madam City Clerk, uh DeBond Campbell, and a governmental affairs manager in the office of the city manager. As a deputy city manager mentioned, uh tonight we have before you the legislative update workshop. Tonight's agenda will be broken down into four components. Joining us virtually is our state lobbyist, uh Ronna Brown. In addition to our federal lobbyists, Mr. Maurice Curlin from Al-Qaeda and Faye. As the Deputy City Manager just indicated, um we have projects before you tonight uh for your consideration and to have a robust discussion. As you're all aware, the state legislative session is currently underway. We are in the second week of interim committee weeks. Uh the city has been extremely successful thus far in receiving state legislative appropriations from various projects such as the focal point center, citywide canal improvements, um, and just recently Miramar uh the police radio's improvements that we've received. At this time, I would like to introduce our state lobbyist who's joining us virtually, Miss Ronna Brown, who will go over the 2023 state legislative session. You'll find uh exhibit one, which will have some key bills uh that was passed this session, and we can now go into discussion. Ms. Brown. Good evening, everybody. Yes, okay, great. Thank you. Um first I must apologize with uh Ron's Ron's flight was delayed, and he's in the air. So my apologies on his behalf. Um the legislature legislative session ended early last year. Uh as you all know, you were very successful in funding requests. Um we were able to secure uh several senior center for 300,000 was approved. Canal improvements for $350,000 was approved.
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