WEEK OF THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2018
A Singular Voice in an Evolving City
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BOMBARDIER’S LEARJET SERVICE HUB PLANS LINKS WITH SCHOOLS TO TRAIN ITS WORKERS, pg. 13 YOUTH SOCCER STUDY: Miami-Dade commissioners last week directed the county administration to look into partnering with private organizations, nonprofits and Miami-Dade County Public Schools to develop soccer fields for kids, especially those in economically disadvantaged, culturally diverse and distressed areas. “There is an increased interest in soccer due in part to the announcement that the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico,” stated a memo accompanying the item, sponsored by Jean Monestime, which directs Mayor Carlos Giménez to report to the commission in 90 days.
The Achiever
By John Charles Robbins
FILM INCENTIVES OK’D: Three film projects shooting primarily in Miami-Dade have been OK’d to receive $100,000 apiece in tax rebate incentives as part of a program sponsored by Sally Heyman to revitalize the county’s movie and TV industry. “Critical Thinking,” which will star and be directed by John Leguizamo, will tell the true story of the Miami Jackson High School chess team’s US National Chess Championship victory. “Snowbirds,” starring Susan Sarandon, is about a recent widow rediscovering her independence through Miami. And “The Row II: A New Chapter,” starring former UFC champion Randy “The Natural Couture,” is a horror sequel produced by Miami native and New World School of the Arts graduate Randall Emmett. Beginning in 2010, a state tax credit program saw various productions spend between $160 million and $406 million a year in Miami-Dade. But state legislators failed to add new funding to the program, which ended in 2016. In June 2017, Ms. Heyman proposed the film incentive program enabling qualifying companies to receive the tax rebate. After a minor amendment, the item won approval. BUSWAY DESIGN TRAINING: The Florida Department of Transportation is sponsoring a course to train state and local agency roadway design engineers in the newest design standards set by the department’s “Accessing Transit: Design Handbook for Florida Bus Passenger Facilities.” The course will update engineers on recent changes to the 2013 handbook on Oct. 25 at the FDOT District Six Auditorium, 1000 NW 111th Ave., from 8:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. “This course will include materials and information that are relevant to FDOT planning, design, and operations offices, local government engineering and permitting agencies, as well as local transit operators,” personnel wrote on the course’s Eventbrite page. “Included will be access requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, design criteria along state roadways, guidance for reviewing design plans and improving pedestrian safety at bus stops.” Details: Transit Planner Chris Wiglesworth at (850) 414-4532 or chris.wiglesworth@dot.state.fl.us.
Photo by Marlene Quaroni
Katherine Fernandez Rundle
Innovative programs during 25 years as state attorney The profile is on Page 4
County asks state for marketing to battle red tide By Jesse Scheckner
Miami-Dade commissioners are asking state lawmakers to address algae blooms like red tide and develop a marketing strategy to ensure they don’t harm tourism in unaffected areas. Two days before red tide detection prompted Miami-Dade official to enact a one-day closure of beaches north of Haulover Inlet, county commissioners unanimously urged Florida Gov. Rick Scott and the State Legislature to study and identify solutions for toxic algae and create a marketing scheme “to make certain that tourism in areas of the state not directly impacted by algae blooms and red tide does not suffer due to negative perception.” Two naturally occurring types of algae blooms long Florida’s coast, red tide and bluegreen algae, are both common along the state’s Gulf Coast. Red tide, caused by Karenia brevis alage, produces toxins fatal to fish, sea turtles, manatees, birds and dolphins, according to the National Ocean Service. While nonfatal to human beings, frequent symptoms listed by the Florida Department
Price break for parking gridlocked
of Health include skin, eye and respiratory irritation especially troublesome for those with preexisting breathing conditions like asthma, bronchitis and chronic lung disease. Since 1953, there have been 57 occurrences of red tide recorded in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida, of which eight have brought red tide organisms to the state’s East Coast by oceanic currents, according to an Oct. 5 release from the City of Fort Lauderdale. The state’s southwestern coast has suffered a protracted outbreak since last October. On Sept. 7, 2016 – following months of large algae blooms in Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers and estuaries, into which polluted water from Lake Okeechobee discharges – MiamiDade commissioners adopted a measure urging state lawmakers to study and either eliminate or stifle future outbreaks. That resolution, like last week’s, included a request that the state develop marketing to prevent resultant tourism declines in untouched areas. “Nearly two years later, the toxic algae blooms have recurred and continue to be a problem for communities along Florida’s East Coast,” County Attorney Abigail Price-Williams wrote.
While the cases of blue-green algae and the algae responsible for red tide are not attributable to single sources, both, she wrote, may have worsened due to last year’s wind storm season and Hurricane Irma. Some scientists, she continued, have posited that the cyanobacteria responsible for the bluegreen algae, whose decaying bodies release nutrition that feed red-tide dinoflagellates, could be fueling the coastal red tide. “Regardless of the cause, the effects of both algae phenomena on human health, marine life, the environment and the economy may be far-reaching,” she wrote. On Oct. 4, Gov. Scott announced $3 million in grants would be distributed to Miami-Dade, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach and Broward counties to mitigate the spread and effects of red tide. The funding, according to a release from the state administration, is part of a grant program launched in July by the Department of Environmental Protection. An additional $11.77 million was previously distributed to Pinellas, Manatee, Collier, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee and Martin counties.
City commissioners are prepared to OK hefty Miami parking rate hikes today (10/11), but the jump won’t impact city residents – though parking officials still must figure out how to do that. Miami Parking Authority staff prepared the proposed changes, which the Off-Street Parking Board approved July 30. Commissioners approved them Sept. 13 on first reading, but only if city residents were excluded from the hikes. A final vote due Sept. 27 was deferred. Scott Simpson, authority chief financial officer, updated the parking board on the status Oct. 3. He said the city commission’s approval of the authority’s 2018-19 budget was “relatively painless,” but its insistence on removing city residents from the rate hike has slowed the process and created operational challenges. “They have to use PayByPhone in order to do that,” Mr. Simpson said of residents getting a discount on the new rates. PayByPhone is a mobile online application that the vast majority of parking customers in the city use – 87% of all authority parking transactions last month were PayByPhone. The problem is there remain a number of coin parking meters and parking lots that have Pay by Plate machines, which mechanically don’t recognize city residents, so a discount couldn’t be used, Mr. Simpson said. “We are working on how to deal with that.” Rates have stood unchanged nearly 10 years. For most on-street parking spaces, the rate would rise from $1.75 an hour to $3. Many monthly permits would jump from $70 to $90. There are exceptions. For example, a monthly Design District parking permit would rise from $75 to $110. The higher parking rates will help fund increased operating costs as the parking agency plans to beef up its enforcement ranks. Authority CEO Art Noriega has said the parking rate increases would take effect in the second quarter of the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
STATE ASKING WHAT YOU THINK OF DRIVING ON U.S. 1 ...
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BEACH BRAKES SQUEEZED ON DOCKLESS BIKE SHARING ...
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WIRELESS GIANT TO PUT CELLULAR TOWERS INTO PARKS ...
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MIAMI PUSHES A BASKET OF NEW SHOPPING CART RULES ...
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VIEWPOINT: DON’T FORCE ELECTED SHERIFF ON COUNTY...
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ST. THOMAS ADDING SPORTS TO RAISE STUDENTS, FUNDS ...
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SURINAME LOOKS TO LURE MIAMI-DADE TRADE MISSION ...
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COUNTY SCHOOLS SEEK NEW STATE FUNDING FORMULA ...
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