One vote on Miami commission can change everything. The new member has a full docket

In Miami, one vote on the City Commission can make a difference in your daily life.

One vote can affect the price you pay to park in front of a restaurant in Allapattah, a gallery in the Design District, or a bodega in Little Haiti. One vote can change your property tax bill, decide the size of the new building going up on your street, and determine the hours your local public pool is open — and whether that pool is open at all.

One vote can also shape the future of large-scale, controversial issues, from a proposed massive redevelopment of the city’s only golf course into a commercial and soccer stadium complex to an annual music festival that wants to make the downtown waterfront its home, over neighbors’ objections.

Five commissioners representing different districts make decisions on these matters, and one of them is a City Hall newbie with more than a decade of political experience in Tallahassee. Former state senator Alex Diaz de la Portilla was recently elected to represent District 1, which includes Allapattah, Grapeland Heights, Flagami and the Health District around Jackson Memorial Hospital. He could hold a powerful deciding vote on a bevy of high-profile issues.

Diaz de la Portilla was officially sworn in Wednesday in a brief gathering of family and friends at City Hall. The city clerk’s office usually swears in newly elected commissioners at the soonest opportunity to ensure smooth transitions in district offices. . A larger ceremony for Diaz de la Portilla will be held in early December to mark the occasion. His first commission meeting is Dec. 12. Outgoing commissioner Wifredo “Willy” Gort, attended his last meeting Nov. 21.

Gort said he planned to meet with Diaz de la Portilla after Thanksgiving to discuss handing off district projects that started under Gort’s watch. After hitting the gavel to end the final commission meeting of his political career, he complimented the other commissioners while emphasizing that Miami’s biggest challenge is addressing the wide disparity between the city’s haves and have-nots.

“I think this city has a long way to go because of the differences in income we have,” he said.

After taking the oath of office Wednesday, Diaz de la Portilla told the Miami Herald that he’d met with multiple commissioners, Mayor Francis Suarez and City Manager Emilio Gonzalez to discuss the state of the city. He said one of his priorities is to lobby for state dollars to flow to City Hall — an objective he said he’ll personally pursue during a planned trip to Tallahassee during the Legislature’s final week of committee meetings in December. Citing a friendship with Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, Diaz de la Portilla said he’s in a good position to vouch for Miami.

“Between the city and the state, we need to bridge that gap,” he said.

Galvano is expected to travel to Miami for Diaz de la Portilla’s ceremonial swearing-in at 1 p.m. on Dec. 7.

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Diaz de la Portilla is taking office at a time when the city’s finances are on an upswing and big-ticket projects loom on the horizon. Major problems with housing affordability and the expected impact of climate change pose existential threats to Miami.

Other issues the commission will be weighing in the near future:

Tension over special area plans

This feature of the Miami 21 zoning code allows developers with holdings that total at least nine contiguous acres to build bigger and denser in exchange for public benefits. City planners are able to negotiate the terms of these plans with builders, and commissioners have the final say on whether these plans can proceed.

Lately, they’ve grown increasingly controversial. One divisive project in Little Haiti sparked a fervent debate about overdevelopment in the neighborhood. The developers behind another plan for a property just a mile away are suing the city, accusing Miami’s planning, zoning and appeals board of intentionally stalling a vote on a zoning change necessary for the project.

Some commissioners have said they want to revisit this and other parts of the zoning code to address issues of affordability and preservation of neighborhoods.

Pensions for commissioners

The question of whether Miami’s elected commissioners should be eligible to receive pensions funded by the city’s taxpayers and ratepayers has lingered since the summer, when Commissioner Keon Hardemon sponsored an ordinance to reopen the program that’s been closed for a decade. It passed on first reading with Hardemon, Gort and Commissioner Joe Carollo voting in favor.

Carollo has delayed the final vote on the item for multiple commission meetings, citing a lack of long-range projections for pensions costs that he wants to understand before voting on the item. On Nov. 21, when Hardemon could see he did not have the votes for the pensions to pass, he agreed to defer the item again.

Trolleys

The city-run trolley system, which does not charge fares, is funded by Miami’s share of the countywide half-percent sales tax meant to support transit. New routes have launched in recent years through Little Haiti and Liberty City.

Diaz de la Portilla, along with several other candidates in the District 1 campaign, said Allapattah needs a trolley running through its commercial areas. Administrators have cautioned that the half-cent tax wouldn’t cover another trolley route and that expanding the system would require tapping the city’s regular general fund budget, which comes from residents’ property taxes.

Expect the commission to discuss the where, when and how much of adding new routes and vehicles.

Miami Freedom Park

Inter Miami is scheduled to begin playing in March 2020 at an 18,000-seat soccer stadium abutting its training facility in Fort Lauderdale, but the owners of the Major League Soccer franchise are pursuing construction of Miami Freedom Park, a complex that includes a 25,000-seat stadium that would host home games, retail and dining center, office park, hotel and 58-acre public park in Miami. The proposed site is city-owned Melreese golf course, next to Miami International Airport, the only golf course within Miami city limits.

It’s been 16 months since retired soccer star David Beckham appeared before Miami commissioners to make a case for letting voters decide on whether the city should negotiate a no-bid deal with Beckham’s local ownership partner, MasTec chairman Jorge Mas, to lease the public land to develop Miami Freedom Park.

Lease negotiations are under way, though it does not appear they will be complete before the holidays. Commissioners might not see a lease proposal until January.

Gort was a vocal critic of the plan and could have cast a deciding vote against the project if he’d had a chance — Commissioner Manolo Reyes has said he’s a staunch no vote, and the lease requires approval from four of five commissioners. Diaz de la Portilla has said he would have preferred an open bid for such a redevelopment, but he won’t opine until he sees a final lease proposal.

Ultra Music Festival

Following a roller coaster year for the Miami-born electronic dance music festival, Ultra is going back to Bayfront Park in March 2020 — although administrators have not yet finalized a contract with festival organizers, and it’s unclear why not.

Under the terms discussed in July when commissioners approved Ultra’s return, the commission or Ultra would have the right to back out of the arrangement after the conclusion of each year’s festival. A group of downtown neighbors have ratcheted up their opposition to the event, and a lawsuit against the city could be forthcoming.

For as long as Ultra’s future is subject to the will of Miami’s elected officials, the friction between the event and its neighbors will fuel debate.

Drama on the dais

Less of a legislative issue, the dynamics of the current commissioners and how those five men work together — or against each other — will likely shift. Commissioners have sparred on numerous issues during debates that have at times devolved into shouting and personal attacks that bog down commission meetings. Diaz de la Portilla has pledged to foster more collegiality on the dais. If it happens, cooler heads could mean more efficiency in doing the business of the city.

After winning re-election without drawing an opponent, Reyes was sworn in for his next term as the District 4 commissioner on Nov. 15. He ended a speech that day by commenting on the divisiveness on the dais.

“It is almost impossible to say that nobody has an agenda. We all have some kind of agenda,” he said. “I’m going to make a request of all my fellow commissioners: It is to set all our private agendas aside. Let’s forget about petty little things. Let’s forget about our private agendas, and let’s all work together to benefit our city.”