Dear Friends of District 8,

I hope this letter finds you healthy and happy after a joyful holiday season. While it is hard to believe another year has passed, this is a good time to look back on lessons learned, and forward, to our aspirations for another great year.

We have worked together to achieve great results for District 8 and all of Miami-Dade County. Read on as we share Team 8’s picks for the top 10 accomplishments! Let’s celebrate and look ahead to an even more successful 2018 serving you and this community. 

Countdown to the Best of 2017

10. We drew new visitors to our dynamic area attractions thanks to our exciting new marketing campaign, “South Dade: More to Explore”.

9. We created a unified economic development strategy to grow business investment during our 3rd Annual South Dade Solutions Summit.

8. We made it easier to report County government fraud, waste and abuse by training over 20,000 employees on our new “Employee Protection Ordinance”, and expanding legislation to include vendors who do business with the County.

7. We invested in South Dade parks launching a new recreation center, basketball courts, exercise paths; held groundbreakings on several new parks; and secured more than $1 million to clean up pollution at Devon Aire Park.

6. We produced a Hurricane Irma Post Action Report that has helped to pave the way to improved disaster preparedness and response and was mentioned by the Miami Herald in an editorial as one of the positive outcomes for the year.

5. We i mproved safety and reduced crime by hiring more police officers to protect our neighborhoods and our agricultural areas.

4. We awarded $100,000 in competitive grants to nonprofit organizations serving South Dade and grants of up to $6,000 each to 49 local businesses to support growth and “green” practices.

3. We led efforts to reject critical transit service cuts, restoring Metrorail service in the final county budget.

2. We improved traffic and reduced commute times on US 1 with the roll-out of automated “smart signal” traffic control technology, after successfully advocating for ours to be the first implementation corridor.

1. We established the North-South Dade corridor as the #1 priority in the SMART (six corridor) transit improvement plan and continued pushing to accelerate the development of rapid transit service for South Dade.

These are just the highlights of the past year. Please read more details in my Year Three annual report. Also, my annual reports for Year Two and Year One are available.

 

Looking ahead, one of my 2018 priorities as your Commissioner is to continue to make your government more accountable and trustworthy. My legislation for citizen review of our County Charter is being implemented and the Task Force will make recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners in February. Also, please know that I will remain committed to improving traffic and safety, creating jobs, championing our parks and environment, and fighting for South Dade’s fair share. Look out for legislation to protect our animals, our water and equality for women.

 

As always,  the District 8 Team is available to serve you. Reach out to us at  district8@miamidade.gov; call us at  305-375-5218 or  305-378-6677; chat with me on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.

 

Yours for a happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous new year,