COLORS EXPLAINED - MBU Releases 2nd Annual Commission Scorecard WITH COLOR KEY!

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MIAMI BEACH UNITED PRESENTS ITS

2ND ANNUAL COMMISSION SCORECARD

Apologies: in the original transmission of this scorecard, the key explaining the colors was omitted; it has been added to this edition.

Here's what the colors mean:

Green : The elected official SUPPORTED MBU's position

Red : The elected official OPPOSED MBU's position

Yellow : The elected official PARTIALLY SUPPORTED MBU's position

Grey : The elected official WAS NOT PRESENT for that vote.

Miami Beach United, the only community-based non-profit organization providing Miami Beach residents a cohesive voice for residents’ rights and city-wide issues which impact their quality of life, is pleased to present its Second Annual Commission Scorecard covering the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

Please note that this is not a comprehensive review of the voting record of each elected officia l; it is merely an accounting of how each elected official voted on matters upon which Miami Beach United submitted a resolution to the Commission.

Here's how it works:

Each month, Miami Beach United identifies and tracks issues pertaining to residents rights and quality of life issues that are coming before the Commission. Many of these issues become resolutions, voted on by the Board of Directors, and shared in advance of the monthly Commission meetings with the Mayor and Commissioners (and staff) of the city of Miami Beach. They are also shared with all of you via this mailing list for Miami Beach United.

In each case, whenever Miami Beach United passed a resolution on a matter before the Commission, the scorecard indicates whether or not an individual elected official supported or opposed the action recommended by Miami Beach United. This scorecard ONLY reflects the items upon which MBU took a position, and therefore is not a representation of an elected official's complete voting record.

For ordinances, which require two hearings, only the final vote on Second Reading was recorded and counted. In some cases, when Miami Beach United’s recommendations were only partially implemented, that was treated as a neutral action, and that vote was excluded from the total score.

All items were weighted equally when calculating an overall percentage grade for each elected official during the measurement period.

This Commission Scorecard process commenced for the 2018-2019 Fiscal Year with the November 2018 Commission meeting, with the final scorecard to be published after the October 17 2019 Commission meeting.

The Commission Scorecard process for the 2019-2020 Fiscal Year will commence with the October 30 2019 Commission meeting, with the final scorecard to be published after the final October 2020 Commission meeting.

Click HERE or on the image below to download the new Commission 2019 Scorecard.

Click here to download the prior Commision Scorecard from 2018.

VOTE BY MAIL BALLOTS HAVE ARRIVED;

EARLY VOTING HAS BEGUN!

Election Day is November 5th, but vote by mail has already begun,

and you can vote early in person beginning today, Monday 10/21.

Click here to get information on early voting.

Click here to see an official sample ballot.

The City Has Placed A Number of Initiatives on the General Election Ballot -These are Miami Beach United's Positions:

As a point of clarification from our earlier newsletter on this topic, please note that Miami Beach United does not take positions on every ballot initiative that is proposed by the City. These items are those upon which we did take a position and which made it onto the ballot, as they appear in their final form. (The "agenda item" notation references the agenda item from July when they were heard by the Commission)

Agenda Item R7-J - Ballot Initiative To Increase Mayor's Term From Two to Four Years
Agenda Item R7-P - Ballot Initiative To Allow Increasing Maximum FAR for Adaptive Re-Use in Historic Buildings
Agenda Item R7-Q - Ballot Initiative Increasing Maximum FAR to 2.0 for Buildings in CD-2 District Along Washington Avenue and Alton Road If More Than 25% of Building Area Is Used For Offices

Want to read the proposed Commission agenda items and get info about the Commission meeting? Click here .

Want to contact your elected officials directly? Click here .

Ballot Initiative to Increase Mayor's Term From Two to Four Years

Agenda Item R7-J

Executive summary:

This proposed referndum item for placement on the November 2019 ballot proposes to increase the Mayor's term from the current two years, for a total of six years in office, to 4 years, for a total of 8 years in office.

Why It Matters

The Mayor has greater sway than other Commissioners over the decisions made by the City Commission, so it is appropriate that the Mayor's term should be shorter than that of other Commissioners and that he/she should be subject to reelection or replacement more frequently than the other Commissioners.
If, in the opinion of the electorate, the City Commission is not serving the best interests of the City and its residents, voters should have the ability to change the leadership of the City Commission every 2 years, not less frequently.
If this proposal were approved, the voters would only have that opportunity every 4 years

Miami Beach United OPPOSES this resolution.

Read the MBU Resolution in its entirety by clicking HERE.

Read the Commission documents by clicking HERE .

Ballot Initiative To Allow Increasing Maximum FAR in Historic Buildings

Agenda Item R7-P

Executive summary:

This referenda item would allow increasing maximum FAR in historic buildings

Why It Matters

The City is experiencing a great deal of new construction which is making Miami Beach increasingly congested. Allowing an increase in the FAR of historic buildings is being proposed without benefit of providing any apparent preservation purpose for doing so.
As it is currently written, this question is overly broad and fails to adequately explain the propositions or the reasoning behind it.
This leaves open the possibility of Commission overreach on the specific details when drafting the enacting ordinance.
There is significant recent precedent for broadly and vaguely worded referenda items getting voted in, and then residents/advocacy groups which seek to implement details that had been left out of the referendum language being told that since they weren't part of the language as voted upon, changes cannot be made; yet other details (zoning allowances) are added which go far beyond what most voters contemplated when approving the question.

Miami Beach United OPPOSES this resolution.

Read the MBU Resolution in its entirety by clicking HERE.

Read the Commission documents by clicking HERE .

Ballot Initiative Increasing Maximum FAR to 2.0 for Buildings in CD-2 District Along Washington Avenue and Alton Road If More Than 25% of Building Area Is Used For Offices

Agenda Item R7-Q

Executive summary:

This proposed amendment seeks to increase the FAR for buildings in the CD-2 District along Washington Avenue and Alton Road which contain more than 25% office space.

Why It Matters

The Washington Avenue Business Improvement District, working together with the consultant hired by the City, Zyscovich Architects, is working on a comprehensive package to incentivize office development on Washington Avenue.
Until this consultant, hired by the City, has a chance to engage with property owners and with the community, it seems premature and inappropriate to make this significant of a zoning change.

Miami Beach United OPPOSES this resolution.

Read the MBU Resolution in its entirety by clicking HERE.

Read the Commission documents by clicking HERE .

#ICYMI - the NEW Miami Beach United website is live !

Thanks to outstanding marketeer and indefatigable MBU founding member Herb Sosa, MBU was launched in 2012 with a strong visual brand and web presence. But, as anyone who works with websites knows, the one drawback to websites is that the moment they go live, they have been surpassed by newer technology! So, after eight extremely good years, we say goodbye to our old site and welcome our new site. Still located at www.miamibeachunited.org , the new site is packed with new features, including a digital "suggestion box" in the footer, a new YouTube channel (more videos on the way), and an a rchive of past newsletters with live links to past resolutions and supporting documents.

I F YOU MISSED A CANDIDATES' FORUM AND WANT TO HEAR THE CANDIDATES ADDRESS ISSUES THAT AFFECT RESIDENTS CITYWIDE, PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE MBU FORUM, ATTENDED BY ALL CANDIDATES FOR COMMISSION, HELD ON 9/18/19 AT THE MIAMI BEACH WOMAN'S CLUB. It is also accessible by visiting our website and clicking on the YouTube link, as indicated below.

2019 Miami Beach United Board of Directors

Officers

Tanya K. Bhatt, President; Marketing

Saul Gross, Treasurer

Rhea D’Souza, V.P. Membership; Recording Secretary

Ron Starkman, VP, Government Affairs

Directors

Ryan Barras

Hortense De Castro

Herb Frank

Jorge Gonzalez

Jack Johnson

Adam Kravitz

Sarah Leddick

Monica Matteo-Salinas

Scott Needelman

Kirk Paskal

Sandra Stendel

Silvia Winitzky

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Nancy Liebman, Chair Emerita

Our Mission

Dedicated to improving the quality of life for Miami Beach residents, managed and measured growth of our city, and ethical leadership of government – for a vibrant city rooted in history, its people, resources and neighborhoods, with focus on the future – by providing educational and analytical focus on the organization, structure, policies and performance of Miami Beach government.