the recent one that yesterday we found out of his passing. Commissioner Steinberg, can you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Madam Clerk, can you please call attendance and announce the presence of a quorum? Good morning. Commissioner Bastian. Here. Commissioner McGee. Here. Commissioner Regalado. Vice Chairman Steinberg. You guys look the same. Chairman Garcia. Present. For members present, you have a quorum. Alright, thank you. Members, we do have two public hearing items that we're going to have to take separately. Before we do that, Madam Attorney, can you please walk us through the agenda? Certainly. Now would be an appropriate time to extend a reasonable opportunity for the public to be heard on all non-public hearing items, Mr. Chairman. Alright, we're opening up public hearing. Are there any members of the audience of the public that would want to testify? How are you? Please state your name and address for the record. My name address is for the clerk's only due to status. Perfect. My name is Madam Renita Holmes. I'm the Executive Founder of Wave of Women in Public Housing, Education, Finance, and Development, as well as Our Homes Opportunities for United Restoration, Business and Property Services, Women-Led and Driven, as well as Toxic Tour. As BBC and Miami-Dade County, Florida's and the United States 100 resilient woman, I'm proud to say that I've got a challenge. When you think about the inner city community, most people don't think about the resiliency of women who are out there, but Cleo has. I'm also a graduate of Empowered Resilient Women. It's a lot of work trying to explain to people who don't think about conservation, who don't think about the animals, who don't tell the children, and right now in portions of Miami-Dade County, particularly in public housing, women are fighting. We in the industry, which I appreciate the disaster exhibition, are really struggling to get out there. It's so competitive. It's mostly male-driven. But nobody really knows about resiliency in the inner city community, thus Toxic Tour. I think education is important. I think any women head of households participate at that level. I think giving us that much attention. I don't hear much education, see much information about green building. But here's one thing, and I'll close. If we look at, say, Liberty Square, if you walk along there, tourists, and you want to build the corridors, our corridors in the city, we have no shade. The sun beats down on you all day long. And the heat in these buildings is gone. We have no trees. I guarantee you within the next three months when we're building the way that we're building these things fast and easy in cement, we're going to continue to be sick. So I would like you to take a look at that. We can talk some more, but thank you. But the last of all, protecting women who are working in the industry from violence. Miami-Dade has seen on some of the facilities, please check with the mayor's office, many incidents of women. That's why I keep a camera with me. We want to work too. The economic opportunity is there for us to build resilient cities and parks for our children. Please take care of those dudes before we take care of them. Thank you. Anyone else to come and testify? All right. With that, we'll go ahead and close public caring. Item Attorney. Reasonable opportunity has been closed. The matters on today's agenda are those listed in the official agenda, along with the changes listed in the changes memo. The changes memo reflects the addition of 1G1 supplement and 1G2 supplement. Additionally, there is a Scrivener's error on item 2A as noted in the changes memo. The first paragraph of page 2 should read July 6, 2017, not July 6, 2024. A motion to set the agenda is now in order, Mr. Chair. Move it. Second. There's a first and a second on setting the agenda. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Agenda is set. There are two public hearing items, Mr. Chair. Would you like to open public hearing on those two items? That's item 1G1 and item 1G2. Item 1G1 is an ordinance relating to local business taxes, deleting sections 8A-179 and 8A-227.5 to the code of Miami-Dade County, Florida, repealing requirement to display local business tax receipt, providing severability, inclusion in the code, and an effective date, and its supplement. And item 1G2, an ordinance related to environmental protection, creating section 24-48.27 of the code of Miami-Dade County, Florida, providing guidelines for the protection of sea turtle nesting, providing severability, inclusion in the code, and an effective date. All right. With that, well, let's go ahead and open public hearing for both of them. Can we do it simultaneously? Okay? Yes, absolutely. I'm sorry. I'd like to take advantage of the opportunity. So when we look at where we focus, you see that where it says environmental protection. I've looked in other cities and in other countries, and it extends far into that. I'm hoping to hear Cleo come back. But just what is the issue with climate? We're paying for air conditions for houses, and we're not getting them. Those in the city are getting them. So I want to close the gap about environmental protection for people in inner city communities or in public housing. Why don't I have trees? So we need to be a lot more open. You know, I love talking about the shoreline. I love talking about the animals. Even the iguanas get protected by me. At least they get buried properly. But the thing is, is that we need women to be protected. Iguanas are invasive, just letting you know. Huh? Iguanas are invasive, but it's okay. Yes, they are. They're not the only ones evasive. But let me tell you, they got the four leg category covered. But I just want you to know, in the inner city community where there are women head of households, we're facing some evasive diseases, bacteria, because people don't understand that mold doesn't care whether it's outside or inside. So I just want you to extend your definition, ask about the protection, and include women and children in inner city African American community and public housing. You got a lot of stuff growing in there that should not be in households. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate your advocacy. Thank you so much. I appreciate all you women back there, too. Keep it strong. Keep it long, okay? Thank you. Appreciate you. Thank you. Anyone else? Yes, sir. I had signed up on the agenda because there was, you know, nothing for me to speak on my issue. And then you open the public hearing and you close it so fast. My name is Master Harry Warren. Foot and Fist Taekwondo is my business. I'm here today because I've actually been trying to get put on the agenda, and I'm having a hard time with my commissioner's office. In fact, I'm being discriminated against in Miami-Dade County. I have DCF clearances, Shannon Melendi, everything that the county parks have asked of me. I have been removed, sir, and banned for life from county parks without a legitimate legal reason. I've met with the old director, Nardi. The new director, Christina White, will not meet with me. I've met with the mayor's office, Chief Roy Coley. I've been told not to call back. I'm a taxpayer, and I want to get on the agenda to discuss this. I have every email I've printed since this incident has happened to me, and it's continually ongoing. I've been told by park officials that I can pick up trash under supervision. I was told by Maria Nardi, the old director, that I was not a good look to the shareholders. When I asked who the shareholders were, she did not disclose that information to me. And after research, I found out that the shareholders are the Miami-Dade County public. I would like to seriously meet with this board and go over the evidence that I have illegal things that have been taking place on Demps Park with funding. They put me under someone else's OCA and ORI number and received funding, sir. And I, upon discovering this, have been banned from parks for life without reason. Okay, let's do this, and I appreciate that. And, yes, we did open and close public hearing, but this is why I've allowed you to put your right to speak up. I'm never going to shut anyone up. What we can do is let's set up a meeting in my office. We'll talk to you, and then we'll take it from there if that's fair. Well, sir, to be honest with you, I've been in that office. I've been in the OIG. I've been in the mayor's office, the mayor's assistant. Sir, give me a minute. I'm asking. I'm telling you. I'll set up. I'm the chairman of parks. I'll set up a meeting with you. I don't know the facts. I don't think anyone up here knows the facts or the issues. I will sit down and have a conversation with you, and then we can go from there. I think that's fair. Okay? Yes, sir. We'll get your contact information, and we'll make sure. Sir, I would like to note to you, and I understand, thank you for what you're doing, but this is the third time that I've been here, the mayor herself. I understand, sir. I get that. Your two minutes are up. I'll give you more than ample time. I will be happy to have a conversation with you. I'm telling you that my door is not going to be closed to you. We'll sit down and have a conversation, and then we can go from there. Thank you, sir. Thank you. With that, let's close reasonable opportunity for our public hearings, correct? Public hearing is now closed. The next item on your agenda is 1-G-1. 1-G-1. And it's supplement. Commissioner Bermudez is here. I want to speak on your item, Mr. Bermudez. Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, thanks for the opportunity to be here. And I'll be brief, but I think it's something that is important to speak about because there might be some confusion. What this ordinance is doing is repealing the section of the county code that requires a person or business to conspicuously display their local business tax receipt. It is not removing the requirement for them to pay their local business tax. So they still need to pay their tax, but the requirement to display will be eliminated. I think it cuts red tape. Anybody, we all get those little things we've got to stick on the wall or somewhere, and depending on what city you're in or if you're on unincorporated date, they'll come and check it, which is fine. But what really matters is that people pay their business tax because if you don't display it and some people just don't, they don't understand it, you can get fined. So it also will be beneficial for businesses. I'm grateful to the tax collector, Dario Fernandez, who made major strides in modernizing and streamlining this process in his office. He's had some pushes similar to this, which I agree with, including moving the yellow card registration tags. He's written a letter of support, and I think you all have it in your packet. There are people from his office here, three wonderful people, including my favorite Jerry Garcia that is not a member of the Grateful Dead, that is here in case you have any questions about his office. And additionally, the mayor and her administration are in support of this initiative. I think this is part online of something that we can do, which is use technology to make life for businesses easier in Miami-Dade County. So I would appreciate your support and want to be here to answer any questions that any of the members of the committee may have. And certainly we have the representatives from Dario Fernandez's offices here also. Thank you, Commissioner Bermudez. We have Commissioner Regalado. Thank you. And thank you for bringing this item, Commissioner Bermudez. All of us have been watching the legislation in Tallahassee, and I appreciate that you tried as much as possible to accommodate the legislation. I think that there are certain vehicles that are under fire. This is one of them. It looks like we may escape this legislative session. And I put it in those terms because I don't think we can escape the next one or the one after that. I know that there are some members of the legislature that really understand this process, but the vast majority of them do not. So there is a movement in the same way that there is, you know, we talk about property taxes. There's a national movement regarding property taxes. There's a state movement and then there's how it impacts us locally. I think with this local business tax, there is a state movement to eliminate it altogether. So given kind of the tea leaves, what I would suggest that we add to it, because I think it's so thorough that we start having a conversation with staff about alternatives. What are other vehicles? Right. So this doesn't exist just to tax businesses. There's an inspection associated with this. So I appreciate that you've taken out kind of the bureaucratic pieces, which is what the legislature focused on in order to eliminate it. But I think we're already so down that road that it's eventually going to be eliminated. So I think we should start thinking about pivoting to something else that allows us that inspection so that we can not be preempted. So that by the time we get hit with the preemption, we have another avenue and we don't have a gap. So I think it's about kind of retooling it. I think what you're doing is already streamlining it. But I think that this is this is in the emergency room dying a quick death and we're tying a tourniquet. And I think that we should also add to this requesting the administration to look at other ways to get the information and to do the inspection that's tethered to this particular vehicle, given that this vehicle is under fire. Mr. Chair, yeah, I have no objection to it, but the important thing here is let me say two things. I think the senator and certainly all of you and I formerly being the mayor of the city understand that this has been under attack for years. Realistically, but in the long run for me, whether it's eliminated next year or five years down the road, it's about improving the methodology of how we do things. And I think we should do that regardless, regardless. And this is something that is easy to do. We've got a tax collector's office that is committed to understanding how this process should work. And I think that I have no objection to looking at because you are right of entry of a this is another one of the issues that we no longer are able to be independent on. Then it is what it is. We will have to figure that out. And that'll be our decision at that time and the mayor's recommendation. But I think the one thing that's important here is you we all know that Tallahassee and and I'm I'm not including the senator in this. OK. And when the time he was there, we know that many people in Tallahassee. It seems to me that a lot of times the ideas are how can we impact local government? Right. This is saving money. So if you argue you need to save money, money should be. Well, this proposal will save money. So and we can quantify that later in the sense of whatever structure we give it. But it definitely will save money because you won't need to have and you can use technology to save money. And this is a perfect example in it. So I think it gives us an opportunity to be ready for some of those arguments that can and will be used against us. Or should I say can and may be used for those who maybe don't understand the reason why counties and municipalities, because maybe they haven't served in local government, they don't understand the responsibility that when something happens, it's the local government that gets blamed. It's not the entity that is miles away. So I have no problem with that. I just think that this is one where when any of us go up there or the mayor or lobbyists, we can say, hey, we're not sitting back on this issue. We're taking the initiative and we're saving money for Miami-Dade County. So how would you like to see this amended then? I think that the amendment, I don't have a problem with the amendment that instructs the administration to look into what we would need if eventually the business taxes is. I think what Commissioner Regolato is saying, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, is that this battle takes place every year and eventually the dam is going to break. Right. Which is okay. And if we, an amendment that would say, okay, we need to look if eventually. But I don't want to mix apples and oranges in the sense that I think that's something we can tell the administration to do anyways. Right. But I think by mixing it, we're kind of giving them, you know, I don't want them to think that it's not important for us because if there is a business and something happens, the 13 of us and the mayor will be the front line. All right. Indy County. Can we just get to let, give me a second, can we just go, go ahead, attorney's office? Mr. Chair, because the title to this ordinance is so circumscribed that amendment couldn't be done. We'll come back with some other language. Okay. But a commissioner could sponsor it or the committee could vote for it to be a committee sponsored item. I'm fine with a committee sponsored item. So, um, let me explain. Um, and I'm happy to make a motion, uh, and we can take it up in this committee. Um, what, what I, what I'm pointing out is at the center of this process, irrespective of what Tallahassee has focused on is the inspection. That inspection is a Miami Dade County activity. The tax collector just collects the fee. So what is being challenged is the fee and the collection of the fee. And that's fine. And you're streamlining that and you're reducing that. But as we change it and go digital, there is a world where we just do an inspection. And that inspection is standalone and it's not called the local business tax. It's just the inspection that used to be get the permit. Right. And the question, um, that I have for the administration and what we would need to talk about is what is the cost of that inspection? Right. How, how would we manage that inspection process separate and apart from this vehicle that has existed for so many years? You know, I, I agree with you that we shouldn't abdicate to Tallahassee, but at the same time, why not use this moment as an inflection point? And just make a vehicle that belongs to us. And that we control and does for it does the purpose, which is the inspection. I don't disagree with you. I think we'll listen. I'm happy to do it as a separate motion. I'm happy to work on it. If you want to do that, I think it's good. I think, um, we'll go ahead and adopt your, your item, which I would like to co-sponsor that show me as a co-sponsor on that as well. Uh, I'll get to you right now. And then, um, let's just allow commissioner Regalotto, the committee member to work on, on this item to bring it back before us as soon as possible. Happy to. Because it makes a lot of sense. I agree with you 100%. Thank you. Thank you. No, um, thank you. I just want the clarity. So from an enforcement standpoint, now what, I guess you had a question for the administration, but I didn't get a chance to. Didn't you have a question just now for the administration as to how they perceive from an inspection standpoint? Well, I mean, that's what we would work on with staff, right? So how, now that, now that this item digitizes it and you no longer have to post it right now, it's really about the physical inspection of the business. So now that we've made these changes, is there a different modality where this stays in house inside RER? That's what we would work on. Well, I was trying to, I was trying to boot, you know, I was trying to tie it to this, but they want it separated. But yes, it is a, it is a logical result of what we're doing now, should the board pass it. So we're good. Any other questions, commissioner? No, no. For the purposes of committee, I'm fine supporting this. And then I'll just have to sit down and understand how we, how we enforce it. Because I think it's, it's, it's definitely looking towards new technology and modernizing everything that we do. And so what does that look like? That's all. All right. Perfect. I'm going to call the roll on. Move it. Well, yeah. 1G1. It's been moved. Okay. Commissioner Bastien. Commissioner Regalado. Yes. Vice Chair, one, Ms. Steinberg. Chairman Garcia. Yes. I'm going to move to the next. Mr. Chair, just one quick thing, because I wanted to, I know you're going to speak to him, which is fine, but the tax collector will inspect digitally. And I want to, I want to remind everybody, not only here, but all our other colleagues, that even during COVID, RER did inspections, physical inspections for buildings using technology. So it's not impossible to do this. No. I just want to be clear that I, and the reason, Commissioner Regalado, when we throw, when we mix so many things together, sometimes it's harder for us to defend ourselves when the issue gets, I'm going to use a word that I. We're good. I'm fabulated in Tallahassee. Thank you. Your item passed. We got it. Thank you so much. With that, let's go to item 1G2. Commissioner Steinberg. Yes. I move item 1G2 so that we can put better protections for our turtle nesting and our turtles, sea turtles. All right. Second. Happy to second. Please show me as a co-sponsor on that one too. With that, please call the roll on item 1G2. Commissioner Regalado. Yes. Commissioner Bastien. Vice Chairwoman Steinberg. Chairman Garcia. Yes. And with that, show the item approved and moved to the next County Commission meeting, BCC. Mr. Chair. Yes, ma'am. Before we move, I don't know if there's a hold on what we just talked about. So if you guys want me to draft and bring it back to the next committee, I mean, the way to undo that is with like a vote. Do you want to do that? Do you want me to just report back? Is there a hold? Give me a minute. Give me a minute. How would you want us to proceed? So the committee could bring back, the committee could request an item as a whole, as opposed to Commissioner Regalado bringing back separate legislation? That's within the power of the committee to do that? I'm perfectly fine with you. But then how do we draft it? Who drafts it? Right, but we can't guarantee that it wouldn't necessarily come back to this committee. Right. All right, so let's do that. Let's do, let's ask for it to be a bill, an ordinance of the committee. Right? We take a vote on that, asking you to draft the legislation for the committee. The committee could vote to sponsor the committee item. All right, so that's what we're doing right now. And then I would advise that the committee designate one person to shepherd it through. Okay, that's exactly what we're doing. Who's going to draft it? Who's going to draft it? You are. So I guess we're taking a motion, we're making a motion to have Commissioner Regalado shepherd this, let this committee build through the process. Does that make sense? Perfect. Yes. Thank you. Commissioner Steinberg made the motion. Yes, yes. Seconded by Commissioner Bastien. All in favor say aye. Aye. Perfect. There we go. All right. I saved us some money too, by the way. Actually, before we move the rest of the agenda, I think, do we have any questions, any issues on any of the items, Commissioner Regalado? I just had a question. I like your Wi-Fi item, but it has some questions for staff on it. We've actually dealt with this. As you know, this was a big deal at the school board a few years ago. And at parks, we've had some issues because some of my parks just don't have the infrastructure for it. So I was wondering, how are we going to make decisions in terms of what parks? Are they just doing like a survey of what they can do? Right now we're asking, making sure that we ask, make it a priority for this administration to request federal funding to ensure that we get this Wi-Fi in other schools. I think right now we have about 80 parks. I said schools. Yeah. And my whole goal is to make sure that we have all of our parks connected, especially in the urban core areas that are lacking some infrastructure for. So just because we've done this, been here, seen this movie, right? Are you talking about in the entire park or just where there are facilities in the parks? I think we'll wait for the report to come back. I'm hoping in the entire park. That's my whole goal. But if not, we can limit it to where there is facility. Or just have them make the distinction. Right. Because there's, you know, I know that for community centers, for example, Wi-Fi is a big deal because then you can't have meetings there if anybody has something. So I'm just saying, I think we should prioritize like structures. I would love to have them in all of our parks, you know, but obviously in some like Crandon is one of my parks. It would be, it would, it would cost a fortune to have Wi-Fi all over Crandon. Right. We just don't have the infrastructure there. And I've had this problem at Chapman and at other parks just with general connectivity. So, um, and then are we going to look at placing, uh, are, are they going to make recommendations to us? Because for example, in urban areas, one of the issues that we've had is, um, those polls, those repeater polls that are very ugly that everybody hates. Um, but you need those. So are we going to, are we going to move forward with putting some of those in the parks? I mean, cause this is where we get into the. I know, but I think, I think we wait till the report comes back and we ask to move forward with the requesting of federal funds to ensure we get this passed. We had a conversation with Christina yesterday. Sorry. Uh, Director White on, on prioritizing, getting, getting us a prior, a priority list. And, uh, I think at that point we can make that determination and I'm not going to make any determination alone. I think we make it together as a committee, uh, when that report comes forward. So yes, to your point, I think it's important that we prioritize those that have actual buildings right now. And maybe we do it through the building process through that, through the structures. And then we can try to expand that later on. But the whole goal is making sure that we, when we coming into this world of limited funds, that we try to go after these federal dollars more and more. Agree. Agree. My, I'm only bringing up that there are prohibitions to certain infrastructure. We got that. So they might want to cover that. We get that. We get that. Yeah. Governor Steinberg. Yes. Thank you. Um, first of all, I'd like to be added as a co-sponsor please to item 2A. Um, I think this is great. Um, I'd like a list. I know it says that 88 county parks already have, um, access to free Wi-Fi. So, um, I'd like to please have a list of, of those parks that have it already. Um, and how that is working. Um, and there are different types of infrastructure and Wi-Fi that you don't necessarily need, like big infrastructure, um, to accommodate. Um, and I think that's gonna be a great first step is to see where we're at in the process, what it's going to look like to, to make sure that all our parks have this ability for everybody. Um, and, and by the way, and at some point maybe even expand it to all our public facilities, I think would be a wonderful amenity. But, but the first step, I think he, um, Senator is right. We need to see this report and we need to see it. Um, the, I hope, and the report should include what the, the usage, I would like to also understand better what the, that Delta of the ones, how long did it take to actually implement what that implementation looks like and what the plan would be for outfitting the remainder of our parks. That's fair. I think that's an amendment. Um, there's a first. Yeah, I'm happy to, yeah, happy to support it. The amendment. I just had one more thing to add. Um, yes, I know, I know, I know. Yeah. So when, when we did the underlying, we partnered with hot wire. And the reason for that is because it made doing this work so much cheaper. So are we open to allowing parks to also reach out to private companies that we could partner with? Because that's also a thing, you know, um, just to give her tools, right? I get, thank you. And I, and I, and I appreciate that. I think we're trying a little bit, but, um, I think right now we have certain partnerships that already exist with our public parks. I think we're going to collaborate with them. And we have no problem reaching out to other vendors that can provide the same services and so forth. But I think, uh, for the intention of this legislation is this way for this report to come back and then we'll have that conversation. Okay. Okay. Um, before we. Yes. Commissioner Bastien. Thank you for bringing the item. I also would like to be listed as a co-sponsor. Yes. Waste reporting. Happy to, happy to co-sponsor too. Why not? Co-sponsor is one of my items. I'm kidding. You've done it before. She's done it before. I'm kidding. Um, yeah, before we move the balance of the agenda, uh, I just want to let, uh, the folks know that, um, uh, the legislature is in this last week. Uh, for now, uh, they're going to reconvene. Uh, for me, it's a personal item, personal issue that we have Senate house bills, Senate house bill 399 and Senate bill 208 that we have our state delegation in the Senate fighting against, uh, removing, uh, watering down the UDB language that we have down here, making it easier to move the line. Um, getting rid of the super majority number that's needed. Uh, while I've been very clear that I have been one of those that have voted in the past to move it, I think it's, it's dangerous when we get rid of that super majority here in the County Commission, uh, to move that to a simple majority, which then really, to me, uh, puts our ag lands and, um, the Everglades, uh, somewhat at risk. Uh, somewhat at risk. So, uh, I hope for those of you that agree with me, please call your legislators and hopefully we can get that legislation defeated. And if it does move forward, I really do hope that the governor will veto this legislation, uh, in order to control home rule and allow us to have stricter rules than that of the state. So with that, I agree with you. Thank you, commissioner. And, um, uh, Mr. Chair, I know that we talked about this at the regular. We talked about this at the regular BCC and JC talked about potentially doing a workshop, but, um, I don't know how long that's going to take, but similar to what I said about the local business tax, I think this is a moment where as a board, we decide on a path forward before we are preempted. All right. So with that, let's, uh, do we have to take two way on its own or two way as amended in along with the balance of the agenda. I also want to note, um, Mr. Chairman, that there's a request for item three C to be waived on to the March 17th full BCC. Actually, can we just go ahead and move all the items to the BCC and let the chairman decide, right? I guess that's how it works. If you would like to make that request, you can make the request that all of the items get moved. We're making the request. Please call the roll. Is it a roll or voice vote? All in, all in favor of moving the balance of the agenda, uh, through this committee and to the next BCC, say aye. I'll oppose like sign. Okay. And with that, uh, Commissioner Steinberg. Mr. Chairman, can we have a mover and a seconder, please? Uh, the mover and a seconder. Mover and a seconder over here. Mover and a seconder over here. Mover and a seconder. And with that, Commissioner Steinberg. Yes, I will move to adjourn. Moves to adjourn. Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys.