FYI Miami: July 18, 2024

Bellow are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

TRANSIT ZONE DIVIDE: Miami city commissioners unanimously passed a resolution July 11 declaring Miami-Dade County’s Rapid Transit Zone expansion and policy harmful to the health and well-being of city residents. This decision is the latest escalation in an ongoing dispute between the city and the county over who has the legal authority to decide the zoning rules and what buildings get developed along bus routes and the Metrorail. The move comes after the two governments failed to reach an agreement through the governmental conflict resolution process required by state law.

FIU BRIDGE ECHOES: US District Judge Allen Winsor dismissed a suit by companies that could be prevented from working on federally funded projects after being affiliated with an engineering firm that designed a collapsed Florida International University pedestrian bridge. The nine companies and their owner are affiliated with FIGG Bridge Engineers Inc., which designed the bridge that collapsed in 2018, crushing cars and killing five motorists and one construction worker. FIGG Bridge Engineers was blocked from working on federally funded projects until 2029. The suit sought to block a proposal that could keep the affiliated companies off federally funded projects. While he dismissed the suit, the judge left open the possibility that the companies could file a revised version. 

TOURISM MARKETING BY NEIGHBORHOOD: The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau will intensify efforts to market events from throughout the county, meeting quarterly with the public information officers and chiefs of staff from municipalities “to ensure that all aspects of Miami-Dade County are showcased to our visitors resulting in broader economic impact for our residents,” Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has reported to commissioners. The bureau also will expand “website navigation tools and content strategy to highlight municipalities and neighborhoods,” expand the content of temptations months and deals geographically, and “expand content focusing on music throughout Miami-Dade neighborhoods,” said the report, issued in response to a February commission resolution sponsored by Chairman Oliver Gilbert III.  

ETHICS CHIEF CHOICE: The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics & Public Trust was to meet this week with seven candidates to take the executive director’s post. Jose Arrojo, who was appointed to the post in 2018 after a 23-year career at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, the majority of the time as chief assistant state attorney, announced in May that he would be returning to the State Attorney’s Office.