FYI Miami: April 21, 2022

Below 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.

COMMISSIONERS’ MUSEUM: At the request of Sen. Javier D. Souto, a resolution directing the county mayor to develop a plan to create a Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners Historical Museum and to provide a report regarding the implementation of the plan was deferred Tuesday to no date certain. Commissioner Sally Heyman and Eileen Higgins added the document to the pull list for individual consideration – to make a comment, ask questions or vote separately on the resolution. The purpose of the museum is where “past and present members of the board and other members of the community will be able to donate and contribute memorabilia, documents, and other relevant materials to keep and display for posterity,” says the deferred resolution.

COUNTY SHERIFF’S ROLE: Mayor Daniella Levine Cava released this week a framework with policy recommendations to commissioners on how to define the role of the sheriff to take office in January 2025. Some include that the Miami-Dade Police Department should continue to patrol the unincorporated areas; continue to patrol county-owned assets; and that the police department, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, Emergency Management, and Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation should continue as county departments. Among functions to be transferred to the sheriff are to be the executive officer of the Circuit Court; charge fixed fees for process service in civil cases; and serve and execute all civil and criminal processes of the county court, and perform all duties about the court that are required to be done by an executive officer. It is a county commission’s responsibility to decide how to implement the Office of the Sheriff and what public safety functions will stay within the county. The sheriff would have to accept the transfer of duties and commission legislation would transfer functions from the commission and mayor to the sheriff, the document details.

COLOMBIA VISITS FLY HIGH: Colombia led all international markets in travel agency air ticket sales to Miami in the past six months, surpassing 100,000 tickets sold, according to new figures from the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. That represents a shift from the same six months in 2018-2019, when Miami’s top international inflow was nearly 200,000 persons from Brazil, which now is ranked second at over 92,000. Argentina, now our fourth highest feeder market at 70,000 tickets, topped 113,000 in the 2018-2019 period. Canada then was ranked third at 111,000 tickets versus 51,000 in the current period. Two of our top 10 international markets today have gained a hair on their numbers in 2019-2019. They are number eight, Chile, with 33,000 incoming passengers now versus 30,000 then, and number 10 Peru, with 31,000 now versus 26,000 then. The only European nation in the top 10 now is the United Kingdom, ranked sixth with 43,000 passengers as opposed to 89,000 in the earlier period.