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 Growing
up in Dade County from 1926 to 1941 (my early school years) children
were taught to play by the rules and not to cheat.
Many of my childhood friends still remember that
important lesson, making it an important part of their character and
their lives. Is it any wonder then that we are greatly angered by
those of our elected officials who ascribe to a totally different
philosophy of changing the rules to suit them as the game progress.
Some, in fact, choose to completely ignore the rules
and play in defiance of the established rules, the law.
Permit me to offer some examples of changing and
ignoring the rules:
The Doral Incorporation process has been ongoing for
over five years. When Doral completed all of the requirements in force
and went before the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) in September
1996, we played by the rules but were denied the opportunity to have a
vote within the prescribed Doral boundaries. The rules were changed by
the BCC and a two-year moratorium was placed on all incorporation and
annexations, and the stipulation was added that revenue sharing had to
be a part of any future agreement.
Continuing efforts by Doral and the many other
communities seeking incorporation lead to the creation of LINC, Let's
Incorporate Now Coalition. Interviews were sought with all 13
commissioners in an attempt to resolve the standoff and to permit
those who played by the rules to go forward with incorporation.
Again, the rules were ignored when eight of the
thirteen commissioners refused to meet with the citizens that they
were governing. Only Commissioners Alonso and Morales have steadfastly
played by the rules on incorporation.
By 1999 LINC continued to grow, eventually representing over 500,000
citizens living in the Unincorporated Municipal Service Area (UMSA) of
Miami-Dade County who wanted to form their own local governments.
The BCC permitted Miami Lakes to form a Municipal
Advisory Committee (MAC) to negotiate with the county on the major
issues of financial mitigation and retention of the Metro Police
Department, changing the rules again, placing restrictions on Miami
Lakes that have never been placed on any of the other 30 cities in
Miami-Dade County.
At last, hope was ignited when MACs were approved for
Doral, Palmetto Bay, Country Club Lakes and Redland. These
communities, long denied the opportunity to incorporate, finally felt
that they could negotiate items that would be fair to them. Those
serving on the MACs were initially told that the Miami Lakes agreement
with the county would not be a model for all incorporated areas.
The Doral MAC established boundaries that are very
closely aligned with the Doral Community Council 9 boundaries. It was
ready to negotiate its unique situation of being the fastest growing
area in the county with the least amount of services and
infrastructure provided by the county in spite of having paid high
taxes over a twenty-year span.
It was clearly time for another change of the rules by
the BCC!
The new rules: A Charter change for Miami-Dade County
was placed on the ballot for October 3rd prohibiting the citizens of
any newly incorporated municipality formed after September 1, 2000,
from changing so-called "pre-agreed conditions" in their
city charter without the approval of a 2/3 vote by the BCC.
To add insult to injury to those citizens who were
negotiating for the incorporation of their communities in good faith,
another rule change was passed by the BCC: this time suspending all
MAC meetings until after the October 3 election and providing that
should the "new rule" they placed on the October 3 ballot
fail, all MACs would be terminated until the BCC could come up with a
comprehensive incorporation and annexation plan.
Brace yourself for that "new rule" that will
certainly be the granddaddy of all "new rules"!
By the time you read this article, the October 3rd
ballot issue on the charter amendment will have been decided.
If it wins, Miami Lakes will go forward with
mitigation of $1.45 million in annual mitigation payments forever and
will be required to pay for the Metro Police Department as their
police force. If that satisfies the citizens of Miami-Lakes, a
community that is almost built out and has in place most of the
services and infrastructure it requires to become a city, good for
them!
But the Miami Lakes agreement must not be the model for all other
communities that are vastly different than Miami Lakes.
More "new rules" are already being created.
Many commissioners have stated that they are unhappy with Miami Lakes
only paying 50% of the difference between the taxes collected there
and the cost of services there. Which in turn begs thequestion: will
the next "new rule" be that all newly incorporated
municipalities must pay 100% mitigation?!
The BCC has ignored the growing majority of UMSA
citizens that have honestly worked within the rules to throw off the
yoke of unresponsive rule. Each time the rules were changed UMSA
citizens attempted to deal with the "new rules," but to no
avail. The rules kept changing.
It is interesting to note that comments were made by
some of our elected and appointed county officials that those seeking
incorporation were playing games and could not be trusted to live up
to any agreements they might negotiate with the county. I ask you, who
is playing games with whom and who has consistently changed the rules?
If the charter amendment fails on October 3, no
community will be able to become incorporated--not even Miami Lakes.
If the charter amendment passes, only Miami Lakes will become
incorporated while the rest of us must wait for the BCC to agree on an
incorporation plan that they have not been able to resolve for five
years.
Oh yes, some revenue neutral communities (taxes equal
to cost of services) or recipient communities (taxes lower than cost
of services) will be included in the "new rules" that will
permit them to incorporate. Those same "new rules" will
continue to deny the donor communities (taxes greater than the cost of
services) the right to incorporate without shouldering the financial
burden alone, with no help from the rest of the county.
Doral is a donor community. It should be willing to
share the financial burden remaining for the county to provide
services to the low income areas in UMSA that do not incorporate, as
long as the rest of the county participates in any revenue sharing
plan.
Will the next "new rule" be a penalty on
wealthy communities whose citizens have followed the American Dream of
working hard to achieve success?
Will the next "new rule" require only a few
UMSA citizens to pay ransom while the countywide taxpayers are not
required to chip in?
Will the next "new rule" overlook the fact
that the county has failed to provide services to the low-income areas
of UMSA for the past 40 years when they had all of the taxes?
Our county government has the secret to maintaining
its tight and illegal control on UMSA citizens: THEY KEEP ON CHANGING
THE RULES!
Where are those values that were taught to us many
years ago of "playing by the rules?" Let's go back to the
rules for incorporation that were in place in 1996 when the moratorium
was declared on all incorporations and annexations.
The same 13 commissioners that rule UMSA citizens also
rule county-wide issues. One "new rule" with those old rules
back in place would resolve the inequity of the revenue sharing
dilemma. A county-wide half cent sales tax for a limited time until
only 300,000 people remain in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, where
the wealthy who spend the most, pay the most, plus the tourist
spending in the county would contribute a very significant percentage
of the required revenue.
It is time for this "new rule" to be
approved by all Miami-Dade County citizens in order to fairly resolve
the stalemate.
LET'S ALL PLAY BY THE NEW RULES!
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