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While there was some talk given to a one-stop justice complex project, Gimenez said he wasn’t sure a 
civil courthouse had to be in the same place as a criminal courthouse although the jail should be. He also said it could very well be relocated from the present site near Jackson Memorial Hospital, which has become a healthcare hub.
“A criminal justice complex makes sense to me. Does it have to be where it is right now? And if its not, we also have assets there. A large chunk of land that could be worth a lot of money and help finance this,” Gimenez said.
“These are aging buildings. The infrastructure has been not neglected but deteriorating for a number of years,” Gimenez said, though we may disagree on the definition of the word neglected. “We’re going to have to bite the bullet one day and I think that day has come.”
He said he also welcomed the public private partnership concept which he says is more cost efficient. A separate task force to look at how to process P3 projects in the county — which means looking at code and state statutes and writing policy — was also approved. The courthouse project would be the first, but Zapata, who has been pushing for a P3 task force for a year and also sponsored that item, said the county also needs to consider this avenue for transportation and water and sewer projects.
“It’s an innovative way of dealing with social infrastructure problems,” Zapata explained. ‘You’re not doing a design build. 
You are giving us your best shot at these projects, looking at the operating and financing of the facility for 40 years.
“We neglect our facilities. Let’s face it,” Zap told Ladra. “We did it with water and sewer. We did it with the courthouse. We are terrible at taking care of our assets. With a P3, that’s eliminated because the maintenance is built into the process. You’re going to get assets that are in good shape instead of what we’ve been getting, which are worthless assets.”
Judging from his words at the meeting, Gimenez is on the same page.
“I don’t believe the old way of doing business, putting out an RFP, redesigning, is the way to go. We can get ideas from the private sector with public private partnerships. It is how infrastructure is done around the world today. We’re catching up,” the mayor said.
“However we decide what’s going to go where, I think the private public partnership is the model we need to look at,” he said, referring to the courthouse.
Chairman Jean Monestime agreed: “We cannot continue to do business as usual.”
Both he and Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava, however, expressed concern that the RFQ and the proposal that followed would come before the horse — or, rather, the recommendations from the task force.
But Zapata said that the task force and the RFQ can move forward simultaneously and that the proposal can wait if the recommendations are not ready by the time qualified firms are identified.
“it doesn’t dictate what direction we take, it just gives us several options,” Zapata said. “We’re going to get to a place where we make a decision. But we’re going to make that decision based on information. Let’s not stop one thing until we get another thing going. At some point, we’re going to have a crossroads. Let’s get there.”
Read related story: Courthouse clean bill of health begs questions, investigation
And Chief Judge Bertila Soto also urged commissioners not to delay the civil courthouse while they await the recommendations on the whole system.
“We had another chamber close down this week. This is a serious situation,” 
said Soto, who campaigned in TV ads, like the one in this picture, for the courthouse tax because of the deplorable conditions — the mold, the deteriorating columns, the chronic flooding and air quality issues.
In other words, a new civil courthouse is needed regardless of the new court capital task force recommendations. So the RFQ can proceed at the same time as the task force reviews the county’s trial court infrastructure needs and identifies any needed repairs to existing facilities as well as any current or future infrastructure expansion needs. Experts in the fields of engineering, construction, real estate, financing, and architecture will also recommend mechanisms on how to finance repairs and possible expansions of court facilities.
Industry professionals interested in serving in the newly created task force may submit their interest to the Clerk of Courts, Commissioner Rebeca Sosa said.
“The recommendations from the Court Capital Infrastructure Task Force will help us propose measures to ensure that our justice system is housed with the dignity it deserves,” said Sosa, who sponsored that task force item.
Zapata said the P3 avenue will help the county do that with the cost efficiency that taxpayers deserve.
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