Miami-Dade Commission should limit their speech, not ours

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In an effort to shorten increasingly marathon Miami-Dade County commission meetings — and just in time for budget hearings — Chairman Jean Monestime explained rules Tuesday that allow our local government to basically limit the amount of speakers on any given item that is not a public hearing item as well as when and where residents can express their desires or opinions on any given matter.

If you speak at committee level, you won’t be allowed to speak before the full commission. If you speak one day at the first hearing, you might not be able to speak the next time at the second hearing. If you don’t sign up before 10 a.m. for public comments for the next meeting Sept. 1, you are out of luck.

The chairman is trying very hard, his senior advise said, to comply with a new state law that requires time be given for the public to “be reasonable heard” on “non public hearing” items. People can still make comments during the public hearing sections of any given commission or committee meeting. But the chairman is trying to balance complying with the state law and allowing ample opportunity for discourse with running an efficient meeting.

The last meeting June 30 was practically hijacked by the taxi drivers who came to speak just because there was a report from Miami Lakes on the Uber ride share program. Between them and the homeless advocates and the special taxing district residents who had questions about their tax hikes, it was 6 p.m. before the commission got to set the agenda for a meeting that didn’t end until 2 a.m. the next day.

“The new rule the legislature passed has been a real challenge for cities and counties everywhere,” said Monestime’s adviser, Terry Murphy.

And it’s true. Miami Beach sets aside two hours — one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Hialeah, Ladra was told, gives people 15 minutes at the beginning of the meeting.

The county — which, unlike most cities, can have hundreds of items on a single agenda, may start taking speakers on individual items as they come up, after the agenda is set, rather than all at once. Or they might set a time limit on comments and encourage more of them to take place at the committee level.

“We’re trying to figure out how do we manage public input and do it in a way where everybody gets heard but we can still conduct commission business,” Murphy said. “We are still trying to get a process in place that conforms with the law but also moves things along.

“We’re not going to keep opening it up for an all day free-for-all before setting the agenda,” Murphy said.

The rule is already there for the cards to be filled out by 10 a.m. but Monestime has been sorta relaxed about it, though you can see he gets visibly frustrated, trying to hurry people up if they are repetitive and physically rolling his eyes. He seems to be far less patient than the former chair, Commissioner Rebeca Sosa.

This is not an attempt to silence large groups — like firefighters or library supporters or LGBT rights defenders — from making their en masse demonstrations at County Hall that are so much more than just public comments. Because they can still talk at public hearings.

Monestime explained that there are also opportunities to ask questions and make public comments at the committee meetings, where items are often heard and get a first hearing before they reach the commission. But here’s the catch with that, chairman: Nobody really watches the committee meetings. Just the lobbyists and interested parties. Not all the commissioners go to all committee meetings. That, then, makes the comments less public. You’re reaching cuatro gatos.

There is a value, as we have seen in the past, in getting dozens or hundreds of people in the matching t-shirts to sit or stand in the commission chambers and tell our elected leaders — with words or simply their presence — what they should really be prioritizing. It works. Our commissioners apparently need the repetition to understand. But they would rather limit the discourse so they can continue to hide their heads in the sand.

On Tuesday, dozens of Pets’ Trust supporters were kept downstairs, told that commission chambers were too full for them to stand in (which it did not look to be). This seems undemocratic. If the people want to march upon County Hall to make demands or denounce their government for something or other, shouldn’t they have every right to go all the way upstairs, even if for standing room only?

Pets’ Trust Michael Rosenberg, who was eventually let in to speak, said they were told the chambers was at capacity when clearly it was not. Some people, he said, left after waiting downstairs for two hours.

Later, Monestime tried to limit speakers on the Miami World Center to a minute each, to which he was met with a big wave of boos. “To the extent somebody has already said what you are saying, just put your name and address on the record,” he asked them, complaining that they sometimes got repetitive.

Well, ain’t that the pot admonishing the kettle.

Commissioner Sosa commended and welcomed Monestime’s new streamlined process because commissioners should be fresh when they make important decisions, she said, and also because many people cannot hang out at County Hall or stay tuned to the meeting online or on TV for 14 hours at a time.

Well, here’s a suggestion. Cut the self-serving citizen presentations — you know, the photo opps with cute little kids and cute little viejitos from community programs who come to show their indentured gratitude — and the even more self-serving employee pats on the back and maybe you can shave off an hour or two. I mean, do we all really need to hear a public presentation of the proclamation of Ysela Llort Day for the retiring transit director? I’m sure she’s a very nice lady and a dedicated employee, but how does that serve the public good? Is that more important than public comments?

And, while we are at it, why should commissioners be allowed to talk ad nauseam, sometimes incoherently — and you all know who I am talking about although you are too polite to tell him — often repeating what another one of them just said. Or saying the same thing over and over again using different words. Or not.

Mr. Chairman, did you really need to take so long to say, so many different times, that you wanted to see an increase in reserves to improve our credit rating and financial position? Just put it out there on the record and move on.

Commissioners should get two minutes to comment on any given item. If that’s good enough for the public, it should be good enough for the electeds. They’re trained in political speak. They should be able to get their point across in 120 seconds. Get it off your chest quick or shut up.

And that, more than anything else, will take care of those marathon meetings.

  Jean Monestime, public hearings