Miami-Dade County has never been better positioned. That was the message sent by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava at her fourth (and, perhaps, final) State of the County address Wednesday.
“The state of the county is strong,” Levine Cava said to a packed house at Zoo Miami after the district Commissioner Kionne McGhee and Commission Chair Oliver Gilbert warmed up the crowd. She came out to the tune of Roar, by Katy Perry.
“We got here today because we were brave in the face of adversity, we were bold in the face of uncertainty, and we were courageous in laying the foundation for the future,” the mayor said.
Bringing up the COVID crisis an the Champlain Towers tragedy, Levine Cava said the county had come a long way since she was elected the first female mayor in 2020.
“Now, we are the community of the future. We are the place where people want to be,” she said.
She bragged about “historic” investments in affordable housing, relief programs for renters, seniors and homeowners in need, investments in stormwater management projects to reduce flooding, investments in crime prevention to reduce gun violence, “significant” advancements in septic to sewer conversions and a new, “better” bus system — no mention of the Uber rides that make up the gaps on the discontinued service routes, however (more on that later).
Read related: In two months, Daniella Levine Cava raises more than $1.4M for re-election
But things could always get better, right?
“It will require courage. It will require taking risks. It will require innovation. I have never stuck to the status quo. We must keep going. Embracing the new economy will propel us into the future.”
It will also require money: After touting tax rate cuts (not tax cuts, mind you, but tax rate cuts) for two straight years, La Alcaldesa announced a new initiative that she and Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins are going to take on: A $2.5 billion bond measure on the ballot in November that would pay for critical infrastructure upgrades and “prepare us for the future.”
Like everything Levine Cava does, it even has a catchy name: 305 Future Ready.
“We have laid the foundation and we must continue to build – so our kids and grandkids can rely on transit to get them where they need to go, enjoy an environment just as beautiful as it is protected, grow up in safe communities, and get good jobs in the new workforce,” she said.
But how much is it going to cost the average homeowner? No details on that. No details, really, on anything. It’s become a habit.
This is a gift to Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid, who is running against La Alcaldesa this year. She just handed him his winning campaign message — that she’s a tax happy hypocrite, or worse, a champagne socialist. And he’s running as the working class candidate.
“The State of the County address is yet another example of the dismissive attitude that the current administration has towards working families and small businesses,” Cid said in a statement. “While the well connected and powerful enjoy insider benefits, the average citizen is left without a champion.
“We’ll change that in August when we make a Miami-Dade that works for all of us,” said Cid, who has already promised a full rollback of property taxes (that is a real tax cut).
Read related: Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava aims for reelection via petition
It’s also just bad timing for the community. People are struggling to pay for rent and groceries. While affordable housing and renters’ assistance is a good thing, the middle class (read: working poor) has been largely shut out of these benefits. Levine Cava touted the low unemployment in Miami-Dade. But maybe that is because people need two and three jobs just to get by.
It’s also just bad timing as the Florida legislative session starts and the county, undoubtedly, will ask for state funds for, yep, infrastructure. Nobody is going to want to give us any money if we are planning a $2.5 billion bond for the same thing. Sen. Bryan Avila — who, by the way, is trying to take the airport away from the county (more on that later) — reacted on social media, where voters were also very wary.
“Hell, no,” Avila said. “The county mayor’s ridiculous property tax hike proposal is another indication of the mismanagement of taxpayer dollars and out of touch policies by Miami-Dade County.”
How is Commissioner Kevin Cabrera going to react? He just got the endorsement from Donald Trump to be vice chair of the Florida GOP and is rumored to be eyeing the 2028 county mayoral race. But Cabrera seemed pretty chummy with DCH in the audience at the zoo. The real zoo not City Hall.
How is Commissioner Anthony Rodriguez going to react? Everyone welcomed him on the county commission because they thought the former Republican state rep could bring dollars from Tallahassee down here. He was BFFs with House Speaker Danny Perez and now he’s BFFs with Commissioner Higgins Cohen. Is he going to campaign for the bond like he campaigned for her?
But maybe it’s good timing because of the constitutional officers — a county sheriff, elected supervisor of elections and tax collector — who come into the Miami-Dade world in 2025. The county’s general fund will lose a ton of tax dollars to those entities. Maybe this is a way to make up for it.
That way, if it passes, Levine Cava has a slush fund of $2.5 billion for contracts and projects for people who will then contribute to her eventual campaign for governor.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has never been better positioned.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava drops $2.5 billion bomb, er, bond plan at SOTC added by Ladra on
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