Tuesday on the Miami Dade County Agenda is an ordinance to rescind an ordinance that placed a moratorium on municipal incorporation and annexation that has been in place for 4 1/2 years.
The new Ordinance that will be heard Tuesday has been co-sponsored by three county commissioners: Sally Heyman, Jean Monestine, and Esteban Bovo. Lifting the moratorium will allow the process to go forward with not only the creation of new cities, but the annexation of some areas to existing cities. Of course, this is a lengthy process, as it takes time to build community support and educate the voters on the advantages of having one's own city and we must work in concert with the county commission to accomplish this process.
We do not know at this point how many commissioners will support the lifting of the moratorium, but all have been contacted by us, either by email, personal visits, or phone calls.
LINC (Let's incorporation Now Coalition) members feel that it now the time to lift the moratorium and let residents decide for themselves whether or not they wish to live in a city or stay as part of UMSA (Unincorporated Municipal Service Area). We know that government closer to the people provides better services, and residents can decide for themselves what level of services they wish to pay for out of their municipal budgets--it should not be "one size fits all."
We feel that the county needs to concentrate on the major issues such as the airport, seaport, fire and countywide police services, transit, solid waste, library, etc. as all these are countywide services that serve most county residents, and these deserve fulltime scrutiny from the commissioners. Freeing the county commissioners from having to "wear two hats", i.e., overseeing countywide services and at the same time having to approve the needs of local communities in their districts, will allow them to exercise greater oversight and tighter scrutiny of countywide issues which consume the bulk of the county budget.
There were 2 communities that went through the entire incorporation process mandated by the county, only to be denied the right to vote at the very end of their quest by the county commission. LINC feels that this is a denial of those residents' right to decide their own destiny. if a vote to incorporate fails at the ballot box, then it shows the lack of support for forming a new city, but that fundamental right for the residents to vote on this issue should not be denied. There are approximately 9 LINC communities that are currently exploring incorporation, and most of them are not new initiatives but an ongoing desire to form a new city. These areas range from the extreme northwest and northeast parts of the county, to the Redland area. We need the moratorium to be lifted to give the residents that wish to form a new city, or annex to existing ones, the opportunity to move forward in this regard.
LINC has actively participated in the incorporation of the 5 newest cities, and we have been helping areas of the county to explore the formation of new cities since 1997. We often say that it is only fair to "let the people decide" and not be subject to a process that denies a right that is currently enjoyed by over half of the Miami-Dade County residents who currently reside in cities. We hope that the BCC will see that it is only right to lift the moratorium now after all these years, and allow residents to decide for themselves who will provide their municipal services.
Call your county commissioner tomorrow and tell him/her to lift the moratorium.