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Category: 2024 Press Releases
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Feb. 1, 2024
- Ordinance Passes First Reading at Jan. 31 Commission Meeting -
Miami Beach, FL – The Miami Beach City Commission voted to remove an optional civil penalty for people caught with 20 grams or less of marijuana or possessing drug paraphernalia. The approval requires a second reading and final approval on Feb. 21.
“We’re shutting the door on Spring Break, re-criminalizing marijuana and imposing our strictest consequences for reckless behavior,” said Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez, who sponsored the change. “The anything-goes party atmosphere is over.”
The optional $100 civil penalty did not prove to be an adequate deterrent to discourage people from smoking or possessing marijuana in public. Since the optional civil penalty went into effect eight years ago, the Miami Beach Police Department reported issuing only a limited number of civil citations in lieu of arrests.
“The optional $100 civil penalty didn’t deter public marijuana use. Instead, people were emboldened to disregard our laws,” emphasized Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner. “Miami Beach enforces its laws reinforcing our commitment as a law and order city.”
Miami Beach is the only city in Miami-Dade County that operates its own Municipal Prosecution Program, allowing the city to prosecute its own criminal municipal ordinance violations. Smoking marijuana in public carries a criminal penalty of up to 60 days in jail and/or a $500 fine.
The tougher stance on marijuana is only one element of a comprehensive plan to address the various aspects of spring break that diminish the quality of life for Miami Beach residents and visitors. Other elements of the plan address traffic impacts, alcohol sales, unlawful gatherings, excessive noise and illegal short-term rentals.
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Jan. 31, 2024
- Requiring a super 6/7 majority vote from the Commission, as opposed to the current 5/7 threshold -
Miami Beach, FL – The Miami Beach City Commission voted unanimously today to raise the approval margin from five to six of the body’s seven eligible voting members to approve any request to exceed the city’s maximum allowable floor area ratio (FAR), which is the measurement of the total buildable floor area based on the size of a particular property.
“This is an absolute game changer for our city,” said Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner, who sponsored the item. “It's time to halt overdevelopment and embrace smart, sustainable growth. We are shaping a future that preserves our city's essence while fostering responsible development."
The commission also voted to add an enhanced application process for requesting an exception to FAR requirements. The process includes a requirement for applicants to conduct an impact assessment of any proposed change.
“Our residents have sent us a clear mandate to reduce congestion in the city and limit the overall number of development projects that exceed our maximum buildable floor area ratio and deteriorate the quality of life,” said Commissioner Alex Fernandez, who suggested the enhanced application process.
The Land Development Regulations of the City Code, commonly known as the ‘LDR’s, defines floor area, including the method of measuring floor area, as well as all applicable exceptions to what constitutes floor area. Floor area ratio, or “FAR,” refers to the amount of floor area permitted on a property and is based upon the zoning district that a property falls within.
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Jan. 29, 2024
- The ceremony will take place in Collins Park at 21 St and Collins Ave -
Miami Beach, FL – Join the City of Miami Beach in celebrating the birth of Cuban national hero José Martí on Monday, Jan. 29 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The poet’s writings on freedom and independence continue to inspire Cuban Americans and Latin Americans more than a century after Martí’s death.
“Proud to join the Miami Beach Hispanic Affairs Committee to celebrate the visionary poet Jose Martí's incredible legacy,” shared Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner. “Marti’s profound writings and ideals continue to inspire a commitment to freedom, justice and human rights.”
The event gives older generations an opportunity to reflect on Martí’s life and younger generations an opportunity to discover his historical contribution.
Cafecito and pastelitos will be served at 1:30 p.m. courtesy of the Miami Beach Parks and Recreation Department. The ceremony will take place near the José Martí monument at 21 Street and Collins Avenue.
WHAT: Celebrate the birth of Cuban national hero José Martí.
WHEN Monday, Jan. 29 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: Near the José Martí monument at 21 Street and Collins Avenue.
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Jan. 25, 2024
- The program is open to all income-eligible residents -
Miami Beach, FL – Recognized as a best practice site by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for its fast and reliable tax preparation program, the City of Miami Beach will once again offer free income tax preparation services from Feb. 6 through Apr. 10, 2024, for households earning $60,000 or less and persons with disabilities.
“Last year, more than 380 households benefited from the free tax preparation services, resulting in approximately $400,000 in refunds,” Director of Housing & Community Services Alba Tarre said. “We look forward to providing the same high level of service this year.”
Dedicated to making annual tax filing obligations less costly by preparing accurate and detailed
tax returns, the city’s income tax preparation services are offered by appointment at the Office of Housing and Community Services at 765 17 St Miami Beach, FL 33139. The service is offered in partnership with Branches, Inc. and the IRS via its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.
Tax preparation services will be offered in person on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Appointments can now be made through our online appointment link: https://calendly.com/cmbvitataxes/appointments or by calling 305.673.7491.
Special services are offered to taxpayers with limited English skills or disabilities.
Residents are reminded to bring the following documentation:
- Valid government-issued identification card
- Social Security card for all persons declared as dependents on the tax return
- All 2022 W-2s and information for other income
- Information for all deductions (including charitable contributions)
- Bank account information for direct deposit of refund
- Forms 1095-A, B, or C (ACA Statements)
- Total paid to daycare providers and their tax ID number, if applicable
- Birth dates for everyone listed on the return, including spouse and/or dependents.
- Copy of last year's tax return
- Identity theft PIN, if applicable
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Jan. 18, 2024
Miami Beach, FL – The Aspen Institute and the City of Miami Beach today announced that NBC Today Show Weather Anchor Al Roker will participate in Aspen Ideas: Climate 2024, appearing in conversation with Katharine Hayhoe, Chief Scientist of The Nature Conservancy. Additional speakers announced today include NOAA Chief Scientist Sarah Kapnick, Wildlife Conservation Society President & CEO Monica Medina, and best-selling author, award-winning journalist, and viral speaker Mariana Atencio.
Aspen Ideas: Climate 2024, taking place from March 11-13, 2024, will feature a dynamic combination of main stage events, breakouts, roundtables, excursions, and arts programming focused on mitigating and adapting to climate change. Now in its third year, the event is known for bringing together ambitious problem solvers from all backgrounds and ages from the fields of science, technology, business, politics, the arts, education, media, and more, to share ideas spanning areas of expertise and identify paths forward for addressing a changing climate.
Additional speakers confirmed include:
- Newsha Ajami, Chief Strategy and Development Officer for Research, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Kojo Ako-Asare, Managing Director of Blackrock, Decarbonization Partners
- Donnel Baird, CEO, BlocPower
- Jake Barton, Founder, Local Projects
- Gaurab Basu, Director of Education & Policy, Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
- Mayor Justin Bibb, City of Cleveland, Ohio
- Lily Brooks-Dalton, Author, The Light Pirate
- Kim Carnahan, Founder & CEO, Neoteric Energy & Climate
- Danielle Decatur, Director of Environmental Justice, Microsoft
- Kerry Duggan, Founder & CEO, SustainabilID
- Catherine Coleman Flowers, CEO, Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice
- Hilton Kelley, Founder, Community In-Power and Development Association Inc.
- Thilmeeza Hussain, Co-Founder, Voice of Women; Former Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Maldives
- Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Miami-Dade County, Florida
- Pete Malinowski, Executive Director, Billion Oyster Project
- Gina McCarthy, Former White House National Climate Advisor and EPA Administrator
- Marissa McGowan, Chief Sustainability Officer, L’Oreal Groupe North America
- Adam Met, Executive Director, Planet Reimagined
- Mayor Jon Mitchell, New Bedford, Massachusetts
- Nathan Ohle, President & CEO, International Economic Development Council
- Henk Ovink, Executive Director, Global Commission on the Economics of Water
- Harold Pettigrew, CEO, Opportunity Finance Network
- Michael Polsky, Founder and CEO, Invenergy
- Brad Ringeisen, Executive Director, Innovative Genomics Institute
- Shara Ticku, CEO and Co-Founder, C16 Bio Sciences
- Dragan Tutic, CEO and Co-Founder, Oneka Technologies
- Carla Walker-Miller, Founder and CEO, Walker-Miller Energy Services
- Aimee Witteman, Head of Investment, Rewiring America
- C Pam Zhang, Author, Land of Milk and Honey
A full confirmed speaker list is available here, with new speakers added every week. Speakers will be interviewed by some of the nation’s leading climate journalists, including TIME’s Justin Worland and Alejandro de la Garza; Cipher Executive Editor Amy Harder; Miami Herald Lead Climate and Environment Reporter Alex Harris; and Atmos Magazine Editor at Large Yessenia Funes.
Programming will explore five key themes: cutting edge climate technologies; innovative design; strategies and tools to finance a sustainable future; elevating grassroot strategies created by communities directly touched by the climate crisis; and narratives of change: captivating stories that inspire change from some of the most unanticipated sources. Among the range of topics attendees will explore:
- What role does fiction play in conveying the reality of climate change? Celebrated authors C. Pam Zhang, Lily Brooks-Dalton, Jenny Offill, and Téa Obreht speak with Mitzi Rapkin, host of the podcast First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing.
- Ending plastic pollution: hear from Panama’s Former Minister of the Environment, Mirei Endara de Heras, CEO of Kadeya, Manuela Zoninsein, Chief Sustainability Officer at L’Oreal Groupe North America, Marissa McGowan, and Acting Assistant Secretary Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Jennifer R. Littlejohn.
- How can we share the wealth of the energy transition? BlocPower CEO Donnel Baird, Director of Environmental Justice at Microsoft, Danielle Decatur, and Opportunity Finance Network CEO Harold Pettigrew discuss innovative new finance models with the Aspen Institute’s Ida Rademacher.
- It was an expensive year for clean energy projects and financing at all stages was a challenge, but there’s an upshot, and it is the growing response of private capital to address this challenge. ClearPath CEO Richard Powell, Managing Director of Blackrock, Decarbonization Partners, Kojo Ako-Asare, and other speakers to be announced will explore how private capital can best respond in this new era of climate financing and costly infrastructure.
- What might the urban coastline of the future look like? Charleston Chief Resilience Officer, Dale Morris, Billion Oyster Project Executive Director Pete Malonowski, and Curtis and Rogers Design Studio Director of Resilience Design Mariana Boldu, share their insights with the Miami Herald’s Alex Harris.
Tickets to the third Aspen Ideas: Climate are on sale now, and press registration is open here. The Future Leaders Climate Summit takes place from March 9-11, bringing together hundreds of the next generation of climate leaders to discuss policy, communications, advocacy, and individual action with climate and energy experts.
As part of organizers’ commitment to sustainable programming, Aspen Ideas: Climate has partnered with ClimeCo to offset the event’s carbon emissions, funding greenhouse gas abatement projects in Florida. Aspen Ideas: Climate is supported by title sponsors John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Related Group, and the Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation. Additional sponsors include Howard and Caroline Draft, Ami and Jack Glottman, Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Lennar Foundation, LSN Partners, AstraZeneca, Wells Fargo, Miami-Dade County, and the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority.
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Jan. 8, 2024
- The city will also consider sponsorship requests for qualifying events -
Miami Beach, FL – The City of Miami Beach and the Miami Beach Cultural Arts Council is accepting pre-applications for Cultural Arts Council grants this month to be awarded for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. The pre-application phase is mandatory for all organizations seeking city funding.
The city is also accepting sponsorship requests between now and Thursday, Feb. 29 for organizations seeking financial assistance and in-kind support for local festivals, special events, community events or programming that promotes community engagement and enhances Miami Beach’s reputation as a world-class tourist destination through the Special Events Sponsorship Program. Proposals will be reviewed for events scheduled between Oct. 1, 2024 and Sept. 30, 2025.
Since the inception of the Cultural Arts Council grants in 1998, Miami Beach has awarded some $20 million in grant funds to more than 100 nonprofit cultural institutions through the annual, competitive cultural grants program. The Cultural Arts Grant Program within the Department of Tourism and Culture awards nearly $1 million each year to nonprofit arts organizations that produce and program arts and cultural activities throughout Miami Beach.
Submission of pre-applications for the cultural grants is open from Monday, Jan. 8 through Monday, Jan. 22. The upcoming round of funding is for program dates scheduled between Oct. 1, 2024 and Sept. 30, 2025. No extensions will be granted for the pre-application phase.
Applicants must have at least two distinct events or types of programming in Miami Beach to be eligible for a grant. Multiday programming for the same event is treated as a single event or program. Additional weight will be given to organizations that wish to undertake programming from June through September or for programming that takes advantage of the various geographic regions of Miami Beach.
For more information on the Cultural Arts Council grant program, visit the Grant Application Portal. For information on the dollar-for-dollar matching special event sponsorships, click here.
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Jan 4, 2024
- A ribbon-cutting event will take place on Jan. 7 at Canopy Park -
Miami Beach, FL – Girl Scout Troup 2013 along with the Veterans of Foreign Wars Miami Beach Post 3559 and the City of Miami Beach will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024 at 10 a.m. to mark the addition of a permanent flag box in Canopy Park at 701 West Ave. Residents and visitors will be invited to place their tattered, torn and faded U.S. flags in the box until the flags can be properly disposed of in a respectful manner.
“The placement of a permanent flag box is a way for us to honor the service of U.S. Veterans and for those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” explained Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner. “Significantly, thousands of U.S. veterans settled in Miami Beach after World War II to start families and raise their children here.”
The flag box will be the first placed in a Miami Beach park as a public service. A sign describing the flag box and its purpose will be unveiled by the Scouts during the ribbon-cutting.
Scouts and Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion will care for the Miami Beach flags placed in the box and oversee their retirement at appropriate events. In 1937, the American Legion adopted a resolution stating that "the approved method of disposing of unserviceable flags has long been that they be destroyed by burning," according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The agency noted that many flag retirement services are held every Flag Day on June 14.
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WHAT: Ribbon-Cutting in Canopy Park
WHEN: Sunday, Jan. 7 at 10 a.m.
WHERE: 701 West Ave., Pedestrian Entrance
