1. MIAMI Dade County Brian Trachtman,

2. Beginnings of Miami-Dade County After the US gained possession of Florida, area where Dade County is today was an area inhabited by people living off of items from shipwrecks In the 1920s after Henry Flagler built railroads through the area, the land was settled and tourist resorts started springing up. After WWII, men from the war who trained in Miami returned to live their with their families. Immigration in later years played a large role in the county’s government

3. Geography of Miami-Dade County North, Central and Eastern portions are highly urbanized. High rises South Florida’s central business district South: agricultural economy Redland makes up 1/3 of land area and is not as densely populated as the North The Unincorporated Municipal Services Area (USMA) refers to all areas in Miami-Dade County that are not a part of a muncipality

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5. Miami-Dade County Demographics Immigration: Thousands of Cuban refugees started coming to the area in the 1960s. In 1962, this helped the county’s population surpass 1 million. In the 1990s, Haitians fled to Dade County to find a better life, causing to grow even more.

6. Impact on population Population of Dade County in 1950 was 495,000 before a lot of the immigrants living in the County now came In 1972, the county’s population went over 1 million 2010 census recorded a population in Dade County of 2,496,435 Most populous county in Florida 8 th most populous county in the United States Dade County is Florida’s third largest

7. Miami vs. Miami-Dade County Government Two-Tier system of government: Cities are on the “lower tier” Counties are on the “upper tier” City of Miami’s powers: Fire, police, zoning, code enforcement Dade County’s powers: Emergency management, airport and seaport operations, public housing and health care services, transportation, environmental services, solid waste disposal

8. Switching Municipal Powers from City of Miami to Dade County Technical and political reasons: Expansion on the metropolitan area proved to be too much to handle for the City of Miami or other municipalities USMA has almost 50% of population in the county, but is not under the jurisdiction of any municipality Consolidating governmental powers also reduced the Cubans impact on politics in Miami Legislation first introduced in 1945, but no action was taken until 1953 Metropolitan Miami Municipal Board (3M board) set out to draft new government plan Used newspapers to promote their new plan

9. Miami-Dade County Government Structure Governed by a Board of Commissioners with 13 members, one for each district of the county. Board is overseen by mayor of Miami-Dade County Mayor has the right to veto any of the board’s actions within 10 days of the action

10. Dade County Government Mayor: Carlos A. Gimenez Currently has over 26,0000 employees and a budget of over $6 billion His mission includes reducing taxes and shrinking the size of government Focused on stimulating job creation, expanding international trade, and attracting businesses and industries to the diversity of Miami-Dade County’s economic base.

11. Commissioners The County is comprised of 13 districts and are represented by 13 commissioners. Office of the Chair District 1 - Barbara J. Jordan District 2 - Jean Monestime District 3 - Audrey Edmonson District 4 - Sally A. Heyman District 5 - Bruno A. Barreiro District 6 - Rebeca Sosa District 7 - Xavier L. Suarez District 8 - Lynda Bell District 9 - Dennis C. Moss District 10 - Javier D. Souto District 11 - Joe A. Martinez District 12 - José "Pepe" Diaz District 13 - Esteban Bovo, Jr.

12. Discussion Questions How can metropolitan areas handle urban sprawls in a different manner? What do you think would happen if the city kept all of its powers to itself? What other cities do you think could benefit from giving municipal powers to its county government and why?