“In the last three years we have seen how the collapse on the southern border manifests itself in large cities like Chicago and New York. What is never reported is the influence that the volume of people who are arriving in cities like Hialeah is having,” Bovo said in front of the press this Monday, January 29.
The mayor stated that in that period some 400 Cuban immigrants arrived in the United States. “By not having any documents from the federal government on the real numbers, We believe that 75% of those immigrants settled in South Florida. It is not an exaggeration to say that half of it is in Hialeah,” Bovo said. That is, about 75,000 Cuban migrants, in addition to those from other countries, according to the mayor’s account.
“What we have seen in the city is an abysmal increase in rent, 100% from one day to the next. We have residents who paid $1,000 and the next day, their rent was raised to $2,000,” the mayor said.
“Part of the ripple effect we’ve seen in the city is the rise of RV rentals as homes.” Last week, the city approved an ordinance to prevent the proliferation and misuse of RVs in the city.
“In order to understand everything that is happening we need to collect information. In that sense, we have to create a city development plan for the future, address this crisis and be proactive,” said the mayor to explain why the multidisciplinary work team was necessary.
According to Bovo, lThe city must respond to the crisis by trying to create a portfolio of affordable housing.
“We are the first to admit that we are not experts in this field, we are not builders. We are politicians. So it is very constructive to be able to talk to people who work in these fields to be able to address the need for housing and how to achieve results without draining the city’s funds.
““We need a group of people who can advise us and give us information so that the Council can later make decisions.”said Bovo.
“We want to see how we can offer affordable prices in collaboration with the private sector,” said Jesús Tundidor, president of the Council and author of the ordinance that allowed the task force to be created.
“But since we are neither architects nor builders, we need a group of industry experts to help us achieve our goals.”
Tundidor explained that the multidisciplinary team is made up of industry experts, developers, government officials, the director of the Hialeah housing authority, the Miami-Dade housing director, the city’s zoning director, among others.
“The idea is to put everything on the table in public meetings and see how to achieve affordable rents here in Hialeah in collaboration with the private sector.”
“Ultimately, we want to be able to develop a program that is useful. Not something to look good in front of the television cameras. “That is our expectation with this announcement,” said Tundidor.
The task force will operate until the end of this year. “I would like to have a program ready, approved by the mayor, discussed and approved by the Council before the end of the fiscal year, on September 30,” Tundidor highlighted.
The multidisciplinary team, which had its first meeting this Monday, is made up of thirteen members:
1- Jesús Tundidor as president
2- Melissa Tapanes – Bercow, Radall, Fernández, Larkin and Tapanes, is the vice president.
3- Michael Who, Pinnacle Housing Group.
4- Albert Milo, Related Urban
5- Ken Naylor, Atlantic Pacific
6- Alex Ruiz, Prestige Builders
7- Juan Porro, Florid Crystals
8- David Martin, Terra Group
9- Jorge Navarro, Greenberg Traurig
10- Julio Ponce – Hialeah Housing Authority
11- Alex Ballina, director of Public Housing and Community Development of Miami-Dade.
12- Javier Font, Behar Font and Partners
13- Debora Storch, Hialeah Zoning Director
After the press conference, the multidisciplinary team had its first public meeting where, in addition to electing the president and vice president, different topics were addressed, such as the need to improve the codes so that it pays to build, make the process more predictive, search for more flexibility in zoning, the cost of living, taking into account the salaries of the working class, nurses, police officers, teachers who deserve decent housing.
The next meeting will be on March 25, 2024 in the City Council plenary chamber.
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