New Miami-Dade commission chairman urges prosperity agenda...

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New Miami-Dade commission chairman

urges prosperity agenda
BY PATRICIA MAZZEI AND DOUGLAS HANKS - PMAZZEI@MIAMIHERALD.COM
01/16/2015 1:40 PM | Updated: 01/16/2015 1:51 PM

The Rev. Leslie Moise reaches out to congratulate

Miami-Dade County Chairman Jean Monestime after
swearing him into office. Monestime was
accompanied by his wife, Kettia, and his mother,
Angelina, as well as other family members.
MARSHA HALPER / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Vowing to fight for societys neediest, Jean Monestime was installed as chairman of the Miami-Dade
commission on Friday, in an emotional ceremony in which he laid out an agenda built around lifting
people out of poverty.
Isnt America great? the commissions first Haitian-American chairman
(http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article4123926.html) told a
standing-room only crowd at the commission chambers when he took the microphone after being
sworn in.
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New Miami-Dade commission chairman urges prosperity agenda...

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Monestime recounted how he arrived as a teenager to South Florida on what he later called a rickety
boat from the Bahamas with about 40 other people. His voice broke.
To the families and individuals of this community who are struggling to make ends meet, I
understand the challenges you face, he said. I have mopped floors, mowed lawns, washed dishes
and drove a taxi to put food on my table. My familys table as well.
Along the way, he earned an masters in business administration and became a licensed real-estate
broker. My family now enjoy a modest prosperity, said Monestime, 51, who is married to Kettia and
has two sons.
But he added that many in Miami-Dade, the largest county in the Southeast, do not. It went without
saying that he was speaking in particular about the district he has represented since 2010, one of the
countys poorest, which includes Little Haiti and North Miami.
Wages remain flat, housing costs are rising and tolls can cost a worker an hour of his wages every
day, Monestime said, striking a populist tone.
The county commission can knock down many of these barriers to prosperity, he said, asking his
colleagues to take on reducing income inequality as their top objective in his two-year term.
He announced the creation of a Chairmans Council for Prosperity Initiatives to start a discussion on
the issue. In a move closely watched by County Hall insiders, Monestime later informed
commissioners in a memo that he had scrapped the existing legislative committee structure. Instead
of arranging eight committees around different departments, Monestime opted for six panels tied to
revenue sources. Theres a committee for general property taxes, for example, and another for taxes
that fund the countys unincorporated areas, known as UMSA.
The six committees are: Strategic Planning and Government Operations (chaired by Juan C. Zapata);
UMSA (Javier Souto); Transit and Mobility Services (Esteban Steve Bovo); Metropolitan Services
(Barbara Jordan); Trade and Tourism (Jose Pepe Diaz), and Economic Prosperity (Xavier Suarez).
Monestime highlighted the commissions nonpartisan status as a benefit to passing legislation.
We are not a gridlocked Congress, said Monestime, a Democrat. Later, in what appeared to be a
reference to past racial and ethnic tensions on the commission, he added: We are all here now. Our
diversity is our strength.
Sworn in as the commissions vice-chairman was Bovo, 52, a Republican who represents portions of
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Hialeah, Miami Lakes and Palm Springs North. His oath was delivered by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a
longtime friend and possible 2016 presidential contender who also employs Bovos wife, Viviana. The
Bovos have five children.
Rubio provided a moment of levity when he walked to the front of the chambers and realized he was
missing a key piece of information. Does someone have the oath? he said.
Bovo, who sometimes takes Metrorail from Hialeah to County Hall, said his focus would be on
improving transportation. Sounding conciliatory to labor unions who have been at odds with himself
and Mayor Carlos Gimenez in the past, Bovo also said politicians should no longer point the finger
at public workers in political fights.
The district I represent only knows one thing, and thats work, he said. Work and sacrifice. Educate
your children, and hopefully your children will pull you up.
Monestime and Bovo met last week to discuss the contours of their relationship. They agreed on
prioritizing big-ticket transportation and road, bridge and pipe projects with Monestime arguing that
past county leaders have failed to advocate for higher property taxes when they have been needed.
On hand were dignitaries from Miami-Dade politics past and present, including Lt. Gov. Carlos LopezCantera, the former county property appraiser, and former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek.
Monestime was elected unanimously by his colleagues in November after Commissioner Audrey
Edmonson abandoned a months-long effort to win the chairs position herself.
Outgoing Chairwoman Rebeca Sosa thanked Edmonson in her remarks.
This demonstrates that this is a united board, Sosa said. We have differences of opinion, thank God,
thats democracy.

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