Patrick Fiore, who won election to Palmetto Bay’s District 1 council seat in the Nov. 16 runoff, took time to reflect on his victory and on the work ahead.
“I feel very humbled and very blessed that the people of Palmetto Bay put their faith in me,” Fiore said. “For someone who has only lived here three and a half years to get that amount of votes is amazing and I am grateful.”
Fiore said that he hopes to have a hand in making the parks and programs more accessible to the people of the village, especially children who live here.
“I campaigned as a fiscal conservative and one of the first things I put on the agenda for our meeting next month is to look at the fees that our residents pay for the use of certain parks, like the skate park, and the fees the children pay to be part of any kind of club at the parks. These are things I want to look at.
“I would like to see, perhaps, if you’re a Palmetto Bay resident, what kind of reduced fee we can utilize. That will be up to the council, of course, but one of the things I have on the agenda.”
Fiore is taking into account current conditions and their impact on the village’s economic situation.
“I also want to take a long hard look at the budget and the revenue we have coming in,” he said. “We are still not out of this downturn in the economic cycle, and we must be sure that whatever we spend the money on is definitely a need for the community before it gets spent. I want to do what’s in the best interests of the taxpayers of this city.” Fiore said that public works projects are on his mind, especially those that need cooperation from Miami-Dade County agencies. “I want to work with our new county commissioner Lynda Bell,” Fiore said. “I want to work on some of the road patching and paving that needs to be done on our section line roads, like the intersection of 136th Street and US1, 152nd Street and others that intersect within the city. I want to work closely with Lynda Bell’s office on a variety of projects, but especially the roads.”
Having his family there beside him when he was sworn in was a special moment that he said he will long remember.
“It was the greatest professional accomplishment of my life,” Fiore said. “I was more happy for my wife and my children and the people who supported me than I was for myself, because I felt like I didn’t let anybody down. The beauty of this country is that when you work hard, all things are possible. I am so grateful to my parents, Patrick and Joan Fiore, for instilling a strong work ethic in me.”
One of his long-range goals regarding village government is pretty basic, “I really want to get the people involved, all the residents,” Fiore said.
Note: Just before deadline it was learned that as a result of Fiore contacting Commissioner Bell’s office patching on SW 136th Street east of S. Dixie Highway was begun. Completion is scheduled for January.
