Palmetto Bay is actively working to enhance school/community safety

Mayor of Palmetto Bay Eugene Flinn
Mayor of Palmetto Bay Eugene Flinn
Mayor of Palmetto Bay Eugene Flinn

The Parkland shoot has led to conversations I never thought possible – talk of families pulling students out of area schools.  School safety cannot wait. Our children’s safety is too important. Since the devastating shooting in Parkland, I have been working with fellow mayors and our County Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava to do our local/municipal part in making schools safer.

I personally met with our State leaders and our School Board Leaders, including Current Chair, Ms. Perla Tabares Hantman, District 4 and Ms. Susie V. Castillo, District 5. I also held a telephone conference with our own School Board Representative, Dr. Lawrence S. Feldman, District 9. Based upon their feedback, I was able to prepare a memorandum and School Safety Legislative Plan Resolution to be presented to our council.

 I brought this memorandum and resolution to a Special Council Meeting on Wednesday February 21st. Due to the importance of the topic, I asked that it not wait for our next scheduled council meeting set for March 4th.  I asked for and received unanimous co-sponsorship of a resolution in support of the School Board request asking the legislature to provide an additional 30 million dollars to increase police and security at our schools. 

Additionally, your village council is addressing more than school hardening. While the action I prepared and brought forward on School Safety passed unanimously, we went even further.  I was pleased to work with our Vice Mayor during this same Special Council meeting to address concerns about properly funding mental health issues.  Working with him, I wrote an additional add-on resolution during this Special Council Meeting with the Vice Mayor seeking funding specific to address the mental health issues far too prevalent in our National, State and Local Communities.  Thank you Vice Mayor. Again, this effort received unanimous support from the entire council.

As your Mayor, I continue to work to address school safety along with the Mayors and Council Members of neighboring Pinecrest, and Cutler Bay as well as our County Commissioner.  We all agree it is critical to address and enhance school safety.  Palmetto Bay is proud to partner with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools.  Since my first term as Mayor, Palmetto Bay has worked within our schools on important programs including the Stranger Danger, DARE and RADKids.  We have assigned officers that work these programs. Officers have also been assigned to be present in and around schools to oversee the traffic and safety surrounding the schools in the community.   

It is unfortunate that Palmetto Bay, like all local governments in Florida, County and municipal, is pre-empted by the Florida Legislature from creating local ordinances to address safety concerns. We turn to our legislature to properly address and fund the efforts of the Miami-Dade County School Board to, in part, hardening and modifying its school grounds in response to school attacks as well as funding for increases in police both internally and in coordination with local adjoining jurisdictions – including Miami-Dade county and applicable municipalities.

I have also asked our Manager to work with all schools to determine whether our schools can create a part-time “work station” within each school, as well as requesting that our police officers monitor and work from the schools as much as possible.  This is in addition to and not as a replacement to our existing student safety programs that I have been proud to have been given the opportunity to facilitate these past few years. 

I am working with Mayors Joe Corradino of Pinecrest and Peggy Bell of Cutler Bay to bring together each of our Youth Boards to hold a youth/student forum on schools safety. I have heard from many parents and their students as to their concerns. The voice of our students is important. Our first meeting on this issue was held at the Youth Board meeting held on Wednesday, Feb 21.  Pinecrest Council Woman Cheri Ball attended on behalf of their community.  The students are working on this event and we are assisting them.  I encourage you to have your student attend this meeting which will be held on or about March 12th.  A separate notice will be sent out when all the details are in place.  

It goes without saying that it takes a village to make sure that our children remain safe.  This is an issue that knows no boundaries, we all have a responsibility to a safer community through improving school safety.  Our leaders, police, school administrators, teachers, school support staff, parents, school volunteers and yes – students included will work hard to make sure that our community remains safe. We have a continual obligation to make sure that we are doing all we can to partner with them to make sure that Palmetto Bay remains a safe place to live, work, play and learn. 

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me at either (305) 302-3713 or via e-mail at eflinn@palmettobay-fl.gov .

Eugene Flinn is Mayor of the Village of Palmetto Bay and frequent contributor to the Community Newspapers. Are you receiving the periodic e-newsletter featuring Eugene Flinn’s South Dade Updates?These e-news provide updates on activities, events and issues affecting our area.   Visit Eugene Flinn’s blog at www.eugeneflinn.com or e-mail him at eflinn@palmettobay-fl.gov.


Connect To Your Customers & Grow Your Business

Click Here

2 COMMENTS

  1. Gene, How about a Volunteer program in Palmetto Bay of Ex law enforcement, Private Investigators, Security … that will volunteer time. That are licensed (G) that will get paid or little pay to help out at the schools. Guns are a deterrent to crime. I would help organize it and put it together.Just a thought.

  2. Mr. Eugene Flinn

    Since the evidence of failed school policies are mounting up (such as this https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2018/02/28/obama_administration_school_discipline_policy_and_the_parkland_shooting.html)

    I wonder what you will do to pressure MDCPS to protect our children.
    quoting / paraphrasing from the article:

    In 2013 Broward (and MDCPS) scrapped their disciplinary problems to make it difficult for administrators to suspend or expel problem students, or for campus police to arrest them for misdemeanors – including some of the crimes Cruz committed.

    Broward School Superintendent Runcie’s goal was to slash arrests, and ensure that students no matter how delingquent, graduated without criminal records.

    Broward Sherriff Scott Israel signed the school district’s 16 page collaborative agreement on school discipline.

    Under Obama – there were grants for school districts that lowered their arrest rates, and threats of investigations and defunding for those that refused to comply.

    Results (according to Peter Kirsanow). Disastrous, including startling increases in assaults and beatings of teachers and students.

    More than 30,000 students, who usually would have been expelled for assaulting a student or teacher, were instead… simply not.

    Nick Cruz was the “beneficiary” of this lax diascipline – his record reveals a string of offenses including assault, threatening teachers, carrying bullets to school. But he was never disciplined, or arrested.

    And because he had no criminal record – he passed a federal back ground check to purchase a gun.

    The Broward Sheriff’s office received 45 calls related to Cruz. They never attempted to arrest him, or confiscate his weapons despite being warned he appeared to be a school shooter in the making, and someone who said he planned to shoot up a school.

    The Broward School board revised agreements to ensure that SRO did not intervene.

    Think about this – we are hosting SRO’s at schools so they can NOT intervene.

    Instead of arrest – the school district recommended “restorative justice.”

    SO I ASK AGAIN MAYOR FLINN, what will you do to end this insanity?

Comments are closed.