|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Biscayne Gardens residents have an opportunity to be the 35th municipality (city) in Miami-Dade County. This past September 1st the Board of County Commission voted 11 to 2 to allow the voting residents of Biscayne Gardens to choose to incorporate at Special Election on November 2, 2021.
The basic distinction between a county and a city is that county government is essentially designed to provide services to rural, less densely populated areas located outside city boundaries and urban growth areas, while city government is essentially designed to provide services to urban areas. A county’s services and responsibilities are regional in nature. “Urban governmental services” are “those governmental services historically and typically delivered by cities.”
Perhaps more significant, but less tangible difference between cities and counties lies in the different perceptions that city and county residents may have of their respective governments. The extent to which these perceptions differ depends, of course, upon the particular local situation and upon the expectations of the residents. It is this intangible element which may be of crucial significance in the success or failure of an incorporation effort. Pros and Cons of Incorporation Local Control The idea of local control over the provision of public services, patterns of land use, and community character and identity are the basic reason that communities incorporate or attempt to do so. This is a significant advantage of incorporation, assuming that there already exists a sense of community that includes some consensus as to community goals and some shared vision of future development. The absence of such a consensus may make it difficult to successfully incorporate.
Local Accountability goes hand in hand with the idea of local control, the idea of local accountability of public officials and governmental bodies for their decisions. Where the residents of an unincorporated community may feel neglected or ignored by county officials, who serve a broader constituency, those of an incorporated municipality have more direct influence over their elected local officials.
Early Voting begins October 23rd through October 30th weekdays 8am until 6pm and 8am to 4pm on Weekends. The Early Voting location is: ate the Miami-Dade Public Library at 100 NE 166th Street Miami, Florida 33169
