At a recent Aventura Marketing Council/Chamber of Commerce (AMC) Breakfast Meeting held at the elegant, newly-renovated JW Marriott Turnberry, over 150 members turned out to hear Aventura Mayor Enid Weisman give the “State of the City” address.
The Hon. Billy Joel, former Aventura Vice Mayor, served as Emcee and kept the program running right on schedule. Tim O’Keefe, Exec. Director of KW Property Management & Consulting, spoke about how proud his company was to be a co-sponsor of this important event. “Founded in 2004 with the idea to be a great property management business, we knew there was no place better that the City of Aventura to focus our efforts. We currently service over 4,000 condos and HOAs and believe that living in a condo or HOA is very much like a local government. There are campaigns, elections, constituents, special assessments and tackling tough issues like hurricane preparedness and major construction projects. It’s a thankless job, but you do it because you care about your community and your property values. You’re bringing people together, helping them become more want to enhance the experience you have and do it through your Board members and residents. Working together, we want to continue our expanding our brand and our services to the great City of Aventura!”
Leo Gershoyg, Vice President and Branch Manager of Ocean Bank Aventura, meeting co-sponsor, said, “If Ocean Bank is new to you, welcome to our brand! We have been serving So. Florida for over 35 years, locally owned and managed. Ocean Bank is the largest independent commercial bank headquartered in Florida with over $3.9 billion in assets, operating a network of 43 branches throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Chartered in 1982, the bank is recognized as a leader in fueling So. Florida’s economic growth by providing customers with quality financial products such as commercial real estate lending, corporate lending and small business lending. Our state-of-the art financial products combined with unparalleled customer services have actually shaped our communities, literally creating employment opportunities. And this ensures that our communities are a better place to live, work and visit.”
Mayor Weisman took the podium to a round of applause, introducing the Commissioners present: Vice Mayor Dr. Linda Marks, Comm. Denise Landman, Comm. Gladys Mezrahi, Comm. Howard Weinberg and Comm. Marc Narotsky. Comm. Bob Shelley was out of town that day.
“Everyone needs to thank our entire Commission for their dedication, long hours and hard work. Their commitment and integrity ensures that this city is second to none. It was Billy Joel who kept encouraging me to run for Mayor …it was not a position I sought, but I am so proud and happy to serve as your Mayor. In my former role with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, I participated in many amazing undertakings, but perhaps none would change the very culture of a community more than the construction of a school, and we are thrilled that by August, 2019, we will be opening our new Don Soffer Aventura High School.
Interestingly enough, the creation of this school made all our city departments enhance their esprit de corps by working together in a very tight timeframe to have this school become a reality. It’s been a Herculean effort…and we have to recognize our Aventura Police Dept. as an integral part of this effort. Since the Parkland tragedy, school safety is on everyone’s lips, hearts and minds. Rest assured that no expense has been spared to have our schools, ACES and our new high school, the safest schools in America. We need to thank Police Chief Bryan Pegues, Major Michael Bentolila and the entire Aventura Police Dept. as well as congratulate them on always receiving highest accreditation. The high school will be staffed, as Vice Mayor Dr. Marks says, ‘with rock star teachers’. We will accept nothing less. We will have the newest in technology, robotics, biomechanical engineering…all hoping to guide our youngsters to be the next leaders of our city, county, state and country. Our existing charter school, ACES K-8, is one of the highest-ranked K-8s in the state, and we want our high school to be #1 in the state. That’s our goal, and we’re pretty sure we’ll be able to deliver on that.
I’m often asked, ‘How is Aventura constantly able to repave your roads, add new drainage pumps, install new lighting?’ The answer is in strategic planning. For 23 years, we’ve been replacing the pumps at one intersection at a time. And we’re on our second round of replacements. We are such careful stewards of citizens’ tax dollars, as have the prior commissioners been, as we spend the money very wisely and very frugally. In fact, Aventura has been regularly recognized as one of the best financially managed cities in Florida. We have the lowest property tax millage in So. Florida, 1.72 mills, which has never been raised in 23 years. I want to thank our CFO Brian Raducci for his tremendous efforts in that arena.
Aventura is home to just under 40,000 residents, and a tremendous amount of economic activity, starting right here at the newly-renovated JW Marriott Turnberry with their new Conference Center and hotel. We have new residential developments and retail projects. The expansion of the Aventura Mall with over 300,000 sq. ft., adding some amazing new restaurants including the internationally renowned International Smoke, and their new LEVEL THREE event space. The new Esplanade open air plaza is going to bring entertainment and many dining and shopping options. Aventura ParkSquare is also bringing nationally recognized restaurants such as Casa D’ Angelo, Graziano’s and Icebox. We’ve been very busy with the AMC in cutting the red ribbons for new restaurants, hotels and businesses! And Aventura Hospital is building a new patient tower.
In 2018, we had lowest number of vehicular accidents in five years, and not one vehicular fatality. We’re a city of condos…sometimes hard to get to know our police officers, but our Aventura Police Dept. has instituted a program where every condo and HOA has a dedicated officer assigned to them. This year, something happened that has never happened before in Aventura. We never really talk about our Public Works Dept…these are the ‘worker bees’ as the city manager tells me, doing everything behind the scenes— cleaning the streets, picking up the fallen palm fronds– and this year our Public Works Dept. received accreditation, only one of 153 departments out of 29,000 nationwide departments to be so recognized. Our shuttle bus service and our Aventura Bicycle ride program have really surpassed expectations. We have movie nights; we celebrate July 4th, Veterans’ Day; Founders’ Day; we’re a Tree City, Green City; we bike with our police officers…. all of this brings a community together. Our Aventura Arts & Cultural Center offers a great variety of entertainment…from Broadway plays to magicians, musicians, operas and comedians…. this is an incredible facility where membership, viewership and ticket purchases have reached an all-time high.
I want to thank our relatively new City Manager, Ron Wasson. He arrived here in November, hit the streets running, and hasn’t taken a breath yet. Ron is a true professional who is compassionate, confident and caring. I also want to thank our Student Services Advisory Committee and Youth Advisory Board.
And here we are…. a city that is 3 ¼ square miles…. almost 40,000 people…. five public parks. a three- mile jogging trail, world -class mall and cultural center, a public library, hospital, a K-8 and soon a high school.
Where else can you find this in one area? I am so proud to be here, and I want to thank all the members of our community for the trust you have placed in me for electing me mayor and the valuable support and input you provide in helping to make the City of Aventura the very best place to live. The future looks good, and with our outstanding Commissioners, we’ve got nowhere to go but up!”
