Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez recently presented to the county commission the Resilient305 Strategy, which was unanimously accepted by the board. This strategy is a living document created to address regional challenges ranging from climate change and sea level rise to affordable housing and better transit.
The Resilient305 Strategy encompasses 59 concrete actions to build resilience in the county, many of which are already underway, such as Action 56: Finance a Resilient Future by organizing the county budget around resilience themes. The proposed 2019-20 operating budget includes $466 million in expenditures specifically targeted toward resilience efforts.
“Miami-Dade County is putting its full weight being this 20-year strategy and is setting aside more funding for resilience than ever before in the 2019-20 budget,” Mayor Gimenez said. “We are thankful for the leadership role we now have as the first community partner of the new Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center and look forward to working with them, our community partners, the 34 municipalities, and our PIVOT team to fulfill the comprehensive goals in this strategy.”
The challenges county residents face, such as sea level rise, public health concerns and traffic, do not know municipal boundaries.
Envisioning a more resilient future in Miami-Dade County, the Resilient305 Strategy is the result of a unique collaboration and partnership between Miami-Dade County, the City of Miami Beach and the City of Miami to develop a resilience plan that crosses municipal borders. Addressing the shocks and stresses of each community, the strategy focuses on embracing and institutionalizing resilience in planning and operations.
Implementation of the Resilient305 Strategy will be led by a team called PIVOT — short for Progress, Innovation and Vision for Our Tomorrow. The PIVOT team will look at resources, timeframes and priorities to develop a work plan and oversee implementation and strategy progress.
The strategy was released on May 30, following a three-year-long period of extensive engagement and development by the county and its partners, the cities of Miami and Miami Beach. Both cities recently officially adopted the Resilient305 Strategy, and 27 municipal mayors have signed the Mayoral Accord in support of the strategy.
