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One of the most important things we accomplished in the last quarter was that we began to get back to normal.
We hosted the Orange Bowl Classic, which engendered such a sense of community coming back after its 40-year hiatus. Many people that came to Miami Gardens had an opportunity to take a tour of our City. Businesses went through training, and we rolled out the red carpet for our visitors. As a City, we were engaged with people of color in a whole new way.
Last quarter, we also gave out more than 150 book bags to students. We donated masks to schools to ensure that kids and teachers would be protected, and I donated an additional $600 to one school that was low on materials.
The Mayor and I are currently working on establishing an HBCU Scholastic Athletic Combine, where we’ll invite coaches and admissions officers to recruit high school athletes.
It’s very important that our youth know HBCUs are a viable option for quality education, scholarships, and a wonderful life experience.
We are working on ordinances for our area, including preparing to renovate Myrtle Grove Park. The guys that have been playing soccer there for 30 years won’t come to a Zoom meeting, but they’re out there every Sunday, so I went out and met with them. It was fantastic! These men advocated for finding the budget to keep a pool at the park, so much that they offered to paint their own basketball courts and donate their labor to the tennis courts. They said, “Here we are surrounded by all this water, and we don’t have swimming lessons for our kids.” It has become a very productive and exciting exchange of ideas.
Over the past year, what I’m most proud of is that, as a City, we were able to keep moving.
We didn’t lay anybody off, we don’t have any major financial deficits, and we were able to keep the death rate down.
In 2022, I’m going to be focusing on road improvements and parks. A strategic plan for our City is another one of my hot issues. That’s a huge undertaking because it involves all of the stakeholders coming together to form one vision.
As we go through the Miami Open, Formula One, continued football games, Jazz in the Gardens, Juneteenth, and the next Orange Bowl Classic, there should be no inconvenience to our residents. Our traffic must be coordinated in a way that visitors and residents have a good experience. We must continue to manage our overall growth and development with housing and quality of life, so everyone feels engaged.
For Christmas, my “Prosperity Bags” are coming out on the 19th of December. That will always be my signature thing. I love it!
We use this season as an opportunity to be reborn. I’ve lost my sister, my dad, and so many people that were dear to me. When you get to these holidays, you really miss them.
So going forward, my family and I decided that we would celebrate in new ways that would give us the same kind of joy that we had when other family members were present. We don’t want to mourn the loss but instead celebrate the fact that they were in our lives.
Take the time to love and to connect and enjoy your holidays.
