As COVID-19 surges in Miami-Dade, county and city leaders struggle to see eye to eye
As COVID-19 has spread through South Florida, the largest cities in Miami-Dade County have often taken a more hard-line approach to businesses closures than the county. It was Miami Mayor Francis Suarez who made the first move to close restaurant dining rooms and bars in mid-March. And as reopening plans were devised in May, Suarez, along with the mayors of Miami Beach, Hialeah and Miami Gardens, took things more slowly than Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez.
Today, as COVID-19 daily case numbers soar and hospitals approach 100% of normal capacity, county and city leaders still aren’t on the same page. But the roles have been reversed. In the past, Gimenez has criticized local officials for issuing stricter orders than he has, saying it causes confusion. But now, Gimenez has imposed new countywide closures — prompting numerous local mayors to slam him for hurting small business owners.
Last Monday, Gimenez announced plans to once again close restaurant dining rooms, gyms, ballrooms and short-term vacation rentals. Later that day, he modified those plans to let outdoor dining continue. He also let gyms stay open with masks required at all times.
To justify his decisions, Gimenez has cited growing research and statements by health experts that suggest the novel coronavirus can spread via airborne transmission indoors, including at restaurants and gyms, if masks aren’t worn. The World Health Organization issued new guidance to that effect Thursday.
Miami-Dade County has a countywide mask requirement, but restaurant patrons, of course, must remove their masks to eat and drink.
After Gimenez’s order went into effect Thursday, the Miami-Dade County League of Cities made an announcement: 25 local mayors, acting through the League’s Mayors Coalition, had unanimously voted to approve a resolution disapproving of Gimenez’s order. In particular, they rejected the decision to close indoor dining.
The Mayors Coalition consists of the mayors of the county’s 34 municipalities. Those who weren’t present at a virtual meeting last week weren’t included on the list of signers.
“City mayors are requesting future decisions be made based on scientific evidence and data,” the group said in a press release. “City mayors and industry leaders should be consulted as part of the decision-making process.”
The message appeared to reflect the stance of some restaurant owners, including those who protested Gimenez’s renewed closures in downtown Miami on Friday. Restaurants, the owners argued, were being “singled out” for blame while gyms, construction sites and office spaces are allowed to stay open.
Mayors want to see evidence
J.C. Bermudez, the mayor of Doral, said he wants to see hard evidence connecting outbreaks of COVID-19 to particular types of establishments before they’re shut down.
“The medical experts cannot tell us that this increase comes from indoor dining,” Bermudez said. “Did it come from the protests [against police brutality]? Was it beaches? Are [people] on their boats?”
Local officials have yet to get definitive answers to those questions, seemingly because contact tracing — which involves identifying people who test positive for COVID-19 and trying to determine how and where they likely contracted the virus — has been limited statewide. Last week, the mayors of Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah and Miami Gardens blasted state and county officials for what they say is an insufficient level of contact tracing in Miami-Dade.
Gimenez has pinned responsibility on the state, which runs Miami-Dade’s health department.
Last Wednesday, Bermudez, with approval from Doral’s city council, sent a letter to Gimenez saying it was “critical that restaurants stay open because they are performing essential functions, by providing the public with access to food.” He called for indoor dining to remain open with at least 25% capacity; previously 50% capacity was allowed.
Since the pandemic began, municipalities in Miami-Dade have generally been allowed to issue stricter emergency orders than the county to close businesses and enforce stay-at-home measures. But they have to comply with all county directives. Homestead Mayor Steve Losner said Monday that there’s “no question” about that.
“We can be more restrictive than the county, not less,” he said.
Still, some elected officials seem prepared to challenge the county’s authority. In Miami Lakes, Councilman Carlos Alvarez drafted a memo calling on the town to sue Miami-Dade County over its enforcement of the emergency order that includes the closure of indoor dining, movie theaters and other businesses.
The measure is on the agenda for the council’s Tuesday meeting.
Local mayors feel snubbed
Several mayors who supported the League of Cities resolution Thursday told the Miami Herald they felt ignored during Gimenez’s decision-making process last week. Some said they didn’t necessarily oppose the decision Gimenez made to close certain businesses again, but felt they should have been consulted.
“A big part of the frustration is he didn’t consult with the cities ... until after the fact,” said Suarez, who has clashed with Gimenez frequently throughout the pandemic.
Suarez said the “inconsistency of messaging” over the course of last week — when the county announced new restrictions via press release, then pulled back on some of those restrictions over the next few days before the order was signed — created frustration over the process and questions about the data that backed the closures.
“If you’re going to just close indoor dining, why not look at condo pools? What about the beach? What about commercial establishments?” Suarez said.
Gimenez typically meets three times a week with the League of Cities’ five-member executive board, which consists of city mayors and other elected officials. The meetings are intended for the county to share public health information, not to collaborate on key decisions, said Joseph Corradino, the mayor of Pinecrest and a member of the executive board.
The board then reports on those meetings to the full mayors coalition. In this case, Gimenez announced his intent to order new business closures before he had spoken with the executive board. Bermudez, the mayor of Doral, said he found out through media reports about the plan.
“In this case, the decision was made with no real heads up to us,” he said.
Corradino said the county’s rationale for closing indoor dining again — including the potential danger of enclosed spaces without masks, plus the increased likelihood that a given individual in Miami-Dade would currently have COVID-19 when compared with recent months — is “perfectly reasonable.”
“The crux of this problem is communication,” he said.
Aventura Mayor Enid Weisman said she sent a letter to Gimenez last week, calling for better communication between the county and the cities.
On Monday, the municipal leaders appeared to see the fruits of their agitating: Gimenez agreed to let the mayors of every city in Miami-Dade County join the call with public health experts and county staff that is typically restricted to the League of Cities executive board. Going forward, Weisman said, Gimenez committed to including all the local mayors on those calls three times a week.
The growing severity of the COVID-19 crisis might even be forcing local political rivals into detente. After Monday’s call, Suarez said he and Gimenez committed to notify each other and other cities of any additional emergency orders before they are publicized.
“This is no time for us to fight,” Corradino said. “The goals are the same. I think what we’re simply lacking is communication.”
Crossed signals in League of Cities vote
Internal communication woes among city leaders have only added to the confusion.
South Miami Mayor Sally Philips said she was surprised to see her name included on the League of Cities’ list of signers of the resolution, given that she wasn’t present for the discussion. Philips said she left the virtual meeting last week for a dentist appointment shortly after it began.
She added that she didn’t condemn the county’s order closing inside dining.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber also said he didn’t vote for the resolution and was unaware a vote took place. Gimenez’s order, he said, “had validity.”
“I was not on the call if that’s what they did when they did it,” he said. Gelber was muted with his video off during most of the meeting, so he could do legal work, and later signed off. Before he did, Gelber said, participants were “simply talking about being upset with the process and not being consulted.”
Multiple mayors who were on the Mayors Coalition call told the Herald there was no formal vote taken.
“It wasn’t like a roll call vote,” said Weisman, the Aventura mayor. “It was more like, ‘So is this what you want me to do? Yes.’ I don’t think anyone said no.”
Staff writers Martin Vassolo and Douglas Hanks contributed to this report.
