As people face the loss of jobs and retirement savings, Miami Beach Mayor Matti Herrera Bower pledged to convene a summit of business and community leaders to examine the city's economy.

The event, scheduled for Dec. 18 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, is one of three new initiatives Bower unveiled Wednesday to more than 100 people at Miami Beach City Hall.

The speech was Bower's first State of the City address since becoming mayor in November 2007.

''We need to discuss the current and near-term impacts of global economic conditions and their effects on the Miami Beach economy,'' said Bower, who said the summit would help Miami Beach deal with a tough economic climate and bounce back when conditions improve.

Topping her list: the future of the Miami Beach Convention Center, which she said serves as an economic engine for the city and Miami-Dade County.

''We will discuss its transformation into a state-of-the-art facility for the 21st century,'' the mayor said.

In recent years, there has been a standoff between Miami-Dade and Miami Beach over expanding the popular convention center. Neither side wanted to pay for potential cost overruns from the proposed development. The county has $55 million in bond funds reserved for the project.

Bower's 90-minute policy speech was punctuated with lighter moments as she ad-libbed some of her lines and committed a minor gaffe when she thanked Commissioner Jerry Libbin for his efforts to deal with record foreclosures ''in the condoms'' -- when she meant to say ``condos.''

''I knew it,'' Bower said as the audience laughed. ``I knew I would make a mistake.''

Bower touched on what she considered the commission's high points in the past year: balancing the budget, curbing noise, litter and party houses, awarding major city contracts to new vendors, bringing the International Baccalaureate Program to Miami Beach schools and expanding the Flamingo Park Historic District in South Beach.

Bower also announced the creation of the first Miami Beach Women's Expo, an event she will host in March.

''It will explore a variety of issues important to women from health to networking,'' said Bower, adding that she will work with several organizations, including the Miami-Dade Commission for Women and the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce's Women's Business Council.

Another priority on the mayor's to-do list: tackling underage drinking.

Bower will join two other mayors in a new campaign sponsored by the Miami Coalition for a Safe and Drug-Free Community.

''Apparently, underage drinking is getting worse,'' she said.

``It's something we need to address.''

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@