DeSantis finally met with Miami-Dade’s new mayor to talk COVID. Here’s what happened
Political leaders in Miami-Dade County have been frustrated in their attempts to get Gov. Ron DeSantis on the phone to talk about COVID-19 in Florida’s pandemic hot spot as cases continue to surge.
So when DeSantis came to Key Biscayne Monday to announce a joint effort with the county on Biscayne Bay restoration projects, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava seized the opportunity to meet for the first time with the governor, in person, to talk about the pandemic.
DeSantis, addressing the media in front of the lighthouse at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, said he congratulated Levine Cava on her election last month and said he was “willing to work with [her] on whatever we can to help the county.”
Levine Cava, who was elected in November, has joined city officials around the county in condemning a late September move by DeSantis to bar local governments from closing businesses or enforcing COVID fines. DeSantis seemed to acknowledge, as he has previously, that he won’t budge on that.
“I told her that she ran on a certain platform, and she’s gonna pursue that,” DeSantis said. “If I don’t agree with everything, I’m not gonna come nitpick on that. I’m gonna find examples where we can work together. So our door is always open.”
Levine Cava also struck a conciliatory tone Monday, saying she had a “great conversation” with the governor.
“We covered a whole range of topics, including some of the COVID topics,” she told the Miami Herald. “We’re proceeding with the tools we have in our toolbox, including all the executive orders.”
The county’s COVID-related executive orders, including its mask mandate, currently hold limited weight because of DeSantis’ order preventing the collection of fines. Levine Cava said earlier this month that she still supports the issuing of mask citations with fines to be enforced once the governor’s order is lifted.
But she said Monday that she is more focused on “what we’ve got right now, which is working well.” That includes a countywide messaging campaign urging residents to wear masks.
DeSantis suggested one way the state can help Miami-Dade residents is by distributing COVID vaccines to long-term care facilities in the county. The state’s health department is sending inoculation teams into long-term care facilities to vaccinate those at greatest risk of contracting COVID-19.
“I told the mayor, if there’s more facilities, if we can send more strike teams, we want to do that,” DeSantis said. “We want to be helpful.”
DeSantis said state officials expect to receive their first approximately 61,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine Monday, followed by over 300,000 doses Tuesday. He also said a second shipment of the Pfizer vaccine with about 120,000 doses was expected Monday or Tuesday.
The governor still hasn’t met with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who was tasked by the Miami-Dade League of Cities in late November with stating the case to DeSantis for more local control over COVID enforcement efforts.
Suarez said last week that he has made unsuccessful “personal attempts” to contact the governor. “I’ve asked people who have acted as emissaries. It hasn’t worked,” he said.
DeSantis has emphatically opposed business closures, saying recently that, “if a local leader wants to put [people] out of work, you’re damned right I’m hobbling them from doing that.”
Despite asking for greater authority to enforce mask rules, Miami-Dade county and city leaders haven’t pushed in recent weeks for business closures or for stricter capacity restrictions on indoor dining. Miami city regulators, however, have shut down some businesses that violate their rules, including the county’s midnight curfew.
The county has extended the curfew until 1 a.m. for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
A recent White House task force report that DeSantis refused to release urged the state to limit indoor dining, lower capacity in bars and issue stronger policies around wearing masks.
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 3:59 PM.
