Miami-Dade mayor’s new office pushing racial equity, including in her administration

In her campaign for mayor, Daniella Levine Cava declared “we have systemic racism in county government.” Now in her third month in office, Levine Cava on Wednesday announced a new office aimed at tracking racial gaps in and out of government, and launching efforts to eliminate them.

“Equity does not mean equality,” Levine Cava said at a media event at the Historic Hampton House, a cultural center in Brownsville created out of a motel that was a favorite of Black celebrities barred from Miami Beach resorts during legal segregation in the 1950s and 60s. “It means extra investment in communities that have been historically left out, left behind, and locked out of opportunities.”

The new Office of Equity and Inclusion has a broad mission of closing opportunity gaps for a number of groups, including women, people with disabilities and LGBTQ business owners.

“We will work to bring together government, non-profit and private-sector partners to dismantle systemic inequities and barriers to opportunity,” said Jason Smith, the office’s first director.

Smith served as legislative director when Levine Cava was a county commissioner, and will earn $130,000 a year in his new post, the mayor’s office said.

The office will have a small staff, with a focus on convening groups involved in equity and tracking statistics measuring gaps in housing, county hiring and other metrics, Smith said. Cheriene Floyd, a former Miami administrator, will be in charge of statistical analysis under Smith and produce the equity dashboards for the public. “Data will be accessible to everyone,” she said.

The office also has a staff member, Danilo Vargas, assigned to promoting business creation. “Entrepreneurship is not the domain of a select few,” said Vargas, who ran a business incubator Levine Cava established for the South Miami-Dade district she represented as a commissioner. “It belongs to all of us”

Levine Cava said the equity effort would include an examination of county hiring practices. During the campaign, Levine Cava said she saw racism in county government after her rival, fellow commissioner Esteban “Steve” Bovo Jr., said he hadn’t seen “systemic” racism but wouldn’t tolerate it as mayor.

In creating the office, Levine Cava said she wanted to increase the visibility of Miami-Dade’s equity gaps and efforts underway within county government to narrow them.

“There are quite a number of entities working on these issues,” she said. “One of the things about this office is to bring everyone together.”

The Hampton House event was Levine Cava’s first event dedicated to announcing new hires since taking office in Nov. 17. She had announced more senior hires, including chief operating officer, by press release. Levine Cava campaigned on creating the office, which will have a budget of about $375,000.

Levine Cava’s ability to change racial gaps in how the county conducts business may face an early test. Miami-Dade plans to conduct an extensive “disparity study” to determine whether the county’s contracting system considers the race or gender of a vendor in awarding bids. Miami-Dade hasn’t conducted a disparity study in 10 years, and the hiring process for a consultant is under way.

“Our percentage of minority- and women-owned businesses, unfortunately, is way too small. And has not been growing,” Levine Cava said. “We need to do more.”

This story was originally published February 11, 2021 at 6:00 AM.