There’s a feud going on between Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami Beach over how to deal with homeless people. The city spends over $5 million a year on homeless outreach and it wants the public to know about it, especially after the county’s harsh criticism this week.
We watched the city’s outreach team as they patrolled the Lincoln Road area, offering wrap-around services to any homeless people they encountered. They do that every day.
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“Not only shelter placement, but even residential treatment beds for people who are suffering or severely, persistently mentally ill, or suffering from substance abuse, to really help that person transition to that next piece of their journey, it’s not simply giving them a bed, it’s giving them all the services they need to be successful,” said the city’s housing director, Alba Ana Tarre.
The city has a walk-in homeless assistance center, but no shelters of its own. Miami Beach contracts with agencies such as Camillus House and the Miami Rescue Mission, paying them directly to provide services. But when the city commission scuttled a referendum to give voters the option of supporting the Homeless Trust with a local tax on restaurants, it picked a fight with the Miami-Dade County Commission.
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“I was trusting the residents of Miami Beach to do the right thing, I didn’t ask them to implement it, I said let them vote,” said commission chair Oliver Gilbert during Wednesday’s county commission meeting.
The city had promised the county it would hold the referendum in exchange for millions in redevelopment money. The county is now demanding that the city pay $10 million to support the Homeless Trust.
“Well, we don’t put the money to the Homeless Trust, but we invest in the services directly towards the homeless individuals,” said Miami Beach commissioner Alex Fernandez.
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He voted to allow the referendum to proceed, and Fernandez calls the county’s demands “highway robbery.” He says the county should spend $92 million it’s giving to developers for the Miami Beach Convention Center hotel project on affordable housing instead.
“So if they really are genuine about putting $10 million toward homeless services, let’s redirect those $92 million toward addressing affordable and workforce housing which are the root causes of homelessness,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez, who is the city’s vice mayor, will take his proposal to the city commission on Nov. 14.
