Sunday, April 03, 2005

Miami's Political Scenery and Business

Miami is a fascinating city all it's own. From the time I first arrived in 1976 til now Miami has matured and grown to what is truely an international point of interest and destination. However, we are a city still maturing. One noteable deficiency in a metropolis coming of age is the lack of major corporations. Why is that? How is it possible that a major city with so much promise, resting on the shores to the Caribbean, Central and South America and a gateway to venues of international trade such as the Panama Canal , lacking in fortune 500 companies?

I think there could be numerous debates that could attempt to answer that question. Be it enough, I think, that we ask the question, and then ask again. The answer lies in many facets of our history and in simply the timing of historical events. Few cities have seen the major influx of refugees and immigrants as Miami. Few cities have seen unprecedented growth as Miami. Again few cities have such a multitude of diverse cultures as Miami. In particular even within the hispanic community, we not only have very diversified cultures but, they are republicans. This is unlike other cities with large hispanic populations which tend to be democratic. In this environment politics slow to a crawl, resources get stretched and governess falls way behind.
Just how much does our diversity affect public services? By way of example Miami has one of the only school boards that monitors country and political risk in the Carribean, Central and South America in order to project census counts and needs in developing its annual budget. We are a model for other cities in this regard. We have contingency plans for the fall of communism in Cuba that affect maritime services, air traffic control, military defense and a host of public services. Miami's politics, its resources and effectiveness are all interconnected with all of its surrounding countries. Not only are we learning and coping but the landscape has changed over time. Therein lies a big reason as to why government and politics has lagged behind in finding solutions. Strange how the very thing that makes this city great also tends to reveal itself as a problem.
The turn around for this city will rest on our ability to govern our city and how we play the game of politics. All the other components for the post coming of age for this city are already present.

Some of the issues we need to be focused on are as follows:

(1) Creating world class international research centers in our universities. Although in my opinion we have a long way to go, the fact is we are already doing this. In fact I am happy to see this happening at our local Florida International University. A public university. Being able to provide human talent and the environment that feeds business and technology will be a very big draw to fortune 500 companies. Besides that universities pump a great deal of money into our economy. Three critical components for any major metropolis, human talent, facility resources and money to drive both.

(2) The expansion of public transportation systems for metropolitan citizens. Having been born and raised in New York City, public transportation is a must. Just a few years ago Miami had one of the highest per capita users of cell phones anywhere in the world. A statistic that has hardly changed. And no wonder considering how much time we all spend in traffic. Truely, Miami has planned poorly for this public need. Then again who would have guessed at our growth rate. Who invisioned that parts of the turnpike in south Florida were built on what was considered to be the fringes of the Everglades, was to become the center of urban sprawl. Truth be told, in hindsight, our government was assleep at the wheel. If you look at statistical trends from 25 years back we could have made some better calculations. We didn't. Worse yet is we have known this for some time and we still have been late in reacting. Yes many emergencies have drained both govermental talent and economic resources. But, ven so gvernment has reacted too slowly, and been undecisive.

(3) The expansion and enhancement of major terminals of transportation. What I mean by this is Miami International Airport, Tamiami and Opalocka Airports, The Port Of Miami. Clearly Our local government has fallen short. Miami International is frought with corruption, mismanagement and a serious lack of leadership. It is my opinion that in time more horrors will surface. I only hope that frustration will lead to alternatives such as Opalocka Airport. Already I see signs of interest from the community in wanting to expand the runway length at Tamiami Airport. Not that it can handle large commercial traffic but it would be a major invitation to corporate business jets and other corporate aircraft. In addition I think it can be a reliever airport for short flights to the Carribean if not the Americas. The fastest growing segment of air travel in the world is fractional corporate jets. A recent statistic I saw said commercial jet travel has grown by an average of 18% per year, where as corporate and fractional business jet travel has grown by 140%. If that doesn't catch your eye nothing will. We must be aware of how this stimulates economic growth, and make our city corporate freindly, if we are to attract fortune 500 businesses to the area. I would recommend that anyone look at the flight line at Homestead General Airport, Tamiami and even Homestead Airforce Base on holidays of Race Car activity. What you will find is hundreds of millions of dollars in aircraft and millions more spent here in our local economy. Just as to emphasize the point we are the gateway to the Americas! Already we do very brisk business in aircraft repairs, and parts distribution to Central and South America. In addition we do a great deal of flight training. Seems to me we are again politically behind the curve. We need to build a better infrastructure in every mode of transportation. Why we fuss over having water taxies, creating private transportation systems and other mass transit alternatives is beyond me. We should welcome any improvement over what we have. To this regard we need to tell goverment to start acting like a business.

(4) Controlling Urban Sprawl. Again our local government has done a poor job at controlling Urban Sprawl. Urban Sprawl creates huge inefficiencies in operating a city government. Just think of how many more hospitals, ambulances, police cars, fire engines, road maintenance crews, buses, libraries you need as you spread out over miles and miles of city streets. Do you get the picture? We as citizens pay for this! Building up is more efficient use of limited land, government funds and resources. If done properly controlling urban sprawl can improve quality of life through less travel times to and from work and more and better resources for our community. I should mention this takes public transportation to make it all work well. Take an aireal view of SOFLO and you quickly realize we are nothing more than a strip of land that borders on our famous river of grass, the Everglades, on the west and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Not only is this land limited it is a very fragile ecosystem. Protecting the environment and the conservation of limited resoures such as potable water and electric power are issues that go hand in hand with urban sprawl issues. In addition we need a comprehensive plan for code enforcement. Not popular with voters but Miami is becoming less and less homogenius. It seems like shoping for a good neighborhood is not a matter of finding an incorporated city or area but finding remote pockets of neighborhoods. Urban sprawl has created what I have called pocket neighborhood syndrome. An aggregation of similar homes with neighbors of similar demographic qualities amongst dissimilar surrounding neighborhoods. It's a double edge sword towards home values and how goverment resources are allocated to wide areas.

So why is all this important towards attracting big business?
Well the easy answer is it brings high paying jobs! The reality is it doesn't stop there. Big businesses also spend heavily in investment items, demand many services, donate towards hospitals, schools, universities, chambers of commerce and all kinds of non profit organizations. They become a source for fresh leadership in city and local governments and in many organizations. They become a magnet for other investments from the outside to our area. They contribute towards the arts and culture of our community and attend the major sport franchises in the area. Big business brings Miami closer to the rest of the world.

At the beggining of all this I mentioned that our government is key to turning this all around. One look at the above points and you can find plenty of critisism about how poorly government has been carried out. However, I should also say we as citizens are also to blame. We simply are too disinterested, disconnected and perhaps too passive. We too need to take some of the blame and be more critical of our leadership and demand more. That fact is that although we have many temporary residents, those of us who make Miami our perminant home need to say more, and do more.

I think the tied is turning and there is a new generation at hand. Despite our troubles Miami is still a great place.