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RESOLUTION URGING FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY METROPOLITAN CENTER TO CONDUCT AN ANALYSIS AND TO PREPARE A REPORT, AT NO COST TO THE COUNTY, EXAMINING THE FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A COMMUNITY-BASED PROSPERITY STRATEGY FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY BASED ON CERTAIN NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED STRATEGIES

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WHEREAS, recent data shows there is higher income inequality and a poverty rate in Miami-Dade County (the �County�) than the rest of the United States; and
WHEREAS, according to the County�s Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources Division of Planning�s (the �Department�) 2014 data, there is a greater disparity in household income in the County with the average household income being 35 percent of median income as opposed to the overall average household income throughout the country, which is 48 percent of median income; and
WHEREAS, despite the ongoing economic recovery, poverty rates are also not decreasing countywide; and
WHEREAS, the people most affected by poverty in the County include: children (under 18 years), residents 65 years and over, residents with low educational attainment (especially less than a high school degree), families with a single female householder, Blacks, recent immigrants who are more likely to not be naturalized citizens, and part-time workers; and
WHEREAS, according to the Department�s 2013 data, nearly one of every three county residents living in poverty is under 18 years old, while one of every seven is 65 years and over; and
WHEREAS, those over age 65 are much more likely to face poverty in the County than in the rest of the state or country, i.e. this age group suffers a poverty rate of 20.6 percent in the County compared to 10.2 percent and 9.5 percent in Florida and the United States, respectively; and
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners (the �Board�) recognizes that income inequality and poverty harm individuals and the County at large by creating a divide in our community; and
WHEREAS, such income inequality and high poverty rates place our residents and community in jeopardy and also place a burden on the County�s limited resources, which are used to provide services to the neediest in our community; and
WHEREAS, the Board believes that in order to combat income inequality and high poverty rates in the County, there is a need to support community-based prosperity strategies, which bolster the ability of communities and individuals to become economically independent, increase asset ownership, anchor jobs locally, expand the provision of public services, and ensure local economic stability is of great benefit to the County and its residents; and
WHEREAS, effective strategies to achieve this goal require rethinking present policies, redirecting resources, breaking old boundaries, and forging new alliances; and
WHEREAS, in contrast to traditional economic development strategies that use local resources to attract outside investment, a community-based prosperity strategy leverages local resources to generate local equity and community supported initiatives; and
WHEREAS, there is a growing number of distinct nationally recognized community-based prosperity strategies that state and local governments can implement as a matter of policy; and
WHEREAS, for instance, the County can prioritize how public dollars are spent by directing such dollars first to local businesses that have a commitment to remaining in the County and employing local residents; and
WHEREAS, two ways that the County can assist these local businesses are by (1) supporting social enterprise incubators and accelerators that create jobs and employment opportunities for people facing the greatest barriers to work, such as young people who have dropped out of school, people who have been in prison or homeless, and those who live with mental health disabilities; and (2) supporting worker cooperatives, which provide quality goods and services to areas that have been shunned by traditional businesses and that invest in local communities by employing local residents; and
WHEREAS, other ways that the County can assist are by adopting a labor peace ordinance, which incentivizes employers who grant organizing concessions to unions in exchange for unions waiving certain federal rights, such as strikes, pickets, and other disruptions at the workplace; and
WHEREAS, the County can also enter into community benefits agreements with developers of large scale capital projects and other community-based groups to ensure that such projects create opportunities for local workers and communities; and
WHEREAS, the County can also assist in facilitating and encouraging local non-profit institutions like hospitals and universities to buy their goods and services from locally owned businesses; and
WHEREAS, the County can also develop and support �Bank On� initiatives, which bring unbanked and underbanked individuals into the mainstream financial system through interventions that are low cost and responsive to the needs of both consumers and providers of basic financial services; and
WHEREAS, the County can also adopt responsible banking ordinances to encourage local financial institutions to increase responsible lending, investments, and financial services in low-income and minority communities; and
WHEREAS, another option is through the creation of community land trusts that are designed to support permanent affordable housing; and
WHEREAS, local governments can also invest in the futures of our neediest children by supporting the creation of children�s savings accounts programs, which establish long-term asset-building accounts for children as early as birth and that are allowed to grow over each child�s lifetime; and
WHEREAS, this Board is interested in implementing some if not all of these community-based prosperity strategies; and
WHEREAS, this Board is interested in receiving a report on the before-mentioned community-based prosperity strategies (the �Report�); and
WHEREAS, Florida International University Metropolitan Center (the �University�) expressed a desire to conduct an analysis and to prepare the Report for the County,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board:
Section 1. Incorporates and adopts the foregoing recitals as if fully set forth herein.
Section 2. Urges the University to conduct an analysis and prepare a Report, at no cost to the County, that examines the feasibility of establishing a community-based prosperity strategy for Miami-Dade County. This Board requests that the University include in the Report information pertaining to nationally recognized community-based prosperity strategies that focus on (a) leveraging of public dollars to support social enterprise incubators and accelerators; (b) supporting worker cooperatives as an economic development strategy; (c) supporting permanent affordability in housing through the creation of a community land trust; (d) the creation of a children�s savings accounts program; and (e) other promising strategies that may be identified by the University. The Board further requests that the University provide examples of successful community-based prosperity strategies implemented by other local governments nationally and the impediments of establishing any of the before-mentioned strategies. In preparation of the Report, the Board requests that the University also review resources developed by such groups as the Brookings Institute, Community-Wealth.org and Democracy Collaborative. Upon receipt of the Report from the University, the County Mayor or the County Mayor�s designee shall provide the Report to this Board within 90 days of the effective date of this resolution and shall place the completed report on an agenda of the Board pursuant to Ordinance No. 14-65. The Report shall also be placed on the agenda of the Chairman�s Council for Economic Prosperity.
Section 3. Directs the Clerk of the Board to transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the President of the University and Dr. Howard Frank, Director of the University�s Metropolitan Center and Professor of Public Administration.