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RESOLUTION CODESIGNATING, BY A THREE-FIFTHS VOTE OF BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT, THAT PORTION OF SOUTHWEST 268TH STREET (MOODY DRIVE) BETWEEN U.S. ROUTE 1 AND SOUTHWEST 142ND AVENUE AS �DESMOND MEADE STREET�

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WHEREAS, Desmond Meade (�Meade�) was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands on July 22, 1967, and moved with his parents to Miami, Florida at the age of five; and
WHEREAS, following his graduation from high school in 1985, Meade joined the United States Army as a helicopter mechanic; and
WHEREAS, after enduring through and overcoming personal obstacles, Meade enrolled in Miami-Dade College while living in a homeless shelter, graduating in 2010 with the school�s highest honors; and
WHEREAS, in 2009, Meade became the head of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (�FRRC�), a group aimed at restoring civil rights to felons in Florida who had completed their sentences and probation; and
WHEREAS, Meade enrolled in the Florida International University College of Law, from where he graduated in 2013; and
WHEREAS, as President and Executive Director of FRRC, Meade led the drive to qualify the �Voting Restoration Amendment� as a ballot initiative for the 2018 Florida elections, collecting 799,000 signatures; and
WHEREAS, after the initiative was approved for the November 2018 ballot, the amendment passed, as Florida Amendment 4, with 64.55 percent of the vote; and
WHEREAS, having the effect of restoring the voting rights to over 1.4 million Floridians with past felony convictions, Amendment 4 represented the single largest expansion of voting rights in the United States in half a century, and brought an end to 150 years of a Jim Crow-era law in Florida; and
WHERAS, named Floridian and Central Floridian of the Year in 2019, and having been also recognized by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2019, Meade presently leads efforts to empower and civically re-engage local communities across the state, and to reshape local, state, and national criminal justice policies; and
WHEREAS, a sought-after speaker, Meade has made numerous appearances on radio and television, including Al-Jazeera, Democracy NOW, MSNBC with Joy Ann Reid, FOX News with Dana Perino and Tucker Carlson, Samantha Bee, and All In with Chris Hayes; and
WHEREAS, Meade orchestrated a historic meeting at the White House during President Obama�s administration, has testified before Congressional members and staffers, and was a part of a delegation to the United Nations where he gave testimony regarding disenfranchisement in Florida; and
WHEREAS, today, among his proudest achievements, Meade is a husband and father to five beautiful children; and
WHEREAS, that portion of Southwest 268th Street (Moody Drive) between U.S. Route 1 and Southwest 142nd Avenue is a County-maintained road located in unincorporated Miami-Dade County; and
WHEREAS, this codesignation is in County Commission District 9; and
WHEREAS, Rule 9.02(d) of the Board�s Rules of Procedure provides that the Commission may, by a three-fifths vote of Board members present, name a County road, facility or property after a living individual who has not served as an elected official within the past five years and who �has made a direct, significant lifetime contribution to this community,�
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that:
Section 1. The foregoing recitals are hereby incorporated into this resolution and this Board finds that Desmond Meade has made a direct, significant lifetime contribution to this community pursuant to Rule 9.02(d).
Section 2. Having considered this matter at a public hearing and by a three-fifths vote of Board members present, this Board�codesignates that portion of Southwest 268th Street (Moody Drive) between U.S. Route 1 and Southwest 142nd Avenue as �Desmond Meade Street�.
Section 3. This Board directs the Clerk of the Board to transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the United States Postal Service, the Traffic Signals and Signs Division of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, the Development Services Division of the Regulatory and Economic Resources Department, the Miami-Dade County Police Department, and the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department.