A Tale of Two Cities: Civic Culture and Public Policy in Miami

ABSTRACT:

In this article, I analyze civic culture in Miami and demonstrate the ways in which this civic culture shapes policy making in two different areas: economic development and public safety. I argue that racial, ethnic, and economic divisions shape conflict in both policy areas, although the divisions play out in different ways in each. At the same time, an elite-dominated power system and a reactive and fragmented decision-making system mean that policy outcomes generally reflect the preferences of economic interests in the city, even as demographic shifts have altered the composition of the local elite and the economic health of the city has improved significantly.

Notes

1 The Miami metropolitan area has a two-tier local government structure: city governments, including the city of Miami, and Miami–Dade, the county government. Miami–Dade is responsible for county-wide issues and for local issues in the unincorporated areas of the county. In this article, much of my focus will be on the city of Miami, although I will also sometimes discuss the role of the county.

2 See Appendix 1 for a list of interviewees. Average interview length was 45 minutes. Interview participants were asked a set of prepared questions. However, if answers to the prepared questions raised additional issues, these issues were also explored.

3 The original arena only lasted nine years before the Heat basketball team insisted that they needed a new arena.

4 Sometimes racial/ethnic conflict enters into economic development policy in other ways. For example, in the early 1990s, black leaders called for an economic boycott of Miami when city officials refused to welcome Nelson Mandela during a U.S. visit after he spoke favorably about Castro (and Castro’s support for the ANC). Subsequently, a number of large conventions cancelled meetings planned for Miami. In the early 2000s, the city and county’s attempts to attract the Latin Grammys to Miami were embroiled in controversy when Cuban exile groups in the city threatened massive protests if Cuban artists were part of the event.

5 In the early 1990s, activists in Coconut Grove initiated a failed attempt to secede from the City of Miami (Morales, 2005). One of the criticisms of the incorporation effort was that the lines of the new city were drawn so as leave most of the black community inside the city of Miami, despite the community’s historic relationship to the Grove.

6 He was removed from office by the Governor after being charged with felony assault on a police officer and disorderly conduct at Miami International Airport.

7 Corrollo was then later involved in an embarrassing domestic dispute when he was arrested for throwing a tea canister at his wife.

8 As mentioned earlier, Winton was later removed from office by the governor for conduct unbecoming an elected official.

9 Despite improvements in the city’s image, distrust of government (and the idea that a “circus atmosphere” still operates) continues to be fueled by recent events. For example, in 2005, the powerful black politician, Arthur Teele, who had served on the county and city commission, was removed as the city commissioner representing Overtown after being arrested for threatening a police officer. The police officer was following Teele and his wife as part of a federal corruption investigation. Teele was later arrested and charged with accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks to award contracts. A few weeks later, he committed suicide in the lobby of the Miami Herald newspaper building. In 2006, an investigative report by the Miami Herald found that the Miami–Dade Housing Authority had given away millions of dollars to developers who were supposed to build affordable housing but never did. In addition, the report found that even when housing was built, it was often sold to speculators who turned around and sold the units for profit, rather than to low-income city residents. In 2007, similar problems were uncovered in the city of Miami’s affordable housing programs. Also in 2007, eleven city of Miami employees (“virtually an entire arm of city government”) were arrested for running a consulting firm out of their city offices on city time, using city vehicles, and equipment.

10 The NETs are viewed as a kind of “mini-city hall.” Residents can raise concerns and make suggestions about their neighborhoods through the NET office, rather than visiting city hall.

11 In addition, continuing problems in the management and oversight of affordable housing programs at both the county and city level suggest that the interests of low and moderate income Miami residents continue to suffer relative to the interests of politically connected developers (Cenziper, 2006; Lebowitz & Corral, 2007).