Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava returned to Miami Lakes for a sixth time in recent years and appeared before the Miami Lakes Chamber of Commerce.
“Guess what, I’m not up for election!” said Levine Cava. “Yay!”
She announced that she just turned 70 and that she could “still drop for 10” pushups.
Most of the Miami Lakes town council, Stuart Wyllie, president and chief executive officer of The Graham Companies, and education and business leaders were among the 130 guests who applauded for her on Oct. 8.
“It used to be the economy was everybody’s number one concern but right now, it’s divisiveness, division,” she said.
She said that the county defies that description.
“It’s not true here in Miami Lakes, it’s not true in Miami-Dade County,” she said. “We are, as people say, one of the most diverse places in the world, but also the most unified. Our economy is booming. Maybe that’s because we get along.”
Unemployment is at 3.8% and 120,000 new jobs were created in the past year, she said.
“We used to be the most entrepreneurial but now we also have capital to make it real,” she said.
It’s the sixth largest metropolitan area for venture capital deals in the U.S. and ninth in deal value, she said.
“That means we have all these great ideas and we actually have people putting up money to make it happen,” she said.
The airport is improved after a $9 billion investment that will replace all the elevators and escalators, she said. A new hotel is being built there.
The new 2,000-space Ibis parking garage will be ready for Christmas, coming in “under budget, under deadline,” she said.
Miami International Airport handled 56 billion passengers last year and hosts nearly 100 airlines; it’s the number one driver in the county economy she said.
The seaport is second, and together they make up 11% of gross domestic product for the State of Florida, and 14% of the state’s jobs.
Levine Cava said housing continues to be a challenge; 5,000 rental units were built and 11,000 are in the pipeline for low income tenants as well as teachers, cops and firefighters.
“We can’t afford to lose them,” she said “We’ve developed talent and we need to keep talent.
“We are at this point one of the most expensive if not the most expensive places to live in the country, based on our salaries,” she said.
The county recently cut $400 million from the budget and lost more than 300 county jobs.
The sheriff has a $1 billion budget, which drew applause.
“Safety first,” she said.
Government, business and civil society must work together for “the incredibly dynamic place that we call home,” she said. “I’m so super proud to be your mayor. ... Truly, you’re doing a great job here.”