Miami Lakes Mayor Josh Dieguez told the Miami Lakes Chamber of Commerce that he will propose several ideas to the town’s Charter Revision Commission that is getting underway and as he begins his second year as the town’s leader.
Dieguez spoke Dec. 10 before about 60 bankers, educators, lawyers, real estate professionals, non-profit leaders, manufacturers and credit union executives during a luncheon at the Miami Lakes Hotel on Main.
“I myself am a big believer in term limits,” Dieguez said. “It takes a while to implement policies, but change is good. Sometimes people get too comfortable and start to think of these posts as theirs.”
He will propose the commission consider adopting lifetime term limits for elective offices, “so you can serve no more than eight years as a council member and eight years as a mayor.”
Currently residents may serve two, consecutive four-year terms per position. After a break in service, the former office holder could return to the dais again for another eight years.
Dieguez is also against having a strong mayor.
“We have a professional manager and a professional staff to run the day to day, to take the politics out of it,” Dieguez said. “It was something that the town formers wanted to do. We don’t need to go ahead and create a six-figure position, in essence just to stroke somebody’s ego.
“I think anybody who advocates for the strong mayor form of government really doesn’t understand the history of this town, doesn’t understand the town at all and doesn’t understand what the town needs,” he said. “So I’m going to be vigorously opposing any effort to try to move to that strong mayor system.”
Dieguez said he will also propose runoff elections be held after Thanksgiving to help boost turnout, and to add a week of early voting.
As for his own political future, Dieguez said with three years left on his term, it was too soon to say if he will run again.
His other initiatives were: bringing a U.S. passport office to Town Hall; putting the business license application process online, and reserving parking at Town Hall so that those doing online transactions can meet in a safe place.
As for various bills to cut property taxes that state legislators may put to voters, Dieguez said he supports expanding homestead exemption amounts.
He described the council’s decision to restore most park maintenance funding in the operating budget, said the police budget is $12 million and how the town enjoys a historically low crime rate.
Dieguez said about 52% of the town’s operating budget, which includes parks and cops, comes from property taxes.
“Vote your conscience,” Diegeuz said. “It’s not [going to be] a complete erasure of property taxes. But just consider the impact that it would have on our public services if those proposals were to pass. Property taxes are the lifeblood for local governments to provide those services.”
Chamber President Ray Palacios told the members he has applied to the state legislature for money to promote businesses in Miami Lakes.
The next chamber lunch is set for Jan. 14 and will feature a panel of business executives from banking, communications and health care.
Networking starts at 11:30 a.m. followed by lunch at noon, it costs $45 for members, $55 for non-members. Miami Lakes Hotel on Main is at 6842 Main St. Register at
MiamiLakesChamber.com.