Lynda Bell: Lone Vote Against Diversity and Inclusion

In 2002 the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) passed the gay-rights ordinance and was subsequently upheld by the voters in the Fall.  However, the existing Miami-Dade law doesn’t cover transgender people.  

In May, Commissioners Bruno Barreiro and Audrey Edmonson filed a trans-inclusive amendment, which was co-sponsored by Commissioners Barbara Jordan and Sally Heyman. The amendment passed on first reading with an 11-1 vote. Only Miami-Dade Commission Vice Chairwoman Lynda Bell voted against.

Next, the amendment must pass the commission’s Health and Social Services Committee, which is chaired by Edmonson. A vote is scheduled on July 8. If three of five committee members approve the amendment, it goes back to the full commission for a final vote, probably in the fall.

Reference Links:

Miami Herald 
Eye on Miami

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2013/06/save-dade-seeks-transgender-protections-in-miami-dade-county-hopes-to-pass-law-by-end-of-the-year.html#storylink=cpy

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It's Really Official Now: Mark Bell is Running for Mayor of Homestead

Eye on Miami received confirmation from City Hall and has reported on their blog that Mark Bell is running for Mayor and has opened a campaign account.  In this picture Mark and his wife County Commissioner Lynda Bell are shown.












Reference Link:
 For Whom the Bell Tolls: Mark Bell Running for Mayor?

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Bateman Fundraiser: A List of South Dade Movers and Shakers

The long list for the sitting Mayor's fundraiser is full of glad-handlers and sycophants lined up to eat at the trough of taxpayer handouts.  The "Baitster" as he is euphemistically called by some of his most ardent critics, is revving up the political machine.  He'd better launch an offensive quickly as Mark Bell, husband of County Commissioner Lynda Bell, is getting ready to mount a political assault on City Hall. Eye on Miami (EOM) has provided the list.

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South Dade Community Job Fair @ MDC Homestead Campus

Miami Dade College (MDC) Homestead Campus is partnering with the Miami-Dade County Commissioner and MDC alumna Lynda Bell to host the First Annual South Dade Community Job Fair – complete with professional marketability workshops – at the campus on Wednesday, June 5, 2013. The job fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.in buildings D and G. It is free and open to the public.

The South Dade Community Job Fair, spearheaded by Commissioner Bell, is an opportunity to provide residents and students with access to employers in our area. It also allows companies to meet potential workforce talent for current and future positions.

 “This first community job fair is so important to the South Dade area. It will help businesses in our community and assist prospective applicants in making contact with potential employers,” said Dr. Jeanne Jacobs, MDC Homestead Campus president.

 “In this economic downturn, I am delighted to help bring employers eager to meet with prospective employees, as well as employment experts with the purpose of sharpening the professional skills of future job applicants and students alike,” said Commissioner Bell.

 Featured workshops include:

·        Renovate My Resume

·        The Ultimate Interview Review

·        Attire to Admire

South Dade Community Job Fair

• WHEN: Wednesday, Jun. 5, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
• WHERE: MDC Homestead Campus (Buildings D and G) 500 College Terrace Homestead, FL 33030

For more information, call Lavinia Freeman at 305-237-5147, lfreeman@mdc.edu, or 
Charlene Collazo in the Office of Commissioner Lynda Bell 
305-378-667, collazo@miamidade.gov.

Juan Mendieta, 305-237-7611, jmendiet@mdc.edu
MDC communications director Tere Estorino, 305-237-3949, testorin@mdc.edu
MDC media relations director Kai Hill, 305-237-3359, khill1@mdc.edu
media specialist Sue Arrowsmith, 305-237-3710, sue.arrowsmith@mdc.edu
media specialist Roxana Romero, 305-237-3366, rromero3@mdc.edu
media specialist Alejandro Rios, 305-237-7482, arios1@mdc.edu

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For Whom the Bell Tolls: Mark Bell Running for Mayor?

Mark Bell owner of The Redland Hotel may be running for Mayor of Homestead, FL.  The unofficial word in town is that he's seriously considering it.  The suspense has the city elders flummoxed in that his wife is the venerable Lynda Bell, Miami-Dade County Commissioner for District 8 and Ex-Mayor of Homestead 2007-2009.  The city would get a bargain by having twice the expertise for the price of one.  Already a power couple in South Dade rubbing elbows with the well connected throughout the county, the Bells would become even more so of a power couple if Mark were to win.  It would also be a vindication for Lynda whose Mayorship was cut short by the current Mayor Steven Bateman.  Political guerrilla warfare may be possible in Homestead depending on the candidates and a coup d'état may not be out of the question if only figuratively speaking.

                   These photo of The Hotel Redland is courtesy

                   of TripAdvisor

This photo of The Hotel Redland is courtesy of TripAdvisor

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Not So Fast! No Forced MACs, Annexations, or Incorporations

Commissioner Lynda Bell, representing District 8, on the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners (BCC) stood on principle not to support the creation of three Municipal Advisory Committees (MAC) for West Kendall unless each MAC garnered signatures of 20% of the residents affected prior to its creation.  Commissioner Juan C. Zapata, representing District 11, wants to create three MACs in West Kendall splitting the district somewhat evenly along transportation corridors.  Currently there are no municipalities in District 11 so annexation is not a consideration.

Commissioner Zapata would like to have the ordinance requiring 20% of the signatures waived for his proposed MACs.  Commissioner Zapata provided a justification akin to "a previous MAC didn't need to meet the threshold" but Commissioner Bell did not budge.  Commissioner Jordan also voiced some reservations and asked counsel to provide more information as to the threshold and its particulars.  She motioned to deffer the item to the next meeting and Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz, who chairs the Land Use and Development Committee second the motion.

At first one may think this is an altruistic proposal by Commissioner Zapata whereby citizens will get together and decide on the future of the proposed areas.  Everyone will have their say and then decide cordially to incorporate or not to incorporate.  However, history has shown that these committees take a life of their own and suddenly incorporation will not be a choice but a forgone conclusion.  Fact is creating new municipalities is an arduous task and all the ordinace requires is a 20% commitment by the residents affected.

Commissioner Zapata needs to garner 20% commitment from the residents in each of the three areas proposed to create the MACs. Incorporation will be moot if not successful since there is an even greater commitment of 25% of the residents affected to achieve an incorporation vote. This may be a case of a solution looking for a problem; however if Commissioner Zapata can garner the signatures then surely Commissioner Bell may readily sign on to his proposal. 

See video below specifically Lynda Bell's explanation starting at 16:55.

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District 8 Commissioner Lynda Bell Gets Apology From Beacon Council After Discussing Funding And Oversight Changes

Late Breaking Related Content:
Miami-Dade commissioner gets apology after calling out county's economic development agency
The chairman of Miami-Dade's top economic development agency apologized to County Commissioner Lynda Bell on Wednesday, a day after Bell publicly called out Beacon Council leaders from the dais.
 
"I feel very bad, personally, about any bad feelings you have about the meeting we had Monday," Joe Pallot, chairman of the Beacon Council's board of directors, said at a meeting of the commission's economic development and social services committee. "We really do want to work with you."
 
"I appreciate the apology," Bell said. "I think it may have come from the wrong person, but I do appreciate it."
 
Piped in Nero: "I echo anything my chairman may have said."
 
On Tuesday, Bell had said Pallot and Beacon Council President and CEO Frank Nero treated her and her staff "very rudely and disrespectfully" in a private meeting Monday, held in part to discuss Bell's proposal to renegotiate the 27-year-old Beacon Council's open-ended contract with the county.

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/10/miami-dade-commissioner-gets-an-apology-after-calling-out-countys-economic-development-agency.html#storylink=cpy



By Patricia Mazzei
pmazzei@MiamiHerald.com

Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell turned up the heat Tuesday on a simmering political feud with the county’s economic development agency, the Beacon Council.
Bell proposed renegotiating the county’s open-ended contract with the Beacon Council — a move that agency leaders fear could threaten the 27-year-old council’s existence, or at least create uncertainty in its plans to expand and recruit businesses to Miami-Dade.

Friction between the Beacon Council and Bell became public in recent weeks, after Bell sent a letter to the editor raising concerns about the agency to a community newspaper that had published an editorial questioning the Beacon Council’s effectiveness — particularly in South Miami-Dade, where Bell’s district is located. The editorial prompted the Beacon Council’s lawyer to send the paper a letter demanding a retraction.

The Beacon Council has a big-picture focus, its leaders say, intended to attract businesses to grow the county’s economy as a whole. At least some commissioners, however, counter that the agency doesn’t do enough to help small businesses in their districts. More than half of the agency’s annual budget comes from $3.7 million in county funds.

The tension was evident Tuesday when Bell briefly presented her plan to have the commission more closely oversee the Beacon Council.

“I report to the people and to the taxpayers, not the Beacon Council or its board,” Bell said. “Many in my community, and many in yours on the dais, have been crying out for help.”

She ultimately deferred her measure at the meeting of the internal management and fiscal responsibility committee — but only after several other commissioners praised her proposal and vowed to support it. Bell pledged to bring back the legislation after meeting with members of the Beacon Council’s board of directors.

She sat down with the council board’s chairman, Joe Pallot, and with the Beacon Council’s president and chief executive officer, Frank Nero, on Monday in what Bell described as a contentious meeting.

“I was treated very rudely and disrespectfully, insulted — as was my chief of staff,” Bell said.
Nero and Pallot, who did not attend Tuesday’s committee, said in an interview before the meeting that they were concerned by Bell’s proposal, which they said they learned about only shortly before sitting down with the commissioner.

“My fear is that if our contract — and by extension our existence, our structure — is opened up, we’re going to chill all of the wonderful efforts of One Community One Goal,” Pallot said, referring to the five-year plan for the county’s economy. One of the people chairing that initiative is Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

Pallot quickly added that he doesn’t think Bell wants to do away with the Beacon Council. But he said the agency and the commission could make some of the changes Bell proposed without renegotiating the entire contract.

The key proposal in Bell’s measure would delete the automatic renewal to the Beacon Council’s contract. Bell and other commissioners said they would prefer a contract set for a certain number of years with an option to renew.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/16/3052984/miami-dade-commissioner-takes.html#storylink=cpy

  http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2012/10/17/miami-dade-commissioners-want-more.html?page=all

  http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/121018/story3.shtml

  http://southdadematters.com/2012/10/10/bell-to-beacon-council-its-miller-time

 http://www.communitynewspapers.com/pinecrest/commissioner-bell-responds-to-beacon-council-questions/

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