Pursuant to Section 2.04 of the Miami Beach City Charter, the City Commission shall meet at such times as may be prescribed by ordinance or resolution.
The City Clerk recommends that when preparing the City Commission meeting calendar, the City Commission take into consideration the following events: U.S. Conference of Mayors; Art Basel; ICMA Conference; August recess; September to set the tentative/final millage and budget approval; November for election/runoff election meetings (if it is an election year); and Federal (Attachment A) and Religious Holidays (Attachment B and C).
To make the City Commission meetings more efficient and prevent residents from spending multiple hours waiting for a time certain item to be heard, Mayor Philip Levine proposed in 2013 that presentations and awards-only meetings be scheduled at different times throughout the year. By placing the presentations and awards on an alternate meeting date, the regular City Commission meetings will start business on time, which will increase the likelihood that time certain agenda items are taken up at the time listed, or closely thereafter. Additionally, having a designated Presentations and Awards Commission meeting will provide the City Commission with an opportunity to properly acknowledge and show gratitude to those individuals or groups who have taken an active role in serving our community. If needed, the Presentations and Awards Commission meeting may be utilized for items that are deemed emergencies and/or continued or not reached during the previous Commission meeting.
On those months without a separate Presentations and Awards meeting, the Presentations and Awards items will be heard at 5:00 p.m.
The City Clerk suggests that when scheduling the 2023 City Commission meeting dates, the City Commission accomplish four goals: 1) schedule, when possible, one City Commission meeting a month; 2) schedule at least two separate Presentations and Awards/Commission meetings per year (two are being proposed); 3) schedule Commission meetings, if possible, on Wednesdays; and 4) not schedule Commission meetings during August, while the City Commission is in recess.
It is recommended that the City Commission meetings be set as follows:
Commission Meetings Presentations & Awards/Commission Meetings
Starts at 8:30 a.m. Starts at 5:00 p.m.
January 25 (Wednesday) P&A will be heard in the January 25 meeting
February 22 (Wednesday) P&A will be heard in the February 22 meeting
March 15 (Wednesday) P&A will be heard in the March 15 meeting
April 26 (Wednesday) P&A will be heard in the April 26 meeting
May 17 (Wednesday) May 31 (Wednesday)
June 28 (Wednesday) P&A will be heard in the June 28 meeting
July 26 (Wednesday) P&A will be heard in the July 26 meeting
August - City Commission in recess
September 13 (Wednesday) P&A will be heard in September 13 meeting
September Budget Meeting - TBD
October 18 (Wednesday) October 25 (Wednesday)
November Election Related Meetings - TBD
December 6 (Wednesday) P&A will be heard in the December 6 meeting