By Dessalines Ferdinand
Miramar Mayor Wayne M. Messan delivered his annual State of the City address at the Miramar Cultural Center on Thursday, Oct. 24. In his speech, he remarked on the city’s progress during his time in office. City officials, elected officials’ guests from surrounding cities, members of Miramar Chamber of Commerce as well as members of the public were in attendance.
A little reception was held for the guests at the Miramar Banquet Hall followed by the Mayor’s address an hour later. Supa Cindy of 99 JAMZ was the Mistress of Ceremonies. The event started around 7:00PM.
About 20 students from the Miramarvels Early Childhood Academy were brought on stage to recite the Pledge of Allegiance while seven Miramar police officers stood to salute, with three of them holding the City, the State and the American flags. A female singer was then called to sing the National Anthem.
The MC went on to acknowledge the city’s elected officials: Vice-Mayor Alexander P. Davis, Commissioner Winston F. Barnes, Commissioner Yvette Colbourne, and Commissioner Maxwell B. Chambers, management and staff of the city, and Miramar Police Chief, Chief Dexter M. Williams. She also introduced some of the visiting officials, including Ms. Patricia Good from the School Board of Broward County, David Williams, Jr. from the City of Miami Gardens, the Consul General of Jamaica in Miami, OLIVER Mair, the Mayor of Kingston, Senator Delroy Williams, and two members of his cabinet.
Since the City of Miramar has a growing relationship with the city of Kingston, its mayor was given the privilege to address the audience, sharing the bilateral exchanges between the collaborations among the cities. During his speech, attendees learned that the cities of Miramar and Kingston have been collaborating on emergency preparedness and the restoration of a 300 year old cultural space (The Wards Theater), which is similar to the Miramar Cultural Center where the event was held.
Through a pre-registered video, Vice-Mayor Davis and the three other commissioners (Barnes, Chambers and Colbourne) addressed the audience to share their personal initiative to make the city move forward and be a better place to live and do business.
“As the mayor of the city of Miramar, it’s been a very humbling and exciting experience,” said Mayor Messan. “Leading our city as one the most progressive, innovative and safest cities in Florida. As elected officials, we have an opportunity to have many initiatives which impact our community, and I focus my initiatives on youth and families, the business community, and the city’s infrastructure.”
According to the Mayor, the City of Miramar is growing. He said he is so proud of the city staff, taking some time to share the accomplishments various departments have achieved, including the City Clerk’s Office, the Community Department Services, Building Department, Economic and Business Development (a new department they have to open because Miramar is the fastest growing city in America), Miramar Fire Rescue Department, Human Resources, Engineering Department, Marketing and Communications, and several others.
The mayor’s 65-minute speech focused on three specific areas: economic development, business climate and residents’ quality of life.
In his remarks, the Mayor said that he can surely state that the city’s business climate is very strong and continues to grow. He said, “Miramar continues to have one of the fastest growing economies in the country for a city of its size. We are creating and continue to create high paying jobs in the city. We actually diversify our economy. Miramar has been known for a very heavy and successful aviation sector.”
He also noted that the city has growing technology sector. The Health Sciences sector is also growing, so the city has been able to attract information technology companies, and Miramar still claims the most Fortune 500 companies in any city in the tri-county area.
There were plenty of statistics thrown into the mix to illustrate how the city has progressed since he became Mayor over five years ago: from 2014 to 2019, the corporate activities brought to the city equals $323 million in capital investment, using 1,246,000 square feet of space, and creating 1,600 high paying jobs (with an average of $65K or higher). For the year 2019 alone, 370 new small businesses (11 employees or less) have implanted. Among those companies that came to the city to build infrastructure to operate their business are: Hilton, Residence Inn, Progressive, Comcast, Memorial Healthcare System, and Courtyard by Marriott.
Mayor Messam also talked about the business community in Miramar which is composed of 3.5 million square feet of office space, 9.3 million square feet of industrial space, and 3.2 million square feet of retail space. At least two major shopping centers are coming: The Miramar Station, which is a mix-use spotlight of 648 Multi-Family Units with 25,000 square feet of commercial space located at the northeast corner of Miramar Parkway & Flamingo Road. An ALDI grocery store and a Chik-Fil-A (fast food restaurant) will be located at the new complex.
ALTI, is an another mix-use spotlight of 650 Multi-Family Units with 50,000 square feet of commercial and retail space located at the northwest corner of Miramar Parkway & Red Road. The restaurant Flanigan’s will be located at the ALTI complex. The Hotel corridors at I-75 and Florida’s Turnpike has a total of 942 rooms.
The property values are up an average of 7.5% over the last five years. The unemployment rate in Miramar (3.2%) is lower than Broward County (3.3%) and the State of Florida (3.5%). Speaking about economic development, the mayor noted that building department has issued 7,870 permits for a total of $278 million of construction value.
Business friendly, central location, corporate attraction incentives, foreign trade zone, and small business assistance programs are some of the main reasons many companies have come to the city of Miramar. From the property tax revenues generated, the city has reinvested $160 million in infrastructure projects, included the East Water Treatment Plant, Reuse Water Distribution Expansion, Canal Embankment Restoration, the Streetscape Improvement, and Phase IV Storm Water Improvements.
“This is a different city than it was fifteen years ago. I won’t be the Mayor here fifteen years from now. But fifteen years from now, each of us will look back and say we stood side by side and made the tough decision together with our residents, with the corporate community and our city’s staff to bring this to life. And Miramar, I can stay in front of you tonight and say The State Of The City is strong. As strong it has never been, and we will be stronger if we continue to work together to imagine a Miramar that can service our future,” concluded Mayor Wayne M. Messan.
Miramar is a city on the move. Thanks to the positive efforts and collaboration among leaders, it has become a rising star throughout the South Florida region. When government leaders, community members, and businesses work together and share a common vision for the future, amazing things can happen. Miramar is and will continue to be a clear, bright, shining example of that and its residents should be proud of the hard work and dedication of Mayor Messan, Vice-Mayor Davis, the Commissioners (Barnes, David, Chambers), and all others have contributed to bringing Miramar into the future, which is now.
Dessalines FERDINAND
ferdinand@lefloridien.com