Special Coverage: MDC Budget Hearing 1
By Philip Cardella
September 4, 2025
Miami, Florida
The Too Long Didn't Read Version:
I stood in line for four and a half hours, then got to finally sit in the chambers to wait another half an hour before I got to say my 1 minute piece in defense of Miami's Eviction Diversion Program. If that sounds awful...well, it wasn't. The line was stock full of a rainbow of shirts (people in line joked the line would be cancelled due to being a rainbow), advocating strongly for public funding for causes they care about (and frankly, so far as I could tell, were all worth causes). The group I am with, People Acting for Community Together, chatted, laughed, groused over the news and otherwise just hung out while we waited to speak.
The longer version (it's not super long):
There is good reporting on the intense 2025 Miami Dade County Budget Hearing from September 4th out there, and there's been some other reporting too (this is in Spanish, which is fine, but the reporting has been disputed by some people at the meeting). Rather than rehashing that coverage, I thought I'd provide some of what it was like to be one of the people making public comments during the marathon session that started at 5 PM.
As I occasionally mention, I am a volunteer with an interfaith organization called People Acting for Community Together (PACT) in Miami Dade County. The organization was formed in aftermath of the McDuffie riots in the 1980s as a mechanism to hold public officials accountable. PACT partnered with Miami Workers Center and Catalyst Miami (an affordability advocacy organization) to give the press conference linked here and below before the budget hearing began. Please check out the short report by WSVN.
Jordan Kissane, Matthew Garcia
Not audible in that video, I imagine due to some tough editing choices, was the barnyard sounds of roosters crowing incessantly during the press conference in the background. I'm not joking. They weren't crowing in the video I shot before the meeting (it's under 20 seconds) but they're there, next to the building (the tall one) and the hotdog vendor.
Chickens in Miami next to the County Commission building and a hotdog vendor on 1st. Video by Philip Cardella TWIFL Copyright 2025.
After you watch the videos above here is the reverse perspective of the reporters, just for fun.
When entering the building from the east were immediately greeted by the line to sign up to speak. This was at about 3:00 PM on Thursday, two hours before the meeting.
Here is the line to actually get in the meeting, this time shot around 3:30 PM as I descended the escalator after the press conference (with the roosters).
The chambers cannot hold that many people, however, so some of us, like yours truly, waited until 8 PM (or later!) to get into the hearing to say their piece.
If your keeping track, I was there for five hours before getting into a meeting that started at 5 PM, meaning, the meeting had been going on for 3 hours before I got in.
Not to worry though, for those not wanting to stand in line there was overflow seating and speakers in one area of the large atrium area with the line.
Around 8 PM, after waiting in line for nearly five hours (I got in line after the press conference ended at 3:30 PM) I was allowed into the chambers.
Once you got to the podium you had 1 minute beginning after you stated your name and address for the record, to say your piece.
Here is what I wrote down to say, though I went a little off script:
My name is Philip Cardella. I live at 3230 SW 94th Ct in Miami. My child is a member of Miami Children's Chorus, which depends on your funding and I am grateful for the county's support for that. But that's not the main reason why I'm here. That amazing choir needs an audience! In April Mayor Levine Cava promised an audience of nearly one thousand of your constituents that she'd expand the county's very successful Eviction Diversion Program, which has a 98% success rate, to $3 million in this budget. There were a couple of caveats. 1) $3m is only 1/4 of what the program would look like fully funded. 2) she said only you, our commissioners, could approve of the $3 million in funding. Tonight, I'm asking you to do just fulfill the promise of $3 million for the Eviction Diversion Program.
As one of the people in my group pointed out, however, the commissioners and mayor didn't appear to be listening, which is frustrating and sad.
So, I waited in line for over five hours just to speak for 1 minute to a group of people that didn't appear to be listening.
Was it worth it?
Yes and here's why:
First, it isn't any individual comment that was important, rather than the volume of the comments about a given subject combined with other means of getting the point across. PACT, Miami Workers Center and Catalyst Miami have been working together for months to make their combined voices heard. The press conference, the only I saw at the event, was part of that strategy.
Second, five hours is a long time to wait, but being in a group of people made it easy. We chatted, got burgers delivered (thanks to one of the PACT organizers) made new friends with other organizations part of the rainbow line of colors, and just otherwise hung out. It wasn't ideal, but that's what people acting for community together (lower case this time) is all about.
That's why at the second and final budget hearing meeting I plan to do it all over again.