Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava launchd a new initiative to connect with residents in the county.
The initiative, called Thrive305, is a way for the community to get involved with concerning topics such as health and public safety, transportation, and more.
“Very exciting to have an opportunity to talk with thousands of our residents and get their ideas [on] what’s most important [and] what they would like to see government doing to assist a community [and] build that stronger,” said Mayor Levine Cava.
Levine Cava said they launched a survey in February and got 1.2 million answers from residents in Miami-Dade County. She said this is the first time the county is reaching out to the public about priorities and strategic planning since 2008.
“We launched on Saturday and now we have Monday through Thursday. Four sessions drilling down in more detail on these topics: Monday is health and public safety, Tuesday is housing and economy, Wednesday is transit and environment and Thursday is trust and responsiveness in county government,” she said.
The topics were chosen by the responses provided by the public. Other issues include jobs, helping small business owners, and internet access.
“We all know internet is no longer a luxury it’s a necessity. For those who aren’t part of this digital era, they are really left behind. We’ve seen it with the children doing virtual schooling, if they don’t have good access to internet, they are left behind and seniors as well. Especially in our underserved neighborhoods, almost 80% of our seniors do not have internet access, so if everything is done virtually, they are totally left out,” added Levine Cava.
The goal? Levine Cava says to keep people connected to the government. An action plan is expected to come out in May.
“We want people to feel that we are here to help and that when you contact us, you can expect a response. When you have an idea that you have an opportunity to share it. It’s about building trust in government,” she said.
The sessions can be watched live online on Mayor Levine Cava’s Twitter or Facebook pages. For those without internet access, the county has created some places where they can gather safely at libraries and community sites. To get involved, click here.
