Sharief Delivers for District 8

The Broward County Commission led by County Commissioner Sharief approved $2.9 million for the Miramar Pineland Natural Area, located at 3300 S. University Drive in the City of Miramar. The project will develop a 157-acre park site, which includes a storage building, restrooms, gate house, picnic shelter structures, playground, roads, parking, site utilities, walkways, boardwalks and landscaping. This project supports the Broward County Commission goal to maintain a network of parks and libraries that provides a variety of recreational and learning opportunities.

A Summary of the Legislative Session

These bills were passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Rick Scott.

PENSION REFORM
Employees in the Florida Retirement System will pay three percent of their salaries into their retirement accounts, face higher retirement ages and their retirement accounts will no longer collect cost-of-living-adjustment starting July 1.

PILL MILLS
Limits ability of doctors to dispense prescription drugs. Establishes stiff penalties for illegally dispensing prescription drugs.

DRUG TESTS FOR WELFARE RECIPIENTS
Requires drug screening for adult welfare recipients, who will lose benefits for a year if they test positive.

SAGGY PANTS
Requires school boards to prohibit students from wearing clothes that show their underwear or body parts.

TEACHER TENURE
Teacher evaluations will be based in part on student test scores, and administrators will be able to more easily fire teachers with weak evaluations.

VIRTUAL SCHOOLS
Expands online school offerings by allowing more students to enroll in virtual schools and letting private companies participate in online education. Requires incoming high school students take at least one online course before graduating.

2011 Redistricting Process Now Underway

The Broward County Commission has initiated the process for preparing a new Broward County Commission district map based upon the recently released 2010 Census data.

Pursuant to the Broward County Charter, the County is divided into nine single member districts. Redistricting is required by Section 2.01 A. of the Charter, to balance the populations of the districts and ensure residents have equal representation on the County Commission.

Several map options will be prepared for the Commissioners to consider. Each option will be prepared using "Fair Districting" principles for federal, congressional and state legislative districts, which were added to the Florida Constitution by voter referendum in the November 2010 election.  In May, the County Commission adopted the Fair Districting Standards.

For information on the redistricting process and the projected timeline, please visit www.broward.org/redistricting.

SunPass Offers New Parking Payment Option at FLL

Just in time for summer travel, SunPass is now available at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL) Airport. SunPass customers can now enjoy the ease and convenience of using their transponders to pay for parking at the airport by first accessing their SunPass account and pre-selecting the SunPass Plus program. By following this simple step, customers can then use SunPass to electronically pay for parking. SunPass is now available in all the parking garages, including the economy parking lot. SunPass will automatically charge the airport parking fees to your account. For more information call Greg Meyer, Aviation Public Information Officer at 954-359-6116.

Sharief Hosts Inaugural District 8 Forum

Elected officials from District 8 cities come together to discuss city/county
issues with Broward County Commissioner Barbara Sharief.

Transit, economic development, police and fire regional dispatch, and waste disposal were just some of the topics discussed at the Inaugural District 8 Forum held in June. The meeting brought together all Mayors and City Commissioners in District 8.

Highlights from the forum included:

Broward County FY 2012 Budget:
Broward County Administrator Bertha Henry told the elected officials that current plans are to keep the County's portion of the millage rate the same for fiscal year 2012. Also, no further reductions in transit were planned and some regional libraries would re-open on Sundays. Broward County is looking at a $9 million budget gap, excluding costs associated with the Broward Sheriff's Budget.

Police/Fire Dispatch:
City representatives were told the Broward County/City Managers Association is studying the issue and opportunities that are being looked at that would consolidate dispatch services at a cost savings.

Solid Waste Fee:
Broward County is currently negotiating a service and lease agreement with Wheelabrator for waste disposal services. The goal is to achieve a blended rate as close to $72.50 per ton as possible, a slight increase from the current rate.
 
Transit:
County Commissioner Barbara Sharief updated city representatives on plans to add new Express Transit buses with the recent approval of $15.9 million in funds. In addition, new East/West routes are expected.

This was the first District 8 Forum in Broward County. Elected officials from Weston, Southwest Ranches, Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Hallandale Beach and West Park participated.