Statement of Mayor Mike Ryan April 7, 2017 Governance Committee of Broward County Charter Review

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Samantha Dalton
6 years ago
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1 Statement of Mayor Mike Ryan April 7, 2017 Governance Committee of Broward County Charter Review My name is Mike Ryan. I am a long term resident of Broward County, dating back to My times away from Broward were punctuated by college, a brief post-college employment until the first big snowfall, and law school. But I always came home. I attended Coral Springs Middle school and graduated from Coral Springs High School. In 2010 I was elected Mayor of the City of Sunrise. Sunrise is a geographically, economically and culturally diverse municipality. As a city we have approximately 88,000 residents and over a 1,000 full time employees. Our general fund budget is $122 Million and an overall budget of $444 Million with our enterprise activities. For instance, we supply water and gas to over 200,000 in the region. We are known to many because we are home to such things as Sawgrass Mills Mall and the BB&T Center. To be sure, the Mall is a significant regional asset. With nearly 3 million square feet the mall is second only to Disney in attracting visitors to the State of Florida. It is also an enormous sales tax generator as well as a job center. Importantly, for every sales tax dollar generated at Sawgrass Mill Malls, receive more of that dollar than Sunrise does. You may not realize this, but of every sales tax dollar generated at the mall, 91.2 percent goes to the state. The remaining 8.8 cents come back to Broward County. It is the divided again. The County government gets a lion s share. The remaining pennies are divided amongst the municipalities not based upon where the sales tax dollar was generated, but purely based upon a statutory population formula meaning Coral Springs gets more than Sunrise does. As a result we are keenly aware of the need to celebrate regional success whether in Fort Lauderdale, Miramar, Pompano, Hollywood, Davie, Plantation or anywhere in the county economic development, job retention and expansion and a strong tourist based economy benefits us all and we celebrate that no matter where it happens (but a bit more when happens in Sunrise). And, we are home to the 20,000 seat BB&T Center. This is a major regional asset of the County government with significant effort now finally being dedicated to developing that site to its better potential. That is, however, a county property. Decisions on how to use that regional asset are predominantly made outside our City. But we are more than home to Mall and the BB&T. We host one of the region s most successful corporate parks. With over 600 acres we are home to an estimated 30,000 jobs and 3.5 billion in property value. We are host for national and international headquarters and are home for companies covering medical device, high-tech,

2 consultancy, health care, media, financial services, retail giants and entrepreneurs following a dream. In that corridor, an additional $2.5 billion in capital investment and expansion is on the drawing board, projected to produce an estimated 12,000 additional jobs. Within our borders, we have 11 public schools, at least one major charter school and many early learning centers. However, many students educated within the borders of Sunrise live in other cities. Similarly, high schools such as Plantation High and Western in Davie have a substantial student population from Sunrise. For municipalities in Broward, there are times borders define action, but often our imagination to excel and thrive must naturally cross borders. Therefore, and to my point of this opening statement, we are keenly aware of the regional relationships necessary for us to thrive and be sustainable. From the seagrass to the sawgrass, from Emergency 911 to education, from aquifers to rising seas, from trash to transportation we understand the need to work together not as 31 separate municipalities and a county government but as a collection of government entities whose future is inextricably linked and tethered together. At times, that can be challenging and we may not always succeed. But, nonetheless, I, as a Mayor, work closely with my colleagues throughout the county and with county government each week of the year. I am here to speak in support of an elected county-wide mayor. I am one of five on our Sunrise Commission with an equal vote and all of us are elected citywide. I am chair of the meetings and have ceremonial responsibilities my colleagues share that responsibility to be sure. Our s is a City Manager form of government. In the now over 6 years I have been Mayor, I have come to appreciate more than ever the importance of having an individual who is consistently identified as the Mayor for Broward County. I will address 3 categories of reasons why: 1. Continuity and Identification of Leadership perceived and real; 2. Accountability county wide 3. Defeating Disenfranchisement Rightly or wrongly, in my experience and I suspect the experience of my fellow mayors, when there is a complaint or an economic opportunity for the municipality, more often than not, the Mayor is the person who is contacted. That does not mean to say my colleagues on the Sunrise Commission do not receive such contacts in their roles but those are often defined across preexisting relationships. When a resident or an existing business or a new business looks to government to get answers or provide opportunities, they start with the person labeled as

3 Mayor. Even when contacting all Commissioners at the same time, those reaching out expect the Mayor to be responsive and it brings a perceived level of importance to the response. In my experience of economic development, many projects, including potential new job generators and capital investment, take more than a year of effort and imagination. Continuity of communication and information is important. For instance, the work to compete nationally and to retain the 3,000 American Express jobs in Broward and encourage the $170 Million in capital investment was aggressively conducted over a long period of time. The work to facilitate the Mall expansion and build out of parking garages, similarly took over a year. The engagement with State DOT on Sawgrass Expressway improvements, including a north access point at Pat Salerno, has been going on well over a year and has included many meetings with the Governor and representatives of DOT in Tallahassee. There are many more examples While each of my colleagues deserve equal credit for the results in each outcome, none of the accomplishments can ever be said to be solely because of one person, and it is certain that city staff did the heavy lifting, the reality was that I was on point to hold staff accountable day in day out and to engage with those interested in moving forward with capital investment, job expansion and significant infrastructure improvements. In fact, to the outside, the Mayor was expected point person and brought a level of perceived or real significance or importance to the discussions. Rotating mayors year after year diminishes both the continuity of the relationships but also jeopardizes the consistency of discussions. Further, not every Mayor may prioritize certain projects, even if important to County Administration. This does create some challenging dynamics even for County Government I would imagine. In none of the discussions regarding regional impacts in Sunrise was there a County Mayor present or engaged consistently. In fact, the Governor has been to Sunrise for job expansion announcements or roundtables likely a half dozen times fairly recently. I do not believe the selected Mayor or anyone from County Administration was ever present for these significant events perhaps once because it was in his district but I think he was vice mayor at the time. This may be in part that the selected mayors, because of the limited role as chair, are more inclined naturally to be focused on their districts. I have no untoward criticism of that dynamic since that is the form of government in place. We recognize no votes come from Sunrise for any of the selected Mayors in recent history except for Marty Kair. I will say, I have seen Mayor Sharief at BB&T for countywide events. So, while I do not criticize any individual selected mayor, it is not optimal from my perspective as a local municipality with limited tools in the tool box to not have Broward County Mayor consistently engaged and attending such things as thousands of jobs being brought to the County or billions in capital investment. Yes, we can work with County Administration, but their decision to engage me or even attend an event is not motivated because they are directly accountable in any manner to our voters.

4 Notably, a rotating mayor is likely never involved in discussions regional economic development in our City, may come with a new philosophy, particularly if their time is limited and it is not the district, and continuity and consistency of discussions are jeopardized. No one can say that is optimal, we just deal with it. Maybe not broken, but certainly not optimal. As a side note, I will point out that we have county Mayors in the past who have traveled on trade missions overseas. Discussions with foreign investors and representatives take time to encourage commitment and confidence. No single Mayor in a selected rotating form of mayoral office is likely to be there for the next discussion, unless the Commission defers after the term as mayor expires. In a form of government of rotating SELECTED Mayors there is no real accountability beyond their own member districts. This is not a criticism of any particular mayor. But, we have big issues. Right now, the county is somewhat insulated from accountability when our regional effort falls short. Individual commissioners are one of 9 and can always say they are doing their best but they are only one of 9. They can blame county administration but we have no power to democratically hold accountable county managers. In a sense, again rightly or wrongly, the person with the continuous title of Mayor would be in in the hot seat. Right now, county government has reduced accountability because member districts can only do so much. Broward County is 1.9 million strong. According the SOE website this morning, there are approximately 1.2 million registered voters. None of them casts a vote for the Mayor of Broward County. Instead, while unanimity may be a goal of the 9 member Commission in selecting a mayor, the reality is it only takes 5 and may turn on just one or two swing votes. In a county of 1.2 million voters. To my mind, in a county this size, with the complexity of regional issues across borders, the need to work with regional partners on long term initiatives, the need to engage with state government consistently and even our federal partners, I believe we, as voters and mayors, are disenfranchised from the opportunity to choose who sits in the seat as Mayor and who will be responsible ultimately to be on point. And, to those on the Charter Review Commission who have misgivings about an elected Mayor or who may even be energetically opposed, I respectfully suggest there is a higher ideal at stake Should we not give the voters a chance to be heard? In this body, 7 of the 19 could prevent the voters from even being given the opportunity to be heard on this issue. There are times to we vote our conscience and take a stand when grave and identifiable harms can be defended. That is not this case. In this issue I see differences of philosophy and at times hyperbole infused with cynicism (or even outright skepticism of motivations).

5 I do think that the greater credit may go to those who, despite misgivings, set those aside to prioritize the voters right to self-determination and emphasize the inalienable right to decide which form of government is best for our County. Let the voters decide.

Also, please include a photo when you return this questionnaire by .

Also, please include a photo when you return this questionnaire by . 2014 Broward County Commission Candidate Questionnaire Your name: Ken Keechl Age: 51 Address: 2417 N.E. 37 th Street Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308 Occupation: Attorney Family status: Married Military service: