In an effort to promote a proposed $450 million public safety bond on Miami's midterm ballot, some city leaders are saying that sections of the city have fire rescue response times below the national average — a deficiency they say can be fixed by building four new fire stations.
" There are entire neighborhoods in Miami where the response time far exceeds six minutes because fire stations haven't been built. So if you live in the South Grove or North Coconut Grove or the Roads or East Shenandoah or Allapattah or Liberty City or the far northwest of the city, your response times are not what they should be," City of Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins told WLRN.
With early voting underway, Miami residents are already deciding whether the city can take out $450 million in new debt to build a new public safety headquarters for police and fire, renovate and upgrade aged, existing fire stations, and build four new fire stations across the city.
The proposal has been criticized by some current and former city leaders for potentially putting Miami in substantially more debt.
READ MORE: Miami voters will decide on $450 million loan as city faces debts and deficits
The Safe & Ready Miami bond is championed by Mayor Higgins, who first proposed the municipal loan and highlighted the poor condition of Miami's police headquarters and fire stations, pointing out issues like evidence room flooding and outdated electrical systems making it difficult for firefighters and police to do their jobs.
In recent weeks, the mayor and the bond campaign have focused on promoting how new station construction will improve the fire department's call response times in Liberty City, Shenandoah, Allapattah, and Watson Island.
An interactive map on the bond's promotional website shows the location of the city's existing 15 fire stations and how long fire rescue response time is on average based on address.
According to data from Miami's Fire Rescue department, those areas have an average call response time above six minutes, in some cases taking more than eight minutes for personnel to arrive at the scene of a fire rescue call.
Alexander Cardenas, president of Miami Association of Firefighters union, Local 587, says those extra minutes count for a lot when dealing with life threatening circumstances.
"These are areas where our response takes more than six minutes, which is the national standard or the national average across U.S.," Cardenas told WLRN. " Every minute literally does count when you're talking about a family member having a heart attack, a stroke or you have a child, grandchild that may be involved in a drowning incident."
The National Fire Protection Association sets the standard for response times in urban areas to between five and six minutes.
About $150 million of the proposed Safe & Ready bond is earmarked for fire station repairs and the construction of new stations. Higgins said the funding accounts for the cost of land acquisition, design, and construction.
" The Safe and Ready Miami Bond basically repairs or replaces all of our inadequate public safety facilities and adds four additional fire stations in neighborhoods that do not have adequate response times now because the city has not built new fire stations in neighborhoods in years and years and years," Higgins said.
Spending on public safety — including police and fire — accounts for more than 55% of the city's $1.9 billion operating budget, and about 6% of the $1.9 billion capital plans budget. Included in each department's budgets are line items for infrastructure maintenance and repairs.
Cardenas, an 18-year veteran of Miami's fire rescue department, said maintenance issues like old electrical infrastructure and broken HVAC systems have been addressed over the years with spot repairs. Much larger investments in station renovations were put off, he said, in an effort to maintain continuous service.
" Some of those things over time either have just been repaired or patchwork has been done to be able to continue to do the job that we do ... So most often than not, we've addressed those quick capital needs to put Band-Aids on situations, but ultimately you get to a point, like anything else, where some of these things are just beyond repair," he said.
Though Cardenas supports the Safe & Ready bond to address these issues, not every city leader is convinced that $450 million in new debt is necessary.
"We’re huge proponents of safety but all that can be accomplished without a general obligation bond," City Commissioner Damian Pardo, normally an ally to Higgins, told WLRN. "Those projects can be done with public-private partnerships and existing infrastructure."
Pardo argues the messaging about the Safe & Ready bond has been misleading, saying taxpayers haven't been properly informed that they will have to pay off the debt over time via an annual debt millage.
Miami residents pay a separate amount on their tax bill each year to pay down the city's debt. The amount can change year to year as needed. Pardo says taxpayers are almost off the hook for the city's previous loan, the Miami Forever Bond, and a new bond will mean residents will continue paying higher tax bills to address the debt.
The Safe & Ready Bond has also been criticized by former Miami City Manager and Higgins' one-time political opponent, Emilio Gonzalez. He argues the city has too much outstanding debt for things like pensions and retiree healthcare, and worries the city will "bond [itself] into oblivion."
