Uniting Broward Around Shared Goals | Opinion

Jun 19, 2019

Source: sunsentinel.com | Author: Daniel J. Stermer | Date: June 18, 2019 

When I think about Broward County, I am continually impressed by the ability of our diverse citizenship to unite around shared goals and values as we work towards a better future for all Broward residents.

With 31 municipal governments, over 1.9 million residents, and unprecedented county-wide growth there is no shortage of challenges, but we have already made great strides in addressing them together as one united Broward.

As we move further into 2019, I would like to highlight a few key initiatives around which we can continue to unite for further growth.

  • Public safety and emergency management has been and will remain a primary focus of all local governments. With remarkable growth comes new challenges for all of our first responders. Uniting together to find solutions, such as the new and necessary Enhanced 911 Communications System and emergency sheltering issues, will create a safer community for all of us to call home.

 

  • It follows that as Broward County grows and more people choose to make their homes here, we need to improve the way we handle and process our solid waste and recycling materials. It is foolish to assume that “some other city” will deal with this issue, or that the cost of previous decisions without longer term planning will be purely fiscal. We cannot be short sighted or purely fiscally driven when planning for the future of our solid waste and recycling as we need to be good environmental stewards and plan for our community for decades to come. It is incumbent on us to work together on this issue now before it gets ahead of us and the repercussions become even more dire than they currently are.

 

  • We cannot close our eyes to the issue of the cost of housing in our community. Let me be clear: this is not an issue that is owned by one group, population, or city. This is an issue that does not discriminate and affects every single resident in our county in one way or another. Regardless of city of residence, age, race, sex, gender, sexuality, or income level, as residents of Broward, we each have a responsibility to be part of finding a solution to this crisis. It is crucial that we unite to address Broward County’s spectrum of livable spaces if we want to encourage continued growth that is sustainable.

 

  • Lastly, as we formulate implementation plans in the latter part of 2019 relative to improving mobility across our region, it is vital that we focus on solutions that benefit all of the County’s citizens, regardless of city boundaries, and that decisions made are done so in a united fashion to ensure seamless execution and viability across the invisible lines of our communities.

 I have great faith that by focusing on our shared goals as outlined above we can choose courses of action that will be equitable, sustainable, and will shift the paradigm by which situations of urban development and county-wide growth are handled across south Florida. I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together as one united Broward in 2019.