Miami city commissioners unanimously passed a resolution Thursday to enforce Miami-Dade County’s midnight curfew again.
Starting this weekend, the city will enforce, once again, the 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. curfew until further notice.
Violators — individuals and businesses — will be subject to fines and other enforcement actions, the city said in a statement. Commissioners had previously decided back in October to stop enforcing the county’s curfew.
The resolution was introduced by Commissioner Joe Carollo, who said that Jackson Health’s CEO personally reached out to him.
“He feels that if we don’t do anything, in 10 days, we’re going to be overwhelmed in our hospitals,” Carollo said.
Jackson Health sent NBC 6 the letter that CEO Carlos Migoya sent to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez detailing the current concern and support for a curfew.
“The resolution that I’m presenting (Thursday) is to enforce the curfew that the county has placed and to make all these late night places…close at midnight,” Carollo said.
“I commend (the City of Miami) for its commitment to working in partnership with #OurCounty to ensure the health and safety of our residents and businesses,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a tweet in response to the curfew enforcement. “To get through this crisis, we need to stand together as a united Miami-Dade community.”
Over at the Dirty Rabbit in Wynwood, General Manager Joey Vega says he’s going to have to make some tough decisions now.
“We’re talking about a lot of people who depend on this to feed their families. These people work on tips,” Vega said.
He said his bar makes most of its money between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m., so enforcing the midnight curfew will be a huge loss for many reasons.
“It’s not only a lot of business lost, it also puts us in a tough predicament where we have to let go of anywhere between 50 to 60% of our staff because obviously there’s not enough shifts, not enough hours because of the curfew,” he said.
He says there has not been a clear line of communication coming from the city, and he doesn’t feel like there was any effort by the city to involve the businesses in the decision making.
“I’m not sure coronavirus comes out before 12 or after 12,” Vega said. “I think it’s just a matter of doing a better job. The restrictions, the guidelines that we have enforced in the first place and actually following through with them at our locations.”
Meanwhile, over on Miami Beach, where the city has been enforcing the county’s curfew, Commissioner Michael Gongora introduced a resolution Wednesday to loosen it on four special days.
The result, which eventually passed, will ask Levine Cava to make an exception and push the curfew to 2 a.m. to allow the businesses on Miami Beach a few extra hours of business over the New Year’s Eve weekend and on Christmas Eve.
“It’s been a hard year for all of us,” Gongora said. “This isn’t a permanent relaxation on the curfew. This is saying there are a couple of special nights… when people like to spend it with friends and loved ones, and let’s stay out a couple of hours later. Let people enjoy their holidays. Let’s let our businesses enjoy making a little bit more money.”
He says the resolution is clear that it must be done according to CDC guidelines and social distancing.
The Miami Beach resolution would have to be approved by Levine Cava in order for it to be a reality.
The county mayor’s spokesperson sent us over a statement saying:
“We can now see a light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s more critical than ever that we continue taking steps to keep ourselves and our community safe – especially over the holiday period. Bringing cases down is the only way to protect our people and our economy. The measures we have in place now are an important part of our protection plan to ensure we can move safely into the New Year together.”
It’s not clear yet whether the resolution will be discussed at an upcoming meeting.
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Source:
NBC
Alyssa Hyman
December 10, 2020
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