City Of Miami Beach Preps For Memorial Day Crowds

By Philippe Henold Buteau, Miami Times Contributor (City of Miami Beach), the Miami Times

May 24, 2022

Miami Beach officials are preparing to welcome additional visitors this weekend for the Hyundai Air & Sea Show at Lummus Park, May 28-29.

A Memorial Day commemoration event also will be held Monday, May 30, in partnership with the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars 3559 Miami Beach at the War Memorial Cenotaph in front of police headquarters at 3 p.m.

In advance of festivities, the city is paying for radio ads reminding listeners to “Take Care of Our City,” as part of an ongoing campaign stressing safety, respect and promoting the various activities taking place during Memorial Day weekend. Additional promotion will be seen on bus shelters, pole banners, trolley wraps and social media.

“We’re running geotargeted ads to speak directly to Miami Beach visitors with the intent of showcasing our many amazing offerings and how to enjoy our city safely,” said Miami Beach spokeswoman Melissa Berthier.

A sample of Miami Beach's social media campaign.

(City of Miami Beach)

In a letter from Miami-Dade County’s Black Affairs Advisory Board Chairman Pierre Rutledge to Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber, Rutledge recommended that law enforcement work with the Circle of Brotherhood on its Memorial Day weekend planning. He also suggested the air and sea show be expanded to include the aviation program of Miami-Dade’s only HBCU, Florida Memorial University.

In Miami Beach’s written response, Gelber and City Manager Alina Hudak wrote that the advisory board and the city’s Goodwill Ambassadors would partner. Five law enforcement agencies were listed as being involved in providing security; including the Circle of Brotherhood went unacknowledged.

An introduction to Florida Memorial’s aviation program was cited as welcomed, but the connection wasn’t made.

The advisory board also pressed the city to partner with minority chefs for the show. Gelber and Hudack explained in their joint response that the city has a multiyear, exclusive food vendor contract and demand has not warranted working with outside vendors.

“However, for 2023 and moving forward, the producers have agreed to engage with suggested minority chefs,” the letter reads. “They currently have an ongoing relationship with a minority-owned food truck group based out of Miami.”

Meanwhile, as this year’s festivities approach, police treatment of tourists is on the minds of both Miami-Dade’s Black Advisory Council and Miami Beach’s Black Affairs Council.

Miami Beach Black Affairs Councilmember Melba Pearson says the vast majority of people who come to South Beach just want to have a good time and enjoy themselves.

“It’s only a small fraction of the people who come that have ill intent,” Pearson said. “We should not be painting all of the tourists that come to South Beach with the same negative brush. We have seen the dangers of profiling and painting all people with the same brush.”

Pearson has been a Miami Beach resident for more than 20 years and on the Black Affairs Council since January 2022, when she was nominated by City Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez.

According to Pearson, activists and community folks have been asking for high-impact programming for many years, making sure events are safe, enjoyable and accessible to the demographics of those who visit Miami Beach for spring break or Memorial Day. She says having strategically placed programming around the beach helps spread out the crowd.

Pearson also says that Miami Beach Police Department’s increased partnership with Goodwill Ambassadors has been incredibly effective, and she hopes that continues to reduce the need for police presence.

“You don’t need to overpolice,” she said.

Police presence is supposed to be determined by the number of people anticipated in the area.

“If it’s hundreds of thousands, multiple police departments makes sense. If it’s barely an uptick from previous years, then adding so much more police presence isn’t proportional to the problem,” Pearson said. “I still think we should be utilizing Goodwill Ambassadors more than police officers.”

Pearson also hopes noise ordinance violations are handled with tickets that don’t lead to arrests.

“The focus needs to be on safety,” she said.

During Memorial Day weekend in 2021, 339 arrests were logged in Miami Beach.

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