This meeting, the first of its kind, was an opportunity for residents of District Seven to interact with their County Commissioner and various Miami-Dade County department directors from the comfort of their homes. This meeting was held at the Miami-Dade Commission Chambers and cablecast live on Miami-Dade Television Channel 34. Viewers were encouraged to participate by calling or E-mailing questions or concerns, which were instantly responded to. That evening we received an overwhelming amount of citizen participation and later gathered nothing but positive feedback from throughout the community.

In my three years in office I have continuously made an effort to make government accessible to the people. I have conducted town hall meetings throughout the neighborhoods of District Seven. I maintain two district offices, I established Saturday office hours to facilitate meeting with constituents and I posted an interactive web page, which provides information and invites input. Despite these efforts, we have usually only been able to touch a fraction of the people in the district. This electronic televised town hall meeting was an attempt to use the latest technology to bring government even closer to the people.

On March 9, I sponsored a revised comprehensive campaign finance reform ordinance. The ordinance, was broader in scope and coverage than the previous one presented and approached campaign finance reform from the following three critical perspectives:

1) Prohibit campaign contributions to and expenditures on behalf of candidates for Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners by county contractors and their immediate families.

2) Provide public access via the Internet to campaign finance data by requiring electronic submission of campaign finance reports and the posting of such information on the Department of Elections web page. Information to be transmitted includes sources, amount of campaign contributions and expenditures. Electronic reporting will give residents immediate access to the campaign finance process and hold candidates and elected officials to a higher standard of responsibility.

3) Establish an Election Campaign Financing Trust Fund to provide partial public financing for mayoral and county commission elections. It is a voluntary system and to participate a candidate must agree to abide by specific contribution and expense limitations and provide detailed disclosure information.

I sponsored this Ordinance because public confidence in local government is at an all-time low. There is a widespread perception that money and influence peddling take priority over the best interests of our residents and the community as a whole. This explains why voter participation continues to dwindle.

I wanted to send a very strong and clear message that this is a government for the people, not for special interests. I thought there was no better way to get this message across than to reform the very process by which our elected officials are selected.

I also thought that public financing of County Commission and Mayoral elections would help encourage the great civic activists in our community to run for office. Unfortunately, the Board of County Commissioners failed to approve my Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance. Four Commissioners (including myself) voted in favor of the Ordinance and seven commissioners voted against it.

Despite this vote, I am going to continue to work on this very important issue and will present new Campaign Finance Reform Ordinances to the Board of County Commissioners.

If you missed our televised town hall meeting, don't worry because it won't be our last. But until then I will be hosting a series of town hall meetings throughout District Seven. Hopefully, you will be able to attend one in your neighborhood and provide me with the necessary feedback. Please mark these dates on your calendar:

* Wednesday, April 12, 7:00 pm at Shenandoah Elementary, 1023 SW 21 Street.
* Wednesday, April 26, 7:00 pm at Coral Gate Park, 1415 SW 32 Avenue
* Wednesday, May 3rd at Ponce de Leon Middle School, 5801 Augusto Street
* Wednesday, May 10th at Grapeland Park, 1650 N.W. 37 Avenue.
* \Wednesday, May 31, at The City of Miami Commission Chambers, 3500 Pan American Drive

Please remember that my staff and I are always available to assist you and your family. My office number is 305-375-5680 or my District Office number is 305-529-0599.