Josh Dieguez, Mayor, Town of Miami Lakes

Josh Dieguez, mayor of Miami Lakes, spoke with Invest: about creating a safer community, road projects to alleviate traffic, and revamped drainage and flood control measures. He also described the town’s low tax burden on businesses and the importance of investing in parks and green spaces.

What are some of your top priorities for the town of Miami Lakes during your term?

There are three priority areas, the first being public safety. When elected, I promised to increase the number of police officers on the streets, taking a laddered approach to soften the financial impact. We are also completing our license plate reader net. Every entrance into town will have a license plate reader to alert our officers of stolen vehicles. A significant portion of crimes involving stolen vehicles follows a pattern we’ve noticed. The second priority is improving transportation and traffic. I’m working closely with our commissioner and state senators to get us more highway access. Miami Lakes is perfectly bifurcated by the Palmetto Expressway. East and West Miami Lakes are separated, and everybody entering and exiting town through the same point creates huge traffic jams. The only thing that will make a meaningful impact is to give residents an additional way to exit the town. On the west side of town, we’re working with Commissioner Garcia on a new study to build a new exit ramp in one of three possible locations. On the east side, I’m working with our town manager to get another full interchange ramp to the Gratigny Expressway. Traffic problems affect the quality of life for residents and are a drag on commerce. My third priority is a focus on beautification in open spaces and parks. We have about 101 mini-parks within the neighborhoods where kids can play. Many of these parks are falling into disrepair. Last year, we allocated $100,000 to revamp our mini-parks and improve our larger parks. Parks bring value to our homes, and they help to increase the value of our community. 

What makes Miami Lakes attractive to investors, new business owners, and new residents?

In terms of the broader business community, we have Bank United, Draft Pros, a minority-owned fiber company, and Jet Stream Federal Credit Union. Those businesses love the small-town feel of Miami Lakes and their relationship with our chamber of commerce. Everything is close together, and they can visit any part of town with their clients and be back at the office for their next Zoom meeting. Our smaller businesses appreciate our customer-centric focus. We have the lowest franchise fee rate in the county at 3% and the fifth lowest property tax rate in the county. The workers who live here, especially those who have moved from other parts of the country, appreciate our nice, beautiful community at a relatively reasonable price compared to similar communities. 

What partnerships or collaborations are the most relevant to the town council when it comes to community support?

I’ve been working closely with the Florida Independent Certified Public Accountants (FICPA), the largest trade group of CPA professionals. Local CPAs have been able to connect with their counterparts and build relationships in other communities. Being part of the Miami Chamber has been great for our local chamber of commerce as it allows them to learn new things and network with other members to pitch why they should consider Miami Lakes. 

Are there specific environmental initiatives or policies that you are advocating for?

I’m very focused on preserving the environment. I wanted something that could blend the love for preserving nature and be beneficial for taxpayers. Among the changes we are working on are converting our vehicle fleet to electric, adding more electric charging stations around town, and encouraging residents to adopt electric vehicles. We are also working toward converting our municipal building to solar power. We’re also ensuring that we preserve as many of our green spaces as possible and protect our tree canopy. 

Can you discuss initiatives that the town council is focusing on to address infrastructure maintenance and enhance quality of life?

We’re in the middle of one of our largest investments in infrastructure in town history. We combined American Rescue Plan dollars we received with a $15.5 million bond we issued for the stormwater system into a $33 million investment in our drainage infrastructure. Before, we relied on state funds to update, expand, and maintain our existing infrastructure. We’re now more self-sufficient.
For example, when I came into office, we had about a $55 million unmet need for drainage infrastructure, including projects that expand capacity for existing drains and construct new outfalls. It’s a costly process, especially with labor and material costs getting so high.
We’re about halfway done with the money that we have. $33 million out of the $55 million is a big dent, but there’s still a lot of work to do. We have a plan to expand roadway capacity so more cars are able to keep moving and not block traffic. On the east side of town, Northwest 59th Avenue will be the first road connection we’ve done in over 10 years. That project will connect a big part of our industrial base and allow people closer to the Palmetto to go into the main part of Miami Lakes.
That will be a positive economic development tool throughout the town, now that they’ll have easier access to those employees. It will be easier for first responders to respond to the school there instead of leaving town and cutting back in. It will also reduce traffic congestion on 59th Avenue. 

What are the most significant challenges facing Miami Lakes, and how do you plan to address them during your tenure?

Building public support is always challenging but necessary to justify making big investments. We want fully-trained and fully-equipped police officers, which is a big expense. Just like our parks, they are a vital investment. We need safe places to have fun and burn off energy.
We want our communities to look nice, because that preserves our investment in the town. Money is needed, but we generate limited revenue. We have the fifth lowest tax rate and the lowest franchise fees in Miami-Dade, which creates challenges in generating revenue. It’s not just an issue of prioritization but also of making smart fiscal choices moving forward to make sure we are generating enough to cover our existing and future expenses. Our budget is particularly tight this year because we recently settled the Michael Pizzi litigation. The former mayor was found not guilty of conspiracy to commit extortion and bribery, then sued the town to reimburse his attorney’s fees. We settled for about $1.6 million. It will make this year tougher, but we will be in a better place next year. 

Are there any issues that remain to be addressed as a consequence of hurricanes or other weather events?

Fortunately, the last major hurricane did not have a substantial impact on the town. However, there was a delay of about one and a half years before reimbursement from FEMA. We’re hoping some of the changes FEMA has implemented in how the reimbursement process works will allow us to get reimbursed faster.
As far as other storms, we’ve had some significant rain and flooding. In areas where we have completed the new drainage project, the vast majority of areas were able to reduce the amount of water standing in the streets compared to the old system.