Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava visits the Town of Medley

Miami-Dade Mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, was invited to the Town of Medley on June 7th in appreciation of her services to the community. 

During her visit, Cava expressed her gratitude towards Medley’s Vice Mayor, Iván Pacheco, for being the person behind her presence at the Council, while also acknowledged Mayor Martell‘s work in the town.

“I’m here because I want to visit all the 34 great cities in Miami-Dade County and this is only my third visit, so you’re right up there,” said Levine in front of an audience. 

She took the chance of her visit to talk about the kind of relationship the County expects to establish with the cities. “I believe that the relationship with the cities should be one of partnerships. One in which we work together to solve problems, not one of combativeness and not one of competition for scarce resources,” Levine added. 

In addition, the Mayor also clarified her role in Medley by stating her purpose as a regional government leader is “to solve problems” related with traffic, the pandemic or the water and sewer system, some of the “big ticket” items that require a team effort between the town and the County. 

Then, she proceeded to remember how difficult the pandemic has been on everyone, among other things, because of the 6,000 people lost in Miami-Dade County due to COVID.

But despite the lives lost and the many struggles County residents have faced during these trying times, one thing that has been constant is Levine’s fighting spirit to protect everyone and make sure vaccines are accesible to all cities, a work Vice Mayor Iván Pacheco recognized during the meeting.  

Pacheco explained in detail how difficult was for the Town of Medley to have access to the COVID-19 vaccines even after many doses arrived to the state of Florida around the middle of January 2021 and eventually to Miami-Dade County.

“At that time, Mayor Martell, Police Chief, Jeanette Said-Jinete, and myself were trying to see how to get the vaccines for our residents. I checked back with both of them from time to time for any updates on this matter, but unfortunately the answer was always no. It was already February 18th and still no vaccines,” the Vice Mayor told the audience.

It was then when he thought of reaching out to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava in order to secure a COVID-19 vaccine for the town, especially for the most vulnerable residents, those 65 and older. Her response was better than he ever imagined. 

“Mayor Cava, I must say that your response to this matter came less than 24 hours from the time I emailed you my request. This has proved me your commitment with the town of Medley during this pandemic and I thank you for your flash response,” the Vice Mayor said directly to Levine during her visit, while also extending his gratitude to Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz as he was working behind the scenes.

But the job is not done as the Mayor recognized. “We have lots of vaccines available and now we must persuade people around their safety because it’s our only way out of this pandemic and towards the restoration of our economy. Many lost their jobs or life savings, closed their businesses or had to put new money to update them. We’re not out of it yet,” she recalled.

It’s because there’s still a work in progress to end the pandemic that she urged Medley’s residents to spread the word about how important it is to get vaccinated. She has set the example by being double dosed. 

In order to continue moving forward, Miami-Dade County has put into motion the campaign ‘I Did it’ South Florida www.ididitsfl.com, which is available in four languages (English, Spanish, Creole and Portuguese) and aims at providing videos, brochures and resources in general to spread information about the vaccination process.

“The county government is now the leader in vaccines, we are doing as many as 2,000 vaccines a day at our many sites, so we would come to you if you need us to go visit or housing for some of the older folks, whatever you need we want to help because we care about you,” said the Mayor.

Lastly, she addressed some of the other issues her government is working on such as protecting the bay as well as the water and sewer supply; and the County’s transportation and housing system. 

“Housing is not affordable for many people and it hurt us that even though new people and companies are coming here, this also further drives the housing cost and its hard for our children to stay and work here.”

For the great support she has given to the community, Mayor Roberto Martell decided to give her the keys of the city at the end of her visit. 

“We would like to congratulate you for the job you’re doing, you’re being very proactive and we appreciate it greatly. At the communities we are very happy that you’re here because I see that you take it personally,” Martell pointed out.