County poised to jump-start long-needed visioning platform

Game-changing legislation offers a path to fill a costly gap: Miami-Dade desperately needs a cohesive community vision.

Business and civic leaders should long ago have united to fill that void, but they haven’t tried. Kudos to county commission Chairman Oliver Gilbert III for stepping into the minefield and putting visioning in play.

His plan, which gets its first airing this week, offers a path for a 30X30 Vision Council that would unite 30 leaders in multiple sectors to meet regularly in long-term planning for “a Miami-Dade County that is equipped to sustain future growth” over the next 30 years.

His legislation sees the Vision Council as a clearinghouse for the public and private sectors “to jointly plan initiatives that will transform Miami-Dade County” and advise county hall on overarching multi-decade investments needed to enhance the community.

He spells out who the 30 members would be and says they may not send alternates: it’s them or nobody. That’s vital: once you go to second in command you quickly get to third and down the ladder, none with authority to decide anything.

Requiring the top person is crucial. That was a condition in the year 2000 when we did similar community visioning.

We can expect a lot of second-guessing before the commission OKs Mr. Gilbert’s vital initiative. I can second-guess too, but this visioning is needed in whatever form.

People may question who Mr. Gilbert names to join the Vision Council and that the legislation offers no way for the team to alter its own membership to meet its needs.

They may also question how the council will serve as a community clearinghouse, since no specifics are offered. I love the clearinghouse idea but the devil will be in the details – as it is in game-changing initiatives.

They may ask, as I do, whether the council should develop a community vision statement and from there broaden to a mission statement and then an operating concept.

In 2001, when our dozen-member team created One Vision One Community, our agreed-upon vision was a concise 26 words: “Greater Miami will achieve maximum sustainable growth, hold a pre-eminent position in the international marketplace and be ranked among the top five communities in the world.”

You can quibble that the vision doesn’t specify quality of life, affordability or other key elements, though we detailed many in the longer mission statement based on that vision.

You also can say it was too business oriented. After Miami Today had demanded visioning, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce tapped me to lead the effort and the team I chose included the CEOs of the chamber, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Beacon Council – all on Mr. Gilbert’s list – plus two small business owners. But I did include the county manager, the CEO of the United Way and others beyond business.

We also separated entirely from the chamber for our 18 months.

Such independence will be key for Mr. Gilbert’s effort, which he is likely to chair, since he is to be a member and the person who dreams it up usually takes charge.

But his list includes three more commissioners, and commissioners would choose 10 members. Plus, the commission could remove anyone “with good cause,” whatever that may mean. With such leverage, don’t expect creativity.

Visioning is so needed, however, that I hail any effort just to get the ball rolling. But I do offer several friendly suggestions.

First, look to history. The Greater Miami Chamber in the 1990s and later the Beacon Council ran a carefully crafted One Community One Goal drive to build the economy that was buttressed by at least seven thick notebooks crammed with research that was shared among all involved. Look to its efforts.

Look also at the Vision Council that South Dade set up years ago to pump up that area. It’s far smaller scale than what Mr. Gilbert seeks and this county requires, but its successes may offer guideposts.

Then look next door: Broward County years ago did its own visioning. What did they do and how did it work? What pitfalls will we see?

In the year 2000 when we began One Community One Vision our professional adviser assembled details on such efforts throughout the nation to see what we might build on and what we should avoid. 30X30 need not reinvent the wheel.

One intriguing line in Mr. Gilbert’s proposal is that he sees 30X30 planning initiatives that “may include partnerships that further Miami-Dade County’s position as a global economic hub.” That points toward potential goldmines.

While Mr. Gilbert seeks county hall buy-in and action, good visioning should reach more broadly. He mentions that council members should get their own organizations to buy in. Our vision decades ago was incorporated into the plans of county hall and several large business organizations. 30X30 ideally would extend even more.

Effectiveness of 30X30 may be constrained because a government board under commission control must operate in the sunshine. That may limit candor as members debate vital issues. The council will also face business wariness of government.

Ideally a council would be independent, but after waiting more than two decades for the private sector to step up, Mr. Gilbert’s plan offers the best hope for a vision that will unite this community to follow a cohesive path forward. It deserves full support.