County commissioners trash staff for litter-strewn areas

Written by Miami Today on June 10, 2026

A vote to add bus shelters detoured last week as Miami-Dade commissioners blamed staff attitudes for a trash-filled county. The mayor cautioned it will only get worse if voters approve property tax breaks and don’t raise solid waste fees, while the commission chairman warned a new mental health center could devastate cleanliness.

The piling on in trash complaints began when Commissioner Keon Hardemon pointed out that along the heart of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard sit former bus shelters that the county long ago stopped maintaining. He cited their beauty and asked if they could again become bus stops – but also that they be maintained.

He pointed out that large refuse containers at those sites are filled but never emptied. “I can’t hold my community responsible for the trash that they’re dumping in the area when we don’t give them a receptacle to put it in,” he said.

“It’s obviously not acceptable,” said Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “On the other hand, you know what we’re facing in terms of the general fund.” She said she would meet with Mr. Hardemon on the trash issue.

“It doesn’t take a lot of employees to do it,” he replied. “What we’re lacking is the creativity and stick-to-it-iveness to do it.” Speaking of advertising on bus shelters, he added, “I don’t want advertising all over my neighborhood and the area looks like crap.”

Commission Chairman Anthony broadened the issue.

“The culture of once you enter Miami-Dade County you just never get fired, that mentality needs to change, because you’ve got to have pride in what you do in our community. And the examples are over and over.”

Mr. Rodriguez said he has watched employees pick up trash if they’re called but ignore other trash a few steps away because they weren’t asked to remove it.

“I put it to the test,” he said. “I take pictures of everything…. I have a list. It’s about the culture of the employees, of the staff. And it’s not all of them. Some of them are fantastic. But the culture has to change.”

“It’s the staff…. There’s got to be more pride in the work being done,” Mr. Rodriguez continued. “There’s got to be more training.”

“Respectfully, we do not have the funds in our budget for the level of maintenance that is needed for what you’re describing,” the mayor responded. “And they are cutting it, perhaps today, in the state legislature by putting an item on the ballot that will make it impossible for us to do our job. We will not be able to pick up trash, we will not be able to maintain our roadways, we will not be able to fund our transit system, we will not be able to maintain our parks, our animal services, our libraries, etc.”

“Of course there are bad employees,” the mayor said, “and we have a very good system. We could certainly always improve. I’m not denying that. But this is not about personnel. This is about resources to do the job that we all want to feel proud of.”

Mr. Rodriguez agreed with the mayor on taxes but “what I’m saying is something completely different. I was talking about staff, not leadership. But actually it starts at the leadership level, and it starts with our contracts.”

In landscaping, he said, county contractors mowing grass not only don’t pick up trash in their path but mow around it and leave that area uncut. “Take pride in your work, or if not we don’t want you to be part of this community, we don’t want you to have a contract with Miami-Dade County.”

“It’s all of our fault and our responsibility,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “As leaders, we just have to do better.”

“It’s not only about money,” Commissioner Marleine Bastien agreed. “I think it’s about culture change.”

The discussion concluded with a debate about which governmental action to blame if the trash problem mounts higher.

“Remember, so far we’ve not increased out solid waste fees,” the mayor said, “and without that we will be reducing illegal dumping pickup.”

“And we’re also going to be reducing the dumping and the overall debris pickup when we approve something that costs us $30 million to $40 million of the mental health building,” Mr. Rodriguez shot back. “That’s new money. So if your streets are bad now, wait till we add a $30 million to $40 million tab to this budget. So the mayor’s right – we haven’t done that yet.”