Instead of a moment of silence, Miami-Dade Commission meetings soon will start with a nondenominational prayer uttered by a local religious leader or a commissioner.
The commission voted 8-3 Tuesday to reinstitute prayer before meetings, a controversial issue that sparked lengthy debate and commentary.
Voting for the ordinance were Commissioners Jose “Pepe” Diaz, Jean Monestime, Rebeca Sosa, Xavier Suarez, Juan Zapata, Bruno Barreiro, Esteban “Steve” Bovo and Audrey Edmonson. Commissioners Sally Heyman, Barbara Jordan, and Dennis Moss voted against. Lynda Bell and Javier Souto were absent.
Diaz sponsored the item after 18 months of intense lobbying from the Christian Family Coalition and its leader, Anthony Verdugo. Verdugo called Tuesday’s vote the end of “eight years of discrimination.”
The last time meetings opened with prayer at County Hall was 2004. The practice ended at the behest of former Commissioners Barbara Carey-Shuler and Katy Sorenson.
It will start again before the commission’s Dec. 18 meeting.
On Tuesday, Diaz did agree to some changes in his proposed format: Instead of having the county clerk compile a database of local religious leaders to give the prayers, commissioners will rotate choosing someone or lead the prayer themselves. That will save the county about $26,000 in projected costs for the database. Sosa sponsored the change.
The commissioner can choose to lead a moment of silence instead of a prayer.
Diaz also changed his original proposal by moving the timing of the prayer, so it will be said prior to the roll call of commissioners, similar to the way it’s done at the state and federal levels of government.
Before the vote, Moss expressed dissatisfaction with the Christian Family Coalition and positions it has taken in the past that he said discriminated against blacks and immigrants. He noted that the group was an offshoot of the Christian Coalition that fought the county several years ago over an equally controversial human-rights bill.
“It’s like the nose of the camel under the tent. I have a real concern with the group that was pushing this issue,” he said.
Also opposed: the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, which has warned the county that promises to keep public prayer nondenominational — instead of in the name of Jesus, for example — have fallen to the wayside in the past. The ACLU has not said if it plans to file a lawsuit.
Commissioners also gave the nod to construction of a massive warehouse and industrial park in the heart of the old Westview neighborhood, even as residents and their lawyer complained they were not consulted on new plans submitted by the developer, Rosal Westview.
Later Tuesday, commissioners are expected to take up Jordan’s push to take down an online database that shows the salaries of all county employees. Though Jordan said she supports the information being available to the public, she said removing it would diminish “safety and security” concerns. Heyman has joined Jordan as a cosponsor for the bill.
As part of a transparency initiative, County Mayor Carlos Gimenez started listing the salaries online earlier this year. The mayor has said he believes every government transaction should be online and available to the public. If the resolution passes, Gimenez could veto it, though he hasn’t stated his intentions.
Miami-Dade Commission reinstitutes prayer before meetings
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Miami-Dade Commission reinstitutes prayer before meetings
