By Clinton Reeder
May 19, 2008

Miami Mayor Manny A. Diaz was awarded the 2008 Mayoral Inner City Economic Leadership Award on May 1 by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) at the tenth annual Inner City 100 summit held in Boston. The ICIC Mayoral Inner City Economic Leadership Award is reserved for mayors that have adopted innovative approaches to supporting inner city businesses as vital players in the economic development of their cities.

Diaz was given the award for his pursuit of capital reinvestment and quality of life initiatives in long abandoned and forgotten neighborhoods. Over $800 million dollars in affordable housing has been completed or in development, as part of a goal the city has to develop over $1 billion in affordable housing by 2010. Miami will invest $300 million to rebuild streets and sidewalks, over $100 million in public safety measures to help first responders, over $150 million to mitigate folding problems, and over $300 million in parks for the city.

Under the mayor’s leadership, Miami has also developed a billion dollar Capital Improvement Plan that will rebuild the city’s infrastructure without levying new taxes, and adopted a revolutionary land use and zoning master plan that incorporates new urbanism and smart growth called Miami 21. Diaz has launched an expansive environmental effort to “green” the city which will erase decades of environmental neglect through principles of conservation and sustainability. He signed the Mayor’s Climate Protection agreement, sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, pledging to reduce global warming emissions. Diaz has also planned to convert the city fleet to hybrid or other fuel efficient vehicles by 2012.

Private investment has poured into Miami, increasing to well over $30 billion dollars worth of development projects which are in various stages of planning and construction, bringing with it thousands of new jobs. Miami’s unemployment rate has dropped from 12 percent in 2001 when Diaz took office to four percent today with the result that Miami is now the national leader in job creation.

This boom has dramatically improved Miami’s tax base, which grew by over $7 billion in 2006 to a new high of $34 billion. Yet, the city’s millage rate has been reduced every year since Diaz took office, and is currently at its lowest rate in half a century, resulting in $128 million returned to tax payers.

Diaz has also worked to reduce poverty through an initiative called ACCESS Miami, which unites city resources with those from other public, private, and non-profit sectors. The program offers tools and education that enable city residents to break out of poverty through financial literacy seminars, workshops, free tax preparation sites, EITC reclamation, training, and more.

Miami’s international reputation is now attracting new residents from all over the world with over 60 percent of its residents being foreign-born. Miami has had an impressive 10 percent population growth over the past three years with estimates suggesting that it will increase to 30 percent by the end of this decade. With double-digit population growth, and close to full employment, Miami now has the 11th largest metro economy in the U.S. and the 40th largest in the world.

Last year’s mayoral winner was Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.