General Meeting Recap: April 2025

By: Rosie Betancourt, Communications

Things are heating up—and not just from the prospect of another global-warming-fueled South Florida summer. Our April general meeting was a great success, and we want to thank everyone who joined us, whether in person or via Zoom. The energy in the room—and the insights from our guest speakers—made it clear: we must take action and there is no time to waste.

After welcoming and inviting new members to introduce themselves, and approving the March meeting minutes, President Amanda Knapp announced our new Treasurer, Kevin Harris. Kevin served on the Board of Directors before seeking the very important role of safeguarding our money. Two Board of Directors and the Secretary positions remain vacant.  

Looking ahead to Election 2025, one of our top goals is to re-elect Commissioners Laura Dominguez and Alex Fernandez. We were fortunate to have Commissioner Dominguez join us to speak about her current term, her dedication to grassroots quality-of-life issues, and her leadership on resiliency and environmental initiatives. Notably, she introduced the Private Property Adaptation Program, which offers grants for climate resiliency projects.

She also shared updates on local efforts, such as the bay walk project and her ongoing engagement with neighborhood associations. As part of her re-election strategy, Commissioner Dominguez is collecting petitions instead of paying the filing fee—a move that allows her to personally connect with more voters. She highlighted recent endorsements from the Fraternal Order of Police, local firefighters, and Equality Florida.

Let’s toot our own horn here: Commissioner Dominguez acknowledged MBDC’s support in spreading her message—both during her runoff campaign and beyond. She touched on the shifting voter landscape in our city, noting the rise of No Party Affiliation (NPA) voters and commending our voter outreach efforts. 

Circling back to the heat—she didn’t shy away from our questions and comments about the horrors of Miami Beach traffic and assured us that the Commission is committed to finding solutions. We'd gladly settle for a band-aid at this point!

As President Amanda later reminded us, every level of government—federal, state, and local—affects our quality of life. Access to healthcare, for instance, is an issue we can't afford to ignore or approach passively, and the subject was expertly covered by our next speaker, Doug Steele, Director of Medical Care Services at Care Resource.

Care Resource is a federally qualified health center dedicated to expanding access to healthcare for uninsured, undocumented, and underserved populations—including seniors, the LGBTQ+ community, and the working poor. Currently, 60% of its patients are uninsured. The organization offers a wide range of services, including primary care, HIV specialty care, behavioral health, substance use treatment, dental care, and, most recently, mobile medical units designed to reach individuals in underserved areas. Impressively, approximately 90% of their revenue is reinvested directly into patient care. Their funding comes from a combination of federal grants, community donations, and pharmacy revenue.

Mr. Steele spoke about the intersection of community health and healthcare technology. He emphasized the industry’s shift toward value-based care by 2030, noting its potential to improve patient outcomes while lowering costs. He highlighted innovations such as cellular-enabled blood pressure cuffs, which have helped prevent critical health incidents, and mobile clinics that provide vital services to unhoused individuals and those unable to access traditional facilities. He also mentioned the continued provision of MMR vaccines and other preventative care. Mr. Steele underscored the broader impact of community healthcare: by delivering effective care at the community level, emergency rooms remain available for true emergencies, ultimately reducing overall medical costs for taxpayers. He urged continued advocacy for community health center funding through engagement with our local representatives. Learn more about Care Resource here.

On an aside, we cannot help but wonder about the potential consequences of the current administration’s indiscriminate budget cuts and agency closures—raising serious concerns about the future of our democratic and humanitarian commitments. 

Our next guest speaker was Dariel Gomez (He/Him/Él), Miami Dade organizer with the ACLU Florida. Dariel shared updates on recent legal actions the ACLU has undertaken, including ongoing litigation challenging Florida’s SB 4C bill, which criminalizes undocumented individuals in the state. He also discussed a lawsuit against ICE for the misappropriation of funds at a detention facility and a recent Supreme Court ruling that struck down unconstitutional deportation practices. At the request of some of our members, he offered practical advice on how to respond if ICE agents arrive at a building and emphasized the importance of asking for proper identification and insisting on a valid search warrant before permitting entry.

Dariel addressed Florida’s controversial 287(g) agreements, which allow local police departments—including some university police forces—to enforce federal immigration laws. The ACLU is actively working to identify city commissions likely to oppose these agreements and to organize community protests accordingly. Additionally, he provided useful guidance on safe and legal ways to record interactions with ICE and police officers, and shared strategies for supporting advocacy efforts around detention centers.

To be clear, the aforementioned legal cases are ongoing, critical questions remain about the legality of the Administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act or even whether it will comply with the Supreme Court’s order to recover Kilmar Ábrego García, the Salvadoran immigrant who was unlawfully deported and imprisoned. 

There is growing concern in our community about inhumane deportation tactics and the road ahead is challenging. We need all hands on deck!

In conclusion, and assuming you’ll have overlook the length of this recap, the path we face as Democrats is lengthier and growing the number of Miami Beach Democrats is a critical club goal. Director Tim Johnson provided an update on ongoing voter registration efforts, including the pilot program in partnership with the Florida Democratic Party, that allows third-party paper registration. He also announced a planned canvassing initiative aimed at registering potential Democratic voters.

Please attend our Day of Action meetings, volunteer for the canvassing and other voter outreach activities, check out website and register for club events, vote, vote, vote, tell others to vote and join us for the May General Meeting (this time on Cinco de Mayo, May 5). General Meetings will occur on the first Monday of each month beginning in May.