I would like to become Doral’s next Councilwoman in Seat 4 because I want to bring about change and programs in Doral that will allow my children as well as the children of my family, friends, and neighbors to grow up in a city where they can obtain a great education, play safely, land their first job, and thrive as human beings.
Vote by mail ballots have already been sent to voters in Doral, and the runoff election date is December 11, 2018. Voters should send the ballot back at least 4 days in advance if they wish to vote by mail. Or show up on the day of elections.
The immediate issues in Doral are the ones that residents consistently speak to me about: traffic, overdevelopment, safety/security, and the bad smell. Briefly, here’s what I think:
Traffic: There are strategies that we can try that will help alleviate traffic. We are not going to get rid of traffic nor solve anything overnight, but there are steps we can take to help the flow of traffic. I would like to see more smart traffic lights that can change the duration of the green or red light based on traffic flow; a resident recommended that we open NW 117 Avenue completely as another lane to diffuse congestion; a developer pointed out that some busy intersections need to have dedicated turn lanes instead of combined straight/turn lanes to allow for better traffic flow; and most importantly- we need to be smarter about how to use the free trolley in Doral. We need to modify the pick-up times as well as frequency to accommodate the high school students as well as meet the needs of our local businesses.
Overdevelopment: For many properties and developments, there is little we can do to stop construction- but we can continue to work closely with developers to create the needed infrastructure to help create a better city. We can continue to work on how they can help create better roads, bring about traffic options, more green areas, and anything to help the community better manage the added number of residents or customers or students that these developments bring into Doral.
Safety/security: We need more police officers. Based on the proposed upcoming budget for Doral, I do believe that we will get more officers- but I think it’s something we need to keep pushing for. We need officers to be visible in schools, parks, busy streets and also responsive to the very specific issues residents are experiencing in their neighborhoods in regards to drugs and robbery.
Bad smell: Based on the research I have done, the Covanta Waste Energy facility in Doral is using a variety of strategies to control and contain the bad smell of waste. I don’t understand why the Medley Landfill is not implementing the same practices- and if they are, they are not communicating that to the public. In addition, according to some of our State Representatives that I have spoken to- there exists the possibility of perhaps acquiring state funds to help the plant adopt odor controlling techniques.
Investing in our future
In addition to these immediate goals, I also believe that that Doral needs to invest in its future. This investment should be made with our students and also with our local businesses.
I want to see Doral become an Early Learning City- where we work to support out youngest residents in establishing a learning foundation that will not only help them be successful students but also good citizens. Our high school students are lacking in educative and productive activities- sports are great, but some students prefer art, music, or science pastimes.
They are also having difficulty finding employment. I want to see a partnership established with our schools and local businesses so that our High School students can have summer internships that will give them class credit, experience, and a wage. In fact, establishing any type of joint venture between local government and business can help us create more jobs for residents, stimulate opportunities for more science and technology based businesses, establish partnerships with all community members- and in my opinion, can all lead to creating affordable housing or higher wages for Millenials to afford Doral housing.
Learn more about Belinda Leon...
- Belinda Leon Facebook page
- Belinda Leon website
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