Community First: A New Plan for Youth, Seniors, and Public Safety

Closing the Gap for Our Youth and Seniors

Otis, thank you for bringing forward these exact me

trics. You have perfectly highlighted the exact stagnation and systemic failures of the current administration.

The fact that 14.8% of our neighbors live in poverty while the city relies on a rigid, fee-based BSO PAL model proves that our current leadership has failed to advocate for working-class families. Leaving our seniors with nothing but a single building and zero structured reentry or mental health support is unacceptable.

When I am elected Mayor, we will completely overhaul how community programming is funded. My administration will not rely on raising your property taxes or squeezing low-income families. Instead, we will implement a $1.5 Million "Community First" Funding Initiative during my first term, powered by three specific, aggressive funding mechanisms:

1. Mandatory Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs) & Opportunity Zone Leverage

• The Mechanism: We will aggressively market our federally designated Opportunity Zone to private developers. However, fast-tracked zoning approvals and city tax incentives will no longer be handed out for free. My administration will mandate Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs) on all major commercial redevelopments (including the vacant shopping and strip centers you noted).

• The Revenue Target: Developers will be legally required to contribute a baseline infrastructure/programming fee or construct dedicated community spaces. We project this aggressive negotiation framework to inject $450,000 annually directly into youth sports scholarships and senior workforce reentry funds.

  
  

2. Redirection of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) / General Fund Contingencies

• The Mechanism: We will conduct a line-by-line audit of the General Fund and remaining federal relief or contingency balances. We will actively transition the youth athletic model away from a pure fee-based system by establishing a City Sports & Tutoring Subsidy Fund.

• The Dollar Figure: We will allocate an initial $350,000 line item specifically to fully subsidize registration fees for any North Lauderdale family falling below the median income line, ensuring no child is ever priced out of a sport or an after-school tutoring program.

  
  

3. Targeted Federal and State Grants for Seniors and Youth

• The Mechanism: The current administration has left millions of dollars on the table by failing to aggressively pursue specialized grant funding. We will hire a dedicated, performance-tied Grant Writer for North Lauderdale to capture funds from the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and the federal OJJDP (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention).

• The Dollar Figure: We are targeting a baseline of $700,000 over two years specifically earmarked for senior mental health programming, mobile technology literacy labs at the Samuel Miller Senior Center, and youth crime-prevention initiatives.

  
  

The Bottom Line

The current administration looks at a vacant gas station and sees an eyesore. I look at it and see a negotiation chip to fund our children's futures and protect our seniors. We will shift the burden of community funding away from the wallets of our residents and onto the balance sheets of corporate developers.

Public Safety:

Otis, I’m really glad you brought these exact numbers up regarding public safety, our youth, and our seniors. You have hit the nail right on the head on why the current leadership is failing our neighborhoods.

You are exactly right: simply adding deputies to a budget sheet without an integrated strategy isn't a solution—it’s just a line item. If the current administration thinks that writing a bigger check to the sheriff's office magically fixes our streets, they are completely out of touch. North Lauderdale has a crime rate of roughly 1 in 71. Behind that statistic are real neighbors, real families, and real storefronts who don't feel secure. But real safety requires a pipeline. You cannot separate enforcement from prevention, prevention from youth programs, and youth programs from economic opportunity.

When you look at the fact that nearly 15% of our residents are living below the poverty line, it is completely unacceptable that our youth soccer programs over at the Jack Brady Sports Complex and Highland Park are treated like a pay-to-play corporate league instead of a funded community service. Families making under our median income are literally being priced out of keeping their kids active on our own city fields. And don't get me started on the budget for our seniors. Dumping a building on them like the Samuel Miller Center and then offering zero workforce help, zero mental health support, and zero tech training isn't a program—it’s an afterthought.

You mentioned our Opportunity Zone, those vacant strip centers, and the old gas station. You are 100% correct. Those are sitting there as wasted leverage. Right now, developers come into cities like ours, get their zoning fast-tracked, take their tax incentives, and leave nothing behind for the people who actually live here.

As Mayor, that stops on day one. I’m going after a $1.5 million target over my first term specifically for youth and senior programs, and we are going to fund it by shifting the burden off our taxpayers and onto the people building here.

Here is exactly how my administration will build that pipeline and connect the dots:

1. Connecting Enforcement to PreventionInstead of just reacting after shots are fired, we will utilize technology like the SaferWatch App and localized camera integration to intercept illegal firearm networks before they harm our community. Prevention means using data to secure hotspots before crime happens.

2. Connecting Prevention to Youth & Senior ProgrammingWe will mandate Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs) on any major commercial redevelopments in that Opportunity Zone. If a developer wants to rebuild that old shopping center, they are going to legally commit to an infrastructure and programming fee. I am targeting $450,000 annually out of those developer agreements alone to go directly into youth sports scholarships and senior services.

Additionally, we are losing millions because this administration isn't aggressively chasing state and federal dollars. I will bring in a performance-tied grant writer to specifically target funds from the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and federal youth prevention grants to secure $700,000 over two years for senior mental health resources and after-school mentorship right inside our community hubs.

3. Connecting Programming to Economic OpportunityWe are going to establish a permanent City Sports & Tutoring Subsidy Fund right out of our General Fund contingencies. I’m carving out an initial $350,000 line item specifically to completely wipe out registration fees for any family below our median income line. No kid in North Lauderdale should be sitting on the sidelines at Highland Park or missing out on after-school tutoring because their parents can't swing a hundred bucks a season. Furthermore, when we negotiate those CBAs with incoming developers, we will mandate specific funding for local youth workforce pipelines, technical training, and paid apprenticeships.

We aren't just trying to police our way out of poverty. We are going to use private development to fund community programs, use those programs to give our youth a future, and use that future to drive crime out of North Lauderdale. The current administration looks at a vacant lot and sees an eyesore. I look at it as leverage to fund our kids' futures and support our seniors. We don't need to raise your property taxes to fix this—we just need a Mayor who knows how to negotiate.