In order to ensure transparency, Members are required to post Community Project Funding requests and associated certifications of no financial interest on their house.gov websites at the time the request is made to the Committee. The information posted must include the proposed recipient, the address of the recipient, the amount of the request, an explanation of the request, including purpose, and a justification for why it is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds, and the Member’s signed certification letter stating there is no financial interest in the project. Information about FY 2023 Community Project Funding requests submitted by my office can be found below.

Broward UP Program Request

  • Project Name: Broward UP
  • Request Amount: $5,000,000
  • Intended Recipient: Broward College
  • Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 111 E. Last Olas Blvd. Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
  • Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
  • Explanation of the request (must include purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds): Broward UP is an expanded model of service to ensure that everyone can realize their potential via postsecondary education opportunities.  This program identifies different parts of the district that need these services based on their disproportionately high unemployment and low postsecondary education attainment rates. Broward UP brings postsecondary education and workforce development into Broward UP communities. The funds will be used to expand workforce training and certifications, provide success coaching to get residents to the finish line of their educational programs, provide placement in jobs and educational programs, create access of training programs through two mobile units, technology carts and program development to expand courses being offered in the community.  With this funding, they are expecting to serve 6,000 residents over three-year period, of which 75% are expected to complete the training, and 60% placed into job, work experience or educational program (technical certificate or degree). – For every $1 invested yields a return on investment of $13.13. Broward UP framework can also serve as a model for the rest of the state to tackle intergenerational poverty, immobility, and inequality.

City of Hollywood Police Department Body Worn Cameras Request

  • Project Name: Hollywood PD Body Worn Cameras Project
  • Request Amount: $1,701,895
  • Intended Recipient: City of Hollywood Police Department
  • Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 2600 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood FL 33020-4807
  • Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
  • Explanation of the request (must include purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds): This request will allow the Hollywood Police Department to purchase and maintain body-worn cameras (BWCs) for 250 patrol officers.  As an agency, the Hollywood Police Department has already taken the necessary steps to methodically evaluate a BWC program and recently completed the second of two 6-week pilot programs. Many community stakeholders and criminal justice leaders have suggested that placing BWCs on police officers improves the civility of police-citizen encounters and enhances citizen perceptions of police legitimacy. Better transparency, increased civility, quicker resolution, corroborating evidence and training opportunities are the main benefits of BWCs for the community and the Police Department.

City of Sunrise’s Storm Water Pump Station #8 Replacement Request

  • Project Name: City of Sunrise Storm Water Pump Station #8 Replacement
  • Request Amount: $2,000,000
  • Intended Recipient: City of Sunrise
  • Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 10770 W Oakland Park Blvd, Sunrise, FL 33351
  • Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
  • Explanation of the request (must include purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds): The funding for this project would be used to replace the aging pump, which manages stormwater and provides flood protection to thousands of acres of residents and businesses including Sawgrass Mills Mall, the largest outlet and value retail shopping destination in the United States. The pump station is nearing the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced. This project would benefit taxpayers by providing critical flood protection to thousands of homeowners and businesses in the City of Sunrise, and to neighboring communities in western Broward County.

C.W. Thomas Park Redevelopment

  • Project Name: C.W. Thomas Park Redevelopment
  • Request Amount: $3,000,000
  • Intended Recipient: City of Dania Beach
  • Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 100 W Dania Beach Blvd, Dania Beach, Florida 33004
  • Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
  • Explanation of the request (must include purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds): The funding would be used for the rebuilding of C.W. Thomas Park, a 6-acre park that primarily serves as the recreational, social, and civic center for several low-moderate income neighborhoods. The existing structure, pool, and field-court layout are inefficient and do not serve the residents' level of use and diversity of activities. In 2020, the Dania Beach City Commission adopted the Parks Master Plan, which includes the demolition and reconstruction of the existing Community Center, construction of one football field, a baseball park, a basketball court, kids' playgrounds, a new pedestrian walkway, and site improvements.  It is a good use of tax dollars because federal funding would provide a much-needed Community Center and outlet for low-income families and disadvantaged children.

Dania Beach Water Utility Upgrade and Improvement Project Request

  • Project Name: Dania Beach Water Utility Upgrade and Improvement Project
  • Request Amount: $1,500,000
     
  • Intended Recipient: City of Dania Beach
  • Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 100 W Dania Beach Blvd, Dania Beach, FL 33004
  • Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
  • Explanation of the request (must include purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds): The funding for this project would be used for the construction of new water transmission lines that serve residential neighborhoods. The City's utilities are some of the oldest in Broward County, with some of its highest rates. The water utility's capital improvement plan identified four water lines that serve residential neighborhoods that require replacement to maintain water quality to those residents. The project identifies over 7,500 feet of water line replacement on four streets: SE 1 Street, SW 3 Terrace, SE 3 Avenue, and NE 2 Avenue. This project would help provide clean drinking water to residential neighborhoods in need of new water transmission lines. The current lines are old and outdated, and can cause harm to the health of households drinking water.

Florida International University PET/Cyclotron Center Request

  • Project Name: PET/Cyclotron Center
  • Request Amount: $13.5 million
  • Intended Recipient: Florida International University
  • Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 11200 SW 8 Street Miami, FL 33199
  • Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
  • Explanation of the request (must include purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds): Florida International University (FIU) has requested $13.5 million to establish a PET/Cyclotron Center in order to perform imaging studies and advance solutions to a variety of human diseases that face our communities. A cyclotron is a type of compact particle accelerator that produces radioactive isotopes that can be used for imaging procedures. With a Cyclotron Center, FIU would establish research partnerships to perform imaging studies on several diseases, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, substance abuse, and more. The overall purpose of a Cyclotron Center is early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases that disproportionately affect the aging and minority populations in South Florida, with, ultimately, a national and global impact. This investment would be a first-of-its-kind for the state of Florida, and it is a resource that would drive public-private partnerships and draw collaborative opportunities with the burgeoning biotechnology industry in South Florida. The purpose of this project is to establish a PET/cyclotron Center at FIU to support South Florida research partnerships in order to perform the ultimate imaging studies of a variety of human diseases ranging from cancer to Alzheimer’s disease. This is a critical step towards early detection, diagnosis and treatment of multiple devastating diseases that disproportionately affect our aging and minority populations in South Florida. 

Nova Southeastern University Emerging Technologies Equipment Request

  • Project Name: Emerging Technologies Equipment 
  • Request Amount: $1,930,519.00
  • Intended Recipient: Nova Southeastern University (NSU)
  • Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 3301 College Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314
  • Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
  • Explanation of the request (must include purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds): Nova Southeastern University (NSU) has requested $1,930,519 to acquire equipment and technology for the Alan B. Levan, NSU Broward Center of Innovation, in order to continue their commitment to improve access to and development of emerging technologies.  Working through NSU’s Broward Center of Innovation, NSU would use these funds to target minority graduate students in order to expand their curriculum in areas of spatial computing, artificial intelligence, robotics, and experiential human-focused technologies. Florida has been increasingly recognized as a hub for the high-tech sector, with several companies having established a strong presence in South Florida, which has created hundreds of jobs within the technology sector. However, this growth can only be sustained so long as there is a skilled and educated workforce capable of doing the work. It is critical that we educate our students in the computer sciences so that we can fill the demand for a workforce conversant in these skills. The funds requested for the Emerging Technologies Equipment program will help fulfill NSU’s goal of creating a “next generation” technology-focused workshop and lab for students in the field of computer science and technology.

PACE Reach Teletherapy Services Request

  • Project Name: PACE Reach Teletherapy Expansion
  • Request Amount: $500,000
  • Intended Recipient: PACE Center for Girls
  • Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 1 West Adams Street, Jacksonville, FL 32202
  • Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
  • Explanation of the request (must include purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds): Through this project, Pace Center for Girls will design and develop an integrated Pace Reach Teletherapy platform system to expand its already established flagship Reach Therapeutic Counseling services for adolescent girls living in hard-to-reach geographical areas within Florida’s 23rd District. The organization is headquartered in Jacksonville, but this be focused solely on FL-23:  targeted areas for the expansion and provision of Pace Reach teletherapy services will include: Davie, Dania Beach, Sunrise, Hollywood, Weston, Pembrooke Pines, Cooper City, Southwest Ranches, Hallandale Beach and Aventura. This teletherapy platform will be built, designed, and implemented in Florida’s District 23 to expand gender responsive teletherapy services to at-risk adolescent girls residing in hard to reach, high-risk/high need communities. A myriad of challenging living conditions created by the Covid 19 Pandemic, has increased demand for therapeutic mental health counseling services specially for teen girls (11-17) is on the rise. The pandemic has intensified and worsened mental health challenges for adolescent girls whose present histories of severe trauma, risk factors and a lack of access to effective behavioral health services. Sadly, school closures, isolation, separation from family/friends and social support resources has only increase this already critical concern. Of particular concern are girls where Pace Reach Therapeutic Counseling gender responsive services are not available. This project will increase accessibility of services to girls residing in District 23 where the Pace Reach Program was founded and where they are experiencing an increased demand for services that a customized teletherapy platform can help to accomplish. The increased accessibility of teletherapy services to girls identified at risk will help combat increased institutionalization, hospitalizations, Baker Acts, system involvement and trauma related risk factors thus creating a healthier, stable, productive, and economically thriving community. Pace Broward is located in the East Central side of Broward County (Wilton Manors), thus access to mental health services for girls residing in the identified areas of District 23 are difficult to access.  Pace Broward serves as the Pace Center for Girls innovation hub, and Pace Broward will build, design, and implement the teletherapy platform and provide access to needed mental health services to an additional 600 girls in Florida’s District 23 in FY 2022.

Port Everglades Harbor Deepening, FL

  • Project Name: Port Everglades Harbor Deepening, FL
  • Request Amount: $32,000,000
     
  • Intended Recipient: Army Corps of Engineers for the benefit of Broward County
  • Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 701 San Marco Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32207
  • Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
  • Explanation of the request (must include purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds): The funding would be used for the continuation of the deepening and widening project.  Deepening and widening the port’s navigational channels are a matter of safety and efficiency.  As the nation’s leading gateway for trade with Latin America, Port Everglades handles approximately 15 percent of all Latin American trade in the United States and 37 percent of Florida’s total trade in the region.  Deeper channels are needed to safely accommodate increasingly larger cargo ships from these regions. 

Town of Davie’s Shenandoah Drainage Improvements Request

  • Project Name: Town of Davie Shenandoah Drainage Improvements
  • Request Amount: $1,772,800
  • Intended Recipient: Town of Davie
  • Full Street Address of the Intended Recipient: 6591 Orange Drive, Davie, FL 33314
  • Signed Financial Disclosure Letter
  • Explanation of the request (must include purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds): The funding for this project would be used to fund the design, permitting, and construction of a pump station improve drainage capacity, which will improve and enhance water treatment to comply with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) standards. This project proposes to improve the drainage infrastructure throughout the Town. The project will improve drainage capacity, enhance water treatment, reduce water levels pre- and post-storm, and alleviate flooding issues that prohibits residents from entering and leaving the community during a heavy rainstorm.