FYI Miami: December 25, 2025

BETTER THAN PEERS: Although Miami-Dade County hit a three-and-a-half-year high in unemployment in September at 3%, it was the lowest unemployment percentage among the nation’s 37 metropolitan divisions of the 13 most populous metropolitan areas, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week. The highest rate among the 37 divisions was in Newark, NJ, which had 6% unemployment. Miami-Dade had 1,429,218 people working in September.

UNDERLINE OVERRUN: The Underline pedestrian and bicycle path under the Metrorail from the Miami River to Dadeland will cost almost $8 million more to complete under an agreement that county commissioners approved with NV2A Central Joint Venture for the urban trail’s third phase. The legislation says the added spending for scope changes includes upgraded recreation areas, plazas and community spaces; integration of Wi-Fi across the full corridor; streetlighting and wayfinding; and design adjustments to preserve the existing tree canopy. Some $4.8 million of the added funding is to come from the Florida Department of Transportation, almost $600,000 from a Knight Foundation grant; $366,000 from the American Rescue Plan, and $2.2 million from county mobility impact fees. 

WHEN AIDES ARE AIDS: A county commission request to study whether using public service aides instead of law enforcement officers at roadway and other improvement projects led to a finding that the aides aren’t sworn to handle law enforcement or trained to do the job, says a report from Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, but the cost differential is so great that the county will keep looking for was to use the aides in specific situations. Law enforcement officers are paid from $74 to $111 an hour to work on such projects, the report said, whereas public service aides average $59.40 per hour. Therefore, the mayor wrote, her administration wants to keep communications open to find slots where public service aides might replace higher-paid workers without compromising public safety.

COMMUNICATION HEAD: Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has named Jorge Olazabal director of the Communication, Information & Technology Department. He had been assistant director since February 2024 and before had been a division director in other county departments. Earlier he worked at Ryder System, JMOD Group, 123 Patient Portal, and Beckman Coulter, all in Miami. He holds a master’s in business administration from Babson College and a bachelor of science in engineering from the University of Miami.

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