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Mayor Manuel A. Diaz has led Miami toward a renaissance of prosperity and opportunity since he was first elected in 2001. Now in his second term, Mayor Diaz is recognized as one of America’s most innovative Mayors. He has just finished his tenure as president of the United States Conference of Mayors, the country’s official non-partisan organization of urban leaders, where he launched an ambitious agenda to raise awareness of the Mayors’ 10-Point Plan through Mayors Action Forums held throughout the country.
Never before elected to public office, Mayor Diaz came to City Hall when the City of Miami’s government was bankrupt, held junk bond status, and was under a state financial oversight board. Mayor Diaz pursued a vast administrative overhaul that brought with it financial stability, a healthy level of financial reserves, continued tax cuts, lowered millage rates, and an A+ bond rating on Wall Street.
Mayor Diaz has continued to lower costs, improve performance and introduce private sector business approaches that have led to better service delivery and recognition awards for several city departments.
Internal operational excellence has allowed Mayor Diaz to pursue capital reinvestment and quality of life initiatives in long abandoned and forgotten neighborhoods. Plans include a billion dollar Capital Improvement Plan that will rebuild the city’s infrastructure without levying new taxes and Miami21 (www.Miami21.org), a revolutionary land use planning and zoning master plan that incorporates new urbanism and smart growth.
Guided by principles of conservancy and sustainability, Mayor Diaz has launched an expansive effort to “green” the city, erasing decades of environmental neglect. He is a signatory to the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, pledging to reduce global warming emissions. Diaz has also promoted “Green Building” throughout the City and has pledged to convert the city fleet to hybrid or other fuel efficient vehicles by 2012. His efforts have earned him recognition by Vanity Fair Magazine as one of North America’s leading environmental conscious Mayors.
Mayor Diaz brought former Philadelphia and New York Police Chief John Timoney to return public confidence to the Miami Police Department. On the day Chief Timoney took office, a dozen officers faced federal charges for improper shootings. After instituting what is regarded as one of the nation’s most progressive shooting policies, Miami Police went 20 months without firing a shot, a claim no other major American city can make. The Miami Police Department has now become an international model for law enforcement, placing Miami as one of the top five U.S. cities in crime reduction, having reduced crime rates in every category and in every neighborhood to new lows. In 2008, Mayor Diaz broke ground on the Miami College of Policing - the first of its kind and what is sure to be an international model for security education and police support.
Miami - the Epicenter of the Americas - is experiencing a renaissance.
Private investment has poured into Miami, increasing to well over $30 billion dollars worth of development projects at various stages in the planning and construction process, bringing with it a changed Miami skyline along with thousands of new jobs. As a result, Miami has become a national leader in job creation, with unemployment cut by more than half since 2001.
This boom has dramatically improved Miami’s tax base, which grew to a new all-time high of $34 billion. Yet, the City’s millage rate has been reduced almost every year since Diaz took office, presently at its lowest rate in half a century, resulting in $128 million returned to tax payers.
The City has also increased its production of affordable housing by leveraging public/private investments toward over 4,000 affordable units since 2001 at a combined public and private investment surpassing $800 million with a billion dollar investment pledged by 2010.
Mayor Diaz is an active proponent of green building across the city and last year, presided over a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the City’s first LEED-certified affordable green home.
Mayor Diaz has been nationally recognized for his work to reduce poverty and promote financial literacy. He is dedicated to uniting City resources with public, private, and non-profit sectors to offer the tools and education that enable Miami residents to break out of poverty. His award-winning ACCESS Miami projects offers financial literacy seminars, workshops, free tax preparation sites, EITC reclamation, training, and more.
Mayor Diaz has contributed greatly towards improving education in our city's public schools through mentoring programs, funding and sponsorship initiatives, and a progressive Education Compact with Miami-Dade Public Schools that will ensure that current and future generations of Miamians have access to quality education and opportunity. The Education Compact, the nation's first partnership between a municipality and a school system, promotes community involvement, capital improvements, and the enrichment of the educational experience for both children and parents.
Miami’s world-class reputation is now attracting new residents from all over the world. An impressive 10% population growth over the past three years is furthered by estimates suggesting an increase by 30% by the end of this decade. This is a startling contrast to the combined 7 percent growth experienced during the 70s, 80s and 90s. Miami also boasts perhaps the most diverse population of any city in the United States, with over 60% of its residents of foreign origin.
In September of 2006, the Mayor invited other mayors from throughout the hemisphere as host of the first ever Mayor’s Hemispheric Forum, a gathering of leaders from North, Central, South America and the Caribbean aimed at strengthening ties between Miami City Hall and mayors from across the Americas. The forum also served as an opportunity for the region's big-city stewards to offer insights and success stories that might be helpful to their counterparts. In 2008, the Forum returned to Miami for its third annual meeting of hemispheric leaders. The City of Miami also hosted the Inter-American Development Bank Annual Meeting, the United States Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting, the Mayors Institute of City Design National Advisory Council Meeting, and the PODER Philanthropy Forum.
Mayor Diaz has received extensive international recognition for his work, including Hispanic Magazine, America Economia, and the Urban Land Institute each naming Miami among the top cities in the hemisphere. And, the influential British magazine Wallpaper named Miami the “Best City in the World.”
Mayor Diaz has been recognized with the 2006 Government Achievement Award and the 2008 Top 100 Hispanic Leaders Award by Hispanic Magazine, the 2004 Urban Innovator of the Year by the Manhattan Institute, 2004 Business Leader of the Year Award by SouthFloridaCEO Magazine, and was named an “Outstanding American by Choice” by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service – a significant award that recognizes the outstanding achievements of naturalized U.S. citizens. Also in 2007, the Mayor received Aguila Leadership Award from the Latino Leaders Network as well as Award of Achievement from the Caribbean Commercial Law Annual Workshop.
Mayor Diaz was named one of America’s Best Leaders for 2008 by the U.S. News Media Group, one of the nation’s leading sources of news analysis and service journalism, in association with the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School (CPL).
He serves on the advisory boards for the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Civic Innovation, the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Urban Research, the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, and was chosen as a judge for the Rudy Bruner Award for excellence in urban design.
Born on November 5, 1954, in Havana, Cuba, Diaz immigrated to the United States with his mother, Elisa, in 1961. Growing up in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, Diaz attended Belen Jesuit Prep School, Miami-Dade College, Florida International University and the University of Miami’s School of Law.
Diaz is a partner in the law firm of Diaz & O’Naghten, L.L.P. He is married to Robin Smith and has four children; Manny, Natalie, Bobby, and Elisa. He also has three grandsons, Colin, Gavin and Manny.
Selected Awards and Recognition
2008
America’s Best Leader for 2008: U.S. News Media Group
America’s Cleanest City: Forbes Magazine
Top Walking City: Prevention Magazine
Top 25 U.S. Arts Destination: American Style Magazine
Inner City Mayoral Leadership: Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC)
Best City to Do Business (for the second year in a row): America Economia Magazine
Home for Every American Mayoral Leadership: U.S. Interagency Council for Homelessness
2007
Tree City USA: National Arbor Day Foundation
Best City on Water: AIA American Institute of Architects
Nambe Eagle Leadership Award: U.S. Latino Leaders Network
Urban Markets Pathfinder Award for Excellence: Brookings Institute
Top Honors, U.S. Livability Award (for the Elevate Miami program): USCM
10th Anniversary Living Wage Award (for the Mayor): Community Coalition for Living Wages
2006
Government Achievement Award: Hispanic Magazine
National Public Leadership in the Arts: Americans for the Arts, USCM
1st Place, Excellence in Public Private Partnership (for the Access Miami program)
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