{"id":88810,"date":"2025-12-19T02:58:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T02:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/88810\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T02:58:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T02:58:08","slug":"eileen-higgins-takes-office-as-miami-mayor-pledging-to-fix-citys-troubled-permitting-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/88810\/","title":{"rendered":"Eileen Higgins takes office as Miami mayor, pledging to fix city’s troubled permitting process"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eileen Higgins<\/a> made history Thursday when she was sworn in as the first woman to lead the City of Miami<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of her top priorities<\/a>, she says, will be reforming the city’s permitting process, which she described as bogged down by excessive bureaucracy.<\/p>\n

Mayor targets long-standing delays<\/p>\n

Higgins addressed the issue during her inaugural speech, pointing to long wait times that have frustrated homeowners and developers alike.<\/p>\n

“It is possible to build the homes we need by issuing permits in record time,” Higgins said. “We have homeowners waiting over a year just to repair a roof.”<\/p>\n

She pledged to streamline the system and eliminate unnecessary delays.<\/p>\n

City officials acknowledge problems<\/p>\n

On the day Higgins was sworn in, CBS News Miami spoke with city officials responsible for processing permits at the City of Miami’s downtown building.<\/p>\n

Assael Marrero, assistant city manager, agreed that the system needs improvement.<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of things that could still be improved with the permitting process,” Marrero said.<\/p>\n

Marrero and Eduardo Santamaria, the city’s director of building, oversee permit operations. Both welcomed the mayor’s commitment to reform.<\/p>\n

“I welcome that tremendously,” Santamaria said. “We’re going to work with the mayor and her team.”<\/p>\n

Departments operating in silos<\/p>\n

Marrero said one of the biggest challenges is that multiple departments operate independently, creating bottlenecks for applicants.<\/p>\n

“One of the big problems that we have is that we have a lot of silos,” Marrero said. “If you come to get a building permit with the City of Miami, you need to interact with a lot of different points.”<\/p>\n

Technology upgrades and assistance programs<\/p>\n

Over the past five years, the city has transitioned from paper applications to electronic plan reviews. Marrero says that shift has helped, but more changes are still needed.<\/p>\n

City officials highlighted initiatives designed to assist residents navigating the permitting process, including a Homeowner Assistance Program located on the first floor of the downtown building.<\/p>\n

“It’s a free service for all residents of the City of Miami,” Marrero said. “When you come here to obtain a building permit, we hold your hand from beginning to end.”<\/p>\n

More staff and better tools<\/p>\n

Officials also agreed with Mayor Higgins’ proposal to hire additional staff and invest in more advanced technology to speed up permit approvals.<\/p>\n

Mayor Higgins says reducing bureaucracy will be critical to addressing Miami’s housing needs and restoring public trust in city government as her administration begins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eileen Higgins made history Thursday when she was sworn in as the first woman to lead the City…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[28,123,125,124,807],"class_list":["post-88810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-florida","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-south-florida"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}