Miramar charts its future with first strategic plan. Here’s how you can have a say
For the first time in its history, Miramar is preparing a formal roadmap for its future after commissioners unanimously approved hiring a consulting firm to develop a comprehensive five-year strategic plan.
The strategic plan will become the formal blueprint for the city’s future — outlining how leaders and residents hope to balance economic growth, infrastructure, public services and quality of life.
The proposal would authorize spending of no more than $204,000 to hire the Fort Lauderdale-based consulting firm Whitehouse Group to facilitate the city’s strategic planning process.
City officials say the effort marks a significant step: Despite years of visioning exercises and planning discussions, Miramar has never adopted a formal strategic plan.
“This would be our first strategic plan,” Kassandra Carvalho-Lindsay, chief of staff in the office of the City Manager, told commissioners during her March 4 presentation. “We’ve had several visioning sessions, but it never resulted in a strategic plan.”
The initiative stems from a visioning session held in October 2025, when city commissioners, administrators and community leaders discussed what Miramar should look like in the future.
Participants identified several priorities that residents associate with quality of life and want addressed. They include:
- Safe neighborhoods and affordable housing
- Job opportunities and fair wages
- Sustainable development and strong infrastructure
- Parks, programs and community engagement
The process, led by the Whitehouse Group, will take 18 to 24 months and unfold in three phases. Commissioners were told the guidelines would include:
1. Strategic plan development: Conducting commission and management retreats, community surveys and public meetings.
2. Action planning: Setting measurable goals, timelines and responsibilities across city departments.
3. Ongoing monitoring: Maintaining the plan with performance dashboards and policy updates.
Vice Mayor Yvette Colbourne liked the idea of stakeholders working toward the same objectives.
“I’m excited about having a strategic plan where we can all have the same vision and work toward it as one,” she said.
Mayor Wayne M. Messam said the initial visioning session was meant to establish a starting point for the planning process. He said the session attended by commissioners helped consultants understand how city leaders view Miramar’s current strengths and challenges.
“That provides the consultant (Whitehouse Group) a framework to engage the city and the community in the upcoming outreach sessions,” Messam said, adding that broader public participation will come later in the process.
Still, not every commissioner was fully convinced the early steps by the Whitehouse Group were effective.
Commissioner Avril Cherasard said she felt the initial visioning workshop lacked sufficient community input and did not provide enough data to fully reflect residents’ views.
“I was extremely underwhelmed with the process so far,” she said, adding that the participants appeared to be mostly city staff rather than members of the public.
“We want to make sure everybody has a seat at the table,” Commissioner Maxwell B. Chambers said.
Carvalho-Lindsay assured commissioners that the upcoming stages of the project will include more public engagement. The goal, she said, is to ensure residents help shape the priorities that will guide the city over the next five years.
How Miramar residents will be involved:
- A community survey will be offered in English, Spanish and Creole
- Two public meetings will be held, one in eastern Miramar and one in western Miramar
- Ongoing outreach through city communication channels
In November, the final vision plan is expected to be presented to the commission for adoption.
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 10:16 AM.
