My Community - Your Community
By Mary Ann Eicke

Hello everyone, let me introduce myself. I have been a resident of Sunny Isles Beach for just over 8 years. I am a member of the Mayors Advisory Council Tourism & Development Committee. I love our City. Whenever I talk about Sunny Isles I say "MY CITY" people tend to look at me somewhat puzzled. I really feel it is my city. I hope you will learn to love our city the same way. While we are growing rapidly, and are one of the most prosperous cities, possibly in the nation per capita, we are still small enough to be a community. I would like to encourage our residents to get involved. Join us at our City Commission Meetings, and/or the Mayor Advisory Council Committee Meetings. Chose an area that you would be interested in and join in, YOU can make a difference.

I recently went to Mayor Edelcup with my plan to put together a Hurricane Preparedness Program. That same morning one of the condominiums had telephoned inquiring whether the City offered such a program. So the timing was perfect. Our Mayor is truly a man of the people and for the people. I would like to personally thank Mayor Edelcup, without his support this program would not have happened. I would also like to thank the Mayor's Advisory Council, Tourism & Development Committee for supporting this program.

While calling the condo to inquire if they would like the presentation, at their building. I had the pleasure of speaking to Susan Delano the property manager at Ocean III. She asked if we could have a fire safety program. This topic had come up on a couple of occasions recently at the commission meeting. Vice Mayor Gerry Goodman had taken a personal interest in high-rise evacuation.

So I got on the Internet and contacted the Miami-Dade Fire Department. Fire Fighter Audrey Sorrell with the Public Education Division was happy to personally facilitate the High-Rise Evacuation Fire Safety Program. He was a fire fighter right here in Sunny Isles in the past. So he is very familiar with our community and its needs. We now have a Community Awareness program for the condominiums for both Hurricane Preparedness and Fire Safety. The Hurricane Preparedness portion is being presented by Erin Mohres from the Office of Emergency Management. Erin is providing materials in English, Spanish, Creole, and Russian. She is a dynamic speaker, with extensive experience. Erin utilizes real life disaster scenarios while educating the public, to peak your interest.

The first Community Awareness Program was presented last night July 14th, at the Winston Tower 200 building. Tom and Lillie Langley were the hosts. They were wonderful to work with and very helpful in setting up the room. The residents really participated in the program. They were pleased with the information shared, and thanked both Fire Fighter Sorrell and Erin Mohres for the information they presented. Several gave input and suggestions, and many had good questions. I am sure you are curious as to what those questions where. Well you will have to attend a meeting to find out. At the end of the seminars I will put together a few of the most popular questions with the answers to share with you.

If you are not a registered voter, please register. The Democratic Club is going to be setting up in various locations to assist you with the form, and they will even mail in the application for you. You may also pick up the voter registration application form at the Community Awareness Program. Refreshments are being served at the end of each session so you can get to know your neighbors. Please come out, I would love to meet you.

Mary Ann Eicke has been on the Traffic Safety Committee, the Charter Revision Commission, and the Mayor's Advisory Council. She was in the International Who's Who of Professionals in 2002. She is currently a consultant for Confianza Window Tinting, which offers 3M security film (an alternative to shutters) as well as 3M solar film to protect your home from heat and damaging UV rays. She can be reached at 305.470.9393.


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