| RIPTIDE | ▼ MIAMI-DADE HOT TAKE — hit 106 degrees Fahrenheit, according to data from the National Weather Service. Days of similar extreme heat will be more S frequent in years to come. A recent study authored by the First Street Foundation predicts that that Miami-Dade County will see the number of days with a heat index of 103 degrees will increase from seven to 34 by 2033. This stands in contrast to the na- tional average of 18 days of extreme heat. “Generally, what we’re saying is: Think about how hot it was during the hottest week of the summer. That becomes your hottest three weeks in 30 years,” First Street’s chief re- search officer Jeremy Porter tells New Times. “It helps people kind of internalize what that means for the warming environment.” The climate nonprofit’s nationwide study predicts that Miami-Dade residents will ex- perience 91 days with a heat index above 100 degrees by 2053 — a 41-day increase from the present day. These so-called dangerous days will increase to 95 and 94 days, respectively, in Broward and Palm Beach counties. “It’s important for people to understand that they should be prepared for those ex- treme events,” Porter adds. “There will be more days where the National Weather Ser- vices indicates that dehydration, heat cramps, and heat stroke become more likely.” A 2021 report from researchers at the Uni- versity of Florida found that 215 heat-related GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS ▼ MIAMI PRICEY JOE W 44 JOE CAROLLO LAWSUIT DEFENSE HAS COST TAXPAYERS NEARLY $500K IN FEES SO FAR. BY JOSHUA CEBALLOS hat are the most common costs for a municipal government? Road maintenance, water and sewer, city projects and programs? What about legal fees for defending elected officials in the highest courts of the land? For the past four years, the City of Miami and City Commissioner Joe Carollo have been embroiled in a lawsuit filed against the com- missioner by two Little Havana business own- ers, William Fuller and Martin Pinilla. The plaintiffs allege that Carollo retaliated against them for supporting his political opponent and used city resources to harass their businesses. EXPERTS SAY LONG-RANGE FORECAST FOR HOTTER SOUTH FLORIDA MAY BE OPTIMISTIC. BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN ummer is winding down in Mi- ami, but the blistering hot days are not. On August 18, the heat index in Miami — or the “feels like” temperature, if you prefer fering more cooling centers where people can go to cool down on extremely hot days. While the two heat studies focus solely on outdoor heat, indoor heat should not be over- looked. Certain homes are inefficient in cool- ing if they are not well designed or maintained, especially with respect to roof insulation and windows. Some structures retain too much heat, posing potential health impacts. “Indoor heat can be really dangerous,” says Lynee Turek-Hankins, a Ph.D. student at UM’s Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy. “Research in other places has shown that indoor temperatures can often exceed outdoor temperatures.” Turek-Hankins is leading a research collab- Photo by Rayandbee/Flickr deaths occurred in Florida from 2010 to 2020. Nearly one-quarter of the fatalities occurred in Miami-Dade (10 percent), Broward (7 per- cent), and Palm Beach (6 percent) counties. According to the U.S. Environmental Protec- tion Agency, excessive heat is the nation’s leading weather-related killer. Climate researchers and professors from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science ap- plaud First Street for taking a hyperlocal ap- proach to help Americans understand the impacts of climate change and global warming. “The hyperlocal niche is so critical be- cause it empowers local decision makers to start thinking about adaptation strategies like planting more trees and having more green space,” Ben Kirtman, an atmospheric sci- ences professor, tells New Times. The flood risk and sea-level rise get so much attention in Florida. It’s about time we started talking about heat because that is going to have a big effect here.” That said, the researchers emphasize that the number of extreme heat days in South Flor- ida may actually exceed First Street’s estimates. It’s hot. It’s gonna get hotter. “They’re sort of inferring what would be in different, very localized locations around the country,” explains atmospheric sciences professor Amy Clement. “When we actually measure it, the values that we get can be a lot higher. We have dangerously high levels of heat index in a lot of the country that are ba- sically missing with some of the data that they use.” Clement is conducting a heat study of her own alongside researchers from Florida In- ternational University and Catalyst Miami, a nonprofit dedicated to environmental and economic justice in South Florida. Over the past three years, the “Shading Dade” initia- tive has measured how extreme heat varies throughout Miami-Dade County by placing heat sensors in public spaces such as parks, community centers, and bus stops. The group hopes to release its findings next month to highlight what areas in the county need bet- ter protection from extreme heat. Possible community responses to exces- sive heat include planting more trees and of- oration between UM and Catalyst Miami to document Miami residents’ indoor living con- ditions. In May, the group placed 60 sensors in households from Homestead to North Miami Beach to collect temperature and humidity data every ten minutes until November. “One component we’re exploring is this narrative that exists that heat is not really an issue in Miami because you can just go inside and there’s air conditioning,” Turek-Hankins says. “That fundamentally is based on this implicit understanding that everyone has a functioning air-conditioning system and they can afford to run as much as they would like. We’re trying to really understand what actu- ally are the indoor conditions people are liv- ing in, in South Florida.” In addition to increasing the number of heat-related deaths, extreme heat imposes a high economic burden as residents must keep up with utility costs. UM’s Kirtman says that as his research group seeks to discover the best strategies to mitigate the harmful effects of extreme heat in South Florida, he realizes that some solu- tions might be unconventional. “We want to try to think about modeling strategies that can be used to inform how de- cisions are made at the local level,” he says. “What if we planted 10,000 trees? What if we painted all the rooms some particular color? What would the impact be?” For this one lawsuit alone, the City of Miami has paid Carollo’s personal attorney nearly half a million dollars. In July, New Times submitted a request to the City of Miami for records of all payments made to attorney Benedict Kuehne on behalf of Carollo from September 2018 to the present. According to the recently provided records, the city has paid a grand total of $432,618.92 in fees and costs to Kuehne’s law firm for this case to date. The city has yet to mail checks for an additional $26,334.70 invoiced by Kuehne this year, accord- ing to a spreadsheet provided to New Times and attached to the end of this article. Reached by New Times by the phone this week, Kuehne says his invoices to the city have actually come at a “significantly discounted rate,” which he offered to the city as a public service. “I’d say it’s a fair price for excellent represen- CAROLLO’S ATTORNEYS HAVE REPEATEDLY APPEALED THE FEDERAL LAWSUIT WITHOUT SUCCESS. tation,” Kuehne says. “I’m proud to represent the City of Miami in its efforts to promote justice.” Fuller and Pinilla sued Carollo in federal court in October of 2018, claiming Carollo vio- lated their First Amendment rights by weaponizing city of- fices such as code en- forcement against their various proper- ties in a “campaign of harassment” after they publicly supported Carollo’s opponent, Al- fie Leon, in a 2017 runoff election. Carollo was infamously accused of stalking around the parking lot of the Ball & Chain bar in Little Havana (which Fuller co-owns in a sepa- rate partnership that does not involve Pinilla) and yelling, “I am the law!” at an employee when confronted about his presence. Carollo’s attorneys have repeatedly appealed the federal lawsuit without success, claiming that as a city commissioner he is protected by so- called qualified immunity for actions taken in his official capacity. His appeals have been shot down each time. Carollo’s recent petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue is pending. The appeals have delayed the case for nearly four years, as taxpayers foot the bill. The case itself remains in its discovery phase; a jury trial is scheduled for April 2023 in Miami federal court. Reached by New Times by phone, Fuller de- clined to comment for this story. Carollo did not respond to a phone call seeking comment. 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