Why this exists
The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners meets regularly and decides things that show up in your rent, your commute, and your neighborhood's next ten years. The agendas are public record. Almost nobody outside government reads them. Miami-Dade Commission Watch summarizes what's on them in plain language, links back to the source for every claim, and stays out of the business of telling you what to think.
Founders
Miami-Dade Commission Watch was founded by Conrad Gelber and Daniel Llobet. It's an independent, student-run project, not affiliated with, operated by, or endorsed by Miami-Dade County government, any political party, or any candidate for office.
Conrad Gelber is a co-founder of Miami-Dade County Commission Watch, a nonpartisan platform that tracks County Commission legislation and turns it into clear, plain-language briefings for the public.
A rising senior at Miami Beach Senior High School pursuing the IB Diploma, Conrad focuses on international relations and public service.
His path to this work runs through his internship in the Office of the Miami-Dade County Mayor, where he has supported the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs since June 2026. He helped produce a 31-country Mayor's Briefing Book and build presentation materials introducing Mayor Daniella Levine Cava ahead of the G20 Miami 2026 summit, auditing trade figures against U.S. Census Bureau Miami Customs District data along the way. He has briefed the Mayor directly on several occasions. Attending Board of County Commissioners meetings as part of that work put him in the room for the same hundred-page agendas most residents never see, and that gap between what gets decided and what gets understood is what led him to start Commission Watch.
Outside the project, Conrad co-founded and serves as Historian of PolyPhi, Miami Beach Senior High School's Political Philosophy Club. The club brings students together to work through foundational texts and contemporary policy debates side by side, tracing the frameworks that shape both. As Historian, Conrad documents club activities and manages its digital content and outreach, on top of regular participation in sessions. He also researches Gulf-state geopolitics.
Daniel Llobet is a co-founder of Miami-Dade County Commission Watch, a nonpartisan platform that tracks County Commission legislation and turns it into clear, plain-language briefings for the public.
A rising senior at the School for Advanced Studies (SAS), Wolfson campus, Daniel is pursuing Advanced Placement coursework with a focus on public policy.
His path to this work runs through two experiences. In the summer of 2025, he served as the District 4 representative in the Youth Engagement Program (YEP), touring county facilities and advising commissioners on the agenda, a rare inside look at how local decisions get made. Throughout his junior year, he served as high school liaison for the Institute for Civic Engagement and Democracy, where he built an online platform that, for the first time, let high school students share their service projects at a collegiate level across Miami Dade College's campuses. Together, those roles taught him that civic engagement is only possible when the right infrastructure puts information within reach.
That conviction is why he co-founded Commission Watch. Too often, the decisions that shape daily life in Miami-Dade (housing, transit, public safety, and budgets) sit locked inside hundred-page agendas of dense legal language. Commission Watch breaks that barrier, with accessibility at its core: briefings in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole, for every reader, on any device, at no cost.
Outside the project, Daniel is the co-founder and president of his school's Debate Club and its Rho Kappa chapter, the National Social Studies Honor Society. His goal is to help students and residents not just follow local government, but take part in it.
Our Partners
We work with like-minded organizations on specific campaigns and on building this project itself, without compromising editorial independence.
Virtutem Populo
Miami-Dade Commission Watch and Virtutem Populo, a student-led 501(c)(3) civic organization, partner on civic programming to get students and residents speaking directly to their county government. Virtutem Populo brings the civic programming and youth organizing; we bring the district finder, meeting tracker, and officials directory that make it possible to act on it.
Integrity Florida
Integrity Florida is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute focused on government ethics, transparency, and accountability statewide. Their founder has been advising Miami-Dade Commission Watch directly on how to build and run a civic organization.
"Integrity Florida is proud to partner with Miami-Dade Commission Watch, a new nonpartisan organization dedicated to bringing transparency and accountability to county government in Florida. Miami-Dade Commission Watch represents the next generation of government watchdog journalism, providing the kind of needed oversight that should exist at every level of government."
Ben Wilcox, Research Director and Co-Founder, Integrity Florida
Florida Center for Government Accountability
The Florida Center for Government Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit newsroom and legal organization that uses public records and litigation to hold Florida government accountable. Its director has been a close mentor to Commission Watch, advising us on nonprofit registration and on building a civic organization from the ground up.
Editorial policy
Nonpartisan by design
We report what was on the agenda, what happened, and how commissioners voted. We don't endorse candidates, take positions on elections, or editorialize about individual commissioners' motives.
Sourced, always
Every meeting summary and every commissioner listing links back to the county's own public record so you can verify it yourself.
Corrections
We're students, not a newsroom with a copy desk. If you spot an error (a wrong vote, an outdated commissioner, a broken link), tell us and we'll fix it.
Independent
This project isn't funded by or affiliated with Miami-Dade County, any commissioner's office, or any political organization.
Editorials are the exception, by design
Our Editorials section is the one part of this site that isn't nonpartisan: it's opinion writing by Miami-Dade County students, clearly labeled as their own views rather than ours. Every other page stays strictly factual.
Questions?
See our FAQ & glossary for common questions about the site and how county government works, or get in touch directly.