Commissioners line up ideas for the city's $2 million Grand Theft Auto VI ad windfall

Miami Beach expects about $2 million as its share of advertising money from the Grand Theft Auto VI marketing campaign on its beaches, and at least three commissioners have proposals on the Nov. 18 agenda for how to spend part of it.

The money comes through the city’s beachfront concession agreement with Boucher Brothers, under the campaign that put promotional material on beach concession equipment and other city property, the agenda items say. The city will also get the proceeds of an auction of a custom vehicle Rockstar Games built for the campaign, appraised at $643,443, with the auction expected in 2027. Red Sidewalks reported on the campaign’s Lummus Park sign Nov. 1.

The proposals:

• Lummus Park lighting, $450,000. Commissioner Monica Matteo-Salinas’s resolution (R7 BC) says the administration has found a shortfall of about $450,000 in the budget for lighting improvements in Lummus Park, where parts of the park are poorly lit at night. It would direct the city to use campaign money to close the gap and would skip the usual review by the Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee, which needs a five-sevenths vote. Commissioner Laura Dominguez sponsors a similar $450,000 item on the consent agenda (C7 AG), though the resolution posted with that item is a different measure, on the city’s state legislative agenda.
• Pickleball at Miami Beach Senior High, $100,000. Matteo-Salinas also asks the finance committee (C4 X) to consider resurfacing the school’s basketball courts and adding pickleball lines. The memo asks staff to address any needed changes to the city’s agreement with the school district.
• Blue Zones Project, $275,000. Commissioner Tanya K. Bhatt asks the finance committee (C4 Y) to consider money for the city’s Blue Zones Project, a community well-being effort.

A separate Dominguez resolution (R7 AW), not tied to the campaign money, would add $275,000 for holiday lights and decor along Ocean Drive and in Lummus Park. It says the city now spends about $40,350 a year on supplemental holiday decor in the park and that the Ocean Drive Association has raised concerns about whether funding is adequate. It was not reached Oct. 14.

The commission meets at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 18 at City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Drive.