We were not invited to the luncheon for 800 in Coral Gables, to wish Governor Jeb Bush farewell. Back in the day, we would have been outside waving signs.
Just kidding. There are no protesters in Miami these days. No, the police protection at the Summit of the Americas took care of that.
Governor Bush made it perfectly clear to law enforcement that disorder would not be tolerated. So retired ladies, students and school teachers got the crap kicked out of them.
That is disorder in the streets. Disorder in government is not only tolerable, it is serves many masters.
Anyhow, gimleteye did not receive an invitation to the lunch. It’s OK.
We would feel like a fish out of water in a gathering of wealthy Cuban American builders. The Beehive is more our style.
Going to a fond farewell luncheon for a Governor whose main thrust has been to give the Latin builders—through the county commission they control—more power not less, would just remind us what an exercise in frustration it is to congratulate dysfunction masquerading as success.
So, we are grateful for today’s Miami Herald showing that we are correct even if the Herald leaves it to poor bloggers like us to point out exactly how. (Cue up, Herald editorial board?)
The front page, top of the fold story by Larry Leibowitz, “Slowdown”, first of all why shows why Eye on Miami was right to joke about the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to solicit public input to solve our traffic nightmares.
Today, the Herald reports, “Tattered green garbage bags cover 22 traffic signals on I-95 on-ramps. The ramp meters were installed in late 2004 but won’t be turned on until late next year. The dark signs … are a sore reminder of how technology was supposed to ease congestion…”
That’s not the only sore reminder. “Some of the blame” lies with prominent Coral Gables contractor, MASTEC which is failing to perform on $24 million in roadway contracts.
MASTEC, a publicly traded corporation, turns up like a bad penny in just about every local government contracting scandal. It is hard to keep track of them all: from road paving, to painting stripes, to the Homestead Air Force Base.
The company is in “settlement negotiations” with local government so often we wonder if they have their own office suite at County Hall, around the corner from the Inspector General.
But mostly we will remember MASTEC for its founder, Jorge Mas Canosa, who lead the Cuban American National Foundation with an iron grip. He also lead the vicious attacks against the Miami Herald and David Lawrence, the then-publisher.
The memory of those attacks snake-bit the Miami Herald executive suite ever since.
As an industry trade association, Mas Canosa and his friends reconstituted as the Latin Builders Association, who run building and zoning decisions through the county commission as if it were the Politburo.
Which brings us back to Governor Jeb Bush, who placed more confidence in local control than state authority but finally slapped County Commissioner Natacha Seijas on the side of the head about the Urban Development Boundary—not because he didn’t approve of developments for the account of some of his biggest supporters and campaign contributors, but because of Miami-Dade’s mismanagement of drinking water and wastewater.
Governor Bush knows how much trouble there is, ahead, for Florida’s water supply—but that will be the next governor’s problem. He did what he could. It’s time for lunch!
You see, developers get exactly what they want in Miami-Dade county and don’t care for the most part whether the traffic lights are working or not or whether your quality of life has been moving in an opposite direction to theirs.
We know this is a harsh assessment, but if it were not true, we would see a some sign of dissent from the more enlightened members of the Latin Builders Association, with some of them complaining against the forces in their own ranks that, in the end, are undermining our prosperity.
Anyhow, let’s celebrate! Christmas is around the corner, if you can get there through Miami traffic.
7 comments:
Too Bad you weren't speaking literally:
"Jeb finally slapped County Commissioner Natacha Seijas on the side of the head about the Urban Development Boundary"
I know they all look alike, but just for the record, Jorge Mas Canosa never had anything to do with the Latin Builders Association.
Really, Jorge had no friends, associates, political allies in the Latin Builders? Church & Tower isn't just a glorified corrupt road contractor. Its not that they look alike, its that they think alike!
It's a curious comment that Mas Canosa never had anything to do with the LBA. Church and Tower was a powerful member of the Miami development community, for a long period of time. Board members of the CANF were builders with strong connections, if not cross-board membership, to the LBA. When county staff were being harrangued by their lobbyists, it wasn't just the appearance of a monolithic entity, was it?
Mas Canosa and his CANF crew thought the LBA types were low grade wannabes and had no use for them.
Meanwhile, the LBA guys thought Mas Canosa was a megalomaniacal loon who made Cubans look bad.
You may have reasons to dislike both…but they were never the SAME……..
Remember, the LBA was formed in the '70's and '80's by small contractors who felt ignored by the BIG BOYS at the Builders Association of South Florida and the people who made up the CANF. The LBA types have since "grown up" to be major players, but for a long time, they were marginalized. They learned along the way how to use campaign contributions as building blocks. By the time the LBA emerged as major political players at the County Commission, Mas Canosa had "graduated" and was hobnobbing with presidents, popes and kings...
Interesting comments... on the evolution of the Latin Builders.
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