In THE March 15th issue of "Miami Today", they did print a lot OF GOOD STUFF that you NEVER find in the Herald, or at least my Neighbors Section of the Herald – which is void of one iota of useful information.
Here is my rundown of the issue (Most of it is not on line):
•It appears the lovely, former South Miami Mayor, Mary Scott Russell, is now the President of Chamber South. Like her.
•Carnival Cruise Line's CEO, Dickinson calls the (County run) Port of Miami “Third World.” No news there, same assessment as we all can make on the Miami-Dade County airport. I still think they aren’t hooked up to sewers at the Port of Miami, among other problems Dickinson cited.
•It also was reported that if you are richer you can go faster. FDOT is proposing putting in a tolled speed lane on I 95. I am not against this. But once we start paying 9% sales tax and $3.50 a gallon for gas, I might be. I do think it is highly discrimatory. But I am also a self serving realist at times, and I want to go faster. So screw the people who have to go slower.
•Now to the SMELLY DEAL. Unfortunately this article is not on line and I am forced to interpret it. (Hit read more)
It is about the Opa Locka Airport. Willie Logan, who ran against Barbara Jordan for County Commissioner and lost, has some sort of deal at the airport. He heads Opa-locka Cummunity Development Corp. and his group has not met the terms of a 1997 deal which has a 40 year lease to it. The thing that was unseemly, is that the same Barbara Jordan he ran against was the one raking Willie over the coals at the Commission meeting. It shouldn’t have been you Barbara, sour grapes. It was wrong.
Gimenez (one blogger told me Gimenez is eyeing the City of Miami Mayor position) sponsored a resolution to give Logan’s company 90 days to land a deal with Chicago giant Higgins development to do the development. Jordan shortened the grace period to 30 days. Sour grapes.........or is something else afoot?
In an aside which will become clearer later: Sally Heyman, you might recall, pressured county staff to get Carrie Meek a lobbyist job a year or two ago. It wasn’t quite the kosher deal as Sally was said to have intimidated county staffers.
Jordan's 30 day deal was supported by the awful Seijas and Heyman. Now here is the interesting part, according to reporter Dan Dolan:
“If Opa-Locka Community Development loses its rights, other companies would be able to negotiate to build on the parcel, which includes 100 acres earmarked for industrial use and 21 acres with access to the airport’s runways.
Ms. Jordan is championing a $200 million dollar airport development proposal sponsored by a politically influential foundation headed by former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek. However, she has indicated that Higgins would be able to pitch the county once Opa Locka Community Development is out of the picture.”
What a mess.
I don’t think Willie should have taken so long and how the hell did he get the contract anyway? But, I also ask, are we going from the frying pan into the fire with this one? Carrie Meek appears to be tottering on the dark side of late - tarnishing her legacy – lobbying for developers and rock miners outside the Urban Development Boundary and now this. And isn't she in her 80's? Tsk, tsk.
Again, Dorothy you are not in Kansas anymore.
7 comments:
Here is the deal on this one, the County gave Logan's group even more time initially. That deal was inked before Jordan or Gimenez joined the BCC in 04. Jordan wants to sole source the contract to her mentor's (Meek) group, without competition, and say what you wil about Logan, that didn't seem to fair to Gimenez, and that is why he moved to give them more time to perform. It also stalled the eventual debate on the sole source to the Meek Foundation, which is the real ugly part of this deal, especially when you take into account how close Jordan is to Meek (and Barbara Carey-Shuler), and the fact that she is advocating a noncompetitive situation. The County almost always losses on those.
I happen to like Willie Logan and was friendly with his wife.
Thank you reader, this seems to say my hunch on this is pretty accurate.
I thought Gimenez was one of the voices of reason on the commission. The big surprise: He got Barriero voting against Seijas. And Rolle? Rolle was endorsed by Kendrick.
As per the I-95 tolled high-speed lanes, this is wrong on a number of levels.
First it is a selling off the public commons.
Second for every person who buys and shortens their trip many will be penalized by having their trip lengthened.
no everyone will buy the fast lane and then it will be slower than the slow lane.
I was just thinking...(watch out)
On the smelly deal - when i said now I have to interpret it, I think that makes you lucky because I will say what the newspapers will not:
the meta stuff going on...the underbelly....
Fast lane doesn't strike me as a scandal...the trend in Florida is if you're willing to pay a toll you can get there faster...this is just a continuation of same and with luck, will alleviate some of the traffic in other commuter lanes for everyone else...ok so I'm pollyanna.
The "fast lane" was just an aside in an article about a Smelly Deal that had nothing to do with traffic. I guess everyone liked the aside better than the meaty article.
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