Let’s say you are the Miami Heat and you want a parking garage on land owned by the county (Parcel B). That is a very hard sell.
If I were the Heat: I would call in the lobbyists and hatch a hair-brained scheme that will work.
The scheme must be totally impenetrable. For that to happen, you must add a racial or ethnic component to it. This will energize a really vocal group that like Commissioners will pander to and other Commissioners will be afraid not to.
So we now have the hair-brained scheme to get the parking garage: The Bay of Pigs Museum and Library atop of all things (Surprise, surprise) a parking garage. And, the museum people played their part well: When it was suggested the museum could be inland, Bay of Pigs Museum supporters said it has to be on the waterfront because there is so much water involved (??) in the historical event. According to Commissioner Rebecca Sosa: ''It's going to be very close to the water, and the history of Cuba is so close to the water,'' ...Well that makes sense???
I am trying to track down the Lobbyists that hatched this — Brilliant!! I did find one, don't know if she hatched it: Diana M. Gonzalez, registered August 24th for "Development of a Cuban Museum." In the past she lobbied for Richard Zinn, the Rouse company, Pinnacle Housing Group and Peerless. Just was told that Lobbyists Herman Echevarria and Dusty Melton were trolling around during the vote. Dusty was one of the masterminds behind the art museum in Bicentennial Park. Does this one sound similar? For my money, I would bet Dusty's creative mind might be behind the Bay of Pigs/Parking lot deal. He is a lobbyist that out thinks people -- he is always a few moves ahead in a chess match of wits.
11 comments:
Never thought of the framing of the museum for the garage. It is a very good idea they came up with...and it will get passed to the dismay of the thinking Miamians.
Diana M. Gonzalez is a former county staffer, retired from the county, on contract with the county and paid by the county to work on special projects AND works for the beacon council thru the miami dade defense alliance. all getting paid with co money.
Sell.
Diana's husband is a zoning attorney and she "shows" people around the airbase property....trying to help lease it. Wonder if her fingerprints are Ron Books plan to sell the Homeless Trust proeprty to developers.
I thought Diana was still working for Bill Johnson to develop the Homestead AFB land. Even if she left that project, doesn't the County have a prohibition on lobbying for 2 years?
I agree. The Heat will do and say anything and hire anyone to build a multi-level parking garage on Parcel B. The Heat wants a massive ugly garage on the waterfront and some cubans will get pushed into some little rathole in the back of the garage.
I'd like for someone to explain to me the concept of lobbyists....Why are these people so seemingly powerful...
so persuasive..so able to apparently make government officials at all levels and categories do things via plans and actions and subsequent laws that may not be in the public interest or for the public's wishes.....Aren't government officials in theory at least accountable to the public..Aren't we their actual bosses who tell them how to do things..as we pay their salaries and benefits through our tax dollars...Does the public have lobbyists to make sure the government officials do as we want them to?.
Why are special groups and individuals allowed to spend money to hire these lobbyists to tell government officials what to do?
Do government officials know they are being pandered to and manipulated by people with money just because they can afford to?
Where is their sense of what's wrong or right or proper for the public without considering the wishes of just a few powerful and rich entities that hire these lobbyists?
Is this democracy or government for
the benefit of those who can afford lobbyists?
Please explain
...
The county paid the non profit Project for Public Space to plan Parcel B a few years ago. They had a public meeting at the American Airlines Arena and decided that since the site was in such poor condition, needing a seawall, bay walk,infrastructure,etc., that the county should see what uses might evolve before finalizing a plan. Diana Gonzalez was a consultant for Asst. Manager Bill Johnson who spearheaded the planning work at that time. There is a report documenting this planning process.
Yes last Anon:
I was at that planning session. Didn't know who the Woman was.
If the bayfront land behind or next to the arena is for "public" use and Parcel B was promised to remain greenspace or used for a soccer field, then this should have been the goal of the commission and city of Miami.
In view of the lack of consideration public opinion gets in our county, we really must begin to vote these commissioners out of office!
I, for one, will continue to support Hialeah as one of the best placest in Miami-Dade County for the Bay of Pigs Museum & Library.
Milly Herrera
Hialeah, Florida
herrera101@aol.com
Let the proposed Bay of Pigs museum have its own site and not get stuck in the corner of some basketball players garage.
Imagine the visual. Some $10 Mil per year basketball player's Ferrari blocking the view of the Cubans visiting the Bay of Pigs Museum... Someone dies or goes to jail...result...proposed museum view gets blocked so $125,000 Mercedes avoid the sun...
Hialeah or Little Havana would be great sites.
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