It is an outrage that this CRA-Global Agreement has been pushed so fast through the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County. There is no justification why these projects are being developed at the same time that we are in a housing glut and approaching a recession.
We need more incentives for business to develop and less special projects. We certainly don’t need to help the Marlins or cater to the whims of their fickled fans.
These projects are way too expensive and should be voted on by the citizens.
It is a travesty that a few politicians and movers and shakers are determining how our taxes are to be spent and that these decisions will shape the future course of our community.
Let’s look at how unsuccessful our elected leaders have been so far with a list of money losers because of bad management and/or bad decisions:
The First Miami Arena, The Omni, Miami Marine Stadium, Carnival Performing Arts Center, Metrorail, people Mover, DDA, buses and bus benches, proliferation of illegal billboards and murals, the illegal fire fee, the "Firm", the glut of condominiums, the FEC yard transformation that is almost a ghost town, rezoning and variances for special interest groups, investing in sub-prime hedge funds and the list goes on...
This is proof once again that we need to limit the parameters of what our elected officials can try to justify, without first determining the will of the citizens, and this should be done through the voting booth.
12 comments:
Why do people always complain but never offer solutions.
This plan spent a longgggggggggg time in someone's cooker.
Don't forget the other white elephants of tomorrow; the mini-performing arts center in South Dade and the Disney theme park at metrozoo. Oh, and the crime ridden Naranja Lakes CRA; nobody wants to live there and the unfortunates who bought can't get out. Our government supports one bad idea after another or they give it away to crooks. Meanwhile, people are screaming for tax relief while our precious dollars are being squandered.
It is not a great thing what always seems to happen.... It is empire building. And the shame is on us, the people.... we are playing while Rome burns.
out of sight...interesting comment...true
Manny Diaz and the Miami-Dade County Commissioners and the City Commissioners just mortgaged our future.
All our funds will soon be completely allocated. Police payroll, fire payroll and pension, no attendence art museum... and all the white elephant projects that only benefit a few... The Commissioners might as well just stay home and have their pay and perks auto deposited into their off-shore accounts.
This same thing, with the CRA happened in Los Angeles under Mayor Tom Bradly in the late 1980 and early 1990s. This is how they pushed the poor out of downtown Bunker Hill and built the skyscrapers that you so often see now in photos of LAs skyline. What happened to those poor black homeowners in Downtown? They were pushed out after the CRA bought their rundown shacks for about 13,000 each and rezoned the land before giving it to developers. The former homeowners ended up homeless a little while later just a few blocks away on the streets of Skid Row. (All of this has been well documented.) Even in the 1980s what could poor blacks buy nearby in LA with $13,000? What happened to the CRA/LA and its 300 employees after they funded all those skyscrapers with TIF? They basically went broke because they repeated the same process till they gave all the money away to developers and were left with nothing but debt to pay the TIF bonds. Ever since then they have been trying to push the "homeless" out of Skid Row, to make more room for re-development.
out of sight said...
Gen:
Our community allows things to be done to them. There is much common sense in the phrase 'you snooze, you lose'. In south Florida, 'THE HAVES' and 'THE HAVE-NOTS' does not always refer to the rich and poor people. it can refer to those people who 'have' the knowledge, skill and power to ram-rod a new lifestyle onto the rest of the community.
At some point, the ordinary Joe has to start screaming for more than affordable housing...we need the whole quality of life thing...is it wrong to want our non-Pinecrest communities to have safe streets and schools that are roach free and don't smell like urine?
Well, the current ‘HAVEs’ only pay lip service to the 'HAVE-NOTS'. Trust me: when was the last time any politician paid a surprise visit to the school bathrooms, checked the status of books for the classroom, or knocked on the door of a section 8 household to check on them? When was the last time a politician took the list of elderly exempt taxpayers and went to the check on their well being? Have you ever seen a political type spend a week in a wheelchair, trying to get around the county without (or with)a handmaiden?
Heck, it is hard to imagine any of our "have-the-power" people doing much without a press release or a call to their favorite reporter. Certainly, in the political world, nothing is done without thoughts of how well it plays in the media...otherwise, you would not see glowing pictures of politicans at ribbon cuttings or reading books to adoring children.
The point is, the real people don't have the experience in doing the things that would enhance their quality of life. They don't have time to learn either, they are scrambling to cover the bills while others who "know" what the common people need, just pick up the phone.
It sucks to be us.
December 21, 2007
Herald states Miami Commissioner Spence-Jones to be indicted soon...
accused of many crimes including gaming system to benefit herself and her cronies...
$80,000 in pay and perks wasn't enough for her...?
Here is the statement being sent out by Marc Sarnoff to explain his position on the CRA, County & City Global Agreement and his vision for the future of our community.
I still feel that these issues concern us all and will determine our community’s future for many years to come.
These issues are just too important to be left in the hands of a few politicians.
These issues must be addressed by all of our citizens in the voting booth.
Your comments and suggestions will be most welcome.
Harry Emilio Gottlieb
Answers from Commissioner Marc D. Sarnoff to the general Public regarding the County & City Global Agreement.
Date: December 17th, 2007
Subject: RE: Downtown plan
To All Concerned:
I stand by why I voted for the Tunnel at the Commission and will paraphrase it here. I will not engage in a protracted response, reply or sir-reply.
There are items in the global or master agreement that independently I do not support, however the Tunnel to me is a no brainer and yet, prior to the global agreement I did not have one other Commissioners support for the Tunnel. The support of the Global Agreement was the only way to achieve the Tunnel support from two other Commissioners. The Port employs, either directly or indirectly, 17,000 workers and the average rate of pay is $70,000. The port is a $16,000,000,000 industry. The Port is losing business like a sieve to Port Everglades, Jacksonville, Bahamas, and prospectively Port Mariel. Port Miami was at one time one of the 3 most important Ports in the United States but we have done next to nothing to modernize it. Port Mariel just received $350,000,000 from Dubai Management International (Dubai) to modernize its container terminal (or better put to build one). There will be a total of $1,200,000,000 in support from Dubai for Port Mariel.
Port Jacksonville and Port Mariel now have a common thread of management. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the containers will be broken down in Mariel and shipped to Jacksonville bypassing Miami, threatening more container business will leave the Port of Miami.
The funding of the Tunnel project in the Port was extended on two previous occasions. This deadline was now imposed by the State and not the Contractor as the State was looking to de-fund the project and move the money to an interstate in Tampa and the rest to General Fund (the State is running a $2,000,000,000 short fall this year.....this would have shored up their budget nicely). Remember this project was supported by Governor Jeb Bush and was a hold over project and will be the largest State supported project for the next 5 years. On December 18th the money moves either to the project (i.e. tunnel) or it moves back to Tallahassee for refunding and appropriation.
Miami needs jobs and this was no time for political brinksmanship, some of the more common comments were: "they will never move the money or there will always be this money." (Trust there will not always be $657,000,000 in State and Federal money). These are argument of illusions, and I was not willing place this bet risking the loss of more Port business. This project goes back to 1988 in conception. It was two outs in the ninth inning and the time for action was now. There was no time for: "I would have done the Rotterdam project" or "I would do the fly over bridge project" or "I would have done the through transit break down project and sent barges up the river." These were all considered and for one engineering reason or another were rejected. District 2 investigated all the alleged alternatives; we equally got into the game late and could not start the process all over again. 25,000 vehicles a day must traverse downtown Miami, Biscayne Blvd. and 7th and 8thAvenue. This is an inefficient way to access our Port and leaves scars from tractor trailers all over the streets of Downtown. This is blight by anyone’s definition. Either we make this a more habitable City or we just talk about without any real intention. Read the Herald Article (the day after the vote) Port Everglades will take over the Port of Miami in Gross sales some time next year. Port Everglades makes ingress and egress by use of interstate 595 to 95 no through traffic in Ft. Lauderdale. Port Mariel is slated to open in 2012. More planning is not the answer; this Port must survive for the good of all Miamians.
The tunnel did not have 3 votes in its favor, Spence Jones voted against it at the CRA level, Sanchez had come out publicly against the project, 3 weeks before the vote, and Gonzalez was publicly against the project and Regalado made his intentions clear. Spence Jones only voted for the project because the Global agreement extended SEOPW to 2030 (from 2014). Sanchez voted for this because of the components found in the global agreement, including the public/private partnership and funding for the Stadium. Each of these reasons was part and parcel of the Global Agreement, without which two Commissioners would not have voted for the Port Tunnel.
Voters want to deal in absolutes and politics is about the possible. The Port tunnel only became possible when the global agreement became feasible. Politics can be at times the art of compromise, this was such a time. A compromise was worked out that will allow the Port Miami’s major employer to be able to defend itself against the competition. The tools are now in place to start the defense.
When you judge this agreement keep all in perspective and know the timing attendant to the Tunnel project. I believe the CRA’s focus should be on creating an opportunity for jobs and infrastructure. We have a great deal of affordable housing coming our way in 2008, whether the developers like it or not by market correction, we do not need to build more affordable housing (in Omni) when it will exist and exist for sometime in the near future. We should encourage scattered sight work force housing but this is the subject of another email. Also keep in mind that the City transferred control of its Affordable Housing Division to the County by order of the City Manager just prior to Cesar Odio, publicly assisted housing is now the Counties domain and has been for some time by actions taken more than 27 years ago.
Thank you for affording me the opportunity to explain my actions.
Commissioner Sarnoff
recall Diaz nd all the city commisioners now
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