Question: could the unreformable majority be any worse? by gimleteye

Mayor Carlos Alvarez delivered his promised veto of the two applications to move the Urban Development Boundary, approved by a nine vote margin last week by the unreformable majority of the Miami Dade County Commission.

There was gloating in the county commission chamber after the votes, by the majority; clapping themselves on the back and impervious to the criticisms that had been aimed their way. At endorsement time and at election, I hope that the voting public understands the imperative to vote a new commission majority.

The question for readers of this blog: could the current unreformable majority of the county commission be any worse?

On a related subject, the Florida legislature just decided that Miami-Dade county and South Florida must halt the practice of dumping wastewater into the ocean.

John Renfrow, director of Miami Dade Water and Sewer, said it was too soon to determine a definite time line or plan of action for the project. In today’s Miami Herald, he said, “We’re going to have to study a lot of different elements. How much is it going to cost? What to do with the extra water?”

At last week’s UDB hearing, I was amazed to hear county staff represent that water issues were OK, providing at least one county commissioner with the rationale to vote in favor of the applications.

That “OK” was based on the consumptive use permit with the South Florida Water Management District, worked out last year, that requires Miami-Dade to invest $2 billion in wastewater infrastructure upgrades over the next decade. The failure of the county commission--and of Natacha Seijas directly--to adequately protect Miami-Dade County's water future was the reason that the 2005 round of UDB applications failed, with the exception of Hialeah's, a project that promised to provide its own (and not taxpayer) water infrastructure. (Wonder, how that worked out?)

Do you imagine, for a second, that county commissioners would require developers to wait until the wastewater upgrades—which don’t even include the extra billions now required to stop ocean outfall—before moving the UDB?

Of course not. And that is why the county commission is unreformable.

Every developer understands that the nature of obhataining zoning changes now requires the promise of sensitivity to water resources. And as long as that promise is added to all the other undelivered promises that development pays its own way, the county commission blesses these projects forward: it is exactly how our quality of life has eroded by degrees.

The aspect that is so dispiriting about the performance of county government, in respect to back slapping and grinning and fawning over lobbyists and corporate sponsors, is that the promise to the State of Florida about water quality in the environment is utterly and completely empty and the bureaucracies, from the South Florida Regional Planning Council to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection know it.

The county is obligated under legal agreements to restore the Everglades; to rehydrate and to protect Biscayne Bay and Biscayne National Park. The consumptive use permit with the State of Florida has very clear requirements to enhance water quantity into the bay. But the issues of water quality when treated wastewater is introduced to the environment are at least five years from being clearly proven—according to the same need for "study" that Director Renfrow tells us is needed to stop ocean outfall.

The question arises whether the claims for "study" are just another word for fraud.

Put another way, less wastewater dumped into deep wells or ocean outfalls means more water—a lot more water that has passed through our sinks, bathtubs and toilets—on the ground. The treatment processes are extremely expensive, and they are also untested on a massive scale in the fragile marine environment where water ends up in South Florida, thanks to a porous limestone geology.

Director Renfrow knows perfectly well that allowing the UDB applications to move forward, on the premise that our water quality issues are fixed now, is a risky gamble with no chance of success.

By the time we know the outcome—because the test results on treated water releases into Biscayne Bay wetlands will take many years to evaluate—the cement will be poured and Lowe’s will be energizing even more nearby residents and schoolchildren for the next incursion against the UDB on behalf of production home builders. Think this scenario is speculation? It is exactly what happened with respect to the disclosure of science proving the ineffectiveness of the wellfield protection zone around the West Dade Wellfield, putting the drinking water of 2 million Miami-Dade residents in harm's way. Seijas, who lead the county commission in all matters related to the environment, bullied and intimidated county staff AND helped to pressure federal agencies, so that development approvals in the area would sail through while the results were "studied".

That is how the game is played and how your tax dollars are spent. I hope that Governor Charlie Crist understands the greater public interest at stake and that he listens to Mayor Carlos Alvarez’ veto carefully in judging the next steps forward. And I hope that Miami-Dade voters understand why the vote to move the UDB is symbolic of the unreformable majority of the county commission that must be changed.

Yes. Throw the bums out. And boycott Lowe's.