Paula Church always seemed afraid of me. She never would give me any information over the phone or, for that matter, in email. It wasn't much better in person. I would send my email requests and then her boss, Mark Woerner would send me the answer. Phone calls were never returned. I had to always call Woerner to get answers. I guess she always thought, what trouble can I avoid by ignoring this. But I liked Paula Church. The last time I saw her was in the South Miami City Hall parking lot. I think it was some meeting Philip Stoddard had on power lines. We chatted for a few minutes and surprise: She was very nice. I think her job was very important to her and she was avoiding trouble by ignoring me or passing me on to other folks. That's okay. I will remember her. She died April 28th.
Here is the only email I have from her left on my computer - it is only because I sent it to two people that I got an actual answer (she moved me to a cc and answered the other person) --
From: "Church, Paula (DP&Z)"
Date: Sep 2006
Subject: RE: The actual file
Yes you are correct. I have forwarded the e-mail to Natasha Alfonso in the Design Center for a full explanation of what is happening in this area.
The Miami Herald said:
She (Paula Church) closed out her career as a supervisor in the Miami-Dade County Department of Planning and Zoning where she was able to merge her passion for the environment with helping to bring about smart growth in Miami-Dade County.
6 comments:
It's dangerous as a county employee to express your passion about the environment.
I think she was easily mis read. Ten years ago during the EAR process, she sat down with me and walked me through it. She did so privately, and I was forever appreciative that she took so much time to do this.
When I served on the PAB, I remember packages were late to the members and there was Paula at my front gate, delivering to me. I couldn't believe it and again, she was very helpful.
I will miss her and have known for about a year how ill she was, but cannot believe she's gone. May she rest in peace.
Pamela Gray
Paula Church and Emilie Young. Wow.
Paula was one of the good ones. Trust me.
Paula will be missed. She and Emily Young were simply the best. We will miss them both. Gone too soon.
Go out and do a good deed in their memory.
No one is helpful at the Palnning and Zoning Department. It's as if they are scared to say anything for fear of political reprisals (that may be why you had the exeprience you said you had with Paula -- that's if you can get in touch with anyone at all. Up until very recently, they didn't even have voicemail for their phones. They don't return calls or e-mails and when they do, they don't do very much analysis of your specific issue or worse, they tell you that an issue that is obviously a CDMP or zoning code issue needs to be answered by DERM or Public Works!
With all that said, I had the opprotunity to work closely with paula Chruch on several issues over the years and found her to be intelligent, professional, passionate about her work and a quality person overall. I will miss her and her insight into planning issues.
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