Eye on Miami is foremost an environmental blog. Political issues have always been addressed through the eyes of two bloggers who care about Florida's health and well-being, the 2 National Parks and just about anything else that makes this State a special place to live. We have long battled with politicians resistant to any environmental protection of our wetlands and the Everglades - to name just two. District 11 had a Commissioner who was one of the most notorious for Anti-Environmental votes: Joe Martinez. Joe had a blind-spot for ANYTHING we cared about, thus, we labeled him as one of the "Unreformable Majority" on the County Commission. Gimleteye made up the term. Martinez is finally out of office and in his place we have Juan C. Zapata. There is room for hope now.
Commissioner Zapata has a vision for his district. He appears to really want to make a difference. To mention one thing he supports: To increase the tree canopy in his West Miami Dade District. He has already taken steps to meet with arborists to accomplish this.
Bashing Juan is not going to happen here. I want to see how he votes and give him a chance to do the right thing. In the end, it will be his votes that count and we don't have enough of those to make any conclusions. I am hopeful that we will, at the very least, get the kind of voting record we have gotten from Commission Chair Rebeca Sosa, Commissioner Dennis Moss and Commissioner Sally Heyman over the years.
4 comments:
Zapata made a good point during the FPL hearing. This is paraphrased, he asked the FPL presenter if power from the new reactors was going to be transmitted out of the county. The FPL guy gave a non-answer, Zapata pressed him, finally the FPL spokesman admitted it would, Zapata then stated I needed an answer to that question because you want to use our Miami Dade County water from the Biscayne Aquifer for non-Miami Dade County uses.
I think Zapata is a serious leader and BCC Chair Sosa should utilize his considerable talent and experience. Especially when compared to Diaz, Souto, Barreiro and Monestime.
If Zapata plans to BE an effective Commissioner, and use his authority to ensure smart decisions are being made regarding the future of the Water and Sewer Department, he will reject the request by the Administration have blanket control over all procurement decisions for the sketchy Water and Sewer capital program.
Item 1F6 on the Wednesday Committee agenda is a dangerous power grab by Mayor Gimenez-Osterholdt. There is no plan, but the Mayor wants to design bids behind closed doors for over $10 Billion worth of contracts.
If this item passes, Zapata will become the chair of a committee with no power to control the capital program.
So far, I've been impressed with Commissioner Zapata. He seems willing to listen to the issues, think for himself, and interested in making those decisions that are in the best interest of the whole county. I hope he continues to approach his job that way.
Trees dont grow in Rock Pits!
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