Eye on Miami Saturday Editorial Page July 4th: Overtown, Autos and Lawsuits. By Geniusofdespair

We take up the slack from the Miami Herald - They refuse to do a Saturday Editorial Page

OVERTOWN:
 Following in his dad's steps as a journalist, Daniel Ducassi has written an amazing article: Overtown's Past Meets Overtown's Future. The article begins:

In Overtown, a battle over the neighborhood’s future has been brewing since the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) voted in late December to give potentially more than $100 million in tax incentives to the developers of Miami Worldcenter, a 27-acre complex of high end shopping, luxury condominiums, and hotel rooms that will cost more than $1 billion. In comparison, the CRA spent a total of roughly $6.5 million on community redevelopment for the entire year of 2013, less than 7 percent of what’s being proposed for Worldcenter.

Losing so much revenue that could have been used for other projects doesn’t seem right to many Overtown residents. Religious leaders, along with housing rights and labor activists, have been sharply critical about the agreement.

“Why do developers think that when they come to the city of Miami that the CRA checkbook is going to be open to subsidize their projects?” asked Frank Schnidman, Florida Atlantic University professor of urban and regional planning. One of the project’s sharpest critics, Schnidman and his students have studied CRAs around the state and found the CRA practices in Miami-Dade County in general to be the most “off base.”

Go read the rest. There is some great film footage of historic Overtown.

LEXUS:
Why am I writing an editorial page on Saturday, July 4th. No one is going to read it.
Anyway, here I am doing it like a jerk.

I have had two Lexus sedans. I just sold the last. I have one regret. I miss the free cappuccino at the dealership. I don't miss the car, I love the Snot-a car much better. I got it with all the bells and whistles, including adaptive cruise control, air conditioned seats, rear camera, automatic trunk opening, stay in lane alarm and blind spot detection. My only complaint, there are always alarms going off and I don't know what I did wrong. I drift out of the lane a lot maybe that is it. In this car you must use your turn signal.

BAGEL BOY:
He loves that lawsuit more than he loves to wear a suit. He might have more lawsuits going than business suits in his closet. Who knows, never looked in his closet. I will post his latest lawsuit this week. This one was filed in Federal Court, some sort of Civil Rights thing. I will let one of you try to figure out who I am talking about.

Worst POLITICIAN OF THE WEEK:
Miami Dade County Commissioner Pepe Diaz a.k.a. (Pepe le Pew) for loving LED signs more than people and trying to changer the sign ordinance to help his lobbyist friends. Let's put one next door to his house and see how he likes it.

Do you remember those old movies in the cheap hotels, where the star is smoking a cigarette contemplating his loser life? There is always a blinking sign from outside lighting up his room with a color, enforcing the melancholy in his life. That is what I think of when all these super expensive condos will have new neighbors: proposed LED sign thanks mostly to LED Sign booster Pepe Diaz. Maybe the people will start to jump off their balconies from melancholy producing dazzling lights. No sleep for you Euro Trash!