Look at my post earlier today.
I got out of bed on unlucky Friday the 13th to go to this meeting. 5 of my favorite commissioners are on this Committee: The X man- Xavier Suarez, Rebeca Sosa, Audrey Edmonson, Dennis Moss and Daniella Levine. so I am hoping for some sanity. Too much to ask?
I am here to support agriculture. I am not against Ludlam Trail -- let them find another friggin' pot of money. PDR money is not sitting in a fund for the taking. It is there to give farmers incentive to sell their development rights so the land can be kept in farming. You have to be patient with the farmers. They are just now starting to file for this money. What is it with the county? They have to spend every damn penny? This is BOND MONEY. We voted for it to be spent a certain way. We didn't vote for it to be raided for beach sand, a trail or whatever else they can think of.
I just read the above as my statement. Other farmers are speaking. Not many. My friends are picking their fruit and vegetables. Oops, Barriero showed up. Can't include him in favorites for sure.
Commissioner Sosa was upset she was not briefed correctly on the item. She withdrew it and planned to have town hall meetings with the Ludlam Trail people. Thank you Commissioner Sosa. I know there will be money found but let's not look at the agriculture pot. Get that Moon lady to work some magic without her raiding bond funds. Agriculture is always short ended. We need viable agriculture.
7 comments:
Thank you for this. Four of us attended the bond hearings and explained to the audience the importance of the PDR program. I think we attended almost every hearing, which were held all over the county. It was a big task but the responses from the audiences were overwhelming in favor of an agriculture PDR program. As I recall it was rated number one in almost all of the workshops.
Commissioners, do the right thing here!
Pat Wade
I don't want to be a snot here.... BUT WHERE the hell is our agricultural manager, Charles LaPradd?
THE Development rights program was under his venue, but then, of course, he has his nose so far up the Mayors staff's butt that he couldn't sneeze if he had to.
Commissioner Cava please note that he is NOT your friend. He was Lynda Bell's buddy (and worked against county staff) from the moment he worked for the city of Homestead.
He doesn't give a rats ass about saving agricultural lands, he cares about his job and the pension it brings. He loves being the "expert" when he gets the glory for being so smart, even when he is clueless.
The only life skill he really has is surviving in political climates. There are way more educated people to talk to about agriculture than this guy. That is why we have a land-grant college here in Miami's AG district. And they do great job working with the AG folks. Charles does a great job of BS'ing.
Sorry,I can't sign my name. I don't want retaliation for my opinion.
Charles was there....taking a lot of heat.
Did this crew forget that we had a master plan for the county which include not net loss of agricultural land?
Hope the last anon's statement, "no net loss of agriculture outside the UDB weighs heavy in the commission chamber when they decide on Application 7 & 8 next Wednesday Nov 18th at downtown Clark Center. Let the one house per 5 acre rule for small farmers. A good living can be made on a 5 acre Ag Farm. It saves money to the county----not needing services.
Riley
Never underestimate the power of the Mayor and the budget office to pull a fast one. Thankfully this was caught in time and hopefully both the Ag community and the trail supporters will win in the end. But it does show just how on our toes we have to be. THANK YOU GENIUS!!! You dance the dance for all of us. and very gracefully too.
Let's protect our farmland. Remember South Dade is the winter growing capital of the world during the winter. Our farmers feed a lot of people during this time of year. Love Farming and Farmers
Thank you Genius for this information.
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