Get to Know City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez MONDAY. By Geniusofdespair

Eye on Miami Picture of the Week: City of Miami District 2 Commissioner Ken Russell. By Geniusofdespair

City of Miami Commissioner Ken Russell was on hand to answer audience questions March 3rd at the Urban Environment League event at the Perez (Ick) Art Museum. Audience: Just so you know -- your speeches with a question tacked on the end are such a bore. We didn't go to the forum to hear your speech. Stop with the speeches. Just ask the damn question.

The auditorium was packed to hear the new commissioner, a yo-yo mogul, who replaced Marc Sarnoff (another Ick).  He is a breath of fresh air, let's hope he stays the really good guy he is now.

I was glad to hear a fellow blogger inspired him to run: He said something Al Crespo wrote did it for him.  Thank you Al.

Urban Environment League's Orchids and Onions Awards. By Geniusofdespair

County Commission Chair Jean Monestime gave a stirring keynote speech.

Grace Solares, Urban Environment League President, Presented the Awards

I Captured only some of the award winners:

Emerge Miami got the Community Organizing award. They gave the best speech that made everyone in the audience chuckle. They said they had to get the younger generation involved to take over as they were almost out of their 20's. We were all thinking, that is what you are here for, you are the younger generation to take over for us!

Gary Hunt got the Environmental Restoration Award

Daniel Ciraldo received the Enid Pinkney Award for Historic Preservation

Liz Plater-Zyberk was on hand to present an award to Nathaniel Connolly. He was not there but Greg Bush of the Urban Environment League accepted the award.

Blanca Mesa received the Dan Paul Award for Public Waterfront Protection

County Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava got the Katy Sorenson Award for Government Ethics.

Biscayne Times Publisher Jim Mullin got the David Lawrence, Jr. Award for Public Information.

No Awards on this one, I just liked this photo of County Commission Chair Jean Monestime and Former County Commissioner Katy Sorenson

UEL Board Member, Scientist John Van Leer urged everyone to join the Citizens Climate Lobby

As I said I did not include all the award winners go to UEL.Org or their Facebook page to see the rest.

The Onions went to Climate Change Deniers: Rick Scott, our Awful Governor; and Marco Rubio, our absent, awful Senator. County Commissioner Pepe Diaz also got an onion and it wasn't for drunken driving. Jonah Wolfson got an onion for his PAC.

From the annals of Miami's recent past: a history of Parcel B by Greg Bush, Urban Environment League

BE THERE TOMORROW:
On Saturday, June 13, Emerge Miami, the Urban Environment League, and The New Tropic invite us all to enjoy Miami's newest park!

Here's what they are saying:

"That morning, we'll be inaugurating Dan Paul Park, three-acre waterfront gem next to the American Airlines Arena and Museum Park in downtown Miami. Formerly known as Parcel B, the park has languished behind closed gates for nearly twenty years, sealed off to the public and used instead as a taxpayer-supported parking lot for TV satellite trucks.

We're not exactly sure why our county's leaders have been unable to deliver on their promises for the past two decades to open the park...

Whatever the reason, Emerge Miami, together with The New Tropic and the Urban Environment League are ready to pick up where our elected officials have left off."

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be followed by a day of fun and family-friendly events, including a hula-dancing contest and group picnic."

Where: Dan Paul Park, behind the American Airlines Arena at 601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami
When: Park opening acts at 11:30 a.m., bike ride from Viscaya Metrorail Station at 10 a.m.
Who: Saturday, June 13, open to the public (finally!) and free.
Why: Because when our elected leaders don't deliver on twenty years of promises, it's time to take matters into our own hands --  GOD: Bring some grass seeds and beach umbrella's.

Parcel b History June 2015 by Greg Bush

Miami Dade Waterfront Only for the Wealthy? Guest Blog by Gregory Bush

Late one night in December 1902, after returning to his home overlooking Biscayne Bay in downtown Miami, Judge George Worley was shocked to see that Henry Flagler’s FEC company had constructed a large barbed wire fence for several blocks along the waterfront. He was so upset at his lost access to what he considered to be the public’s waterfront that he went to Budges hardware store, got a barbed wire cutter and tore down the fence. The FEC promptly put it up again and Worley cut it again and again until he was arrested. His case eventually wound its way up to the state Supreme Court that ruled in 1905 that the original plat dictated a public park along the waterfront. He won - but in recent decades battles for the public waterfront have gotten far more complex and the public understanding of the issues has gotten far more cloudy as wealth trumps public access.

Today, waterfront development in Miami has generally been forged through manufactured crises devoid of coherent long term planning. Miami Dade residents face multiple threats to what is left of our public waterfront. The issues remain complex and obscure to most residents. Yet this is a critical hour.

Look around our beautiful Biscayne Bay (if you can): Watson Island, Skyrise and Parcel B (waterfront of the American Airlines Arena) as well as the Marine Stadium basin at Virginia Key are all in the throws of complex development schemes that are taking away public waterfront land and access to beautiful Biscayne Bay – each to benefit a narrow set of wealthy or favored interests. Multiple lawsuits have been filed in the name of the public interest but the issue of standing by plaintiffs has been repeatedly used to thwart challenges towards government actions.

The loss of our public waterfront has been due, in large part, to the power of varied commercial interests – and their legions of consultants - who seize the initiative for land deals behind closed doors alongside government officials. Campaign contributions follow, public cynicism ensues, and public space is effectively lost. Years ago, for example, Miami passed the Carrolo Amendment, mandating public referenda on waterfront leases, but city officials established elaborate patterns of evasion such as using the Miami Exhibition and Sports Authority and “licensing” agreements.

The Marine Stadium area is a classic case in point.

A Kinder County Commission: Have We Turned a Corner? By Geniusofdespair

County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson receiving an Orchid Award from the Urban Environment League for "Dedication to downtown open space and waterfront access"

I listened to Daniella Levine Cava speak at the Urban Environment League's Orchids and Onions affair (She was the featured speaker). I was inspired. Not just by Levine-Cava's words but by her speaking ability. She is so damn smart. I thought she was really amazing. It was not a stump speech, finally, it was one from the heart. She said: “Miami is an iconic place, and let's make sure we continue to lift up not only its amazing diversity of culture and design, but also its natural beauty, making it accessible to residents as well as visitors."

 I really think we will be seeing changes at the County Commission.

County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson, who received an award seems to 'get it' now. Maybe other County Commissioners will too. By December things will start changing. Even the Mayor has softened that disrespectful "I know it all attitude". Is there hope for better government at the County without a mean spirited commissioner leading the pack. I am hoping for a more moderate efficient body, or am I being overly optimistic?

Bruce Matheson also received an award for "Defending the integrity of County parks and open spaces" I really admire Bruce. He is dedicated to the park  and property that his family sold or traded to the county (per Dusty Melton). You would think the County would respect him more.

Urban Envrionment League's Onion Awards. By Geniusofdespair

2014 Onion Awards were not announced previously. Orchids were.

The Urban Environment League held its annual Orchids and Onions awards event Tuesday evening September 30, 2014 at the Coral Gables Museum.

The featured speaker was newly elected County Commissioner Daniella Levina Cava. In her remarks Cava noted that “Miami is an iconic place, and let's make sure we continue to lift up not only its amazing diversity of culture and design, but also its natural beauty, making it accessible to residents as well as visitors.”

Guests heard a list of those who were awarded Orchids for their role in preserving Miami’s waterfront, its public spaces, more open public processes, and trying to retain historic and archaeological places. Several Onions were also awarded for questionable actions by public officials, a developer and by the University of Miami for its sale of environmentally sensitive land in South Dade.

UEL Vice President Gregory Bush noted the many struggles that the organization has been involved in over the past eighteen years. It was founded trying to stop the American Airlines Arena from being built on the public waterfront land. Involved in the design process for Bicentennial Park (now Museum Park) and Virginia Key, the UEL has also been one of the leading organizations calling for more well planned park systems as we as the preservation of the Urban Development Boundary Line.

Reminder Orchids and Onions Meeting is TONIGHT! By Geniusofdespair

Please try to attend to honor these worthy people who get an orchid and see who gets the onion for being a general pain in the ass.  All are welcome to this event.

Urban Environment League Annual Meeting 9/30 - All Invited. By Geniusofdespair

I go to the Orchids and Onions function every year. The Urban Environment League is a very quiet group, founded by architects in the 1990's, that packs a wallop on City of Miami and Miami Dade County planning  -- supporting good projects and critical of the bad.  Go to the meeting of this good government group. It is always a great event. They need volunteers to help: Contact uelmiami76@gmail.com.  Daniella Levine Cava is the featured speaker.

Beckham Stadium on Biscayne (filling in the slip). By Geniusofdespair

ALSO READ BENDING OVER FOR DAVID BECKHAM BY AL CRESPO

 A Chevy for a Cadillac? A People’s Club?

The Urban Environment League Condemns the Soccer Stadium/Wall Against the Waterfront in Downtown Miami --A Resolution by the UEL’s Board of Directors

Contact: Gregory Bush, Vice President: 305-926-5001; publicbush@gmail.com

While explaining why the plan for the new soccer stadium in Miami’s FEC slip (and Bicentennial Park) was so valuable for residents, David Beckham’s adviser David Altschuler recently said that trading a Chevy for a Cadillac should be a “pretty fair transaction.” His comment underscores a fundamentally elitist misunderstanding of the needs of our community under the mantle of attracting a major league soccer team to Miami. Such a notion of status is not the central issue to define this issue, nor is Michael Putney’s recent assertion that soccer legend David Beckham strikes him as a “regular guy” as a rationalization for deference. The stadium - in the last open space in downtown Miami - is wrong because it insults any sense of smart urban design in contemporary times by deferring to a soccer legend as a front man for financial backers. How dumb can we be - again?

The UEL strongly condemns the action by City and County Mayors in strong-arming a hastily drawn plan to wall off more of our long forlorn downtown waterfront against residents in favor of a Major League Soccer stadium. While some of the arguments in favor of the stadium in the FEC slip strike us as old and tired, it is important that we remember what we have experienced – and forgotten - in the recent history of attempts by sports corporations to “take” our rare public waterfront through complex formulas that disguise the theft of public space for private interests. The UEL believes that the public is, finally, tired of these games and will show their anger to public officials over the coming months in a variety of ways.

County Commissioner Jean Monestime Presents the Urban Environment Orchid Award to Nadine Patrice. By Geniusofdespair

Besides congratulating Nadine Patrice for her award, the Urban Environment League want to congratulate Commissioner Jean Monestime for his appointment as Chair of a Florida Association of Counties Committee. Here is a video of Commissioner Monestime presenting the award:



The Orchid Award Bestowed June 19th Stated: Nadine Patrice is the Executive Director and Founder of Operation Green Leaves, an organization founded in 1991 in response to Jacques Cousteau’s video “Haiti: Water of Sorrow,” showing ecological and environmental damage from centuries of deforestation in Haiti. Since then, Nadine has worked tirelessly to raise funds for seedlings, seeds and trees to provide to partners in Haitian communities. After the 2010 earthquake, Nadine organized state-side non-profits and communities on the island to respond to the crisis. She also works in South Florida’s communities to preserve and increase our canopy. Operation Green Leave organizes and participates with others in tree planting activities, neighborhood beautification projects and beach clean-ups. Nadine is a very special “Ambassador for Trees,” reminding South Florida and Haiti that we are all connected.

Mountain Bikers: Don't Succumb to Nimbyism at Virginia Key. By Geniusofdespair

In response to the Mountain Biking protest, on Australian Pine removal and a proposed beach on the North Point, scheduled for tomorrow:

I am one of the original people who saved the black beach from Development on Virginia Key and prevented the development of the North Point in 1993 with many others.

Mabel Miller stopped the blimp base on the North Point in the 1970's.  I walked the North Point with Frenchy and other mountain bikers BEFORE THE TRAILS WERE MADE. ENVIRONMENTALISTS ARE VERY involved with Virginia Key. Australian Pines ARE BAD they are invasive. The hardwood hammocks grow quickly. Just go on the trails Juan Fernandez planted on Virginia Key. They are fully shaded. Mountain Bikers are not seeing what we did to make it possible for what they have. there are hundreds of environmentalists who made and saved Virginia Key. Oleta has swimming and mountain biking right next to each other.

Share with others, your single-mindedness is selfish. You wouldn't have mountain biking if not for the Urban Environment League and Tropical Audubon and Friends of Virginia Key.

Here is a note from Barbara Falsey, President of the Urban Environment League And Blanca Mesa of Friends of Virginia Key, on the Mountain Bike trails on the North Point of Virginia Key:

The Urban Environment League Awards Presentation June 19th. By Geniusofdespair

To view invite hit on graphic.

UEL Opposes Sunlife Stadium Deal. Guest Blog from The Urban Environment League

Economic Growth? Paying for Sports Spectacles and Corporate Welfare? 

By Dr. Barbara Falsey, President of the Urban Environment League.

Who remembers the dramatic final days before the 1996 referendum to pay for what was to become the American Airlines arena? The Heat were spending more than $3.5 million for ads illuminating a soccer field next to a new arena by the bay.  Opponents had no money. The news media was clearly biased in favor of the deal, repeatedly showing the glitzy Heat drawings. Before the final vote Alex Penelas won election as County Mayor with ads showing him at a kids basketball court - opposing the potential deal. The wording of the referendum itself was deceptive. Subsequently, at the last minute Penelas struck a new deal with the Heat and - we were told- the public interest was greatly enhanced by an increased contribution by the Heat  - who subsequently won the referendum.

Well what has happened to that promised soccer field by the bay in the ads, now known as Parcel B? Take a look. How much have county residents paid for their share of the deal vs what the Heat have paid after all their high salary expenses are factored in? Want to guess?

South Florida has a serious problem with remembering it's deals to promote the interests of wealthy sports franchises. We can’t see that the ruling sports -entertainment-gambling complex that too often speaks as the public’s representatives - has their own narrow set of financial interests at heart. This complex is not the same as the broad community interest.

Now, even as the embarrassments regarding the Marlins stadium deal for local residents repeatedly surface, we face New York real estate mogul Steve Ross who seeks hundreds of millions in state tax subsidies. Ross himself is worth an estimated 4.4 billon and wants extensive up front public subsidies for his private venture with cloudy assurances of paybacks in the distant future. What will the NFL contribute to the stadium?

It’s revealing to see many of the same players involved behind this new/old scenario. The key allies and lobbyists for Ross: Penelas, Brian May, Rodney Barreto, Ron Book, and Ric Katz. State Rep. Eric Fressen (Genting’s water carrier last year) is the house sponsor of the bill.

A classic Miami area political tactic is at work here: last minute timing, a big advertising push, a largely compliant news media – and a push related to an NFL decision deadline. And a largely confused public which is assured by the County Mayor – that this deal is so much better than earlier ones.  Which is true but what a sad comparison and an inadequate basis for a Yes vote on this referendum.

That we have been here many times before underscores (1) our lack of memory, (2) the subtle collusion of the news media and the political establishment in promoting simplistic arguments for tourism, economic growth and (3) the continuing power of corporate welfare and their lobbyists and public relations shills (4) and the overall lack of attention or creative approach to the serious social needs of local residents.

“With your Vote” one Dolphin ad says “more than 4,000 new local jobs” will be created.  Really? Good long-term jobs? We’ve heard that one before.  The economic benefits will also largely go to Broward County - which is putting up nothing for this stadium.

Send a message that while such major needs such as housing for low income people, new educational programs, and even greater economic synergy for tourism beyond the sports complex remain unmet we should not subsidize a billionaire owner of a private sports franchise.

We should wake up to the fact that the Miami area is the nation’s poster child for being suckers for an endless set of fields of schemes.

Save the Date for The Urban Environment League Orchids and Onions Awards. By Geniusofdespair

Don't Forget The Urban Environment League Awards Tonight. By Geniusofdespair

Tonight at 6pm the UEL will host their Annual Orchids and Onions Awards at 1035 North Miami Avenue (near NE/NW 10th Street). Free parking.

Keynote Speaker is Mayor Carlos Gimenez. Good event, be there. Go for the cocktail hour, stay for the awards.

Rick Scott gets an onion for consistently undermining both environmental protection and good planning. Well deserved.

Urban Environment League Annual Meeting. By Geniusofdespair

Urban Environment League's

ORCHIDS & ONIONS AWARDS

Wednesday • June 20 • 6:00 p.m.

Legal Art Gallery • 1035 North Miami Avenue (NW 10 St) • Parking Available

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: MAYOR CARLOS GIMENEZ

Orchid Awards: Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Leadership to Hold the UDB Line; Laura Reynolds, Excellence in Advocacy for the Environment; Brad Knoefler & Mark Lesniak, Creative Approach to Public Space; Susan Markley, Persistence and Commitment to Manatee Protection; Mayor Cindy Lerner, Civic Leadership in Promoting A Green Miami-Dade County; Carolyn Lewis, Promoting Environmental Literacy & Civic Engagement with Our Youth, Mayor Shirley Gibson; A Legacy of Leadership; Ken Llewellyn (Posthumous), Outstanding Environmental Volunteer; Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper, Tropical Audubon Society, Sierra Club & Dan Kipnis
Advocacy to Protect & Preserve Biscayne Bay.

Onion Award Presentations 2012:
Governor Rick Scott
Consistently Undermining both Environmental Protection and Good Planning

The Genting Group and their Gaggle of Lobbyists for Insulting and Underestimating the People of Miami Dade County.

Hors d’oeuvres & Wine - $15 at the Door
More information and to RSVP: uelinfo@bellsouth.net

Casinos Downtown: Bad Deal and Wrong Place. By Geniusofdespair

The Genting Casino in New York is NOT in Manhattan. It is in one of the most depressed areas of Queens, an area called South Ozone Park where they shutter stores from robberies. You wouldn't go there for anything except horse racing or casinos. We on the other hand, would have the Genting Casino complex in the Lincoln Center of Miami. Wrong location. Put the Casino in Sunny Isles Beach, known for bad planning. They probably would welcome it. Let Golden Beach start mobilizing.

Also, I hate the 3 casino idea because it is such a colossal bad deal for us. New York got a 66% tax from Genting. I also read they got an upfront licensing fee of $380 Million. What are we getting? A bad deal and all the money goes to Tallahassee. Stupid us. Didn't we learn anything from the Marlins baseball stadium fiasco, the crappy deal that keeps on costing?

UEL Event: Too dark for photos.
Only have photo of lobby.

I went to the Urban Environment League forum on gambling Saturday with about 125 other people, including Terry Murphy, Natacha Seijas' former chief of staff. He is vehemently opposed to casinos. Maybe Terry had an epiphany without that whale of an albatross Seijas. Imagine, Katy Sorenson and Terry Murphy in the same room agreeing on something? I saw it. For more read the Herald article:

At the Light Box forum, University of Miami history professor Gregory Bush slammed the notion that Resorts World could reposition Miami in a favorable way. He criticized Genting Chairman KT Lim for a comment from the company’s September unveiling of its resorts plans, when Lim said: “I strongly believe this can be the agent of transformation that can turn Miami into a real city.”

“It’s rather insulting for him to seek to remake us in his corporate image,’’ Bush said.

Catch Norman Braman (and Others) Saturday for a Gambling Discussion. By Geniusofdespair

Gambling with Miami's Future? A Community Dialog

The Urban Environment League is hosting a dialog on gambling featuring Norman Braman. Other panelists include: Dan Gelber, Katy Sorenson, Chuck Bohl and Jorge Hernandez.

WHAT: A two-hour discussion - conversation with questions from the audience.

WHERE: The Light Box Theater at Goldman Warehouse, 404 NW 26 Street (2 blocks west of Wynwood Walls on 26th Street)

WHEN: Saturday, December 10, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

I will be going most of all, because  it is free. All of the other discussions are put on by the chamber and you have to pay.  So be sure to catch this one, it is not Chamber of Commerce crap. Another reason I am going is because I can have lunch at Joey's and go look at the Wynwood Walls. 

The Siffin Proposed Dual Mega-Media Towers, Guest Blog by Beatriz Baldan

This column is reprinted with permission from the Urban Environment League Blog.

The examples Developer Mark Siffin uses to justify his twin LED Media Towers, Times Square, London, Tokyo, etc; don't pass muster. None of these places, as well as many other major cities, have the intrusive impact that his project will have. Let me give you some examples:

In Time’s Square for example the signage is confined in an area that goes from 42nd St to 45th St flanked by 7th Ave on the west and Broadway Ave on the East. With the renovation of 42nd St., the signage has extended along 42nd Avenue between 7th and 8th Avenues. In either case no sign is above any building height.

On the other streets surrounding this area the only other signs are the theater and hotel marquees. And on Broadway Ave as well as 7th Avenue beyond 42ns ST South and 45th St North there are no more illuminated signs. It can be seen in the photos that beyond these limits are dark.


Times Square facing south


Times Square facing north
(hit read more)

Tokyo, Same thing happens; the illuminated signage is restricted to a restricted commercial area, and never going above existing structures.


London, Piccadilly Circus-The illuminated signage is restricted to the Piccadilly Circus surrounding buildings and not to all of the building, because no signage is allowed on buildings of historical significance.


Paris at dawn, no visible signage and the tallest structure still is the Eifel Tower


I can go on and on, no mayor cities on the world have the signage Siffin has proposed to do. All these places have their own character and history like we do, Miami is a great place, we have our own character, and we do not need, in my opinion an oversize advertising icon to pollute our city. Miami is not Las Vegas.


And just as a comparison, the Washington Monument with 555 feet high, it is about the same height, once these LED intermittent light structures are in place. These full blast illuminated structures three times and twice wide each than the Washington Monument, is what we will see in the night Miami Skyline if this project gets build.

Flatrion Building, NY, at 287 Feet height is roughly 100 feet shorter than the proposed signs. Now, imagine this full blast and with intermittent lights all night.

When we want to be inspired or at peace, and we do indeed need these, we go to a museum or a walk in the park, etc, and we do not want to be intellectually or other wise bombarded with advertising.

Can you imagine a multi screen advertising hanging from the Arch du Triumph in the Champs Elise, or in the Roman coliseum? I think not; well; we need to think of our public spaces with the same respect wherever they might be, keeping our environmental space in a way that inspires us, because it is our home.